Don't Be Like This Guy

Turkey, stuffing, beer, CU football, more beer. Enough said.

Get On It

Getting back on the bike after a prolonged absence is a bit like breaking the seal on a can of spaghetti sauce. You have to force that sucker open with all your might and feel ridiculous that that can of sauce is kicking your butt. But it does and yes, you are weak.

I've started riding again after about a 2 month absence from riding, spending most of my time in the gym doing strenght training and the like. Went to Copper Mountain last week for the first day of snowboarding this season. I know that's not exactly a cardio workout, but my quads were pretty toasty after a couple of runs on the packed, man-made early season groomers. Looking forward to the "pow pow" as they say out here, but heck, no snow on the ground means an "opportunity" to get some early season bike riding in.

My Boulder team, Horizon Organics presented by Al's Barber Shop, is starting to get out and go for organized group rides on the weekend. The e-mails are starting to ferociously hit, with taunts of "I'm faster than you and it's November" coming at a rapid pace. I had to skip out last weekend due to a nasty little cold I picked up while working an overtime shift at work. At least I was getting paid to be sick.

So, here it is mid-November and I'm already stressing about putting miles on my bike. When I hesitate to ride, all I have to think about is the 2008 Race Across America, and I just jump right back on like a good soldier.

I'm headed out for a ride today out by Golden, nothing fancy, but it is miles and those count this time of year. Into December and January my Cat III team will be picking up with the devils who ride Cat I and II for our team, so I need to ride early and ride often and turn those pedals over.

Keep the rubber side down.

TC

Re-Up

Hi there,

Just got back late last night from a quick vacation down to Florida to visit Grandma Case. Was greeted with super high winds, geriatric drivers and a bunch-o-rain.

Spent a few days resting and recovering from a CRAZY couple of tours at work, which culminated in a rather large apartment fire where my comrades and I rescued 4 people from the third floor of the building that was on fire. Check this out...

Decided to go for a run and remembered, quite immediately, just how much I love cycling and just how much I hate running. I just don't get it. Okay, I was running on the beach and all, but my Chariots of Fire delusions just didn't cut it after a while.

Well, the e-mail flurries from my Boulder based cycling team are falling into my inbox just as readily as the white fluffy flurries dropping out of the sky up at my mountain chalet, I mean, house. Planning for 2008 is already underway, the biggest local announcement being that my Wild Oats Cycling Team will be sponsored by Horizon Organic for 2008. No Wild Oats (vis. Whole Foods buying them out) means no sponsorship. No worries! Horizon Organic is a solid company and my team will be going strong through next season. For heaven's sake, our first group ride of the year is already this weekend! So much for the "off season."

Team Strong Heart and yours truly have a whole bunch of work coming up with sponsorships, donations, budgeting, etc., but we are all extraordinarily excited about the upcoming year. There isn't a day that goes buy without thoughts of the 2008 Race Across America.

Bring it!

Tim

Crash and Freeze

I'm sore. Nope, not sore from an "epic" bike ride out in the ever-colder mountains of Colorado. No, I'm sore today because a couple of nights ago I crashed my motorcycle. Yeah, I'm the guy that rides his motorcycle until the snow and ice starts showing up on the ground. Actually, that's already sort of started out here, but not enough to keep me of the motorbike.

I was about a half mile from my house, riding home in the chilled mountain air when a huge buck jumped out in front of me. Mind you, I've had this sort of thing happen before and yes, it is freakin' scary when some unknowing creature crosses its path with an unknowing human on his bike. Usually it's just an affair forged out of letting up on the throttle and sort of dancing around the deer or elk or coon, or whatever. This time, though, I was on the dirt/gravel road near my house and so my reaction, whatever that was (I can't exactly remember what happened), sent me and bike sliding across the road. I ended up in the ditch after slamming my head, shoulder and knee into the ground. By grace, I was wearing all of my protective gear, save the riding pants I bought a while ago.

So...long story short, I got home in the dark of night, my shoulder is really sore, even today, my right knee is swollen but going down and my neck is getting better.

With that in mind, I've been taking it easy from working out. Yesterday I played basketball with some co-workers and took them to school, especially in the paint. Bottom line is, don't let the gimp get ahead of you because he will get the points at the basket. I tried jumping on the bike after b-ball, but my knee was telling me not to for very long so I went home...

Headed to the Race Across America Fall Festival tomorrow, hosted by the gracious folks at the RAAM organization. As you may have noticed, Team Strong Heart has made a HUGE impact on the RAAM organization and we have a ton of momentum headed into next year's event. I'll get y'all an update on the partay tomorrow, etc.

Keep the rubber side, pedal and motorized, down...

TC

Band of Brothers

Okay, yet again I don't have much to report on the training front, other than that I've been in the gym, out for a fall hike and the mountains to the west of my house are, well, snow covered. In a couple of weeks I'll be headed into Boulder for a Race Across America "meet and greet" with the organizers of RAAM, several current and former racers and staff. It'll be a great fact-finding mission for my own solo effort as well as the 4-person mixed team that Team Strong Heart is building for '08. Stay tuned for a an update on how that whole thing unfolds...
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The meaning of family and friendship has changed dramatically for me since moving out to Colorado almost two years ago for my job. With the cross-country move, the new job, new friends, co-workers, etc., I have had to adjust to breaking bread on Christmas Day with my "new" sisters and brothers at the firehouse while not doing the same with my family in Chicago, have adjusted to sharing the highs and the lows with those same folks, with joining two new cycling teams, one for the Race Across America and one for the "everyday" sort of training and racing that we like to do out here.

