Holiday survival

So I survived the thanksgiving Stuff your face till you puke fest. Barley. It all started on Thursday with the Dark Horse cranksgiving group ride. We rolled out a little before 9:30am and I can tell you now, it was rather chilly. From my legs to my waist I was nice and toasty, but me being not able to drop 80$ right away on winter cycling gear, was not equipped upper body wise. Needless to say the first 20 minutes of the ride was cold for me. I think the temp was like 35. But as it warmed up I did also. We were about 12 deep in our crew, it was a no drop ride so we kept a nice speed and goofed off for our 2hr 30 mile ride. It was really fun! I got back to my fiancée n my apt with time to spare, so we hung out untill we had to go to her parents to eat some turkey. After we spent time with erins fam, we headed to my parents for dessert and drinks. After seeing my family and having a bunch of drinks on our two day stay, it was time to go home. Great times!

Everything gets slow in the winter months, as I found out today. On my typical " just need to get on the bike and pedal " 20 mile loop, i can usualy push 19-20 most of the way. On this 38 degree weather day, it was a bitch to hold 17. It's so annoying! Anyway.... I ended my four day vacation/ holiday with a free food tasting with my fiancée at a venue we really like. We were the only guests there and we ate a ton and had awesome cocktails. The two of us spent 3 1/2 hours in a big room with no music just tasting foods, and we both had a blast! We laughed and talked the whole time. No wonder she is the girl I want to spend my life with. Well I guess I'm going to try and sleep. I had more to say but I forgot. I have alot on my mind with planning a wedding and getting ready for my 2011 race season. Talk to you soon.

Rubber Side Down
mike

It's been a while.

Yeah not in terms of that shitty song. But in it's true self. I have not posted in a long time. Its pretty hard to write every day. But I'll try n let you know what Ive been doing and will be doing on holiday.
First off, it's offically dark at 5pm now. So that means gym time. It's actually going well. I'm on the stationary bike just to keep weight, then hit the free weights and end it with a run. It's not fun but it works. Starting after thanksgiving I will be starting to train for the 2011 cycling season with the darkhorse dudes, and some other riders I can't mention at this time. But what i know is...it will be cold and it will be brutal. Sounds fun right! I've been riding bmx also. It's great cross training and I'm getting great footy for the upcomming scene wolf video. So my weekends usally consist of, up early to go cycling then ride bmx and then spending the best times with my fiancée. Not bad eh?
The dreaded hiday of overeating and drinking is upon us. Yeah that's right, thanksgiving! I'm excited to see my family, and meet some of my future family on erins side from Ireland. So needless to say, I'll be watching football with my fam, Considering my brother in law and myself are hudge eagles fans. So that is that! I'm riding bmx when I can and cycling when it's light out. Either way I'm staying in somewhat form.
Well that's it I guess, so inleave you with my top music for the week
1- Arcade Fire
2- Coconut Records
3- Maritime
Rubber side down
Mike.

Happy Haloween!

Yeah that's right! This weekend was fantastic, from what I remember. I kinda browned out. But I can tell you that I was it's always sunny in philidelphia character Charlie Kelly. I went as far as growing a beard for this one. " one which I don't want to shave lol ". The reason I don't wanna shave is cause I have what Erin calls a " firebreathing hangover ". I did stay up tonight for the first episode of the walking dead, it actually just got over. It was nothing less than amazing! The party lastnight was great and I can def tell you what everyone was. Just to name a few I seen, bank robber, Patrick batemen, beeker, a twister board, knight, zombies, Dexter and victim, a griffin lol, a fat chef and a baby. So fun! We had some beers and no fights and a great time.
And now onto what this blogs really about. BIKES!
So now that I'm not sick anymore I will b back on the bike. I think it may be about time to take my deep dish wheels off and put my beater rims on. When it starts to snow I will be riding bmx. I just went to the shop and ordered some brakes! So I'm excited to hit up some skateparks! Well I'm tired, so sorry this is so short. I'll post a longer blog this week.
Rubber side down
mike

Tired. Sickly. Slightly inactive.

