You'll Never Walk Alone

My friend Grogs said told me that whether Liverpool win or lose when your actually in Liverpool you win. I know hundreds of people who have spent many a weekend watching football, drinking swill, dancing at clubs, hitting the seedy streets on stags and hens, and everything in between In Liverpool. I however have not. Living in America most of my adult live has meant I’ve sacrificed doing things that my mates take for granted. Things like going to Liverpool for the weekend.

We celebrated like kids on Christmas when Stevie G calmly tucked home a peno (that shouldn’t have been given) to equalize against an organized and very up for it Aston Villa. We were going to win 3-2, maybe 4-2. We danced in the stands and sang with the Kop. But as the clock quickly approached 90 minutes it became apparent that a draw was going to be a goof result for us. Suarez was getting the crap kicked out of him. Sturridge slowed – lack of game time catching up. Steve G was off his game, and our full backs looked hungover. No super last minute thumper from Steve G. In its place, some golf claps and a slow exit.

My first Anfield experience in 20 years ended in a 2-2 draw. It was a game we were supposed to win at least 3-0. Myself and Grog did the shuffle out of the stadium onto Anfield road, heading toward the boarded up houses like something out of the wire. They call it the Anfield Regeneration Project. It was after a little bit of crowd bumping that we made the democratic decision to have a pint in the nearest pub we could find. This happened to be The Arkles and was indeed a pub for “home fans only”. You don’t get this in the USA. And it’s a shame it has to be like this in the UK but alas some things never change.

‘Order 2 each Kel’, shouted a buoyant Grogzer as he discussed the game in depth with a bloke from Cork.  “Johnsons shite”, and “what was your man Cissokho like? He was running all over the place doing nothing” The post game discussion was happening behind me while I waited for shoddy Guinness  served straight up in plastic glasses. And when I arrived back with the swill in hand and a couple of packets of crisps in each pocket it suddenly dawned on me that we were in Liverpool and despite the draw we were both in great form. Onward.

We took a cab with a bunch of Swedes and headed for a night in the city. Liverpool is friendly and they embrace the Irish as their own. Scoucers are pretty much a nationality themselves. And years of immigration by Irish, and the hoards that travel each weekend for Liverpool games have meant we are adopted. Myself and Grog embraced the welcome and had an amazing night which was part reliving youth and nostalgia. Nothings changed in the 30+ years I’ve known Grog. And while returning to the hotel, fairly steaming, after a great night, I thought it could have been 1994, 2004, or as it was 2014. This is why I like to think I have the best friends in the world. And this is why growing up doesn’t have to mean growing lame. If its too loud, then you’re too old. And believe me, its not even close to loud. 

Peace and Love
Kel

A Day In Manchester

After spending a week working in the office it was really nice to head into Manchester to check out the city. I met up with my brother and nephew who were over to see Man United play Swansea. It was great to catch up with family. It always is. The rest of the day was spent in record shops and searching for the elusive epic beer bar that I was sure existed in Manchester.

I could easily lose myself in Manchester's record stores. The city itself is really great with a wonderful old world architecture that blends with the new Europe. Take a five minute walk off the beaten track to the Northern Quarter and the streets turn from commercial chain shopping to Bohemia, with record stores, cafes, indy clothes shops, and cool people. The musical history of Manchester is on par with any city in the world. They love their sounds. Joy Division, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis, to name a few. The streets Ian Curtis walked have changed but the Northern Soul remains. And the record stores that don't exist in Boston are alive with slabs of vinyl from every genre.   

I was lost in the tunes despite not owning a record player in the UK or even buying anything. I just looked at all the records I will buy before I head back and went old skool at one store selecting a load of techno and listening to the records on a 1200 turntable. Brought me back to the old days of record buying. Its inspiring that it still lives and thrives in Manchester.

Next up was the search for some real beer. I heard Manchester had a decent subculture around craft beer. I saw a list in the Guardian Newspaper but none of the bars were located in the Northern Quarter, and I had to imagine that alongside great record shops and coffee shops there must be a decent beer bar. A quick look on the Google machine offered Port Street Beer House and it was perfect. I found home! Absolutely fantastic beer selection from all over the world including many of the beers I know and love in the USA. Obviously I was all about new experiences and some of the drinks were beautiful. I kicked the session off with some Magic Rock, a brewery out of Huddersfield. Started with the Cannonball IPA and then progressed on to the amazing Human Cannonball Imperial IPA at 9.2%. It actually had a very smooth taste and was almost too easy to drink. I'm not saying I'd put it on the level of Maharaja IPA or 90 minute but it was still very tasty.

  

After the Magic Rock I moved onto Kernal Brewery out of London. They have very minimal labels on their beer and a lot of IPA's with different hop selections. I tried the 7.2% IPA with Centennial and Amarillo hops. Smooth and very solid IPA, similar to Founders Centennial. Its so great to see these breweries popping up and churning out IPA and 2xIPA. I missed the rise of this in USA so its nice to see it happening first hand. My conversation with the bartenders was joyful, and then I met Des. Good beer bars bring beer lovers together. Des is a local beer obsessive and he gave me an education like I've never had before. He has fallen on tough times and his hobby, and the thing that keeps him sane, is his passion for beer. Im gonna meet him again in a couple of weeks and we are going to tour the best beer bars in Manchester starting off in Salford, home to a great Belgian beer bar. He is also gonna take me to Salford Lads Club so like every other raincoated lover I can get my picture taken.

Leo pulling the pints

I started to get drunk and I don't know what the IPA I had on the right is!

Des gave me the heads up on all the great beer festivals in Belgium so I am gonna hit a couple. Bruges has a world class Beer Festival that happens on the same weekend as Cyclocross World Champs. I need to figure out how I swing both. If I have to sleep on the street I'll make it happen. Its all about experiences, right?

Solid first week in the North West and settling in nicely. Missing my friends back in BOS but if every week is as quick as this first one I'll be back before they know I've left.

Peace and Love,

Kel

Warrington, UK

I am going to start blogging again. Not because I've been inspired to write - I never could write to begin with, but because a significant life change has happened upon me and I want to capture it. It started today. I arrived in Warrington, a small town between Liverpool and Manchester to start work for New Balance Europe. Its a short term gig, maybe 8 months. And as much as I'm super down to be leaving my hometown of Boston, I am also relishing the opportunity to embrace the European lifestyle. Truth be told, its not a move I wanted to make, it was my only option, and was given to me by the awesome company I work for. I am so grateful to NB for how they have looked after me. My GreenCard has been held up by the Government shut down and therefore I need an extended time away from USA. Another company would have said tough luck, but NB found me a job and I need to embrace this. Its amazing that I feel so sad to be going away for a short period of time. And the more I look at it I realize that its circumstance that has me sad. I would probably be pretty sad if I was still in Boston but I'd feel more in control. How to combat this is to embrace the new experiences. Basically I am gonna become more like my old self and I am gonna fit more into the next 6 months than most fit into a lifetime. Only wonderful experiences, things I talk about doing but actually never bother to even try. Yeah work is gonna dominate, and thats my priority, but I will ride my bike up the great European climbs, I will drink Trappist beer - straight from the source, I will see football matches and go to festivals, I will drink espresso in every small village I can visit, I'll see all the great cities. Maybe I'll make some of the best friends in the world. Or I will meet a lady who will like me for me. Either way its gonna be an adventure and I am gonna capture it.


