Hey All,

I am feeling a little brain dead, and certainly cannot conceive of any good blog post ideas, which is perhaps due to the inordinate amount of time spent doing double days on the TT bike the past 10 days or so. On a positive note, all that time spent on the nose of my saddle has given me a grundle/taint/gooch (different places have different names for this area, hopefully you have the gist by now, or feel free to add your own version below) of astonishing callousness and resiliency; not to mention a money maker that I believe qualifies me for a very high “man stud rating” (MSR) due to bunly-goodness.

My (just kidding) newly sculpted fantastic ass aside (no really, just kidding, you’ve obviously never seen me in street clothes), training is going well, and I refuse to elaborate on that further owing to complications that arose following post #1 prior to Philly. So I’m excited for Greenville, and hopefully I’ve done enough to get me back on track for a solid TT ride following hip injury complications. Also, my man Cleve Blackwell, local Hincapie/Rudy rep man at large, will be driving the car behind me during the race, and will be radio’d up to provide me with some cheerleading. Let’s just hope he leaves the skirt and pompoms at home…

Anyway, I don’t have much media of my own to contribute, so check out someone else’s; in this case some videos of songs from Radiohead’s latest album, “In Rainbows.” Scroll down and click VIDEOS, and from there have at, but I highly recommend “Jigsaw Falling into Place” and “Reckoner.” For those not already acquainted with this fantastic body of music, I recommend that you follow the steps necessary to obtain it. Some of it’s better application’s include: Nighttime airline travel, nighttime driving, rainy days, driving on rainy days, sunny days, sexy time (start at track 3 and go from there if things are already warming up), and pretty much any other time you want to listen to some beautifully constructed, melodic, polished but not overly, flawlessly performed rock music that will make you appreciate your sense of hearing in a greater way.

The Frogurt is Also Cursed…

-Crane

Bonus additions to this Blog: Guess the famous television show I reference twice, and name the quotes.

Photo from the archive: Right before U23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2004, in front of a WWII American tank. Left to right: Blake, Obye, Me, Darby, Wolf, Saul, Devine

The first time I read this, I didn’t attach much significance to it.

The second time I read this, I was glad I repeated the passage…

“This thought strongly excited Levin. He lay awake half the night considering the details necessary for carrying his thought into effect. He had not meant to leave next day, but now decided to go away early in the morning…

Above all he had to get away immediately to propose his new plan to the peasants before the winter corn was sown, so that his work might be done on the new conditions. He decided to completely reverse his former methods of farming.”

-Anna Karenina, Tolstoy

ALSO: Dug this up from the Belgium ‘05 archives last night (I’m about 2/3 back, in red white and navy blue):Kermesse-movie

I’m a big fan of travel days, which perhaps makes me an anomoly. Barring extensive delay, which is the “ugly” element of this post’s title, I’m always happy to get shunted between various airports on my way to and from races.

Here’s what makes travel a good thing:
1) People watching, all along the spectrum between beautiful and weird. For the former, Denver and LAX have proven to be hotspots, while for the latter, Brussels would be the clear “winner,” which might not be fair given that it is, after all, Belgium.

2) Having a good book, as flying time allows for significant progress in whatever I have on the literary plate, and which serves the dual purpose of burning up otherwise mind numbing flight time; also helps me avoid watching terrible movies on tiny screens to the detriment of my already poor eyesight.

3) A chance to circulate my team trading cards, for whose creation a substantial portion of the Amazon was destroyed. Ideally this would be in conjunction with the better aspect of the people watching element, though usually it just serves as a means of explaining what I do to curious seatmates who always ask if I’m flying home from college, and who would then otherwise require a lengthy verbal explanation as to why this isn’t the case.

The Bad:
*It is a testament to my self restraint that my fire brand tendancies don’t result in nasty scenes where the below are concerned after a particularly trying day…
1) People crowding around the baggage carousel, often jockying for position, and further grating on each others’ frayed nerves by doing so. If you don’t know why this is infuriating to the savvy traveller, well, then you clearly aren’t one.