We are almost at the end of October and I'm ashamed to say that I should of ridden more this month. With jack frost breathing down our necks, I should have taken more action. I did to the TT and finished at a respectable second place, but I just wanted to get out and get lost for a while. I did go out this week and it was possibly the worst day on a bike I had this year. The wind was slamming me every way but no tailwind " obv " it was cold and I was sore as shit. It's funny because i took a few days off the bike, hit the gym and played some hockey, and I tell you what, I got on my bike Monday and felt like a climbing god! It's crazy because as a cyclist, or any endurance athlete for that matter can tell you. Taking a few days or weeks off can make one feel like a sluggish couch potato. But it payed off. I was spinning up all my climbs at the " magic " pace. Since it gets dark about 30 to 45 minutes after I get home now, I change my cycling workouts from quanity to quality. I'll let you in on my little secret as to how I get ready for the upcomming season, and it's very simple. 30 to 45 minutes of hill repeats! That's it! Simple, brutal but worth it. Go up the hill go down, go up the hill, put in some hard efforts, back down and repeat. I actually did this so much this past season preparing for my Albany race, I forgot what it felt like to ride on flat roads. But that will be my off season plan. That and going to the gym with Erin when the snow hits.
I have not updated in a while because life has been busy. Wedding planning, haloween planning, my hockey season, going to hockey games and getting sick! Which brings me to the complaint portion of this crappy blog. I guess I have allergies because this time of the year I always feel the same. Sore throat, nasal drip and the occasional cough. Life does not feel real when your infected. You kinda feel like Edward norton in fight club. But I will overcome this cold or whatever it may be. It picked the wrong mother fucker to invade!
Lastly since I have not done a top artists of the week for....well about a week. Here is my top five!
1. Your demise
2. Catherine
3. Rangers goal song
4. Delorian
5. Designer Drugs

Rubber side down
mike.

Mike, the cyclist / part wedding planer

After a packed weekend with my fiancé's b day and friends b days, I squeezed a few days training in before my TT. So I'll give u a rundown of that now, then I'll talk about my awesome weekend.

Storm king cannibal-
or the Hudson highlands gran fondo, whatever you want to call it, was a 7.1 mile time trial up over the mountain and back over to end at the summit.
The event was right by my appartment so I got to sleep in a little. It was about 40 out when I got up, and my appartment was freezing! I didn't need much fuel for the race since it's short, so I had a piece of bread with nutella. I got all my shit togheter and filled my water bottle, grabbed a gel and drove to the stageing area. The race setup was pretty bad ass, there was even a chick who held your bike upright like in a pro tour TT. So I arrive and sign in and gear up and start riding around to warm up. I tell you, it was colder than a bastard out! I had goosebumps all the way till they called my name to stage " or so I thought ". The girl told me it was my turn so I pounded my only energy gel " hammer gel w/ espresso " for a extra kick, only to find out they made a mistake and I wouldent be going off untill 10am. Great I said to myself, I wasted my only gel 15 min too early. Finally it was my turn! I got on my bike with about 7 other cat 4/5 dudes watching, the chick held me up by my seat " I felt like such a pro" I almost did the contador sign of the cross three times lol, and the beep for ten seconds then 3,2,1.....I was off! I attacked the first mile long climb in my big chainring and almost right away I felt not very good. My legs were heavy from the lack of training and my form was off, but I made it up to the summit and bombed down. I was tucked as far as u could be and cranking my ass off, I was doing about 40mph. Then I hit more hills, I tryed to get into a rythm but I kept figgiting around and was uncomfortable. I hit the turn around and headed toward the finish line. I was digging deep and catching up to the guy who started a minute before me. ( it's a known fact for cyclists when your in a TT and see your about to catch someone, you kill yourself to get him no excuses ). I had him in my sights and by 500 meters to the summit finish I almost had him. I crossed the finish line in 00:23:23 just behind the dude. When I finished I could feel my body in shambles, my eyes were red, nose dripping snot and I was drooling all over. Good visual hu? It will be cause someone snapped a pic of me as I finished lol. I'll post it as soon as I find it. All in all I finished in 2nd place 24 sec behind the winner. Rats!!! But it's cool. On my way down from the finish to my car, I got a real moral booster! My fiancé and our very good friends were on the side of the road waiting for me to ride by. They cheered for me not knowing I finished 2nd anyway, which makes me really happy! Thanks to them. So that was the time trial!

