What I did this week instead of Advertising

Tour of California

2007-02-26T12:19:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I had the privilege of watching the final stage of the Tour of California. Being that close the world's best cyclists was a real treat.

Here they come...

Tommy D and Basso

Basso

There they go...

Bettini

The Discos

More Tom and Ivan

Bobby Julich

Jans Voight - Just another day at the office...

Bikes!

More Basso!

Chris Horner

Basso and race leader Levi

Team Toyota United and the Cuban Missile

Graeme Brown with Bettini not far behind...

Pronto, Bettini!

The only way to watch a bike race....

New Uniforms

2007-02-26T12:18:00.000-05:00

Boulevard

2007-02-05T16:38:00.000-05:00

So, last weekend I did my first criterium race, and this weekend was my first road race. As easy as last week seemed to be (putting aside the imminent danger of crashing) everything indicated that this would be a very tough race. First of all, every time I told any of the more experienced guys I was doing the race, they would just shake their heads and say "good luck". That didn't seem to be a good sign.

Then, my coach told me that this was the race to do so that every other race this season would seem easy. Again, bad sign.

The race itself was held in Boulevard, about 50 miles East of San Diego, near the Mexican border.

It was basically desert mountains - rocks coming up out of the ground. Elevation was 4000 feet, at the wind at the top of the mountain was so strong that the birds were just hovering motionless in the air. The staging are was at the top of the mountain, and we parked and began to warm up on the roads above the parking lot. Our group went off at about 9:40am. They had split the cat 5 group up into two, and I (and my teammate Manuel) was in the second group.

Here is a map of the course. It started at 4000 feet, descended to 2000, and then climbed back up to 4000, all in about 22 miles. We did this twice. The pros did it four times.

Our race got off to an odd start. Lining up two by two, I was in row 2 and Manuel was in row 3. As we started off, the first two guys decided they wanted to take a right turn out of the parking lot instead of a left. I, of course, went left. However, as I turned back to make sure everyone was behind me, I realized that they were behind alright, but they were about 100 feet behind me. Rather than put the brakes on and get gobbled up by the pack, I decided just to go with it and ride on.

This turned out to be a bit of a mistake - my friend (and Cat 1 captain) Mathias let me know that I should have been saved every single bit of energy possible.

These pictures are not my race (photos by USCD cycling club), but they show pretty much what it looked like...

The Landscape

The starting area

The race

So, there I was, solo through the first two right turns. When the pack did catch me at the very beginning of the descent, they were in single file and I was able to go straight into rotation with the front four. Letting them do most of the work, of course.

Going into the climb, I found myself right up there still until about halfway up when I tanked and slid off the back of the lead group. I thought it was over. All of a sudden, there was Manuel. Manuel, who was very strong, and two other guys and I all worked together to get the rest of the way up the climb.

Turning back onto 80, the wind hit like a freight train, but amazingly we were able to make it all the way back up to the lead group. I'm not sure what happened to Manuel, because I didn't see him again after that, but dude, I want to personally thank you for being so strong on that climb. I will work for you anytime...

The second descent was uneventful, and going into the second climb I knew that if I could stay with the leaders that I had a shot at this thing. As we really got into the climb, I found myself digging deeper and deeper to hold on. Thankfully, so did everyone else. Two thirds of the way up, I looked around and only saw nine or ten guys. Only two of them were on the same team.

I thought maybe I had a shot, but once we got up to highway 80 again, the wind hit and it pretty much finished me off. As much as I tried to use the other guys to shield me, it was useless. I couldn't hang. With about mile left, I was on my own, disappointed I wouldn't be sprinting for the finish. I was very honored to finish where I did. I placed 19th, though I could've sworn I was in top ten. Hard to assess how many guys are ahead of you when you can't see straight.

Next up, Costa Mesa crit Feb 18th. I will have my new kit, new wheels, and the bike will be overhauled. Will send pictures...

First Race

2007-01-28T19:28:00.000-05:00

Today was the official start of the racing season, and so I raced for the first time ever. The event was the Dominguez Hills Criterium, a mostly flat mile-long circuit in an industrial park outside of Long Beach. It rained a lot last night, so I was really worried that the course would be wet, but this morning dawned sunny and dry, so it was all good.

The race itself lasted 30 minutes, and to be honest, I've been in much tougher group rides, but it was definitely more dangerous than any group ride I've been on, even the famous Mike's Ride back in lauderdale. 50 riders, mostly racing for the first time, all in a big pack going 25 miles per hour or so. At any given time I had about 15-20 riders around me, and it didn't seem to matter whether I was on the inside or outside. On the straights, everyone was moving either forward or back through the pack, and in the corners, even if you took the absolute inner line, someone was always cutting inside of you. So mostly I stuck to the outside, where I could move up freely, and be safer in the corners. The race was about 8 or 9 laps, and I was able to move my way up into the top fifteen or so in the last two laps. Easier said than done, because there were no organized pacelines, so if the pack slowed down, all of sudden you would have twenty riders at the front. The pack was at least 5 wide the entire time.