Family has extended to include those at the firehouse and those at the local bike race. Joining Team Strong Heart about a year ago expanded that definition and I'm a firm believer that my life is much, much better for it. Now, when my heart is broken or my strength (mental or physical) is failing, I have a richer bank to draw from and to pay back in every little way that I can. I know that I can count on every single person who has chosen to be in my life with my life, quite literally. When the call for service comes in at work and when the starter's gun goes off at the local criterium, I have an enormous sense of support and a foundation for truly wonderful things.

I've had an interesting turn of events in my personal life as of late and the past couple of weeks have proven to me that no matter what road I'm traveling down I am never alone in those efforts and travails. Thanks to all of you who care enough to read my ramblings, support Team Strong Heart and keep an ear to what is happening with my solo RAAM training and TSH in the upcoming year.

Keep the rubber side down...

Tim

What brings YOU here?

Okay, not much to report on the training front other than I've been off my bike for a bit of time and in the gym doing some strength training and core body work. Not terribly exciting but it definitely feels good to change up the pace and get back into the gym on a regular basis. The snow is starting to fly up by my house and this morning I was greeted to a quarter inch of ice on my truck.
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Now for something entirely different. There comes a time when one must assess what brings them to a certain point, if they are comfortable with that point and how they will resolve any conflicts which arise when they deem themselves uncomfortable with that point. I speak in code, however this sort of "crossroads" moment is relevant in sport training and even interpersonal relationships (the most recent example for me, recent as in THIS MORNING). How do we decide what to do when the "cards are down?"

I've been labeled through numerous tests as having the quintessential "field marshall" personality, which is a personality that lends itself to taking all available information, processing said information in an efficient manner and making decisions on the spot. About a year and a half ago I said YES! to joining Team Strong Heart and have never regretted that choice. TSH is an amazing organization that is as vibrant as ever. Great choice!

I know what brings me to Team Strong Heart and will keep me here. I know what brings me to the people closest in my life, even though those people don't always reciprocate that choice (again, in code, most recently I found this out this morning via e-mail (thanks AKB!)). Think about what brings you to the table, whether that table be the dinner table surrounded by family, the table of your local bar with friends, or the table you share in an RV traveling 18 miles an hour across the country.

Sorry for the ramble, but enjoy these song lyrics that came to mind as I closed my e-mail at 4:45 this morning and stumbled out into the misty cold of Mt. Evans, Colorado...this may uncode what I just mumbled about...

GOODBYE: Drive By Truckers
These cities blur before me, a swirl of colors leaned against the sky
Gone so far away and I never really told you good bye
I know it's kind of lame but sometimes things just turn out that way
We were the best of friends and I'll always remember you that way

We started out with nothing, but wild plans and big ideas and dreams
You were quick to swing the hammer and always fast with some ingenious scheme
Sometimes we argued violently but forged it out of bedrock into steel
Our foundations were so solid and our instincts based on something very real
I feel so damned nostalgic every time I think about those times
I forget how it became that I wouldn't recognize you on the line
I start to feel so guilty but goddamn it I swear to you I tried
To bridge between the distances before I left without saying good-bye

I have friends I met last weekend and friends I've had since I was eight
Friends I've said goodbye to and friends who unexpectedly passed away
And nothing is disposable; at least it's never been that way for me
Its not like you were an acquaintance that I could say never really meant anything to me
No we were really great friends and I always thought that it would be that way
Yet I wonder if I'd know you if the guy that I saw last walked in here today
And I swear until I die, I never would have expected you and I
To grow so far apart and leave without ever saying good bye

Transitions

This too shall pass...

Per my cycling coach, Eric Kenney, whom you'll be reading about on this website very soon, I'm supposed to be off my bike as much as possible. Getting fat...check! Actually, I've been in the gym working on lower body and core strength in this transitional phase of training. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't fairly pleased with being able to not ride copious miles day after day, as has been my routing throughout this year. So...I currently find myself fighting through a post shift workout, doing battle with the old ladies and their sign-up clipboards at the recreation center and generally doing battle with my need to always have food and drink in my mouth despite not having the activity level to support my latent hunger.

Transitions!

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On a completely unrelated note, last Tuesday, September 11th continues to be a day of mourning and struggle for many in the public service arena. America remembers the heroes and victims of 9/11 and I personally mourn the loss of 343 of New York City's bravest from the FDNY. I count them as part of my extended family and just wanted to include a quick note remembering those who were lost and those who struggle with that loss years after the fact.

Last week, Denver Fire hosted a memorial stair climb at the Qwest building which brought approximately 200 professional firefighters, including five of us from Boulder Fire Rescue, to a challenge of climbing 110 stories in our full firefighting gear, carrying tools and wrapped high rise packs (dry hoseline, spare air bottles, forcible entry tools, etc.). The women and men of the Colorado Fire Service paid tribute to those lost on 9/11 and worked in unison to carry themselves and about 80 pounds of gear each to the top of the Qwest building. Thanks to all who attended and to those who gathered to support our profession.

I'd like to leave you with this in remembrance of all we have and will lose:

Not of the princes and the prelates with periwigged charioteers
Riding triumphantly laureled to lap the fat of the years,
Rather the scorned - the rejected - the men hemmed in with spears;

The men in tattered battalion which fights till it dies,
Dazed with the dust of the battle, the din and the cries,
The men with the broken heads and the blood running into their eyes.

Not the be-medalled Commander, beloved of the throne,
Riding cock-horse to parade when the bugles are blown,
But the lads who carried the hill and cannot be known.

Others may sing of the wine and the wealth and the mirth,
The portly presence of potentates goodly in girth; -
Mine be the dirt and the dross, the dust and the scum of the earth!

Theirs be the music, the colour, the glory, the gold;
Mine be a handful of ashes, a mouthful of mould.
Of the maimed, of the halt and the blind in the rain and the cold -

Of these shall my songs be fashioned, my tale be told.

-John Masefield
"A Consecration"