I set the bar low coming to Warrington. I had no reason to do this. I just love Boston so much that it can only pale in comparison. However, day one wasn't too bad at all. The people in the office are incredible. The place is very friendly, the staff in my hotel are some of the nicest I've come across in many years of travel. And through contacts I am quickly being plugged into a social scene of great people. My plan to get back to Drogheda every other weekend is already cracking. I want to get after it and not miss an opportunity to have a great experience. Manchester has a great music scene. The history is incredible and some of my favorite bands hail from the grim streets. The Smiths. Joy Division. Stone Roses. I'll be walking those roads. Lots to come.


In the meantime, I am digging the new Bombay Bicycle Club tune Luna. Its very poppy and makes a middle aged dreamer smile.



Peace and Love

Kel

Radiohead Dreams

Three days in Santa Monica followed by three days in New York before Radiohead in Kansas City. It was a wonderful 7 days on the road. Last time I saw Radiohead was on the in rainbows tour. Atoms For Peace doesn’t count even if it was Thom playing Radiohead songs.  Full on Radiohead was last seen in Montreal, standing in the middle of Parc Jean Drapeau . It was a great gig and I didn’t think it would be 4 years till I got to see them again. I wasn’t too concerned that no East Coast dates, north of Atlanta, were announced. Obviously they would play in the North East but I still couldn’t deal with the waiting and when Mike Rockingguy Richardson told me he had a ticket for me to see the show in Kansas I booked a flight and let the excitement take over.

As I get older the small intimate settings trump the massive  arena shows. A gig at The Paradise Rock Club is far more appealing than going out to Great Woods in Mansfield. Radiohead, as is the case is with all big bands, rarely perform in small venues. They will do some theater stuff – like Atoms For Peace – but in order to meet demand they have to play the arena or the large outdoor park/amphitheater shows. However, if one band can make a 17,000 seater stadium seem like a tiny rock club its Radiohead. The quality of the production from the sound to the lightshow is so crisp that one feels like they are watching a HD recording of a show in the front room. I really didn’t notice people around me, I was completely fixed on the stage and all the magic that was unfolding right in front of me.

 

The boys were in a jovial mood. It was certainly the most animated Thom Yorke I’ve ever seen. Thom is not one for too much crowd interaction so it was very surprising to see him joke around with other band members while talking to the crowd about everything from annoying dogs to the random and strange day he was having. The mood of the band was as infectious as the music. Its easy to tell a band that is going through the motions and a band that is truly enjoying their music. This was the happiest Thom Yorke I’ve ever seen. 

The set lists have been pretty consistent with 5 or 6 songs of 23-24 changing. We were lucky to get 2 tour debut songs Super Collider from the record store day release and the amazing How To Disappear Completely, which left everyone feeling numb. Magic stuff. The actual setlist is below,

Setlist
01 Bloom
02 15 Step
03 Morning Mr Magpie
04 Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
05 All I Need
06 Pyramid Song
07 The Daily Mail
08 Supercollider (tour debut)
09 Nude
10 Identikit (with false start)
11 Lotus Flower
12 There There
13 Feral
14 How To Disappear Completely (tour debut)
15 Reckoner
—
16 Separator
17 Myxomatosis
18 Idioteque
19 Lucky
20 Everything In Its Right Place
—
21 Give Up The Ghost
22 Paranoid Android

The highlights for me were the entire encore, Identikit false start and all, and All I Need which I thought sounded even more haunting and beautiful than I remembered.  During Myxomatosis the crowd started losing it, when Idioteque kicked off before we could get a breath I knew the night would go down as one of the best Radiohead shows I've seen. For the final track it was between Street Spirit and Paranoid Android - I believe SS was on the set list. Given the energetic response from the crowd Paranoid Android was the right choice. It closed out an amazing night. Mike, Jen, and I left the gig speechless and given about 25+ Radiohead shows between the two of us that says a lot. 

The Boston, Montreal, and Toronto shows can't come soon enough. The boys are really on right now, and nothing seems to phase them. To see Thom laugh and poke fun at Clive for his mistake during Identikit was so uplifting. It made me really happy and sharing these experiences with good friends and fellow Radiohead fanatics leaves a lasting impression. Everything in its right place.

Peace and Love,

Kel

Never seen or hear Thom act so playfully before.

Twitching & Salivating

Hanging on during the last five miles of my last bike ride was a bit of a gut punch. But the weekend and everything before that was entirely optimistic. Dereck "D-Rock" Tredwell came down for some training camp - or as much training as 2 days and some socializing allows. I got up early on Saturday to watch Liverpool lose to a far weaker Arsenal side. As a friend on twitter wrote, hitting posts and cross bars is not bad luck, its poor finishing........

Saturday was a wash so Tread and I hit the trainers for a couple of hours while watching some pro guys show us how its really done at Strade Bianche. We hit some tempo efforts mimicking the attacks of the riders on the computer screen. When they climbed, so did we. Off the bikes we went for a run, triathlon style. We only did 2 miles but it was enough to make me tired and wonder how guys race marathons off the bike.

Next up was a visit to ATA Cycles where I was scheduled a fit session from Husam Sahin. Husam is a bit of a genius. He makes his own contraptions the analyze position and measure power output using real simulations rather than video alone. We kicked off the session with all the usual measurements and some more thorough information using lazers (I'm not sure really but everything sounded awesome so I rolled with it). We then used Retul for the first position. Usually this is as far as a fit goes however Husam took the measurements from Retul and applied it to his hydraulic bike. Once I moved bikes I was set up in a new position. I rode here for a while holding a certain watt range - about 330 watts - until I was comfortable. Then he started to adjust the bike as I was in motion. The movements were so small that I didn't notice however I did notice the watts jumping up to 335, then 340, then 350 even though I was holding the same effort. When he returned me to my initial position my watts dropped and I had to pedal harder to get back to 350. Once I did he adjusted again, back to my new position and with the same effort I was pushing 365. I know there is a mental component to it but the increase at some level was real. We stopped playing around and I kept riding with my hands resting in the 3 typical positions.  Husam then adjusted my bike to the new position. He raised my saddle, shortened my stem, took out a spacer from my headtube, rotated my handlebars down slightly, and moved my saddle position. The overall affect was pretty amazing when we captured the new position on Retul and contrasted it to my original position. Everything looked more aero, smoother, and more powerful. Now I need to put it to use in the real world.

 The Kyphosis is always going to be a problem but hopefully the new position will allow me more comfort in the drops. I tested it next morning on the long ride and everything was smooth. No pain whatsoever, until the last 5 miles of course. For some reason I went from feeling amazing to rocked very quickly. Just holding Dean Phillips and Skip Foley's wheels was a test of mental strength. I suffered and it was joyful. With a week of work travel ahead of me and a Radiohead concert on the horizon I had every reason to feel happy. Group riding is awesome. Most people prefer to train alone but to me biking is a social outlet and lifestyle. I like to share it, albeit with stronger riders, most of the time.

