Bracket (and Quad) Busting Sunday

And just like that, my interest in NCAA basketball is again on life-support. The teams I picked to win have almost all lost (Kansas, I'm looking at you) and the times I have willed so hard to lose are still in it (damn you, ohio state...). I still could get two teams to the Final Four though, so hopefully that'll hold my interest for these next two week until baseball season FINALLY starts!

After the pump 'n ride adventure I had on Saturday night, I was anxious to get out and put in a good, solid ride on Sunday consisting of nothing short of hard efforts.

Sunday morning did not disappoint!

I met my friend Patrick over at Dupont Circle shortly after 10am. It would've been 10am sharp, but I had to donkey around with a lump in my tube b/c I didn't put the tire back in correctly. (SUCH. A. NOOB.) After riding slowly on the lopsided tire for about 1/8 of a mile wondering if it work itself out naturally, I finally stopped to inspect. I didn't know what the hell was wrong so I had to call Patrick and ask him. He made fun of me and then told me how stupid/easy this problem was and how to fix it. I fixed it, then raced over to meet him.

We headed off toward MacArthur Blvd. to follow in the tire-treads of a Master Half-Marathoner whose blog I follow. Dirk was cool enough to give me the turning cues for his 40k route and I really wanted to give it a shot. After all, I am still kicking myself for training almost exclusively at Hains (FLAT) Point last year and thinking that my flat-land speeds would somehow translate to rolling hills during an actual race. Dirk's course definitely had some hills and lately I have a new-found pension for suffering on hills. It was looking like it'd be a good match.

We hit the startling line and were cruising along quite comfortably. Eight miles from the line and we encountered this monster of a hill. It was awful, but it was wonderful! I found myself repeatedly pondering why I have aerobars attached to my bike. In my mind, they looked like a couple of clip-on, lead weights. As far as hills go, I used to take them all sitting down in gear that would allow me to keep my cadence up (is that a low gear or a high gear?), but now I stand up and pump the crap out of my pedals. Hell, I even threw in a bunch of "up-strokes." Hellooooo cyclic mechanics awareness!!!

After The Monster, we were greeted with a bunch of big rollers where we'd cruise downhill between 30-35 mph and then ride our momentum back up the next one. Eventually we found ourselves at the halfway point and decided to swing by a gas-station for some fresh, chilly gatorade. Half a bottle of purple-flavored stuff later and we were back on the road, albeit in the opposite direction.

That monster hill was so wonderful to be riding down, instead of up. I was FLYING! My legs were pretty thrashed from the ride the night before so as soon as we hit flat-ground and started working through the mini-rollers I could really feel it.

I also learned a new lesson in continuous pedal stroke. As I get tired, my front wheel starts to flounder (more than normal) all around. I never really noticed or cared much before because I was always riding on a wide stretch of road that is otherwise closed down to car traffic. But, put me on a country road with a tiny shoulder and I develop a particularly strong affinity for keeping that wheel straight. To help, I focused more on a continuous pedal stroke. Magically, that closer-to-even power distribution does wonders for your balance. I suppose with a bunch of practice I could learn to keep my wheel straight enough that I could ride comfortably in closer quarters with others, peloton styyyylllllllle.

We concluded the ride at CycleLife (bike shop) where we picked up a couple of AMAZING smoothies and sat out in the sun on the Georgetown waterfront. It felt pretty damn good. Ahhh....

Once the smoothie was emptied, it was back on the bike to tackle three big hills en route to my house, a shower and some beer & food!!!

Chicken Jerusalem (wine, lemon, mushrooms, green onion, 

garlic, artichokes) and a Vegetable Medley

Stone Smoked Porter, in a glass (always).

Monday means swimming so I'm hoping for a good one.

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Just quickly, it looks like there was some closure between Lance Armstrong and Tony Kornheiser. You can read a couple of different takes on the matter HERE (USA Today) and HERE (Slowtwitch). I think Tony over-stepped his bounds when letting loose very embellished comments on what he thinks about cyclists. Do I think he's sorry? Yeah, but mainly because of the huge publicity hit he took.