2) “That Guy” who somehow manages to violently bump your headrest every five minutes. Or worse, the one who will do it on purpose as a means of showing dissoproval for putting your seat back. One of these unsavory types once caused me to lose my aforementioned composure; although I did enjoy using my sharp tongue on him, to the delight of the old guy sitting next to me. Assume that “that guy” to be forever cowed. (Consider a certain “c” word held in high regard by Aussies, then throw multiple explatives before and after it in various sequences and creative combinations.)

3) I’ll get (even more) petty here: people blocking passage on moving walkways. The airport equivalant of driving in the left lane without moving to the right for faster traffic. This one annoys me because of the ignorance regarding something requiring only a modicum of common sense; as opposed to the delay factor. Well, except for today, owing to my layover time Cheddar Chex Mix hunt (it was that or nothing, and there was none to be found in DIA). Due to “walkway movement retardation,” I nearly missed my connection, as I was unable to part the sea of standees with polite entreaties to move aside.

But seriously, I like being in transit, and with it all being part of doing what I love, I enjoy it all the more. I’m excited to get home and rest for a day or two before the final training block of the season begins. Let’s get it on!

“When you find yourself in the thick of it; help yourself to a bit of what is all around you…”

-Crane (at 20000ft, or whatever altitude these birds fly at)

There are days in cycling where willpower can carry you further than you believed possible, and there are times when try as you might, you simply cannot urge your body to perform what you demand of it.

Not three hours after writing yesterday’s post while transferring to the start, where I mentioned, and perhaps jinxed myself in saying it; that I would will my way through each day of this race, I discovered that I was unable to.

While succumming to difficulty in the race, this is how my goals and my day progressed from modest to, um, pathetic. From the beginning, progressing to each lowered expectation:

1) Save energy by sitting in…
-(stupidly) unable to help myself from RACING my bike; followed moves, went to oxygen debt immediately at base of first climb
2) Now trying to simply stay within sight of cars in order to use them to regain contact with field on the flats
3) Unable to maintain power or breathe properly, now content to catch onto grupetto and finish in time limit.
4) Hit the second climb, cannot lift pace wihout hyperventilating, dropped from gruppeto.
5) At this point, riding solo, determined to finish, even if outside time limit.
6) After 20km, am in serious difficulty, too far back to get a feed, barely one bottle of water with 100km to go and 2 more climbs.
7) Now alone and not only very hot (95 degree air temp) but also frightened, goal is now to stay calm and consider how to SURVIVE this situaion, thinking sag vehicle to be long gone. Upon arrival of sag, goal is not to hug Mitch the driver out of joy, despite loathing the fact that I’m about to get in the broom wagon.

So that’s how it went yesterday. I absolutely cannot stand dropping out of races, and am very dissappointed, but am at least secure in the knowlege that I willed myself as much as I could, but was simply in over my head with my body’s unusually adverse reaction to intensity at altitude. I have two more days in the beautiful state of Utah, and I will be using them to do some long training rides to stay on track for USPRO.

On the bright side, the team is short staffed this week, and I will probably do more good helping out Mike and Joby than I would by being in the race, all things considered.

Brighter days ahead, no doubt about it

-Crane

Like so many of the women I talk to in bars, Utah is beautiful, but is proving to be damaging to my self esteem…

This will be a short entry, as I am doing it from my phone, and the effort required in using my thumbs is putting me above LT. So needless to say, I’m having a hard time on the bike, but as per Pipp’s reccomendation, I’m taking this race day by day. The altitude hurts, but knowing that getting through this event will whip me into shape for nationals, I am buckling down to make that happen.

Although the lungs hurt, my hip, happily, does not. The MRI revealed a second degree tear of my gluteus maximus, which is a relief, as taking care of it off the bike followed by physical therapy at the end of the season will guarantee no future complications.