Peace and Love,
Kel

New Orbital video is bizarre but the song is beautiful  and with Zola Jesus on the chanting duty it makes for magic sounds.

Hold On

I need to explain myself. I wasn't clear in my post yesterday about Suffering. A few emails came in asking me if I was suggesting Running was easier than the bike! Absolutely not! Any opinion I share on here is taken from my own experience. I could never race marathons as much as I desperately wanted to. And when I say desperately I really mean it. I was depressed when my body wouldn't let me run, and I will NEVER get over it. Marathon running and the training associated with it is similar to bike racing. A good marathon runner can train close to their threshold for long periods of time. We do tempo runs of 8 - 12 miles or longer depending on the philosophy and these are run at marathon pace or a little quicker. The length of time means that only small drinks from the bottle are needed and the work should be very tolerable. Once you cross the line, the pace slows and the race or training is over. You can't sit in and coast in a draft for a while eating a clif bar and drinking 22oz of thick carbo fuel. Once your done its over (save the few bizarre comebacks). This is the fundamental difference I am talking about. After 3  hours of riding, especially if its hilly and hard, the body is starving for food and cyclists can eat, replenish, and recover all the while maintaining a hard pace and elevated HR. In a 5 hour race a rider can be dropped only to be paced back up in a draft and have enough in the tank to attack.  Throughout the whole experiencee its never comfortable, hence the suffer part. My experience of hard running was like getting hit with a baseball bat really hard for a short period of time while cycling is like being hit really hard and then tapped incessantly for a while with an occasional hard whack again. A different system and one that requires a lot of concentration for a much longer period of time. There is no doubt that when you cross the line in a running race you suffer. My initial point is that this pain is awful and there is no coming back, no drafting, no food, no push of the back up a hill. Its just get to the finish line without injury.

I've heard some people say that the Tour De France is like running a marathon everyday. Complete nonsense, but a good example of what I am trying to say. You suffer for hours in the hills but next day the fatigue is tolerable and the rider can go out and do it again, maybe even faster. Have you ever seen an elite marathon runner the day after Boston or New York? Their bodies are shattered. Its such a deplorable effort for a little over two hours that it can take 2 -3 weeks or longer to recover and start again. Elites run 2 marathons a year, a pro cyclist can ride 3 grand tours and 50 other races. Thats the difference. If runners didn't have the limiting factor of pounding and intense muscle and joint breakdown they would race every week. I know I would have, for sure. Even the Ironman triathlete can do more long course races because its that slower burn. The breakdown is nutritional, physiological, muscular, mental etc. But they can come back and do another one 2 months later. This frequency of hard marathons happens in running but is rare and careers are very short lived. 

At the other end of the spectrum is track work. This is similar to track bike racing. Extremely hard and intense. When I think suffering I think long periods. Suffering in a jail cell for years or suffering from an illness. The mental  and physical toll of track racing is completely different. My good friend and amazing runner Mark Carroll used to have sleepless nights before hard track workouts because they were so hard. It may be a session such as 5 x 1km, meaning the intervals would last 2.5 minutes each and be repeated 5 times for a total hard running workout of 12.5 minutes. But those reps require everything from the body. Very difficult and a completely different system then what we use on the bike.

So in a nutshell, I love the term suffering on the bike. You can just deplete yourself to bonking and do it again the next day with the same vigor. Its a new realm for me and I can approach my free weekends knowing I'll bury myself but feel no real pain in my body afterwards. Unlike after those wonderful track sessions and hard cross country reps I'll wake up and bounce around my apartment. Sure I'll be tired but not sore. And I'll be ready to do it all again.

Great tune by The Chain Gang Of 1974 - Hold On. Listened to it on my trainer tonight and it made me happy.

Peace and love
Kel

Suffocation

Waiting for the weekend so I can suffer. Maybe my favorite thing about cycling is this word - Suffer. Its not used in the running game so much. Most likely because for me running was relatively short and intense. The pain feels worse than suffering, its comfort then a feeling like either something is going to break or I'm going to pass out. Cycling is a slow burn. You can keep up, but be on the rivet for a LONG time. The pounding is such a limiting factor, or at least over the last few years it was for me. Invariably my legs would hurt before my heart and lungs. On the old bike, much like in XC Skiing, the pain is drawn out over a long period of time. Simply eating some food can take you from the depths of despair to the front hammering and all the time a feeling of suffering. And bike racers embrace this. They love to talk about suffering on a ride. Now I find myself using the term all the time. Since I've done no exercise all week I can't wait to suffer. We'll be hitting the hills and putting in time on the saddle. Perfect.

I heard a new remix by HEALTH of the wonderful Suffocation by Crystal Castles The tune is short which is a shame because its great. Loving the electronic music this week.

Peace and Love

Kel

ManFlu

The void in my updates is not laziness but rather the result of a week on the road with work, and an unfortunate gut punch courtesy of the flu (or something close to that). It might just be a bad cold but last time I had a cold there were no aches involved. Myself and assorted members of team new balance hit the road this week to see some of our favorite customers and to get out of the office. Frontline tells us everything we need to know and as marketers and sales people its important to carry the bag rather than read the report. It hit me on Tuesday night, the usual onset symptoms. Scratch in the throat, coffee not tasting good, pain in the neck. From there it only deteriorated, ache down the back, lethargic, very sore throat. Heres the thing, I was on the road for work and in order to do my job I need to put the gameface on which I did and it worked out well. I got to Friday feeling much better! I was out every night for beers, on 4 different planes, and little kip but alas I was coming through it. Saturday arrives and all thats left is a stuffy nose. With sunny skies there was never any doubt that I'd meet up with Tread, Skip, and the Concord crew for a ride out to Wachusett Mountain. Despite feeling like complete crap the entire way I was still comfortable with the jaunt. The hills felt fine and I was riding within myself. Once I was done however it all went pear shaped. I got home and the symptoms returned only this time in a shitty mood. I went to bed at 8 and slept until 10 on Sunday morning. Completely wiped. The thing that really irked me was that the weather was so good. Sunday and today would have been epic riding days. I sat in my Brookline apartment and saw so many cyclists pass the window. All I could do was drink fluids and some coffee (the headaches are not worth fighting) and listen to tunes. The good thing was finding some new gems linked below.

Training has been only ok up to this point. 2 weeks ago I got out for some miles with Skip and the dudes from Embrocation. It was a good ride although I felt really good and needed to squeeze out some hard efforts at the end. Fortunately Skip was in a similar mood and he hammered along with me, destroying me in a few of our Sprints. Cycling really is a funny game, here Skip tells me he is hanging on going up hill and then ten minutes later I can't hold his wheel in a sprint. I'll be long done before I figure it all out. Meeting at Cafe Fixe is a good buzz. Not since my days in Boulder, CO have I seen a collection of Bike Porn outside a coffee shop. In Boulder I didn't really care but now I am part of it. David Andersen is giving the peace sign. Lots of good vibes before some suffering

It was a lot of trainer riding in the week that followed and then it was up north to Jay Peak for a weekend with Frankie and some of the PC crew. All sorts of skiing activities, some waterpark action (Jay Peak has a massive indoor water park which is so random), and a few IPA's. The laughs were non stop but the training was minimal. I tried my hand at X-C skiing and didn't really achieve the outcome I was hoping for. I blame the conditions. There was ice everywhere and I literally wasn't skilled enough to manage the corners. Frankie fell a few times and while she is no pro she has gotten out quite a bit up in Ottawa and said that the conditions were deplorable. We decided to pack it in after maybe 6km and resort to beer drinking by the fire.