As you now know Erin and I are engaged. So were trying to plan this wedding! Well Erin is, I'm kinda the half planner. Erin wrote out like almost all her family and friends in like 15 minutes. She handed the paper to me and I got as far as writting mom and dad. I'm horrible. Regardless, I am damn stoked to get married! I did look at dudes wedding bands and seen some bad ass tux's. I'm leaning to a titanium ring, cause titanium is fucking awesome. Altho I would love to have a carbon fiber one lol! I'm excited to help plan the wedding! Erin has all these wedding mags and shit, and I do sneak a peek at them, not gonna lie! I got some cool ideas. But I'm not telling! Well that's all for now. I'm going to let the rain sing me to sleep " and the occasional car horn ". So that's that!
Rubber side down
mike "the groom to be"

The race at my doorstep.

As you know my race this weekend is like 4 minutes from my apartment. With the little light that was left when I got home from work, I jumped on my bike and rode the course. It's a 7 mile TT suited for climbers and all arounders. This should be good for me since I love climbing. Tho I didn't ride my balls off the whole way, I did some hard efforts and felt like I could do well. It's a combined cat race " 4/5 " so it will be a challange! I'll go into the TT with an advantage since I ride that road almost every day. The desents are windy and overlook the Hudson river, so if you make a mistake you're dead meat! I'm excited to test myself against some riders who are better than I am, it will make me dig deep......PAIN CAVE!!!! If anyone wants to come support, or run along side me and scream, it's Sunday at 10am on storm king highway. " 218 ". Come and watch me suffer! After this race, it's just going to be some enduro rides and then my season will come to an end.

And now for my top artists of the week!
1. Lil Wayne
2. Dom
3. Phil Collins - for the third week in a row!!

Its past midnight as I'm typing this, and I have a long day tomorrow. I'm heading to headless horsemen after work to celebrate my fiancé's bff and good friend of mine also, Jane. We will def throw back a few beers n have a good time. I hope bjarne Riis don't kick me from my race Sunday for violating the alcohol after dinner rule! Lol. K I'm out.
From my cozy bed next to my beautyfull fiancé...
Rubber side down!
Mike

New chapters, more races, love.

Sorry for not posting in a while, my life has been pretty crazy the past week " in a good way ". For starters I got engaged Friday October 1st!!! I asked the girl of my dreams to marry me! It was 6 years in the making, and she said yes! I took her to the waterfront we often go to hang sometimes and asked her by the water. It was awesome! It feels like a new chapter in my life started, I feel so good and I'm 100% in love. I love the word fiancé, I used it like 5,000 times already...it don't get old lol.

Also, Im racing a time trial this Sunday right by my apartment. It's a 7.1 mile rolling hill course. I had to enter the cat 4/5 since it's combined. I don't plan on winning but I'm going to give it my all. I think I may just have to because I've been off my bike for over a week now. If I plan out my training right " which will only be a 3 or 4 day block, I should be ok. I just need to race! I love it so much ( not more than my fiancé ). There's just somthing about putting on you respected shops team kit and burying yourself in the saddle that I've come to love! I also read on the promoters site that HTC Columbia womens rider evie Stevens is suposto be there, along with other pros too. I have no clue if this is true or not. This is the first year of this event so who knows how this will roll. All I know is that I need to get into somewhat ok form for this Sunday. I would of started training today, but the stupid rain is keeping me indoors. But I'll try hard to get into ok form, so wish me luck!

