Monday, December 27, 2010

Year of the Big Ride

As I sit here in the Great White North, pining for my bike and Hill Country Roads, it seems appropriate to remember the Highs and Lows of 2010. Per the Garmin, 4,855 miles and 295,000 feet of climb in 2010.

January (12 Garmin Rides):
  • New Year's Day Fun Ride: Dough rolled downtown and through campus. Excellent ride, only for it's metro-venture.
  • Lime Creek: Did our first Dough spin on Lime Creek on 1/23.
  • BlackJack: On January 30, we rode the BlackJack for the first time. Great route all by itself, or bolted on to a longer roll.
February (11 Garmin Rides):
  • Cormac's Noose - on 2/14, we did our first Dough roll from Lola to Fitzhugh.
  • Dam Loop - Did five different versions of the dam loop in February (Mod+Cuern, Oz, ModOz(2), CryingOz)
March (1 Garmin Ride):
  • Pedal Thru the Pines (3/6) This was a short month.
April (10 Garmin Rides):
  • First ride back- 4/3, less than 5 weeks from the crash. This was a great day.
  • AT and Scheibs did the Poppy Ride
  • MS150 - 4/16 and 4/17 - Me, Panozz, Ullrich, Bergamo, Fitzy and VJ rode together. Blaine, Stanton and Hoodie rode with other teams. Rainy, but relatively safe. Learned some chemical warfare survuval skills.
May (16 Garmin Rides):
  • Shiner Ride - tailie was sweet! Averaged 21.6 mph, suffered because of lack of base, but the beer was excellent!
  • Haggis - 5/18 was our first meal of haggis. AT has since lost his taste for this breakfast meal. RULE5 is in order!
  • Real Ale Ride - 5/22. The Carlsons and I bolted an additional 8 miles onto this ride, in prep for the Harpoon. AT was too impatient.
June (9 Garmin Rides):
  • Atlas Ride -6/5. Panozzo missed it due to some explosive digestive issues. Ullrich exploded mid-ride. AT scoffed at the accomodations. I kinda liked the route, but the ride was a little like a chore.
  • Haggis - 4 orders In June. Harpoon prep.
  • Harpoon B2B - Me, AT, Carlsons hit the Leviathan. Paternity tests will be due in March. (see pic below)
  • Copper Triangle - Panozz did this one sans Dough....
July (10 Garmin Rides):
  • No Country for Old Men - One of the few debriefs that I am happy with.
    • Best in-ride Line: MC's compact crank remark.
  • Two routes in Atlanta. Me and Ullrich salvaged a baseball trip. While he almost destroyed my bike. I appreciated him carting it to Ga!
August (25 Garmin Rides):
  • Commutes- Who knew August is a commuter month. 10 garmin rides to/from office
  • Soccer ride!-Snuck in a ride in Houston with Tyler.
  • Black Haggis - 8/31 was the first time we bolted the BlackJack and the Hag.
September (16 Garmin Rides):
  • No Big Rides
  • Discovered the cut thru from Lost Creek to Bee Cave.
October (14 Garmin Rides):
  • Livestrong - very emotional day for the Dough. Great crew, great cause. See pics on the website.
November (10 Garmin Rides):
  • Tour das Hugel 11/13 - This was the crowning ride in a year of big ones. Panozz, Carlson, Bergamo, Fitzy, AT and me finished. Q executed a planned retreat.
December (10 Garmin Rides):
  • Lost Horizons (12/4) - Rolled Parmer to Andice from Scheibs house. Despite multiple punctures, the ride was a blast. Got some tips from Guz on riding in the pack.
  • Johnson City (12/18) - Discovered CR 301 connector to our Fitzhugh run. Switchback on Hamilton Pool is best climb in Texas.
Leviathan Jr.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Sunday Debrief

Perk was outta gas today. Small crew, with Z, AT, Bergamo, Z's buddy Phillip and I. we did the Mod Aussie. 40 miles. Starting Temp was 31 degrees. I tried to keep my power below threshold, which kept me off the back all ride. It was good to ride both days, but I am really feeling yesterday's effort. AT complemented my body geometry, as eminently draft-worthy. I think this is a back-handed complement, but am letting it slide for the Holidays. Phillip, Z and Bergamo dropped me and AT, so we limped back to Lola at recovery pace. This is my last ride of the year, so you guys enjoy the rolls without me!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Johnson City Loop

Ok, first off. Thanks to the Dough for raining me with adoration. I really love riding with you knuckleheads, and am really thankful to have such a great crew of friends. Your generosity really humbles me. So thanks fellas!!

So now to the roll.