There was a one crash, right behind me, with about two laps to go. Apparently two guys locked handlebars (one was coming back, and one was going forward - the first riders left drop came back into the second riders right hood). It was weird - it sounded like a series of crashes, and it was very loud. Nobody got hurt, althouth the one guy broke his $4000 Madone 5.5 frame... an expensive mistake.

On the last lap, I sprinted from about twentieth to about tenth, although the final results will be more telling than my perception. I may be way off. All in all it was a good first race, nothing too crazy, and I stayed safe.

Next week I'm doing a road race, which will be a 45 mile race in the mountains. A little less crazy, I think, but much more physically demanding. I'm still kind of waiting to see how this all goes. If I'm really competitive, and I have chance at doing well, then I think this will be worth it. I'm still sorting out my place in the world of competitive bicycle racing.

We'll see...

The staging area

The course

The pack crossing the start-finish line mid race

The LA Homeless Count

2007-01-24T03:16:00.000-05:00

Tonight was an evening that I won't soon forget. I had volunteered to take part in a county-wide census of the homeless population here in LA, and tonight was the first part of that census.

I was paired up with a gentleman by the name of Joey, and we canvassed the central downtown part of Santa Monica, crisscrossing streets by car. In three hours, we counted over a hundred homeless people. As tough as it was to see them, it was nice knowing that even though they didn’t know we were there, we were doing something to help them.

The really amazing part of this evening was the time I got to spend with Joey. He seemed to be in his fifties, though it was a little hard to tell. Very intelligent guy, and super nice. He had been formerly homeless, formerly incarcerated, but one one of those special people that was able to pull himself out. He spent time in a shelter, and was able to move to temporary housing, and then just recently into a small apartment, all in the Skid Row area. I think he said he pays $52 a month, which was a lot for him. He is set up with a job as a street cleaner, and he has been substance-free for about eight months now.

At the end of the night, I asked him how he was getting home, and he said he had a bike which he used in conjunction with the buses. I offered him a ride home, telling him my car was made to transport people and bicycles. On the way home, we had a chance to talk a little about God. He seemed very spiritual, making small comments throughout the evening, so told him that I wanted to pray for him. This began a conversation that we started with Jesus and took us through Christianity and Islam (he had converted to Islam many years ago from Christianity) and ended up with a very simple parting message: You can read as much as you want, study as much as you want, talk to the scholars, the priests, whatever you want, but in the end it comes down to a matter of faith. If God wanted us to have all of the answers, they would be written across the sky for everyone to read and understand. Instead they are written across our hearts, and it is up to us to accept or reject.

This seemed to have a profound affect on him. I got his number and told him maybe we could meet for coffee next week and keep talking. He was very excited about that, and told me "I knew something special would happen tonight". A couple of hugs and handshakes later, I was on my way.

I've never seen someone so excited about just a couple of simple revelations. We'll see where it leads. Either way, he's a good man and I was very honored to meet him, and be a part of a greater cause to help people in need. Stay tuned for more on Joey and on the homeless.

Brrrr....

2007-01-18T18:39:00.000-05:00

So what does it take to ride in the upper 30's low 40's? Here's what it takes:

-A cold-weather cap, none of this baclava/bank robber stuff.
-helmet (of course)
-eyewear, otherwise you can't open your eyes
-base layer
-wind-blocking base layer
-arm warmers
-leg warmers
-a long sleeve jersey
-another long sleeve something
-a wind vest
-wool socks
-toe covers
-shoe covers
-insulating gloves
-full finger gloves
last, but not least...
-a good snot shooting technique, and proper etiquette so that none of hits the guy behind you.

Wheels

2007-01-18T18:27:00.000-05:00

My new car, better fit for cycling-related activities, and off-road driving, a.k.a the streets of LA. But also pretty much better in every single way possible. I thought I was making a practical decision getting a Honda and getting a 4WD. But the thing is a spaceship, and seriously nice inside. And fast. And the heated seats keep my butt warm. Which is nice considering the temperatures in LA the last week have been in the thirties in the AM. Yikes!

Holy Mountain!

2007-01-18T18:15:00.000-05:00

First weekend in January I went on a retreat with my church group. The mountain was about 65 miles east of los angeles, out at the edge of nowhere... It was about as desolate as the pictures show, and also cold and very windy. But as spiritual places go, it was right up there. Most of us were fasting, drinking water mixed with some lemon juice and maple syrup. No, I'm not making this up, and no, I'm not crazy either. The idea was to get rid of as much of the physical world as possible, thereby getting closer to God. Our revalation of the weekend was the more you have cell reception, the less you have spiritual reception.

I won't say a lot about the weekend, other than it was mostly spent in quiet prayer. The only thing I will say is just how alien it was coming back into the city. It wasn't like coming back from a vacation. It was like getting inserted back into the Matrix. Wild.

The greatest of these

2006-12-26T14:41:00.000-05:00

What comes to mind when you think of church?