Its cold out tonight, which leads me to believe the temp will not fluctuate from 60 to 90 every other day anymore. I'll try and plan some nice endurance rides to end the pretty successful cycling season I had. Tuesday is my fiances birthday too. So that's cool as shit. And Friday night we are heading to headless horsemen. That place is kick ass.
Well that's all I can remember for now. Untill later this week.
Rubber side down!!!
Yours engaged, in love and happy as shit!
Mike

Rain go the fuck away already

This islike the third day in a row it has been raining, and I am not stoked on that! Rain or snow for a person who spends most of their time outdoors is a serious mental blow. I am one of those people. When you are stuck inside due to the weather it can be horrible, altho I did make it through last winter without going postal, so I think I will be fine :) There is lots of shit to do during winter for me, hockey of course, riding " when it's not 20 out " and the gym. Which brings me to that subject, the gym!
Today Erin and I went to our gym for the first time since the snow melted last winter. We both have become very involved in our respected activities, so being that it has been pissing rain for a few days, we decided to suck it up and hit the gym. We get there and I obv jump on the stationary bike. Now let me explain this clearly! Big saddles on any bikes are annoying as shit!!! The little seats may look stupid and the cycling tights may look " gay " but for a cyclist it's the perfect match. So I hop on the bike and put my ass on the gigantic brillow pad seat and strap my feet into the pedals and start spinning. Right away my ass starts to hurt and my knees start hurting, but I work past it and stay on the bike for 45 minutes. In that time I def sweated enough to fill a water jug ( it's so fucking hot in the gym) but I told myself I better stop being a bitch cause winter is not even here and I am complaining already. But the gym is not that bad anyway. So Erin and I did our workouts and came home for dinner, " which Erin made and was totaly awesome".
This weekend is erins pre birthday weekend, her birthday usally lasts the whole week, " that's just how it is". I have some sweet plans for us in new paltz on Friday, and Saturday ( as I said in yesterdays blog I think) we are going to Albany for Oktoberfest! I am really excited to see all our Albany friends! What happens every time were in Albany is we get some drinks in us, and erin or I opens our mouth about the rangers and jon " sabres fan " does the same and we all explode into a hockey war. This is scary because pre season is almost over and the rangers play the sabres first game of the season! It's going to be wild. I hope Erin has a great birthday, and I'm going to do everything I can to make it awesome for her! And if she dosent want me to wear my sweet ass orange tie dyed double dragon fight shirt I bought at the renn faire I WILL NOT! Lol.
Thursday group ride update-
The weather is not looking good for the last ride with the guys this season. It's calling for 100% rain, heavy at times and 30mph wind gusts. It looked like the ride was not going to happen....then I checked facebook. The only person who is crazy enough to want to go out and ride in this shit and salvage the last ride was bill " obv!". So I told him I'm in too! I hope people show up other than us lol. What a way to end the darkhorse ride, misrable, pouring rain and windy as shit!!!! Perfect. It beats a good day at work!
Ok I think that might be it. And remember tomorrow is my weekly " top artists ". Or is that Thursday?? Idk whatever. It's my damn blog, I'll do what I want!!
Rubber side down
mike.

Time off the bike......i have a love/hate relationship with it.