We might look the part but only one of us could actually ski. I wore a rapha cycling jacket to make myself feel better about everything. I wonder if rolling around in ice, drinking beer, playing in a waterpark and then sitting in an outdoor hot tub with -10 airtemps freezing my hair contributed to my getting sick? Anyway, its onward and upward. I needed to catch up on music. So I did.

Back in the saddle tomorrow and until then here's two new tunes I've been listening to non-stop. I don't know much about the artists but one is a French electro pop gem and the other a post-new wave slice of happy.

Peace and Love,
Kel

Working And Cycling

Working at NB has been fantastic. The team creates an atmosphere that (for better or worse) encourages an early start and a late check out. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how to maximize my ability to get in the training around work and travel. Writing this email I find myself on a flight back from Colorado. A few jogs hit the spot but I haven’t been on the bike since Monday. Based on most of the conversations I’ve had, the guys I’ll be racing this year are putting in 15 – 20 hours a week on the bike. I’m doing well if I get in 12 on a normal week and maybe 8 on a travel week. In this regard, running is much more convenient so I try to do as much as I can while keeping my knees somewhat healthy. But its not enough and its not really going to build fitness. Once the Spring kicks in the early morning rides outside will be much more tolerable. To this end I should point out that I am not a morning person – given the fact that I have issues falling asleep – and struggle to get up at 5:30 to do 2+ hours before work. Some people can, and I may come across as soft, but its not that important to me and I’d rather get the sleep and do less. The trainer as much as I hate it has been my friend around the long hours and I’ve decided the best way to train is to go hard for an hour to 1.5 hours with no real structure and on the weekends get out for 2 days of volume. It should work but I imagine I’ll struggle early season in the longer races. Either that or I’ll surprise myself and feel fresh. I spoke with Jason Donald, former Garmin-Chipotle rider, while on my market trip around Denver. Great bloke. He gave me a ton of advice and I’m going to keep in touch. He reckons getting in some running and keeping fresh is fine. Sometimes we absorb what we want to hear. Often I search for the advice I want to hear! Many riders have told me to get up and do long sessions on the trainer, or do double days on the trainer. But Jason told me exactly what I want to hear, emphasize recovery and sleep, do some running and get out on the bike when ever I can. He also told me to use power to get the most out of short training sessions so this is what I’ll do.

Last weekend was the annual Arc-En-Ciel LBL ride and about 30 blokes and 1 female showed up. The weather was fantastic and I felt great. After a bad start, 2 punctures in the first 5 miles, I got rolling and never felt tired, not at least until the end when myself, Amos Brumble, and Mark McCormack broke away and hammered along in a rotating paceline for the last 8-10 miles. The cross winds made it tough but I was never really in trouble and it seems Amos and Mark were on equal levels of fatigue as I was. We maintained a hard pace for 20 minutes and then cruised in the last 2 miles. Good training and a nice confidence booster. 

This weekend is the NB Indoor Games in Boston so I have some work on but I’ll try to get out early on Saturday and Sunday with Skip Foley and his crew. Sacrificing my weekend nights out on the sauce is actually quite easy these days. It might mean I am getting old and mature, but I doubt that to be the case. I think I’m just getting more caught up in the biking game.

Peace and Love

Kel

New Dawn

Last Wednesday I started a new Job with New Balance and immediately jumped on a train to head to NYC for a Marketing Campaign launch that was happening. It didn't really feel like I was starting a new job because it was all so familiar except I was really happy. Not that I hated Reebok or anything, I just lost all passion for the brand and working there. The friends will last forever but going into work and feeling like I was completely different from almost everyone was a real struggle. Reebok has hedged the core of its positioning on the current fitness craze - CrossFit. It makes sense for the brand to carve out a new direction, it certainly wasn't working in the running space and seeing how passionate the company is for this "sport of fitness"it makes sense they get after it in a big way. The issue is that I don't like CrossFit. People working out is great and I've seen friends transform themselves by getting involved. But I've see a lot more people transformed by going for a jog or riding a bike. CrossFit preaches a philosophy that is based on short intense exercise routines that change everyday. They believe Routine and Aerobic exercise a major problem. They also preach a Paelo Diet is the way we should eat. Basically lots of lofty claims. I once asked a CrossFit instructor if he considered Lance Armstrong or Paula Radcliffe to be Fit people. He never heard of Paula and he said that Lance is not generally fit, he is good at riding a bike. It was after this conversation that I concluded the program is like a cult. You may be fit but your nothing if your not CrossFit. Going to work became painful because I'd feel like an outsider going for a Jog at lunch time. I was asked every day why I didn't do CrossFit and if you didn't do it there was definitely a feeling of being left out. I loved the people I worked with but thats not enough. You have to believe in what you do when you get up. I have always applied this philosophy to my sport and I used to apply it to work until it was sucked out of me. I love that friends of mine have bought into CrossFit and now they feel really healthy and years younger. But I don't love that CrossFit tells me I'm not Fit. I believe I was the fittest person in Reebok. I imagine my V02 max is higher than everyone in the building and on a stress test of endurance I imagine no one would come close - but I can't do 10 pull ups nor can I do a standing handstand push up. Why in the world would I want to? I race a bike, I need to train for racing a bike, not for dealing with an unfortunate situation I may find myself in that requires me to do a handstand.

I decided I needed to leave and let someone who was passionate about Reebok and CrossFit to take over. I still meet my buddies Thommo, Bryan, and Ben for pints once a week - along with some assorted Reebok crew that come along. My mates know and respect my position. Without blowing my own horn I felt I did the admirable thing. I could still be at Reebok, faking it, taking home a paycheck and laughing but thats not me. I want to live and breath my Job in a healthy way. I believe that at New Balance I'll be able to do that.

When I graduated I signed a small but very meaningful contract with NB. They stood by me through all the injuries - believing that I'd come good. In the end like I did with Reebok I told John Evans that I couldn't be on contract anymore. I needed to move on with my life and the few dollars I was getting would be better off with a new up and comer who needed support. I wanted a Job and in 2006 I started with Reebok. Leaving the world of professional running wasn't hard but leaving NB was. I missed the brand and always wished it well on my travels with Reebok. Now to be back in the NB is really uplifting. I don't believe in fate but this comes close to whatever that word means.