Old ladies in dresses? Donuts and stale coffee? Or is it rock music and slick mega-churches? I challenge anyone reading this to throw away their pre-conceived notions or prior experiences and consider this: Church is not a building. It's not a service, and it's certainly not a ritual. The church is you. And me. And any one else that comes together to worship God. A super strong church is made up of super strong people, even if there are only two, or three or ten of them. A strong chuch has nothing to do with wealth, or education, or race, or even the past histories of its members. A strong church is strong because it is faithful and committed to constant spiritual growth.

I had the honor of visiting one of the strongest churches I've even been to this past weekend. It is a small, one room storefront church in a very bad section of Inglewood, smack in the middle of Los Angeles. My friend Ron (one of the members of my men's group) and a pastor have been in the area for over a year now, bringing kids in the area to church and ultimately to Christ. After the last building they were in was hit by a car and condemned, they moved to this building. A man they call the Bishop lives there, and has allowed them to continue their ministry from his building.

Friday night Ron did the service and I went along. Two white guys rolling in a honda civic through a neighborhood where guys are selling drugs on the corner, going to pick up a bunch of kids and take them to church. You really can't get any crazier than that.

We sang Christmas carols off key and misprounced almost every word we read out of the bible, but it was one of the strongest church services I'd been to in a long time. Ron had recieved over a hundred and fifty toys to give out, and the day after this service over a hundred kids came to church and sang and danced and got the only gifts many would receive this holiday season.

Stay tuned for more from this little church. You can expect good things to happen here.

Pictures:

It's official

2006-12-13T18:23:00.001-05:00

Analog Photos

2006-12-13T18:14:00.000-05:00

I have an old russian camera that takes really moody photos. I took about three rolls when I was in Italy, but they've been sitting at home (undeveloped) ever since I got back. I really wish I could have the ease of digital with the mood of my Lomo. I guess there are some things that technology just can't make better....

A little perspective

2006-12-10T00:50:00.000-05:00

Most people simply don't realize how much charity goes on in the world. The news doesn't cover it. You rarely see it in the paper. But every single day, there are a a very very large number of people that a) need help and b) give help.

Last Saturday, at a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, over two thousand volunteers from schools, churches, boy scouts, etc, came together to wrap over 100,000 stuffed animals to give to underpriviledged kids this Christmas. The warehouse was donated. The toys were donated from TY. Everything was donated. Target was there. So was Frito Lay. It was pretty awesome, and that is seriously just the tip of the charitable cause iceberg.

Here are some photos of the place, and a couple of guys from my men's/church group:

My Other Alter-Ego

2006-12-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

We had our first major team meeting this week. It was pretty amazing to listen to so many guys talk about teamwork and the race schedule. Looks like we'll be going all over California to race.

I get my USCF license in mail in a week or so...

One year ago this morning

2006-10-15T10:48:00.000-04:00

I was having the ride of my life. In front of me was Mike, our CFO. Behind me, Robert another coworker/teammate. We we doing about 24, wind swirling around us, hitting us from all directions. It was the worst morning I'd ever ridden in, but it was most together I'd felt since I'd taken up cycling 10 months before. The sky was dark gray. Clouds overhead were bombing us with tiny droplets of water. There was no sun, but I was wearing my dark cycling glasses to keep my eyes from getting wet. Water was spraying up from behind the bicycles. It was chaos, but thrilling, good, powerful chaos.

After a month of slacking off after the MS ride, I had read a book about European bike racing that had totally re-invigorated my enthusiasm for riding. I had read Lance's training manual cover to cover. I had learned about your different energy systems and how to train them. I had changed my diet, and begun doing longer rides during the week. Before May, my greatest week had been 120 miles total. I was now topping 180.

We were dropping Robert. He was slowly falling off the pace, and we slowed down a little to let him catch back up. We were now about 5 miles from where we had parked. We had decided to meet that morning across the intracoastal from the beach. There was a parking lot just over the bridge, and it was a good central location for all of us. We had gone about 35 miles so far, up and back on A1A, the road that parallels the beach.

Robert was lost. There is a point in every group ride where if you can't keep up you get dropped. It was nothing personal and he knew it. Mike and I had to press on, and we did, committing ourselves completely to the wind and rain. All of my training was coming together. We made a right on Commercial and as we headed towards the bridge and our cars, we pushed ever further. We attacked the bridge, pushing up the incline, our bikes side by side, water falling, water flying, and everything around us a blur. We hit the metal grating going 22, intercoastal water visible 20 feet beneath. We were flying.

It would be the last thing I would remember.

I had never really played sports in high school. I loved soccer, and played when I lived in France, but it was too much of a culture shock when I got back. Sports here were so tied up with friends, and dads and sons and weekends. So I never really got into it. I was skinny, uncoordinated and content to read and watch movies in my room. In college it didn't really matter, and when I started working, I was a dark creative guy. I drank coffee in the morning and wine at night, smoked cigarettes and listened to imported CD's. There was no place for sports in my life. However... I'm competitive. When I took up cycling, I realized I was really good at it. The fact that I wasn't a lumberjack made me very light and very fast. I could compete with my friends. And with myself. It was a good outlet for a lot of things, and it was making me so much healthier as a person, both physically and mentally. But not that morning. I just didn't know it yet.

