Fear –noun
1. a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
2. a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.
3. concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.
4. reverential awe, esp. toward God.
5. that which causes a feeling of being afraid; that of which a person is afraid: Cancer is a common fear.

I have done a lot of things during my time that have given me an adrenaline rush. I'm a bit of a
junkie at times and am willing to try pretty much anything if the opportunity arises.

fallen out of a tree....check
fallen off of a one-story roof....check (twice)
rock climbing....check (incident free)
crashed hard on BMX bikes....check
crashed hard on mountain bikes....check
crashed hard on cyclocross bikes....check
shoulders brushed by passing motorists while riding road bike....check
120+mph in a car....check
160+mph on a motorcycle....check
100+mph on a motorcycle into a ditch....check (that one was a big check)

What's the point of all this you ask?
I woke up on Sunday morning with the left side of my face feeling numb and droppy. Couldn't blink my left eye very well, left side of my mouth won't smile and moves very little when I talk, left side of my lower lip has no feeling at all. Couldn't keep water in my mouth as I brushed my teeth. Fear set in, plain and simple. Amy drove me to see the doctor and thankfully him and his nurse were both very knowledgeable and helpful. The Doctor diagnosed it as Bell's Palsy and thinks that I should be fine in a few weeks. Of course, having the internet at my fingertips means that I went home and started reading, reading, and reading some more. I should be an expert shortly, right? Probably not. In some cases it can take longer for things to go back to normal and in very few cases it can be permanent. The Doctor was otherwise very pleased with my health and physical shape so he seemed to be pretty confident that I would be fine. I'm taking his word on it and the fear has pretty much left the building.

Happy Monday. :)

I know, my updates are few and far between....they pretty much suck. I'm trying.

Well, I finally have myself into my off-season roller groove with some consistent riding sessions. 'Cross season is still a ways off so no real hurry just yet. I'm trying to do the off-season a little different this year to see if I can move my peak back just a bit more than the 2009 season. I have some different riding plans on schedule for that once spring gets here as well. Planning on spending A LOT more time riding in the dirt and enjoying the singletrack.

Our new team, Velo Syndikat, has released a blog and as of today you can see what the 2010 kit will look like. I'm pretty excited about the kit since I had a big part in it and, although biased, think that it came out pretty well. It will definitely stick out during the races of any discipline in Iowa. See it here.

Yet another busy week at work starting today. They have me on more projects than I can count right now and it's a project in itself to keep it all straight and retain my sanity. Hopefully there will be an end in near by the end of this week.

Most of the weekend was spent sitting in front of the television watching old shows and movies or hanging out with Rhea in her room. Only left the house once for about 30 minutes on Saturday and only for a couple hours yesterday. Just a plain old lazy wekend really. Felt good too. I did put in some bike time on the rollers yesterday afternoon while Amy used the elliptical machine and Rhea napped. I should probably make a solid attempt at making that a regular part of my day again.

The new team that we are assembling, Velo Syndikat, is moving along quite nicely. I need to make a couple of small tweeks to the kit design and then we should be ready to get the ball rolling with Verge Sport in terms of getting kits made. It's actually been pretty fun getting this all together up to this point so I hope that it continues that way once the ordering process starts. We will have a team website up and available here shortly as well so that everyone can follow along during our adventures.

The Velocity Bottle Trap. It's a water bottle holder for a bicycle, right? That is correct. It holds a water bottle. I was asked to take a look at these cages and give some feedback on my thoughts. Always willing to help out, I said sure. So I was handed two of these in, my now mandatory color choice of, black. Black goes with everything so they will look the part on each of my bikes as they get rotated around the fleet to be tried out in various conditions.

Initial Impressions. The Bottle Trap has a pretty basic look about it. It may not be as eye-catching as some of the fancier cages available but, this isn't an overpriced carbon fiber cage either. (Note: I have two sets of carbon cages that I normally use so I'm not really bashing on carbon, I love carbon but it is expensive) The Bottle Trap seem very minimal in the base area that holds the bottle. No wasted material needed. They seemed pretty lightweight to my right away as well so I set them on the scale to compare them to my carbon cages. The Velocity Bottle Traps came in at 30g each which is identical to the Profile Design Karbon Kages that I had mounted on the SystemSix previous to this. I also have the Bontrager Race X Lite cages which weigh in at 26g.

I'll more to post on these cages as I get a chance to use them more often and in different conditions so stay tuned.

Labels: Bottle Trap, VelocityUSA

Or at least I am trying to. Quite a few things to get done although there is no real hurry on any of them. That's a god thing this time of year because when things don't go quite as planned then there is still time to make the necessary corrections to get it back on track.

First off, the 'B' Bike is almost complete. While doing some work on it on Friday I realized that I was still missing a couple of small Cannondale specific items that I need to get a hold of. Hopefully I'll be able to locate them this week and get it all together. Like I said, no real hurry though.

Secondly, getting this new team together. Kits are about 95% done in terms of design and hopefully a selection will be made this week about which company will be making the kits. I have samples scheduled to arrive from Champion Systems, Verge Sports, and V-Gear. Having not sean any of it up close I am still open to all of them so if anyone out there has experience that they would like to share, please feel free.