I’ve stopped worrying about all that though, and am now focused on doing all the work I am able to for the rest of the guys.

I’m not sure if my girl game will improve drastically anytime soon, and Mormon Utah isn’t the place to practice; but I’m sure that I’ll be getting better at dealing with elevation as the week goes on. We shall see, and I’ll keep you posted.
Later On

Mobile Blogging Crane

Well, if you read my last post, then you are aware that I am currently on the mend from a hip injury (got an MRI today, I’ll know the full score in a day or two). This injury has put a dent in my training plans for an end of season peak, but I would like to point out that being taken out of commission for serious training hasn’t stopped me from looking for ways to get an edge.

In fact, I hadn’t appreciated my extra curricular “training” until today’s ride; but looking back on the past month, I now realize that I haven’t completely wasted my time.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

1) The downtime has allowed me, for whatever reason, to better assess my position on the bike. I now realize that I have been neglecting to properly relax my shoulders, which has limited the comfort and aerodynamics of my position.

-Try This: Hold the hoods at a point that will stretch your arms out slightly while still being comfortable. Next, allow your wrists and elbows to be completely relaxed, and let the elbows drop, almost as if gravity were making them heavy. While doing this, relax the shoulder blades, and allow them to similarly relax and follow gravity’s path downwards. This will likely bow the elbows out a bit, but will allow your front end to comfortably drop down a good amount.

Everyone’s body, and therefore bike setup, is different, so maybe this won’t work for all. For me however, allowing the shoulders to drop in such a way is very comfortable, but also puts me quite a bit lower down without restricting my breathing or pedaling action. If done the way I’ve been able to do it, holding the bars feels very organic and loose, almost like the arms are draped onto the bars from the shoulders, and forms a comfortable and efficient structure. Pay attention to how much tension you carry between the shoulder blades, and then see if you can’t find a way to let them hang, thereby (ideally) giving you much better range of motion and control. Worked for me!

2) I have been able to gently get used to the change caused by my custom insoles, generously provided to riders on my team by Bill Peterson (www.wedofeet.com), who I have come to view as a pedorthic guru after he so easily solved so many of my foot fit issues. He recognized, assessed, and fixed stuff thats been plaguing me for years in a matter of minutes. This guy is the real deal, and so are his insoles!

3) I have finally mastered urination off the bike! This has eluded me for some time, either due to improper technique or stage fright, but either way, its about time I figured it out. (Yes, I am lame for having this problem, and please don’t waste my time by pointing this out) Hey, there’s got to be a competitive advantage in being able to jettison that extra weight, and at eight pounds a gallon, its not insignificant! Or I can skip the weight weenie argument and just be relieved that I can take a whiz when the urge strikes.

4) Being as how I haven’t been training the legs to my liking, I’ve compensated by doing all my winter core strength training, which I often neglect to carry over properly into race season. Efficiency and possibly a six pack- but who am I kidding I couldn’t have one if it was my dying wish- here I come!

Anyway, if you can’t get out and do the Km’s, there are plenty of other ways to get faster, as I’ve found these last few weeks. And given that I did a really solid ride today, I’m thinking this break might have done me some good, as I have good legs and have also addressed some neglected issues.

Or, maybe I should pay attention to this stuff more often, as opposed to waiting until I don’t have anything else to do. Whatever.

-Crane

Well, I have been humbled into a bout of late season motivation following the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational in Charlotte, NC this past weekend. You see readers and friends, I made a huge blunder in taking care of my body, or as the case may be, not taking care of my body, following a crash at Fitchburg last month.

I like to think that everyone gets a freebie on a f*ckup; or in other words, a chance to learn a lesson from their error and have it serve a positive purpose in teaching them not to make the same mistake twice. However, it becomes a little difficult to grant myself this allowance when I look back and realize that I have had a month to take care of this problem, and have not only excellent health insurance (Health Net), but also a top notch team physician (Michael Roshon).