I was dreaming, so peacefully, about riding, about people, about my cat. I had gone to bed the night before, and it was so warm in bed. Why would I ever...

"Stay still!" Mike was over me. Then another head. And another. "You're going to be okay."

Where was I? Mike? I'd been riding? I tried pushing through the cobwebs some more, but no luck. I couldn't understand how I had made it out of bed and onto my bike. I didn't feel okay. There were paramedics. There was a towel around my face, and they were putting some sort of brace around my neck. Even though my brain didn't understand what was going on, my body knew.

As the paramedics were putting me on a stretcher, all I could think was, "I know I'm going to be okay. God has so many more
plans for me." I was quite positive about that. I loved God. I loved my paramedics. They were so wonderful...I had so much love...

"Slow down!" one of the paramedics yelled at the driver. "We're not in a hurry" That was promising, I thought. At the hospital, they scanned me, xrayed, me and finally sowed me up. My cousin Michelle was only family member in town that morning, and she held my hand through the entire thing. There were others that gave me a tremendous amount of support... if I had seen me in the condition I was in that morning, I don't know that I would have been able to be so positive as Michelle and Linda and Mike and Brad and Cliff.

I had lost traction on the metal part of the bridge and gone down, sliding over it on my right side. I had pretty deep wounds
to my knee, my hip, my shoulder, my right palm, my right cheek, my right chin and jaw, and my left upper lip, with a side of
road rash. Both knees were badly hurt, but the right was much worse than the left. I was very very lucky. No broken bones, no neck problems, head totally okay. Thank God for helmets.

All in all it was a rookie mistake. One of the first things you learn is that wet metal and half-inch tires don't go very well together. But there are always circumstances that can lead to dumb mistakes.

I spent three days in the hospital, and three weeks with family, leg in a brace, nursing my way back to health. My Dad came and watched over me for a week, and my mom did the same. When the hurricane hit, we went to LA, and spent the remaining week and a half there. All I could think about the whole time was how long it would take to get back on the bike. Estimates varied. Two to four months they had said, from the time of the accident.

It would be seven weeks.

After three weeks of rehab and four weeks of rehab, I got back on the bike. I was surprised to find that the rehab had made me stronger. I continued to go to the gym, bought a new bike, and started to train again. It was very good to be back.

You know sometimes you wonder to yourself, do I really make a difference in this world? Does what I do really matter? I cannot tell you how many people came to visit me in the hospital. Or called. Or sent flowers. My church prayed for me. My parents' church in LA prayed with them on my behalf. My co-workers came to visit. The president of the agency (and cycling team leader) called and yelled at me for being so irresponsible. (In a nice way.) People I hadn't spoken to in years were calling me.

I realized something very important that day. One, that cycling was a part of me and nothing could stop me from getting back on the bike. And two, that I had so much more of an effect on the people around me than I realized. It was a huge lesson. Not so much an awakening, but a reminder that no matter who you are or what you do, you can have a profound effect on people's lives, sometimes without even knowing it.

Thanks to everyone that had such a profound effect on me that morning and the weeks after. My family, my church and my Z teammates and co-workers. I'll never forget the extraordinary things that each of them did for me. There was so much love during that time, and it really made some of my relationships a lot stronger. People can't understand when I say that the whole experience was a positive one for me, but it's so true. So many good things came out of it, and I'm really glad it happened. Much love... Matt

Specialized 2, Trek 1

2006-10-06T00:27:00.000-04:00

Lets see, that will be be two Pro teams riding the new S-Works SL's and three, count 'em three former and current World Champions who choose what I consider the most elegant and razor sharp bike out there.

Morgan Hill, California - QuickStep-Innergetic announced they have chosen Specialized to supply their team bikes and select equipment for 2007 and beyond. The team's marquee riders-such as reigning world and Olympic champion Paolo Bettini and 2005 world champion Tom Boonen-will be perfectly served by the diverse range of technologically advanced bicycles created by the S-Works division at Specialized.

Effective 1/1/07, Bettini's choice will be the S-Works Tarmac SL for its razorsharp handling, minimal weight, and efficiency. Boonen, often known as The King of the Cobbles, will opt for the all-new S-Works Roubaix SL.

With a diverse roster hailing from no fewer than eight different countries, the QuickStep-Innergetic team brings a truly international squad that complements the global appeal of Specialized.

"Having Specialized bikes under the world's very best riders with the QuickStep and Gerolsteiner squads will inspire even stronger focus and greater innovation from our engineers, developers, and designers. It shows Specialized dealers worldwide that we are fully committed to making our bikes and equipment the most desirable," said Specialized founder and president, Mike Sinyard. He went on to add, "and we can now say with complete confidence that Matt's bike doesn't suck."