My new boss Josh is fantastic and my co-workers Patrick and Ali have youthful exuberance and energy that makes me feel old! And they are dialed in. Patrick has a big future ahead of him given the breath of ideas and boundless desire to make them come to life. Being in NYC was inspiring. We hosted the launch of our British Milers program, a 12 week TV show in the UK that will follow 7 of our athletes as they chase one of the 3 spots on the Olympic team for London. I used to think I was inspired by the big Marketing presentations at Reebok - and some of them were really inspiring - but by Monday morning reality would kick in. Running is not a priority. At NB the talk of trying to be the best running brand on the planet is real. Full teams dedicated to this goal with a relentless passion to achieve it. Walking in to meet retailers was such an eye opener. They love what we are doing and the product is cranking. Tom Carleo must be the best footwear guy in the business and he is the captain of our ship. Thats what gets me fired up in the morning to go to work. It will be a big year ahead. Very busy and challenging for sure but all in the ways that challenging is great. I am diving in and not looking back. My two previous bosses are at NB too along with a former co-worker and now we are all peers committed to this team and committed to being number one. Exactly the way work should be.

Another highlight of the weekend was some good music talk with Harry Norton. I was pretty down about not riding my bike but now I get to look forward to trainer sessions with new bands to listen to. Harry is into similar music to me so he gave me some suggestions of older bands I might like - Built To Spill and The Microphones. I have heard of them but never gave them a shake so I'll delve into their work this week and report back.

OK thats the buzz. Peace and Love,

Kel

PS - I really miss this guy and need to hear something from him soon.

Learning How To Walk....again

Its almost one year since I purchased my USAC License. This time last year I was under the knife, getting my final knee surgery. Dr. Brian McKeon telling me, "look, there is really not much left to do other than manage the pain. This means not running so much. If you treat your knees well you'll be fine but if you keep pounding there's few options. Microfracture, O.A.T.S, but you really don't want to deal with those surgeries at this stage". He was right, at 33 why would I choose an evasive surgery to help one of my knees when the other knee was also bad, not to mention the many other problems I have in my hips and back. That was the day I became a jogger and a cyclist.

A guy like me never stops dreaming and deep down I still fantasized about a miraculous cure. One day I'd go for a run and everything would be normal. I wouldn't have to sit on a one inch wide, carbon fiber saddle anymore. I'd get on my shoes and run, thats what I love, thats what I'm good at. And I thought about it all the time - still do. Standing at a show watching one of my beloved bands I would drift into dreaming about running the Boston Marathon. Like an addiction, I had to come to terms that I needed to let go and move on to something that was better for me. And that "better" is cycling.

This morning I renewed my membership and I face a season of racing at the highest level in New England. Not where I was running but who wants to go back to that, living race to race, stressing about everything because the sport is the job. That ship has sailed. Cat. 1 racing at the Amateur level is perfect. On Monday, after a hard race, I want to go to work. With that said it is still bizarre to face this season. After nearly a year of racing I still feel like a blow in. I know everything about running. I can debate with any coach/athlete and be completely dialed in. But with cycling every ride I learn something new. While the rest of my life is still going through a process - visas/job issues - cycling is the only thing I have control over so I'm reading, and learning as much as I can. Do I get a coach, buy a powermeter, get a professional fit etc. All questions I've been researching. My own team mates talk in Watts, the way we would talk about pace in running. You run your 8 mile threshold runs at about 5 min mile pace is now you ride 40 minutes at 300 Watts. I have NO IDEA what watts are about because I don't own a power meter and I really don't know if I want one.

My coach Ray Treacy is old skool. If he was a cycling coach he would have the attitude of Sean Kelly. Its about getting the work done without any bells and whistles. When I lived with Steve Jones it was the same. He firmly believed that too many athletes spend their energy thinking about the micro details rather than just getting out, putting in hard work, and resting. And now I find myself at a cross roads. Do I continue to ride like I did last year, 4 hours one week, 10 hours the next week, intervals because I feel like it or 3 days off because I have a pain in my arse from sitting on the saddle. OR do I develop a training program, get the power meter, get tested, and work on hard data. Its a tough one because cycling is very different to running. Not nearly as black and white. Its in between running and formula 1 racing. Like running it requires fitness, ability to suffer, sacrifice, bravery. But then there is the machine, the wheels, the position, and the power. I fear that if I don't learn these basics I'll lose races. Talent can get you through the early categories but now its the real deal. Guys that have been racing for years with legs carved out of stone. My feeble ass won't be able to match their power unless I train. I need to learn how to ride with stabilizers again.

Fortunately I am surrounded by great people willing to share advice. The great riders at Arc-En-Ciel like Dave Kellogg, all my new teammates at Upton Bass Racing, or the guys I will ride with up here in Boston. Ciaran Mangan, and lately Skip Foley. Guys that have been around the block.  This past Sunday I went for a ride with Skip, Peter Sullivan, and a former European Pro Justin Spinelli. Lots of information to be gathered. These rides are like going back to school, at 34! And like a sponge I absorb all the tidbits of wisdom.

We rode some hills up in New Hampshire. At a regrouping after a climb we found ourselves stopped in front of this church. Literally in the middle of nowhere this white chapel and a small house next door. Who goes here? Its part of the charm of New England, something much of us don't appreciate. What we did appreciate was at break after a 3km climb. Skip and Peter looking very "tranquilo" while we regroup. Justin is an interesting bloke. He rode for Farm Frites and Seaco when he was 20. With a lot of bravado around the cycling scene it was refreshing to hear that a former Giro D'Italia rider lives a few miles away and doesn't carry any arrogance. I enjoyed hearing stories about Mario Chipollini.

Yesterday was another 3 hours. Trying to take advantage of the free time and the great weather. I felt amazing. Missing a few days due to a head cold seems to have given me extra energy stores. My only concern now is that I am getting too fit too soon......

Radiohead are headlining the Saturday night at Coachella. I welcomed a text from a buddy last night suggesting we go. There is no doubt that I want to attend this festival but it seems like a hassle. If I go any year though, this is the one. The line up is excellent and the first weekend would work really well. Lots of bands I want to see in addition to Radiohead. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Buzzcocks, Pulp, Feist, Modeselektor....... Might have to make this one happen.

Meanwhile I just downloaded Memory Tapes - Piano Player. The record is not a patch on Seek Magic but still decent. I was moved to get the album when Stereogum posted the video to Trance Sisters. Lovely tune and on heavy rotation in Brookline this morning.

Peace and Love,
Kel

Memory Tapes 'Trance Sisters' from Ooh Brilliant on Vimeo.

Trainer Rides and Head Colds

No one likes being sick, especially not me. I've been known to revert to child like behavior with the first itchy throat or stuffy head. It really annoys me because I did 2 trainer sessions this week thus avoiding the freezing temps. Yesterday I rode 3 hours but it was mid 30's, tropical when compared to the previous days. Last night I decided to reward a good week on the eve of an easy day with some scoops down in Providence. I met Joe at Julians for a Blackbean Veggie burger and some IPA.

