Wounded Warrior Project.

I get random emails from Sock Guy, so today I decided to actually read one. I checked out the new selections and spotted this gem:

Each year, SockGuy chooses a charity to support, and this year they picked a great one.

So I surfed on over to The Wounded Warrior Project and started reading about the Soldier Ride..."Many of these men and women have been physically active throughout their lives and are eager to reclaim an athletic activity. The program offers wounded soldiers a chance to get on a bike and prove to themselves, "Hey, I can still do this." Soldier Ride is not about politics*. It is not about the war. It is simply about men and women who are recovering from serious injuries."

*thankfully...

Turns out there is a Soldier's Ride in the Midwest June 10-14. I won't be able to take off work the 10-12, but I am going to try my damnedest to get out there on the 13th and 14th. The info is a bit skinny on the ride details aside from the dates (above) and "Waterloo-Milwaukee-Chicago."

Cruise on over to The Wounded Warrior Project and check around. A lot of these folks are coming back to little support and need another set of wheels beside them as a reminder that not only do we care, but that they can still get out on the pavement and put some hard-earned, human-powered miles underneath them. It's gotta be hard coming home a wounded veteran and making the transition back into civilian life - it is a hard enough just making the decision to commit to military service.

Blogsite: WWPSoldierRide

Donate and Get Socks: WWPSocks (I'll be sporting these badboys until they rot off my feet)

Big thanks to SockGuy for pitching in for our wounded veterans and giving them the boost they need.

Flatlandia Leland Kermesse Road Bike Race!!!
April 25, 2009
(click flyer to view full size)























What's a kermesse, you might ask? Typically these are circuit races on closed public roads, often riddled with crosswinds, "interesting" road surfaces - similar to a crit, but with a little more "flair" (than, say, about 15 pieces of flair). Either way, come out to Leland and check out this race. Lots o' categories, lots of great sponsors, LOTS OF GREAT RACING.

hope to see ya there!

House of Suffering, pt 2

sometimes you bring back gifts you don't expect. There are many names for what I brought back from my recent travels, but from any perspective it ain't fun. As a matter of fact, it is so not-fun that my bike has missed me for the last three days.

I am still heading out on the Des Plaines Trail for a bit tomorrow. Flood tables show an 8 foot crest right now, which means a boat my be a better idea as far as vehicles to take. I plan on riding it everyday I can, but if the overpasses are flooded out, my rides will be short. I may start riding up to Kenosha as well since I have some decent roads to take. I hear there is a really sweet road race coming soon...(in addition to this month's Crit series put on by Half Acre)

House of Suffering

(me on the left, or at least how cramped I feel lately)

I have been swapping stems and angles and bars...all kinds of stuff, all in order to get a better fit on my frame. And now I am looking at swapping my frame, which is defintely more expensive that a stem that I would purchase. So now I am looking back at my set-up from two seasons ago and realizing I never had fit issues like this. Is it me thinking I need to be comfortable during a cross race? Hell, is there even such a thing as comfort during a cross race? I am comforted by knowing I will usually finish mid-pack and feel good enough to have done a little better - but that is usually the extent of comfort during "wheels to dirt." However, training on the same bike is a different thing altogether, right? Not really. I would rather ride the same bike I race on for familiarity in handling, shifting, etc. In a very roundabout way, I think I need to get fit for a frame/stem/etc as my shoulders feel like crap after about 1 hr on the bike, and this leads to post-race/ride neck pain. I try to check my slouch and get into a better riding position, but that only lasts a few pedal strokes before I go back to checking the 'puter. Yeah, square 1 maybe - or square 2 at best. After go back and forth with Fort Frames via email, I think it is time to grab the bike, reset it to last year's race config, and haul it over to Lou at Ponyshop or Alberto's. VQ does fittings as well, and they use all kinds of sensors and 3D imaging. Sounds cool. I'll start small and go big if needed. At least I found a saddle that works - WTB Rocket V Pro. Good stuff, and I should have just stuck with WTB based on how the old SST Ti fit me back in CO.

Who knows - it might be the case that I am just messing around with stuff too much. I have never felt so un-dialed on a bike. I am going to run through a basic fit calculator when I get home tonight, and go from there. I look forward to getting this taken care of as having a headache for 4-5 hours after a race is never fun, and feeling similarly after riding the trainer just seems wrong.

At least someone hammers out good stuff these days! Here are some stellar IPAs this time of year:

Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale Wet Hop

Founders Double IPA

Southern Tier Gemini

and my fav...

Bell's Hopslam (which is already done for the year, but I stocked up!)