Here we go...

2006-10-05T15:24:00.000-04:00

For the last two months, I've been riding with a club out of Brentwood. Fast, hard, group rides. I was invited by a guy that works in the same suite of offices where I am freelancing. He's my size, only a couple of years older than I am, and after a couple of weeks of getting dropped and taunted at the same time, I found out that he is the captain of the club's elite race team.

A couple of weeks ago, he invited me to join the beginner's race team, and this morning I started training. Now, lets get something straight. When I say "beginner", what I mean is all of the people who have never raced, raced for only a year or two, or are just beginning their professional careers. Under the 5 category system, you start as a 5. If you participate in a certain amount of races you move up to a 4 immediately. Then, if you accumulate enough points (points are given to those whose place in races), you move up to a 3 and so forth.

The club, LaGrange, has three teams. Cat 4/5, Cat 3 and Cat 1/2. So I am now a part of the Cat 4/5 team.

We will train for the next three months or so, until the season starts in Jan/Feb. Today, there were four of us, and we did a 35 mile ride around Santa Monica, Venice, down to the Marina, across the inlet, a couple nice flat roads next to the airport, and back. Our pace was 22-23 most of the way, with some stints at 20. We were double mostly, and I pulled for quite a ways on the way back. I'm happy to report that I am now about 145-150 bpm at 23 in a shallow draft, and 160 pulling.

I'm really in the thick of it now though. Tomorrow we are doing a time trial up Mandeville Canyon (once a month you go in 30 sec intervals and they publish your time), and then I will be riding with the team on Saturday and Sunday as well. And there's no slack on weekends, either. 6:15 start times both days.

Just to give you an idea of what this means, I got home at 7 tonight. After cleaning the bike, cooking dinner (and enough for tomorrows lunch), washing my gear, and taking a shower (can't do it in the morning!), it's time to go to bed by ten so I can get 7 hours of sleep and be up at 5. This will be my schedule 5 out of 7 days a week.

And this is the offseason?

The S-Works

2006-09-10T14:39:00.000-04:00

This is a post is all about the S-Works.

This bike gets a lot of attention. It is to other cyclists as a baby or small puppy is to girls. Everywhere I go, people ask me about it. The bike shop. The office. When its on my car, I get nods in traffic. When I'm on the road, people either want to tell me how beautiful it is, or they want to race me.

Having this bike is like having a trophy wife. Very expensive to maintain, hard to satisfy, and all anyone ever wants to talk about.

It only has one speed: fast.

I've only ever seen two others on the road. One as I was passing it, and one as it was passing me.

If I want to just "go for a cruise" I have to feign sickness or injury. Because if people see me going 16 with a bike like that, there needs to be a good reason.

Is it very expensive? Yes. But I drive an 8-year-old Honda Civic with 110,000 miles and yellow headlamps. And yes, my priorities are straight. It's just too bad I can't take my girlfriend to the movies on my bicycle.

It is the best training tool I have. Because in a group ride, I will go an extra 10% just to make sure others feel I'm worthy of having it. Hard-core racers love nothing else than ripping your carbon-whatever apart on a ten-year-old Peugeot. But here's a little secret: In ten years, my S-Works is going to be the equivalent of that Peugeot.

And like the bike, I plan on my body getting better with age.

I feel like one of those crazy, lucky people that, back in 1970, decided to go for the Hemi upgrade on their lime green Barricuda.

But unlike a classic muscle car, I plan on putting as many miles on it possible.

Stick a fork in me

2006-09-05T01:19:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the late post, but it's been a pretty action-packed weekend. I took my bike down to the O.C. for the weekend, and finally, after so much anticipation, got to do a flat, uniteruppted ride on nicely paved roads. I went north from Newport Beach, determined that all of my recent climbing and speeding would have made me super fast on the flats. I was not dissapointed. I did 40 miles solo, whith a consistent 21-22 speed. the front twenty was pretty tame, but the back twenty I had a bit of company. These were the first unfriendly riders I have come across in So Cal, and they were straight out of the "I'm a mean bike racer" textbook. Two guys, obscure local team kits, booties, and mishmash bikes with carbone wheels. They thought they were pretty bad going down the road at 25, and one of them decides he's going to burn the other one and goes ahead at 26-7. I see a nice stretch of road in front of us and say "what the heck". I burn him and take the lead. I'm riding steady at 29 for what seems to be a while. I feel the guy behind me and push it up to 30... to 31... 31.5... no response. We hit a red light. No ackwoledgment whatsoever. The two guys decide they are going to go up on the sidewalk and go right. See ya.

Then, I meet up with another guy, and ride with him for the last 10 miles or so. Consistent 25-26. We run into another guy who looks like a running back, big guy on a bike, he starts challenging us. I burn him and the other guy on a not-so-tall bridge and the subsequent kinda painful hill up into Newport.