Last on my schedule, go figure, is training for the 2010 season. I have already decided that I was going to back off a bit on the road racing so I have a bit more time to get my body going but, I did get things started this weekend. 60 minutes of rollers was in order on Saturday morning which is always the worst one in my opinion. Sunday was a 30 minute XC ski session with Blue. That's the first time in probably 25 years that I have been XC skiing and it went okay for the most part. I did pretty much fall to the ground 5-6 times and now I totally understand why XC skiers hate it when people walk in their tracks. It is so much easier to XC ski when the snow is already broken and the tracks are in place. Walkers and dogs tend to detroy that and make it difficult to maintain a straight course. I heard the complaints from the XC ski crowd while I was working at Europa too and I still don't have a real solution. Most trail users don;t care about anyone but themselves so asking a walker to share the trail with XC skiers will be along the same lines as asking those same walkers to share the trails with the cyclists in the summer months. It's just not going to happen. Just keep smiling.

Wow. Two weeks away from work also equates to two weeks away from the blog. Hopefully I am recharged for both of those tasks. With 2009 over and done with, I have started to look at what I would like to do for the 2010 season. I have not made any real solid plans, nothing is written in stone, and I am still open to some change here and there along with that which is already in the works.

Some of the changes for the 2010 season aren't that big of a deal really, such as going back to riding and racing in the dirt rather than on the road. Ultimately, There are a couple of reasons for this. First and foremost, I miss the singletrack and pretty much everything that goes with it. Riding singletrack is peaceful and soothing in many ways. I get to see more nature and all of the wonderful things that come with it. Riding and racing on the road have been fun and although I hate to admit it, it seems to be getting more and more dangerous every year. I was ran off the road a few times last season by drivers who don't care about anyone but themselves and at the time I just blew it off. Well, over time I guess that has worn on me and I think that I am getting a bit worried about how far some of these drivers are going to take it. I guess that I am not ready to become a statistic on the wrong side of the autos vs. bicycles war just yet. Maybe I'll get over it by spring, who knows. Plans will still include the group rides on Tuesday and Thursday nights though. I guess that I may end up spending more time on the gravel roads now too.

The second change for the 2010 season is a little bigger, at least for me. Having spent the last two season racing for the best cycling team in the state of Iowa, Rasmussen's Bike Shop, I have decided to make an attempt at building a new team in the local area along with a few other select people. These are the guys that I ride with the most and we are hoping that together we can win a few race and have a ton of fun. More on that new team as information becomes available. We are still in the process of getting things together.

This week represents the sixt consecutive week away from any bike riding for me as well. It goes against my better judgement but, I am feeling great. The body is fully recovered and getting recharged so I should be getting back into the swing of things here pretty quick. 'Cross season is still eight and a half months away so I should be on pace.

The 'B' Bike should be reassembled sometime in the next week if the final few parts arrive at Bike Tech here shortly. I made a few changes to my setup so i want to check them out on one of my 'Cross bikes to see how the work out and then I'll get started on the 'A' Bike to match. The two biggest changes are switching back to a double chainring with a 39/46 setup. The second change is an issue of fit with different handlebars. I was using a 44cm FSA Omega Compact which is 44cm c-c width at the bar plugs but, it is more like 42 cm at the hoods and I wanted something a bit wider in the hood area. The Omega Compact also has a 125mm drop and I would like some more there as well. I have ordered the 3T Rotundo Pro in a 44cm width which also has a 139mm drop which will be closer to what my road bike has so I am hopeful in a slightly better fit. More on that when the parts arrive.

Today officially marks three weeks off the bike for me and I really cannot complain. It's given me time to get the 'Cross bike torn down, cleaned, and the rebuild process has been started. The "B" Bike is nearing completion and only needs things such as cables/housings, bar tape, and a chain to be finished. The "A" Bike is also taking form but, is short quite a bit more at this point. Rear derailleur needs new pulleys and the right shifter is going in for a rebuild. I'm also looking to get a new crankset for it as well as some other pieces here and there so it will be a little while before that one is back together 100%.

Saturday was spent hanging out in the basement for a while to get some work done in my bike shop. The SystemSix has had it's annual tire swap is now ready for the rollers although, I'm not sure if I am ready for the rollers just yet. I still need to clear out a little room in the basement to get them set up but, that will not take long. I guess you could say that I could get on the rollers in a matter of minutes of I needed to. I also have my '88 Bianchi Brava that is being looked at for a true single speed or fixie conversion so that it can pull commuting duty next year. A set of Velocity's Deep V wheels would be needed to get that project done or I could look into having G-Ted relace the Shimano 105 6-speed hub to a new rim and make it a 1x6. I think that I would rather go the SS/Fixie route though so notes need to be made.

Running has been going surprisingly well for me too, as can be noted by me having two posts in a row with running as part or all of the post. Saturday's run went so well that I was going to arrive back home 3.5 minutes earlier than scheduled so I opted for an additional .5 mile loop to get the time in. That brough me back to the driveway right on time too which put a smile on my face. Post-run soreness is definitely getting better every time as well so it is making it eay to lace up the shoes each time. I am currently on a 2-3 day per week schedule and it is working out okay although, I would like to get myself on a solid 3 days per week to keep the building process consistent. I guess that you could say that I am realy hoping that adding the running to my schedule will help my 'Cross racing in 2010 but, I also hope that I do not set myself up for any problems at the same time. The snow has helped to make the running a bit softer and next spring will get me off the pavement and onto the singletrack for my runs for a bit more cushion and a better view.

Today is my last work day of 2009, hopefully the day goes by fairly quickly. Eight more hours until 13 days of relaxation, kind of. The Holiday season isn;t usually much for relaxing but, one can hope. Right?