So after a long crazy weekend I am finally getting back on track with my nutrition, but I have been off the bike for about four days now and I can feel the slugishness in my body already. But first off, let me tell you about my weekend.
 Thursday was the last time I rode my bike. I was on my usual group ride, but there was only four of us who made it out. We set out at 5:30pm with only a hour n change of sunlight, I felt decent just putting in minimal efforts, hanging and talking with the guys. Then we lost track of time and it started getting very dark way too fast. I took over the workload with about 6 miles to go, and buryed myself. As i started sweating like a mad man, I felt myself starting to get that feeling like you have or are about to have a cold. I got home and showered up, then it was a disaster! my throat was itching my ears itched and it felt like I was swallowing tacks. I finally fell asleep that night and woke up friday feeling like I was hit by a truck. I made it to work only to leave early due to my sickness, on my way home I stopped by the health food store n got my wacky herbs " I refuse to take medicine " and sure as shit I started feeling better saturday morning for my fathers retirement party. The party was great and it was nice to see family I have not seen in a while. Most of my cousins have children now and they are awesome! I spent time with my niece's and nephew which was great also. Then me and Erin ate and drank lol. I ate more in 2 days then I do at my apt in a week, I feel good mentaly but my body is screaming for physical activity.
 I would of got back on the bike today but the forecast is calling for rain like all week! It may sound crappy but I think it may be time to start hitting the gym. I have no clue how erin and I went there so much last winter and didnt go insane. But I plan on doing some heavy core work and some strength training. I will be on the stationary bike obv!!!!! I like the bikes cause they tell me how many watts I push out, which is prob wrong anyway, but I can get an idea. Other than that I usally gear up and hit the road on weekends and days I get outta work early, its damn cold but there is nothing better than being out on the bike at anytime of the year. I guess that may be it for now. The UCI world championship are this weekend and it is ERINS BIRTHDAYYYYY. I should have some cool stories about her birthday weekend since we are heading to albany for a oktoberfest street fair deal lol. K i cant think about anything else, so ill post again soon. I have to make some lunch for tomorrows workday.
rubber side down
 mike

I'm living my life while I pretend to live my dream

I find myself thinking alot while I'm driving to my job, it generally takes me about 35-40 minutes to get there. During that time I think about almost everything, life choices, my gf, food and if work is going to suck that day. When I'm at work I barley think about what tasks I have to take care of that day ( mostly because it's the same tasks as the day before). So I throw on the old headphones and listen to my cycling podcasts untill it's time for lunch, then I open up my cycling mags n have some lunch. I always think about what it would be like to be a pro cyclist? I'm kinda doing the same thing the pros are but I don't get payed, don't travel to Europe and I got to buy my own shit. But I DO train my ass off, eat right, ride with a team and race on weekends. Ah simple custodian by day, amateur cyclist by night. But when I get home from training or a ride, I have to help clean my sweet ass apartment that my REAL job pays for. Next season it would be cool to win some money at races so I can throw towards rent or a new couch or anything for that matter. But idc if I don't make a dime, I fucking live cycling.
Today I went out for a ride and sweated my ass off in the 87 degree heat, I was at the farthest point away from my home when the black clouds started to roll in. I freaked out because it was getting dark, and even darker cause of the rain clouds, so I TT'd back home which took me another half hour to get back, and along the way I decided it would be a good idea to hit all the hills I can find on my way back " knowing it is about to pour any time ". On the last climb before I hit flats all the way home the hill kicks to a 20% grade for a lil more than 800meters, at that time I remembered that I didn't eat enough calories for such stressfull riding. Then my mind got fucked! I was fine the whole time untill now! My eyes got red, legs got heavy and my chest felt like it was going to cave in. I finally made it to the top and recovered enought to TT back home. But all that horrible shit that my body did to me happened in less than 2 minutes! Crazy story hu?
Lastly, I got group ride tomorrow! I get so giddy over it. It's just the coolest scene, I leave work at 5, get to the shop, kit up and shoot the shit with George, mike and the guys and then we roll out at 5:30 and ride untill dark ( which is like 7 now ). The only thing that sucks about group ride day is that I have to bring extra food to eat at work before I head out on the rides. Actually that dosent even suck! Lol. Well I think that's it! Another boring post about my daily adventures. I guess I'm going to make wednesdays my top three artists of the mid week. And they are " in no order "
1. Deadmau5
2. Yeasayer
3. Phill Collins
pretty sweet deal!
K I'm out, rubber side down!
Mike