Me, Panozz, Hoodie, AT, VJ, Yeti and Malo met at 290 and Fitzhugh this am. At 8am, the temp was around 30. Ridonkulous. So we called an audible and drove to the Texaco at Fitzhugh and 12, converting our ride to a 55 miler, and giving us about 20 minutes of sunrise to warm up the Hill Country.

We spun it up down Fitzhugh, and warmed up about 30 minutes down the road. For those of you that have done Fitzhugh, it was typical. Which means awesome. Great googly moogly, Panozzo is strong. He bolted about 10 miles shy of JC, and I tried to hang on. I entered my threshold at some point early on, then blacked out. I came to with Mauricio sidling away from me on hill4, post-break.

We regrouped (sans Veej) at the JC Exxon. Lady at the counter was her usual self. AT buys a can of chilled starbux. As he pays, she sings "Don't you wish your coffee was hot like me!" Then Hoodie sidles up. She sings "I`m a big baller you a little smaller, step up to my level you need to grow a little taller.*" A true renaissance talent.

HERE IS WHERE THE REAL RIDE STARTS:
1. The Sacrifice - we rode 4 miles on 281. It sucked about as bad as you can imagine.

2. The Journey - We turned on Cypress Mill (Blanco County Road 301). The 10 miles on Cypress Mill were phenomenal. Small roads, bear skat, wolf skat, wild cows, Sweet rollers. (see pic below). I really thought this would be the highlight of the ride.

3.  The Money Shot - 301 turned onto Hamilton Pool (962). after about 5 miles, we hit the absolutely smoothest stretch of road imaginable. This was good. At Mile47, we hit a low water crossing, then perhaps the best climb in the state of Texas. It came with a steep-ass pitch, a switchback, and the absolute most kick-butt view imaginable from the top.
Malo rode like a vet, hanging tough the whole way. As I already mentioned, Panozz transcends Dough comparisons. AT totally gutted it out. Yeti was fresh on his first post-hibernation ride. Hoodie had a little rough patch, attributable to a cleat adjustment.

CONCLUSION: This ride is a keeper.

Happy Holidays Dough!!

*Nicki Minaj – Check It Out Lyrics

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/60017198
http://www.photoshop.com/users/doughboys/assets/f942b6a09d8448c484da9f737a4a02f2

Friday, December 17, 2010

2010 Doughboy Awards

As we conclude 2010 (The Year of the Big Ride), it's time to pass out some awards. Winners have been nominated by the Shavers' Committee, and ratified by the Grand Poobah of the Pelo. Please hold all complaints until after the 2011 awards have been announced.

Recruiter - Malo. This guy has recruited about ten riders, which about equals the number of rides he has taken with the Club.

Turkey Leg - VJ knows how to smell the roses baby.

Polar Roller - Ullrich heats up when the temperature drops.

Hincapie - the Yeti gets this award for being the most selfless cat in the peloton.

Big Ride Points - Coach takes the participation trophy, with 11 ride points in 2010. Time for the rest of you slackers to get on the bike!

Combative - AT. The king of the futile break, AT is cut from the Cippolini cloth!

Renshaw - Hoodie can draft three riders back in the paceline, creating a virtual chamber of solitude. Some may call it an armchair!

Most Improved - Fitz McPhaul. On the bike, less is more. Big Tree became the Splinter, and made Power-to-Weight his favorite ratio.

Loose Cannon- Who has inspired more nicknames than anyone else in the pelo? Wulf, Taz, GeorgeMichael, La-velle. Am I missing any?

TT- Bergamo. Combo of him and his TT bike? Deadly.

Sprinter - Coach. Hoodie might take this one in 2011, but it's the atomic calves in 2010.

Le Grimpeur - Gotta be Mauricio. Beat the rest of the Dough by an hour (moving time) on the TdH.

Cross Rider - El Rey. Hands down our best mudder. Likely our best road guy too, but  you gotta log more than two Dough Rolls to qualify.

GC/All-Around - Mauricio. If we ever race as a team, Panozz will be the guy we protect. Able to hold a wheel regardless of the pitch.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Two best rides ever in back to back weeks!

Today was one for the ages! Stanton and Vijay had last minute changes so that left us with Panozzo, La Vell, Cracker, me and my buddy from work Sean. The morning started off with Mauricio showing us all his new power tap which quite frankly worried me and I was right to worry. We decided to roll the Modified Epic (the Mod Aussie w/ the Lime Creek loop).

Good warm up and an uneventful ride down to Panozzo's Point. We bombed it down to the dam and then got spread out on the climb. Mauricio and Sean passed me pretty quickly and while I did see them again, it was from......how should I say, "a distance" Then the Wulf reeled me in and passed. Cracker and I trying to save something for the three bitches controlled our ascent up to Walgreen's. Down to the lake on Bullick and then over the creek and thru the woods to three bitches' house we rode! The three ladies kind of surprised me and came earlier than I expected. Wulf again passed me on the ascent and this time he was chatting about something and smiling. I wasn't smiling.