I finish it all off with a 10 mile recovery ride with my folks, who were both sporting the Trek 7000, from the "Bike Path" Series, basically the Dodge Pinto of bicycles. They are in sweats, I'm in full gear, going 10 mph. Got some funny looks, but you can't argue with a ride with mom. Especially when you get to push her uphill.

I think I'll be recovering this week. I'm walking slower and slower, there is a constant burn in my muscles, and I'm starting to think seriously about lobbying for naptime at work. I think it's time for a little rest and a massage. Good luck, team Z, with your rest week as well...

Relax those eyelids

2006-09-03T01:03:00.000-04:00

Mandeville this week went a little better than last week. I made it halfway up this time before getting dropped, and then had a bit of an easier time keeping pace. On the second trip up, I had a good group of four that took turns pulling up the mountain. My heartreate was a lot better, and halfway up I felt pretty good. I remembered something from a book or a movie (can't remember which) where the advice was to try to relax your eyelids. This is, of course, ridiculous, but in the course of concentrating on doing this, you end up completely forgetting about the fact that you are riding up a mountain. So I was very strong right up unitl the last 200 meters, where the road gets insanely steep, and I fell off the pace.

Overall, I was very happy with my second week riding with LaGrange. The test will be when I get on the flat roads by myself. I'd like to see what I've gained in the past two months. What sort of speeds can I expect and at what HR and for how long. Only then will I know where I truly stand. Hopefully this weekend I will take the bike down to the OC and get it out on the open, nicely-paved roads and open 'er up...

Faster

2006-08-29T19:29:00.000-04:00

Today was the "fast" ride, and I was doing really well untill somehow I ended up in the second spot and then pulling. I think we were a little over thirty consistently for at least a minute or two. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, (and to these guys, its not) but a minute can be a very long time depending on what you are doing. So we hit a light and then I cracked, and then I was chasing with some other people, going 25 for what seemed to be forever. I kept thinking in terms of Loxahatchee. I don't know.

What I do know is that I need to put on a little more muscle in order to keep up with these guys. Their season is winding down though, so I may have a chance to do what most cyclists around the world do all winter. No, not eat a lot of cheese. I mean, get into the gym!

So we finally caught up, but I got dropped on the incline to the finish again. It's cool though. I have long term goals in mind here.

Griffith Park vs the Card Sound Bridge

2006-08-26T18:41:00.000-04:00

I've been very curious about this for some time now. How does what I'm doing out here compare to stuff we did in Florida? What's the index of toughness? Here is a chart illustrating how the toughest climb in Florida measures up to the standard climb here. In Florida, our only measure of a tough climb would be bridges and/or overpasses. The toughest of which is arguably the Card Sound Road Bridge connecting mainland Florida with the Keys. The climb up one side of that bridge is 65 feet in .25 miles.

In contrast the Griffith Park climb (up to the observatory) in LA is about 630 feet in 2.25 miles. It's average rate of climb is 70 feet every .25 miles. (I go up to the observatory, down the other side and then turn around and go back up again, but i'm only counting the firt part here.)

In conclusion, the first part of my Griffith Park ride is roughly equal to climbing up the Card Sound Bridge 9 times.

Oh, and please let me add that I'm getting schooled out here on a regular basis, mostly for lack of muscle power. More on that later...

Ouch

2006-08-26T15:40:00.000-04:00

Slept in today, and decided to do the Griffith Park ride. Just got the bike back from the shop so it was humming nicely. The climb gets shorter and shorter every time I do it, but today I could teel the week had taken it's toll on me. Just getting into the park hurt me. Once I started climbing though, everything seemed okay again. My heart rate was visibly lower, by about 5 to 7 beats than the first two times I had done the climb, so that was quite promising.

Descended the other side, and was turning around at the bottom to go back up again when the bike slide out from underneath me. I have no idea what happened. A little water, a little loose dirt, and there you have it. I've got two very nice reminders, one on my upper back thigh, and the other on the outside of my calf. Left leg, thank God.

Bike's fine, with the exception of one little scar on the shifter. And then we did the climb again.

I kept thinking about the whole wire-brush thing. (Racers commonly have to scrub out their wounds with a wire brush after a fall, in order for the wound to heal right, especially during a multi-stage race.) Luckily I don't own a wire brush. But showering hurt pretty bad just the same.

Momentum

2006-08-23T19:26:00.000-04:00

In addition to doing monster rides this week, I've also had a lot of things happening on the job front. Today marks two and a half weeks of freelancing at JWT, and I just finished a big project for Dreyer's Ice Cream for them. Nice people. (Although can you imagine mean people making ice cream?) The good news is that the job seems to be indefinite, and they have me working on other stuff as well now.

In other news, I had two seperate requests for salary needs today, one from a recruiter in NY who is helping me with Ignited Minds, and another from the in-house recruiter at Deutsch. I told them that I wouldn't work for less than a million a year plus bonus and severence.

And of course, Chiat still lingers...

All of these opportunities (including the freelance) have been made directly possible by former collegues. Right on, collegues, right on.

Smoked...