Cycling news, bad tv and boredness

Ahhh the sweet sound of neighborhood idiots burning out on main street. I don't get these stupid teens, even when I was a stupid teen I was not doing burnouts right by the police station. I was actually in parking lots with my friends riding a grind box on our bmx bikes. Bmx is and always will be a part of my life ( even tho I barley ride anymore ). But I still find myself looking at dig bmx or ride bmx online to see the crazy shit people are doing now. It is redic to say the least. Moving on..... I have recently found out that my favorite cyclists of all time are adding heavy hitters to there new team! As of now it's frank and Andy schleck, Brice felliu, and the newest addition Fabian cancellara!!! Holy shit.
I rode today, and nobody called me lance!!! That's a first. But someone flew by and asked me if I raced? Yes asshole I do race. I was also recently informed by a team mate that our Thursday group rides will prob wrap up at the end of this month. Sad.
Typing on my iPhone sucks big time, I wish my mac worked again, I should get on that. If all goes well, I think I might start podcasting? U have all the crap to do it. It's going to be about music, cycling and hockey. All over the spectrum lol.
This weekend I will be heading to my parents for my dads retirement party! Yes I will be riding on my old stomping grounds, and yes I will get drunk with my dad. He deserves retirement! He's worked hard his whole life. So that will be fun. As for tomorrow, Im going to try and wake up early and make coffee ( but I prob won't ) and I'm taking the day off from riding. Me and the girlie got laundry to do :)
k that's it for my rambling. These blogs don't even make sense.
Untill next time
rubberside down
mike

NYC, fixies and training plans.

So Erin and I went to Brooklyn yesterday to see modest mouse. I will start with the show, then I'll rant about the hipsters. The band was great and I had fun watching grown men freak as if they were 14 year old girls who had beiber fever. Erin is more city savy then I so she guided me around while I judged everyone. We found a bar called whisky town, and I had a awesome margirita that I'm totaly stealing the recipie for. Now I rant! I'm all about bicycle commuting and I love seeing people just riding for the sake of riding. But I can't stand the so called " fixie " cyclist. I like to call the fixie, the suicide bomber of the bike world. They look like bums with their flanel button up " usualy too tight for them " and overly tight pants with the drive side leg pulled up. I don't understand how most of these hipsters I meet say they have no money, but yet they ride around on $3,000 pinarello dogma frames. I also noticed that there is tons of bike lanes in the city, but also noticed that "mrs house mom" feels she has to stroll her semi truck sized stroller right down the middle of the bike lane forcing actual bike riders to ride in the already dangerous NYC street. But I digress.

BATTENKILl-
April 10, 2011
this is when I enter the pain cave! I'm working on plans for a winter training program to get me into form for the battenkill tour. I'm really looking foward to it, but know it's like 7 months away. For the most part I'm done training for the season, I'm starting to put in more endurance rides ( with hill intravels and hitts of course) just to end the season in somewhat decent form. I've already peaked this season during my Albany race" which I fuckin won " and it is difficult to peak twice in a season. So over this winter I will armor up in the winter gear and put in the miles when it's 25F so I'm ready for the tour. Battenkill is also a UCI event. So teams from Europe fly in for what people call the " north American Paris-roubaix " I will have a teammate with me for the race but I think he will be in a different cat than I. But it will still feel comfy having a team member there. All I can say is that I'm going to give it 150% and see what happens. K time for bed. I got to check the weather cause I have group ride tomorrow. There's a chance of rain, and also a chance of me ripping faces off if I can't ride. Jk jk. Untill next post.
Rubber side down
your " road dweeb "
mike