I knew the cold was in the post but hopefully I can be a baby today, drink lots of fluid (after I get through my customary 2 mugs of black gold this morning) and nip it before tomorrow so I can ride in what is looking like a beautiful day. The trainer rides are going to be very effective for me. Last year I just hammered on the trainer when I felt like it but at the advice of one of my teammates this year I'll do structured heart rate trainer sessions. Without a powermeter, HR is the next best thing. The sessions at this time of year are structured around longer reps and sub threshold HR. On tuesday I did 4 x 10 minutes at 175-80 HR or about 85% of Max. On Wednesday I did big gear work with 3 x 15 minutes at 75-80 RPM, holding a HR at 80% or a little higher of Max. The HR graph can be seen on Strava
3 X 15 minutes big gear work
4X 10 minutes sub threshold

Strava is basically an online training diary with a bunch of add-on features such as maps and average speed/cadence/power etc. You can also compare sections of your ride with all those who have previously ridden those sections and who use Strava. In fact there are guys and gals who seem to want KOM strava status to the point that they seek out popular Strava routes and hammer the sections! I think its a great program and I'll continue to post my training on there.

I listened to PJ Harvey - Let England Shake on my ride yesterday. It is certainly one of the best albums of 2011. Easily in my top 5. I haven't played it in a while but yesterday I went through it twice. I haven't read too many year end lists but I assume this record ranked pretty high on most. There are no bad songs on it. Its certainly a political album. The Guardian described it like so, "an opaque exploration of Englishness delivered in a high, keening voice, that contains not one, not two, but three harrowing songs that explicitly reference the 1915 Gallipoli campaign and a further handful that seem more generally informed by the carnage of the first world war – represents one of the more approachable albums in her oeuvre."
All that aside, the record is full of great songs and melody. Like all great artists PJ Harvey didn't make another PJ Harvey record. She explored a new sound and took on a new challenge with this record. No big fanfair, no promotion, just a fluid and very infectious album. Essential listening. I remember the first time I saw PJ Harvey in concert and I was amazed by the power of her voice given her petit size against the back drop of a massive main stage at the Oxegen festival in Ireland. I was with my friends Grogee and Julie. We danced and sang along even though we didn't know the words. Great times.

Peace and Love,
Kel

New Year

Happy new year everybody. We are still the same muppit show as we were yesterday. It doesn't take January 1st to make a change. It takes waking up every morning and smashing the day. The Rapha500 got me on my bike so my Redemption, thus Resolution, started on Dec 23. I woke up and decided to get on the saddle again. The week was great. I finished off with a nice 145KM ride on the 31st. It gave me 680 or so k's in 8 rides. The most I've ever done. My goal of 500 miles (800KM) was very attainable but a scratchy throat and not wanting to get sick forced me to take a day off and a day on the trainer. I completely agree that trainer rides shouldn't count so I didn't even think about it.

On New Years eve we rode from Natick, a group ride in the cold and rain. One gnarly day that was awesome. Myself, Ernie T, Aidan Charles, Skip Foley, Tyler Monroe joined Ciaran Mangan for his annual year end ride. We took it steady until the last 30km when Ernie, Skip, and I started a paceline that for me was close to race effort. Hard pulls followed by short recovery into a mild but very cold headwind was enough to leave the three of us feeling pretty wiped. Getting back to my car was a lovely feeling as was the chocolate milk (recovery drink of the year) and americano that waited for me at the corner coffee shop in Natick center.

Right after the ride I jumped in my car and headed north to Burlington to meet Frankie for the New Year. We had food and drink with friends at Flatbread in downtown and I lashed back some excellent IPA. Great conversation, music, and laughs made us forget it was actually New Years eve and when some random people started shouting we decided to join in for about 30 seconds before going back to good chats. Like I said, new years day is just another day but good times are embraced when ever they happen. It was good times that I was celebrating.

Back to Boston yesterday and back at it today. Last couple of days were running, not much, just a few miles and today was my first ride since the epic Saturday morning hammer fest. The bitter cold of this morning made my trainer look ever so special and since I had a workout to do I decided to jump on it and executed the reps. The trainer is actually better in many ways when it comes time to do specific work. I live in the city and dealing with traffic and lights, stop signs and merging lanes makes long reps difficult at the best of times. Add in ice and 18 degree temps and the workout suddenly becomes a torrid affair. I did 4 x 10 minutes at LT (or what I think is LT since I don't use power nor have I been tested on the bike) My running values must be the same so I used those. It was a great session and a few days off the bike has left me fresh.

After watching Liverpool getting thumped at Man City I needed to go for a run, so this afternoon I hit the pavement for 4 miles, stopping at Chipotle at the end. My burrito felt like a 10lb bar bell, which is why I love that place.

I am still working on some tunes of the year for 2011. There won't be a top 10 album list because like I said many times, it wasn't a great year for me as far as music goes. And now that I have a laid back week I can get through my iTunes library and start to pick my highlights.

Mojo magazine released a compilation of New Order covers from the seminal 1993 album Power, Corruption, & Lies. I listened to Destroyer take on 'Leave Me Alone', one of my favorite tracks on the album. I can't wait to hear the rest of it. Some people hate these kinds of cover albums but I love them. Listening to different artists takes on some of my favorite songs is always joyful.

Peace and Love
Kel

Rapha 500 Day 5 - Redemption and Recovery

When I woke up this morning my quads hurt and my ass didn't allow me comfort when standing. These feelings were not expected but not surprising considering I've done 5 good days of riding and even some jogging mixed with a lot of IPA and not a lot of real recovery. This morning I decided to go for a light 3 mile jog. Its such a tease, a 3 mile jog, around the block. Nothing really. Barely breaking a sweat. Maybe 7:30 pace, maybe quicker. Spending my entire life running has warped my perception to the point of no return. I accept 3-5 miles is all I can run now but its not training. It will never be part of the conversation. Just something that gets done in between bike rides. But it won't be insignificant either. I read somewhere that running will kill bike riding ability. It will slow you down is what I read. Where it came from I can't remember but I'm sure I can find it. Most likely its true, no arguments here, my lack of understanding with regard to cycling and the training that fuels it doesn't allow me an educated opinion. However, I did OK on the bike in my first year racing and I ran every opportunity I could. A sneaky 5 miler here or there. The only time it hurt me was when I raced that 5 miler in South Boston on a ridiculously hot and humid night with loads of wind. I raced Tour Of The Hilltowns the next day and was wrecked. Lesson learned on that one, no racing before bike races, or ever for that matter. Running however is something I'll never stop.  My love of the sport and the endeavor transcends my love of bike racing and fuels my desire to be great at bike racing. They are not exclusive, rather very much intertwined.

With the sore legs and the light jog in the AM I resigned myself to a day off. It lasted until after lunch when an easy recovery ride in the rain became very appealing. Rapha 500 is for sure getting me out. I don't want to miss a day! So into the elements I went for an easy 60km loop. No water, no food, no breaks. Just a quick 2 hour jaunt around familiar roads and some miles in the bank. Motivation was high because I was meeting Kevin Adams for a beer at the Publick House. That turned into several beers and great conversation. Torpedo Extra IPA was my tipple of choice. Never had it before, will have it again. The music, as per usual was excellent. Lots of The Smiths, New Order, and one song by The Church I haven't heard in ages. Made me feel great. Thats the song of this very good day.