Everyone survived and we regrouped at the top. Panozzo led us thru Spicewood and inflicted serious pain. How great would it be to have a tailwind up 360? Schwinnng! Coffee at Lola's was particularly sweet. Overall, one of the best rides we have done! Cracker comes out after not being around for a while and rolls a serious 56 miler. He must be training offline somewhere! Sean was strong like bull and stayed with Mauricio all day. Dude you gotta come back. This ride after last week's Andice roll have made realize why I do this!

One last thing. Is there any truth to the rumor (that I started) that Hoodie and Perkins are out training at altitude? Hey Coach, how was the "soccer" game?

Ullrich

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Rare Thursday Debrief

Really cold morning to ride! Since I rode the bike home last night, I met Lovell and Panozzo on the Haggis route. Miscalculations in projected mph led to lack of synchrony, which led to me freezing my balls off at Bee Cave and 360 for 20 minutes, as I arrived well in advance of the crew that left from downtown. Lot of time for reflection whilst my core body temp approached hypothermic levels. My epiphany? Never plan a mid-ride rendezvous again. My teeth were chattering by the time the bugs wheeled around the corner. The drop down 360 from Bee Cave was excruciating. I have never welcomed a climb as much as the hill to Rob Roy. Panozz just got his power meter. God help us all. Mauricio in search of his max power reading is not a fun riding partner. Not that it mattered, as he flitted away before extracting too much "try-to-keep-up" agony. Teres Mountain was as fun as usual, with the Wulf remarking "this seems longer than I remembered".


That's what she said.

While we felt like badasses, see Rey's pic below.
Message from Rey: "Rule #5, HTFU!"

Monday, December 6, 2010

Power or No?

Panozz got his SRM Powermeter today. Sweet deal off EBay. So add him to the list Rey! And welcome to the club Mauricio! I can totally understand the anti-power sentiment. Unless you are getting paid to pedal,  a powermeter transcends any argument for "need" that you could muster. But I don't care what others think about my rig. As a bean counter royale, the lure of measuring, recording and analyzing my actual (and as it turns out mediocre) effort overcomes any common sense arguments about need. Riding is about the experience. The ascetic in the peloton views technological advances as a threat to his soul. For him, Jester hill repeats on a fixie are the only true path to enlightenment. That is fine with, but not for, me.  I will take every advantage offered.  Compact crank? Yep. 11/28. Uh-huh. Carbon rims? Don't mind if I do. Garmin? Hellz yeah! Power Meter? fuh-shiz. My rig is jiggy fly, as the Guz so dubbed it. If you like it, great. If not, then kick it with your old school downtube shifters. I am sure that Di2 is overrated.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Sunday Shakeout

Me, AT, VJ and DK. Small crew, and we braved the wind. 43 degrees at start, winds from the N at 12-15mph. Spun the Mod Aussie, and paid the price for the first half, cutting the wind until we got to Anderson Mill. I was still fully tenderized from the Andice roll, and could not/did not want to push the pace. AT was fresh and chippy, pushing a brisker pace than my dead legs wanted. Good to get DK back in the game, and VJ as well.
Postride Machiatto was great. Panozz showed up to say hey, as he slept in from yesterday. How did it go bro? Have a great week Dough!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Lost Horizons Roll - 12/4/10

The Dough convened in its northernmost boundary this morning, spinning from the Kasa de Karl to Andice. Day got off to a wild start, as we cornered a possum in Sheible's front yard.
Roster was me, Hoodie, Ullrich, Scheible, Malo, Stanton, Lovell, Panozz, and guest punishers Steve G, and Brent HomeAway.
Hard to get rolling. As in, "Hey, my shoes don't fit into my pedals..." Malo has been all over the globe in the last month, so we will let it slide. But there will be a code of conduct add to cover lack of proper gear. Scheible performed some bike surgery, and 30 minutes late-r, we were on the road.
Slow climbs and sweet rollers were the call for the day, as we churned some butter on some pretty sweet track out to Andice. Early ride dew left us a little tentative, but we turned up the heat on the way home. Bad luck for Panozz on the way back. Two punctures led to a lot of downtime. First one came at a strategically good spot for me, as I was trying to tuck my heart back into my chest after a 4-man death spin. Second one got him stranded, as the only guy that stopped (Hoodie) is rolling tubes big enough to run my Cross bike.Sorry Panozz!
BTW, pickled eggs are not that great for in-ride nutrition. That is a gift that continues to give back. Check the website tomorrow for pics. But I will leave you with a shot of Wulf, Hoodie and Ullrich playing "What's My Line?"


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58776914