2006-08-23T10:48:00.000-04:00

Actually, smoldering might be more appropriate.

I did my second race ride this week, this time up a canyon in Brentwood called Mandeville. A name that will be forever burned into my head as a synonym for "pure evil". The ride starts out with ever-so-gentle "warm up lap" and then starts the 5 mile climb up a rather secluded street. The ride is very deceiving. It starts out gentle. It's beautiful, picturesque, a nice street in a nice neighborhood with tall trees. You might even think you are in a park. But then it gets a little steeper. And then a little steeper. Meanwhile the pace is getting faster and faster. People are attacking. Think Mike's ride but uphill. I lasted with the lead group about a third of the way. Then slipped to group 2. Then to some guy's wheel. At two thirds, it was all I could do to hang on. But I did. There was a guy from my office in the lead group, and I wasn't going to let him pass me, still struggling, on his way down.

At the last two hundred meters do you want to know what happened? It got steeper. Stand-up-or-fall-down steep. And there's everyone up at the top of this cul-de-sac, waiting.

Yeah.

So I get up there, with a little bit of pride left, rest a moment, and then we all take off back down the canyon. When we got to the bottom, do you want to know what happened?

We turned around and did it again.

Now I think I know pain, but wait... it's not over. I follow my friend back down, and he and another guy and a girl turn off to do a different canyon. When the girl ask my friend the name of this one, he said, "pray". "And don't look up."

I'd like to tell you that I made this one. But from the outset it was so steep that I couldn't stay in the saddle. And I was going so slow out of the saddle that I thought I was going to fall over. I gave up shortly after I started to zip-zag across the road. I have more dignity than that. The others just floated on up...

Here's the best part:

I see my friend, Matthias, at work, and he asks what happened to me. I said, "I ran out of gears", and we got to talking about gear selection. I was convinced he and the others had compacts or something. Nope. I was incredulous. He laughed and said "maybe you need to get more fit!" I was crushed.

I think he sensed this from my heavy stare off into space, and he followed up by saying that it was my first time and that I did really well, especially for having very little hill training. "Now you have a goal!" he said cheerily.

Yes, now I have goal.

Take one guess...

La Grange

2006-08-22T12:37:00.000-04:00

I did the LaGrange bike club's "fast" ride this morning. About 30 riders, 26 miles. Nice warm up, 3 sprint points, but pretty tricky course. No a lot of room to wiggle. Speed greatly depended. I think the Fla rides were tougher, because they were more consistently straight. This ride did a lot of starting and stopping and turning. But I will say there's nothing like going from being stopped at a light to 33.5 mph in 10 or 25 seconds. We spent a lot of time at 25, 28, and 30. The sprints get going at 33 and I think the guys who are winning must be topping out at least at 35-36.

They really bad part is the end, where the last two miles are on a gentle incline. "Gentle" means you are now going 22-24 uphill, as opposed to 30 flat. Not what I call fun exactly. Which makes me very curious about tomorrow, being that the same group rides up a mountain.

Stay tuned...

Friday Night, sponsored by a Major International Corporation

2006-08-19T14:30:00.000-04:00

Last night I got to hang out with some very good friends who were in town editing. We ate at a super cool restaurant that has apparently recieved some celeb recommendations. It was pretty darn good, I must admit, and the best part of all was that the client picked up the whole tab. Not only did the client pick up the tab for dinner, but the client also bought us a drink afterwards. I thought it was very nice of them.

Just in case you are reading this and bemoaning the fact that agency people (and their lucky friends) have dinner and drinks and expense it, you should try living on location for two or three weeks sometime. You live the client and the idea 20 hours a day. And that's just once you get there. There's pre-production, and post-production as well. Look, there are a lot of people out there that abuse it, absolutely. But we're not talking about people who throw parties on the clients tab. We're talking about very hard-working people that give up a lot of their time in order to make multi-national brands grow and flourish. I think the occasional dinner and drink with a friend is pretty fair compensation. Especially if that friend is me.

Griffith Park

2006-08-19T14:26:00.000-04:00

Thursday after work, I had the pleasure of riding up to the Griffith Park observatory. Beautiful climb, nice road, and at sunset it was extra special. I think its about 7 or 800 feet in two miles and a half miles. In one of the photos, if you look closely, you can see downtown.

My alter-ego

2006-08-12T22:23:00.000-04:00

I'm really not this cool in real life.

Tour of California

2006-08-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

Where do I start?

I again joined my new friends at the San Fernando Valley Bike Club this morning, and went with the intermediate fast group this time. Much better. But definitely harder. Lets start at the end of the ride, where I am going 13 miles and hour, have nothing in my legs, nothing in my water bottles, and pretty much want to die. (Okay the ride really ends about 10 miles from our cars, so it wasn’t critic that I go fast at that point, but still...)

