andys-pad.com » cycling http://andys-pad.com/blog Making fun of myself since 1969™ Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:58:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 en hourly 1 Gloucester Cyclocross Pictures http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/10/03/gloucester-cyclocross-pictures http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/10/03/gloucester-cyclocross-pictures#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:18:30 +0000 andy http://into-the-blue.com/blog/?p=367 I’ve recently been introduced to this insane sport called “Cyclocross”. Those who do it seem to think that it is something like a mix between cycling, motocross, steeplechase and hell. With a little insanity thrown in. Unless of course you’re Ryan Kelly and are generally just a little bit insane to start with.

Anyways, the light of my life decided that she wanted to race Gloucester today (and apparently tomorrow as well), so I tagged along for shits and giggles. What followed was an interesting spectacle of near death experiences liberally sprinkled with expressions of untold pain and suffering. Except for Ryan Kelly who felt like he needed to stick his tongue out when jumping over barriers.

Like this, for example:

Ryan Kelly shows the

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]]> http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/10/03/gloucester-cyclocross-pictures/feed 0 Zen and the art of Bicycle Crashing http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/06/22/zen-and-the-art-of-bicycle-crashing http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/06/22/zen-and-the-art-of-bicycle-crashing#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:40:22 +0000 andy http://into-the-blue.com/blog/?p=345 Over the last several weeks I’ve learned something about the fine art of crashing one’s bicycle in style. There are essentially two ways to do it: either you have someone cause it, or you go all out and subscribe to the DIY school of bicycle crashing. I’m somewhat acquainted with the former, and extraordinarily skilled at the latter.

This black-and-white divide, however, really isn’t accurate. Once you get into the zen of it all, you realize that there really is a spectrum of possibilities ranging from the “it’s completely not my fault and I had nothing to do with it” style of crash through the “ok, so they did swerve in front of me but if only I’d not been hell-bent on riding their wheel I

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]]> http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/06/22/zen-and-the-art-of-bicycle-crashing/feed 0 Co-ed Bathrooms http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/05/16/co-ed-bathrooms http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/05/16/co-ed-bathrooms#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 21:40:52 +0000 andy http://into-the-blue.com/blog/?p=337 I overheard the following in the women’s bathroom at Mt. Sunapee today:

Maryann: “The women’s bathroom is empty right now.”

[cue mass influx of guys desperate for the bathroom]

Joe Random: “Oh man, I thought I was going to die. Umm, you OK with us using the bathroom, Kerry?” Kerry: “I don’t care if you use the bathroom. It doesn’t bother me.” Ryan Kelly from the internet (from the stall next to Kerry): “Hey Kerry, you’ve been in the vans, you should be used to this shit.” Kerry (from the stall next to Ryan): “Yeah. It’s just really weird sitting in the stall seeing feet facing the wrong way. That’s just wrong.”

And that was the high point of today’s race. After that things rapidly started going downhill, only I didn’t know

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]]> http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/05/16/co-ed-bathrooms/feed 1 Turtles, ponds and torture http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/04/26/turtles-ponds-and-torture http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/04/26/turtles-ponds-and-torture#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:47:12 +0000 andy http://into-the-blue.com/blog/?p=316 Yesterday I did my first bike race of the season and my 3rd in total. It hurt, and all those people who say that Cat 5 riders are slow in general are lying bastards. Yes, you know who you are and I’m not going to point it out much. I’m kind of getting used to being misled by statements like “oh, it’s a Cat 5 field, they suck. They can barely turn their pedals over and you’ll have no problem keeping up with them” (I lasted approximately 10 minutes in that particular ‘race’), or “You’re much stronger this year, you’re not going to get dropped”. So I suck but whatever, I’m a beginner triathlete and we’re allowed to suck and think we’re great.

Being the slow,

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]]> http://andys-pad.com/blog/2009/04/26/turtles-ponds-and-torture/feed 0 Hills, Flats and Gas http://andys-pad.com/blog/2008/11/23/hills-flats-and-gas http://andys-pad.com/blog/2008/11/23/hills-flats-and-gas#comments Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:21:41 +0000 andy http://into-the-blue.com/blog/?p=178 I know firsthand what a windchill of 14 degrees Fahrenheit feels like. I learned that yesterday – we went for a nice 2 hour bike ride in 27 degree weather with a wind gusting to 20mph. The airport’s weather reporting system claimed that the windchill was somewhere around 14 degrees. In other words, nice and cold. I also learned that I can pedal for about an hour without feeling my feet before they got really uncomfortable.

So today we decided that we needed to continue the experiment especially since the windchill factor was so much warmer: a whole 18 degrees with a temperature of, oh, 29 degrees. And I also needed to experiment with chemical warmers – those little baggies that supply 7+ hours of warmth.

To

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