Peace and Love,
Kel

Rapha 500 Day 4 The Day After Christmas

Wiiiindy day today. Give me the bitter cold of the last 3 mornings over what felt like a heatwave - 37F and a 25 mph wind. Riding solo everyday is tough. Running solo, easy, but riding for 3 hours and listening to the iPod is getting old. On New Years Eve my buddy Ciaran Mangan is organizing a ride over about 80 miles of rolling hills and there should be 10+ riders going. Needless to say I'm thoroughly looking forward to this one, and in the meantime its base miles by myself.

My legs felt trashed today. Even though I haven't done much training relative to those I'll race, for me 4 days in a row over 50 miles is uncommon. I wanted to get another 50 miles in today which will keep me on track for my Rapha500 challenge (even if I cheated to make it harder by introducing miles instead of km's). I doubt I'll do 500 miles but I know I'll eclipse 500km. Anyway, my glutes were hurting as I rode up Beacon street, past BC. But then, strangely, the soreness subsided and my Garmin told me that my pace was pretty snappy. And I was going into the wind, kind of. Super compensation? Maybe, I don't really know anything about cycling training but I knew my recovery day was probably gonna be more of a workout.. The wind really pissed me off though. I am not exactly aero on the bike so every gust was sending me sideways with spit coming out each side of my mouth. Then, a sharp turn in Weston and bliss. Tailwind for the next 30km. It was great. Barely putting out watts and flying along. I forgot to drink water and after 1:45 a savage thirst enveloped me. One area of improvement for 2012 is on bike nutrition. I honestly think that the frozen bottles of the last 3 days made me forget. Either way, the water was in liquid state but didn't prepare me for the next turn back into the wind. The last 20 or so km's I was riding at 15mph. On certain stretches (mapped out on Strava) I was minutes slower than usual. With all that said, I felt great. When I did finally arrive home after 82km I really wanted to do more but its either into the city which is not happening or back out into the headwind. A cup of coffee and left overs from Christmas day seemed a better option.

The Rapha500 continues to get me out the door. Its such a great concept that everyone can do. Most decent level riders cover the distance every week of the year but for an amateur like myself its enough to give me motivation through Christmas week when food, beer, and movies seem more appropriate. It is also getting me in the habit of consistently riding 2.5 hrs or more every day. In order to race Cat.1 in 2012 I'll need this volume and the will power to say NO to the trainer when its freezing outside. Additional motivation in the form of a good beer reward is always positive.

I met Tom McArdle and Tom Coogan, aka Thatcher Street Velo (even if I'm the only one riding much these days). We discussed my favorite topic, athletics. I could have stayed at the Beacon Street Tavern all night but the working stiffs I hang out with needing to prioritize we pulled the plug after a few pints of 60 minute IPA and headed home. Bedways is bestways. The bartender had a nice mix on the sound system. I've never been a huge fan of The Shout Out Louds but tonight I heard a song that was very Cure-esque. A lovely tune started playing and using Shazam to quench my musical thirst it told me the song was 'Normandie' by these guys. It could have been Robert Smith and it would have been perfectly natural. So thats my tune of the day.

Peace and Love
Kel

Rapha 500 Day 3 Christmas Day

Another cold one this morning. It was about 26F with some light flurries when I got out at 10am. Despite the cold it was one of the most enjoyable rides I've done in a long time. The roads were very quiet which I expected on Christmas day but there were a lot of people out exercising and everyone acknowledged each others efforts. A nod of the head, a smile, and even a "merry christmas" which I couldn't hear because I had tunes in my ear. I headed out to Carlisle/Chelmsford area. My ride is on Strava. With such quiet roads even the drivers that usually act like your not there passed with plenty of space and often slowed down. Christmas spirit? It should be like this everyday. My water bottles froze again which is a pain in the arse. Fortunately there was a service station open right after the half way point in the ride and I was able to grab a drink and a clif bar. Half a bottle for a 117km ride is not enough so I reckon there will be some insulated bottles purchased from Providence Bike in the next few days.

I have a Zipp 404 wheel on the back because I punctured as soon as I took my bike out. With some snow looking like it was about to fall (you can't see but it but there were flurries) I opted to just stick on my racing wheel and deal with the tube change later. The ride was steady and it felt great. Just shy of 4 hours and another chunk of the Rapha500 done. Upon arrival back to my flat I rewarded myself with the finest of IPA, my favorite Dogfish Head 90 Minute. The first bottle went straight to my head given the lack of water throughout the ride.

So tomorrow is a recovery day. From now on Mondays will be a short ride or even off. Once my fitness comes round and my legs get a little stronger I will be looking to clear 210-220km every weekend. Not much for a serious rider but a lot for me. I can't foresee (with the exception of maybe a training camp) weekends of 250 - 300km which many of the Cat.1 racers I'll be competing against routinely do. Social life is important to me and I will always reward myself with a night out on the weekend.

Took out an older playlist for the ride. One I made for indoor sessions last February after my knee surgery. It really confirmed how much better 2010 was for music in my opinion. Tracks by Mew, LCD Soundsystem, Crystal Castles, Twin Shadow, Wolf Parade, Interpol, Four Tet. I played the list through twice and loved hearing the songs again.  Tonight I am putting together or at least attempting to, my favorite music from 2011. One thing I am certain of, "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster The People (a song I thought was catchy and enjoyable when it first came out) was completely ruined by the radio and its become perhaps the most annoying song of 2011.

One tune I did love and dropped onto my compilation this morning was Jai Paul - 'BTSTU'. Thom Yorke played this slab of plastic magic on his Radio 1 mix when he took over the turntables of Giles Peterson. Wonderful tune.

Peace and Love
Kel

Rapha 500 Day 2 Christmas Eve

Got in 85k today and it was rough. The plan from the outset was 100k minimum but it was Freezing. I started out at 20F and ended at 25F. Once I warmed up I was fine and the cold really didn't bother me, except for my toes. But it froze my water bottles. The first one I was drinking from was slush after 45 minutes and I couldn't really get much out. After 90 minutes my second bottle was an ice cube. So 2.5 hrs in I knew I had to make my way home because I was very thirsty and starting to feel a bit of a bonk coming on. I got maybe half a bottle in and for a 53 mile ride thats not enough at all.

Right now I should be sleeping in my bed in Drogheda. I am not a big Christmas guy and the older I get the more I drift away but I do love going home and seeing the mates during the holiday. Ireland really embraces Christmas week and it turns into almost a one week national holiday. Everyone is in great form and the banter is first class. I really miss my friends during these times. Frankie is up in Canada and I can't go up there either. My visa status is changing which eliminates my ability to travel. I spent the night with at my friends place in Newton and it was great. I had a real moment of nostalgia watching all the kids buzzing about going to sleep tonight and anticipating the arrival of Santa and the riches he brings! But I also think about the NPR piece I listened to last year about the thousands of kids who don't get a visit from Santa and they don't know why. Really sad. At Dave and Sarahs I drank Creemore Canadian Larger. Good tack.