From the start, things we a little quicker today. About 18-20 miles an hour to the base of our first climb. Climbing with these guys definitely didn’t feel like levitation. Not when they were passing me. 1000 feet over two miles again, and I finished about in the middle. As I began to descend, I remembered from last week how bad the road was, but still somehow I managed to hit a pothole going forty miles and hour. My front tire exploded, and my bike seemed to explode beneath me. I always wondered what this would be like, and now I knew. Not fun.

The important thing to remember when your front tire explodes is not to slam on the brakes. I ever-so-gently slowed the bike down and pulled off, and then changed what seems to be my fourth or fifth tire in a week. (Different story.) By this time everyone had passed me and gone down the hill, so I proceeded to try to catch up. At the bottom I started hauling, in the upper twenties, and close to thirty a few times. I seem to be hitting that number more and more. I remember when 30 was this “magical” threshold. I ended up catching them, and we continued on – through the rolling hills of Thousand Oaks, Hidden Valley, and Westlake. There were breakaways up hills, and sprints on the flats, and everything you could ask for, including stops for water every 30 miles or so.

At the first of these stops, we pull up to a Carl’s Jr. (Like Wendy’s) We get our water, and go outside and we are all laughing because the was a girl inside with her two little kids, and one of them had a t-shirt on that read, “my mom’s hot”. And she was, but come on... So we’re laughing about that when some guy opens the door of the Carl’s with plastic bag full of pills and asks, “did someone drop this?”. Obviously it was some guys vitamins, but the significance and awkwardness of the situation was too much for us. We all died laughing and dubbed the episode “Operation Carl’s Jr.”.

Now were rolling through Hidden Valley (which is full of ranches incidentally) and Blaze and I have found ourselves up front after a small climb. All of a sudden four guys fly by, and I join them. We are pulling 28-30 through this flat area, with wind. Guy peels off, I’m up next and I go... 32...33...34...34.5... I hit the wall there and came back down, and was saved by a traffic light. But I think everyone thought I could keep going. That was nice.

We stopped for Jamba Juice at 55 or so. I got lots of questions about florida. I talk about you guys a lot. The guys here can’t understand how I got so good without any hills. In fact they can’t really understand what we do down there... Maybe one day we can educate them.

Next up was the same ride up into the Santa Monica mountains/Mullholland area, this time four of us, Blaze included. I did worse today. I think by this time I was really drained. I think difference may be sleep. Last weekend I was still wasn’t working. I also did about 75 miles total this week, riding to work and with a group Friday morning. Lesson learned.

I got dropped on the last climb again, this time a bit sooner I think. I almost got dropped earlier, but in true Zmotion fashion, I saw myself cracking and falling behind, and decided to sprint instead.

At the end, riding back into the valley, I had consumed three 24 ounce bottles of Accelerade, I bottle of water, two gels, I clif bar, and a medium Jamba Juice. And I was still dehydrated. Crazy.

I was invited to do a a double metric century next weekend, but I have to find a ticket, which may be tough. I have a funny feeling I’m going to be riding a lot here. I found another club that does race rides during the week, so I’m going to try for Tuesdays and Wednesdays with them. Plus a Friday recovery ride... Puts me back at 170, 180 per week.

Wish me luck.

Warming up

2006-08-12T21:40:00.000-04:00

This week concludes my first week back at a full time job since I left Zimmerman in March. I'm freelancing, true, but this time I'm actually working in an office with other people, not out of my apartment in my underwear. (You may say too much info, but those who freelance out of their home, know what I'm talking about...) I have say a few things about my latest job, because it may be relevant for those of you looking to move on to bigger and better things.

I'm freelancing at a small, specialized department of a big agency. It's not necessarily the type of work I want to make a career out of, but it's advertising, and its a paycheck. I had some apprehension about going in on Monday, but I didn't have anything to lose, so I went.

First thing monday morning, they show me to my seat. Everyone in the office sits in Herman Miller Aeron chairs, and works on 23 inch Cinema Displays. I check to see what the tower is packing. Dual 2.5 Gig. Nice. IT and HR contact me and help me set up, all remotely. Immediately, I have email, extranet, etc. The office buys lunch the first day. There are doughnuts on Tuesday. Thursday the entire office complex has lunch catered. Friday there are bagels.

Everyone comes to work at 9am. I came in early on Friday at 8, and found the office suite locked.

Everyone leaves at 5.

No one yells. No one cries. Everyone is happy. Friday morning, one of the Sr. VP's had a small tantrum because some client hadn't been taken care of. I thought, "Finally! Some action!"

Two days ago I presented some work to the creative director, and told him that I thought a line I had might make for a good tagline. His eyes got really big, and you know what? He got excited! I've never been happier. Over a silly little tagline.

It really is a very different world out there. I remember Bree telling me about this but I couldn't quite grasp it. I came to this place to freelance and get re-introduced to the mainstream advertising world.

I ended up finding a little piece of unexpected heaven. Regardless of how long this lasts I'm really thankful to have the opportunity to get warmed up. To do a little advertising exercise. Some light spinning if you will.

Good people, good atmosphere, respect for employees and professional work. It sure doesn't get the respect it deserves.