Bad Sunday morning, good Sunday night

The weekend went way too fast, that's all I'm saying. Well let's start this. I abandoned my last race of this season. I woke up in the middle of the night the day of the race, very badly dehydrated and with a horrible case of stomach cramps. At this point ( which was at like 4am ) I knew that I would not be able to race at the best of my abilitys. Then I got really down on myself. When you train your ass off and put in such hard work, it is a shame when shit like this happens. I felt like I let myself down. I was so excited to wear my darkhorse kit with the most pride anyone could have. But instead I was couch bound drinking water untill lunch time. But all in all I had a great season. A 8th place in a ITT and a win upstate in Albany! I am already looking foward to offseason training and I have set a goal for 2011 already. That goal of course is to race the tour of the battenkill. I have here'd it's almost all on dirt roads with brutal climbs. That could suit me well! And I'm letting you all know right now.... I want to fucking win that race! And idc how hard I have to work. As offseason hits I will be doing some crosstraining by playing hockey. I love hockey almost as much as my gf and cycling! I actually just got off the computer from my fantasy hockey draft ( which took like a hour and a half) and my team looks good! For the record, I have no devils on my team. That was a good way to end my night. Well almost as good as laying in bed next to my best friend / gf! We went to the movies today n watched the new resident evil in 3d. It was good! And I even went nuts and ate some twizzlers ( which made my stomach rip apart). I guess when you never touch sweets it happens. Back to cycling. Since it's getting cooler it's time for some nice enduro rides, I think I'll fit a 100 miler in somewhere between now n winter :)My cycling tan is starting to fade " which will make Erin super happy" I worked so hard to get it! I'm sure like 3 weeks into winter I will look like a vampire lol. K I think that's about it for tonight. Back to work Monday so I can daydream about riding and wish I was home with Erin.
Untill next time.....rubber side down

yours in dissapointment
mike

mornings, cycling tours and life.

Im sitting at the computer looking at the screen thinking of what to write about today, IM kinda getting distracted cause the Vuelta A espana is on. Its the last of the three grand tours. For those who do not know, the three grand tours are the giro d italia, the tour de france and the vuelta. To say the least I watch a lot of cycling on tv. I actually watched all three this year lol. But as the season ends, I look foward to the spring classics!!! Even if someone does not even give a shit about cycling, they should watch the two major spring classics. These are the tour of flanders and the Paris Roubaix. They are only one day long but are stupid long and race over crazy cobbles. A must see for any sports fans. Today I am trying to get motivated to do somthing for the first half of the day. I have to take a ride to the music store n pawn off my bass pedal cause it would be nice to have some extra cash this weekend, but that will take all a hour I guess. I was actually going to take a ride to my race location today n ride the course, but obv that didnt happen. I have a group ride tonight and I dont want to kill my legs before the race weekend. As I am writting this Im looking out the window down on main street where I live, and can see the local bike shop right across the street from my apartment. The place is just like 10 steps from my apt, and I refuse to go there. Its such a typical " oh trek bikes are the best cause lance armstrong rides them and ohhhhh were so fucking snobby". I went there once and the guy actually charged me 2 dollars for lubing my chain! U KIDDING ME! For the last year and a few months I have been taking my buisness to dark horse cycles. Those dudes are awesome! They just opened a new shop and deal specialized bikes ( the best bikes ever) I strongly feel that if anyone wants to get any kind of bike to go to darkhorse!
ok this blog is all over the place. My cat is wrecking everything in the apartment so im out.
rubber side down
Mike

What are we to do now?