Tomorrow is supposed to achieve temps in the high 30's which will feel like a heatwave compared to this morning. I want to get in 120km if all goes well. I switched up the iPod with some new tunes. Cruising through the year end lists is just confirming my feelings that 2011 was a below average year for music. Some of the blogs I really respect have maybe one album in the top 10 that I loved - PJ Harveys - Let England Shake. Otherwise its either stuff I thought was boring or hip hop that I don't know about. On my ride this morning I was thinking about this and it would be easier for me to compile 10 albums I listened too and wished I hadn't. For example, Beady Eye - Different Gear, Still Speeding. What a complete waste of time, and I'm afraid I had so many of those moments. A list of some kind will be produced but already 2012 is looking much better. I never thought I'd say that given Radiohead put out a record this year but its how I feel. Also, with feeling a little home sick I chose a tune that is in my top 10 all time and one that is speaking my language while I sip my 90 minute IPA.

Peace and Love
Kel

Rapha 500

I am back on the blog starting now. I had a few attempts but no real heart or reason to blog. Had nothing to say that was of any interest to me or anyone else. But now that I am committed to bike riding and racing again for 2012 I think it will be good to blog about training and racing and the music that fuels it.

I started winter base training about 2 weeks ago and its been moving along slowly. I am terribly unfit and looking for motivation I stumbled on the Rapha 500 challenge. Its not too difficult really, 500km in 8 days, but considering its on during the holidays, typically a time of bad weather and snow, the challenge can be great. Luckily the weather has been very mild and it doesn't look like its really going to get bad over the next week so riding the bike outside isn't difficult at all. On the flip side, I do hope for one or two gnarly days of snow just to make it feel like more of an accomplishment. 500km in 8 days while pretty straightforward is still more than I have ever done in that time period and it is something I hope to maintain over the next 3 months.

Today I rode a steady 84km loop. There were a few nice climbs and it is one of my favorite loops in Rhode Island. I really should've done more because the weather was great and it would have been nice to get some miles in the bank but I was hungry and my one water bottle was empty. I visited White Electric for fuel afterwards. Yes, I was actually wearing a Rapha cap. I wear it all the time! I also got a Christmas gift from my mate Joe Savic at Providence Bike, a book called The Jersey Project. Its epic.

So tomorrow I will hit up 100 or so km's. I really want to ride every day between now and New Years so I can bring some fitness into 2012 and the start of the real winter base training, with workouts and everything. I have a new bike team I'm racing for in 2012 and the lads on their are tough and already logging the hard miles. Out team is called Upton Bass Racing and I will post more about it soon.

The music in 2011 has been average in my opinion. Let down by so many albums its been the worst year for music since I started the blog. There were some highlights for sure, really great tracks and records but compared to last year where my top 10 albums could change on any day/mood it is tough to even compile 10 albums that I really loved. All that is ahead too. For now its IPA in the form of DogFish Head 90 minutes and some music. Frankie sent me a record by a Canadian new wave group - Austra. They are a three piece electopop group out of Toronto with Katie Stelmanis  on vocals. The album has a bit of a Metric feel and even hints of Fever Ray, not just because of the female vocal either. You could put Natasha Kahn or Zola Jesus in the same genre - you get the picture. I've been listening to the album on rotation over the last few days and its really satisfying.

Peace and Love,
Kel

 

 

Ninigrit Training Crit

If this is a Training Crit for everyone else, fine. For me it was a race (and generally I think this was the case for most of the field) The positives of it being labeled a training race is the casual warm up, the friendly nature of the pack, and perhaps the controlled risk taking, particularly around bends. It was my first criterium and I was nervous. Not unlike the first time I raced cyclocross I had the feeling that I would be terrible and most likely cause a crash or disrupt the race with poor bike handling. That wasn’t the case at all. I was super comfortable in the pack, cornering with ease, and taking long and what I thought were very aggressive pulls at the front, particularly into the wind. A group of 3 broke away and I was in the chase group with many Arc-En-Ciel team mates. We chased hard but couldn’t bridge. I tried a few times myself but the effort was too much so I’d settle back into the pack. With 3 laps to go another guy broke and tried to bridge over, I caught his wheel after an all out effort but neither of us had the steam to continue the attack. In no mans land we tried to hold off the chasing pack and survived until about 50m before the line when 2 or 3 guys passed us. The race was a huge effort and I really enjoyed it. Like after a hard 5km on the track my stomach was knotted and I had lactate swimming throughout my body. This is a very blissful feeling but not being able to enjoy a beer after, not so much. Next week I am going to sit in a little bit more and take shorter pulls at the front. Learning the tactics and all that lark. It’s a great event to break up the week and it certainly replaces a solo interval session.

I’ve been living in Boston for 2 months now and only been to one show? Not great eh? (little Canadian there for my friends up north) I will be making this whole situation right soon but theres just not much happening. Frankie will come down for Moonface and before that a couple of gigs perk my interest. I would have liked to see White Lies but work commitments prevented that. Bell X1 is most likely the next gig I’ll attend and that’s in 10 days time. Explosions In The Sky  announced a Fall tour and I’ll certainly be attending that gig. They play the Orpheum in October and it’ll be fantastic.

Weezer is one of the last acts I'd expect to cover a Radiohead classic like Paranoid Android but they did. Being the purist I am, expectations were pretty grim, but I must admit they did a pretty good job. Staying very true to the original Rivers vocal delivery is spot on. He doesn't try and sound like Thom Yorke (impossible) rather he clearly sings a song he loves and does it justice. Check it out.

Love Kel

Lake Sunapee RR

On Tuesday of last week, still mulling over the race at Wayne Elliot I decided to contact USA Cycling and upgrade to Cat. 4. I had the win at Battenkill and leading the race last week showed me that I am strong enough to be a 4. It was approved and I entered the Lake Sunapee RR as a 4. Joe Savic and I traveled up the night before and given the stories of other people leaving at 5:30am I'm glad we did. The course was 2 laps around Lake Sunapee with some nice climbs. Certainly more up my ally in terms of course profile. The distance was 46 miles which is ok, I prefer longer. Learning my lessons from last week I opted to hide in the pack and feel out the first loop. After the two back to back hills on the opposite side of lake Sunapee I was pretty confident that I would win. Guys were pushing at the front and other guys were struggling while my HR was low and I was perfectly relaxed. Patience is not one of my virtues so it took a strong effort to focus on staying in the pack until the next time we hit these two hills. The pace was dropping all the time and I was getting very restless. Finally, after what seemed like eternity we arrived back around to the hills. The first kick is 11 miles out from the finish, I went hard and broke clear. Surprised that no one came with me the hammer went down and I pushed all out for home. By the second climb I looked back and I could see no one. I chased the lead car to the finish and won by 1:07 shutting down the last 1km. Bottomline is that when it comes to hilly courses I can compete with the cat 3 racers so I need to get myself in that group. Soon enough.

Other exceptional news this week includes the announcement of a Moonface tour. Frankie and I will be going to many of these gigs and I am certainly going back to Montreal to IL Motore for more good times. I imagine the show will be improved (not that it needs to be) and hopefully extended. Spencer gave us a tune to mull over. It was the second last track on the night I saw him and it was the song that Camilla joined him of stage for. He is releasing his album titled Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped (Great title I think) on August 2nd. Its 5 tracks and comes in at 37 minutes. More of an EP. The tune below is called Fast Peter and is beautiful.

Peace and Love,

Kel