It's sad to say but it is true, we are comming up to the end of cycling season. This does not make me a happy camper. But I do look on the brightside of things. Hockey season starts! And for all of you who know me, I am a gigantic hockey fan. I play in the cycling off season. Another perk of winter is that I can spend much needed time with Erin. She has been so patient this season and sometimes even bailed on fun plans cause it was a " mikes race weekend ". In fact, this comming up weekend is a race weekend! I will be heading out to stony point ny for a sweet 30 mile road race. There are 50 riders in my cat and I think if Im feeling good I will try and get ahead with the early break. I also think that a fellow darkhorse team mate may join me on this one too, so that's a plus!!! I also will have to have some willpower the weekend of the race. The anual Hudson valley wine festival falls on the day before the race! I'm playing the DD so I don't drink, and hey WTF, I enjoy watching my gf n friends enjoy themselves! Mabye I'll taste a " few " new wines? We usualy hit up a nice resturant after also so that's cool. K it's late n I'm getting thumb cramps! I'll try and post again tomorrow. Untill then....
Rubber side down!!
Mike

Cycling and " monk like " living.

So I'm sitting in a bar in a nearby town to where I live. It's getting late and cause I'm a freak and feel I have to live like a monk I have limited myself to 2 beers. When you get into cycling and it takes over every aspect of your life....I'm not gonna lie it annoys people. I know it is late in the season and I am in no way a pro cyclist. But I feel I owe somthing to my body for being good to me this whole season and keeping me healthy. I don't know if my other cycling companions think the way I do on these subjects. Cycling has made me so mind fucked the past couple years. It's funny how people become obsessed with things " like myself ". I do not have a obsessive personality , well I guess I do considering I refuse to eat dessert and I refuse to have any sort of chocolate because I think that I will get " fat " and it will effect my riding. I guess I'm just rambiling on and letting all of you who don't read this how nuts I am when it comes to everything cycling. So just call me crazy cause I freak if Im out somewhere and I can't eat anything healthy. But anyway, I had a fun group ride today, my friend flatted out a half hour into the ride and I waited for him. So we fixed his flat n played catch up with the group " who we could not find ". So we rode fast as shit back to the shop, and that was that. Well I guess that's it for tonight. This really was not a post about anything important, I'm just trying to kill time in this bar where I'm not drinking a drop of alcohol. I love my friends who are here and I love my gf.
Rubber side down
peace mike.

Heat and hills

Well I think I officialy forgot how it feels to ride on flat roads. This of course is because im in the middle of a training block and this is the time of the block im in the hills for a few days. The thing that sucks tho, is that the hills date falls on one of the hottest weeks of the year. Your climbing and climbing.....and your legs feel like cement and you head feels like a vaccum bag thats ready to explode. That is what im doing to prepare for what will be my last race of the season this year " like I said before". The race is mostly flat and the peloton will be moving super fast, that does not cater to me, cause I do better in the hills. But that dont mean I will not try n win that shit anyway. As im typing this on my girlfriends computer the president is jabbering to the nation ( i just wanted to tell you all that ). When this last race is over and the snow starts flying I think I might just go insane, I do play ice hockey and watch it also "GO RANGERS!!!!" but thats no comparison to racing, I have fell so in love with it this year and been riding with the coolest dudes ever " darkhorse cycles dudes" I didnt think cycling would get any better! k I better wrap this up cause erin is waiting nicley to use the computer. I want to give a big chapeu to her for putting up with all my cycling n hockey nonsence for these years, she is the best girlfriend I could ever have. And i thak her for that! K untill next time rubber side down n peace!!!!
 Mike

Slepless at home

12:16am on Monday and I'm awake. I think I layed around so much today it made my body sore. Speaking of sore, I have just finished up a three day training block. I think I over did this one, I am currently prepareing for probably the last race of my season this year. Overall this season has been good, I had a 8th place finish in my TT and a I won my capital road race in Albany. As many of you know or do not know, I have decided to move on from my band Chernobyl. There was no creative issues or fights between us, I just lost motivation and somewhat my love for the drums. I love all my friends in Chernobyl and will still be hanging with them all the time,I wish them the best but as far as music is concerned I'm finished. K my thumb is starting to hurt cause I'm on my phone. I'll try n post soon n let you know what I'm up too. Night
mike