So here’s the lesson: If an injury isn’t getting better after a reasonable time span, or especially if it’s preventing you from riding, then a trip to the doctor is a must ASAP (does anyone really need to hear this? It sounds so pathetically obvious on paper).

Here’s what happened: I crashed on my left hip at Fitchburg last month during the circuit race, and during my downtime following the race, I iced it daily, took ibuprofen, and tried to rest as much as possible. By week two, the hip still hurt on and off the bike, and I figured that it needed more rest and more ice. Here’s where the trouble started, because I allowed myself to get to week three before scheduling a doctor’s visit, and at this point had to deal with an understandably upset team manager upon informing him that I may not be fit enough to race given the pain in my hip. (Both in the sense of the injury, and also good old fitness, as I had by this time spent a considerable amount of time without any real training in the legs)

Well, the aforementioned physician set my mind to rest on the issue following an over the phone diagnosis, and I was able to get back on the bike without fear of future damage.

With all that downtime, I raced like crap last night in Charlotte. BUT, while choking on the Southern humidity (I thought “pursuiter’s cough” was a post race thing…), I realized that I never again want to come to a race feeling so worthless, and certainly not for a reason that could have been so easily avoided with some common sense (my weakspot).

So take care of those injuries my friends, and look for me on the roads of Athens behind the scooter this week, ’cause I’m dialing it back up to finish this season off properly!

-Crane

To figure out how long it takes me to get something accomplished, use this simple formula:

Latest Possible Time Task Can Be Performed and Still Be Considered On Time (this is 0) + *Standardized* Crane Delay Time (3) x Distracting External Factors (2) + Summer Bonus Day (1)

Thus, even someone with knowledge of mere university level Sophomore Algebra can see that I require at least a week to churn out any kind of productive action or god forbid chore.

This is why I am writing my entry about Mondays’ drive from CT back down to Athens on Friday, which is today. Here, we see that the formula underestimates my abilities, and by a fair margin I might say, given the “Time Zone” Change stipulation that takes effect when crossing between certain areas of the multi-cultural and time management variable United States. Expectations for punctuality plummet rapidly following transit across the Mason Dixon line, and from there are further precipitated by consumption of Southern comfort cooking.

Admittedly Pathetic Crane Response Time (7) + Southern Charm and Drawl (3) + Heat Wave Induced Lethargy (1) + Automatic “Athens Time” Leeway (.015)

Fuck, when you put it all down on paper, I’m a pretty punctual person, despite what some might say! I was going to apologize for my gaps between blog updates, but I clearly see now, thanks to my Calculus level calculations (old skool high school Math Club joke, you have to be popular to get it), that I am actually ahead of schedule!

Well anyway, I had a lot to say about the drive and lots of observations to make, but I’ve clearly made poor use of the permissible length of page I can waste for whatever it was I was just talking about, so that will have to wait.

Next post then. I will try to best your most generous calculations on when that will be…

-Crane

Hello All,

I’m on my last day of vacation here in CT, and I’m currently getting myself and the Crane household ready for house party night #6. First and foremost, I would like to thank my mom, sister, and brother for deciding to go to Maine for the week, hence leaving me with an empty house and a crew of old friends to fill it with.

Beers and indecency have followed, as one would expect, which is also why there will be no pictures in this post, as they by and large depict people I’m acquainted with in compromising scenarios. But safe to say, a good time has been had, and I think I am fulfilling my duties as a 23 year old American male to make the most of the summertime and party down.

A question for my older readers: Does shaving become dull and loathsome after ten, twenty, thirty so on years? I only wonder because I always seem to enjoy it, but as it’s a new pursuit for me, I’m not sure how long I might continue to take pleasure in this (usually) daily activity. But I’ve got to say, I like a good shave, although I’m currently working with only about 40% of my follicles, but hopefully further stages of puberty will change that. Anyway, cyclists are anal retentive folk who enjoy trying as hard as possible to turn perfect circles with their feet thousands of times a day, so it doesn’t surprise me that I enjoy the methodical process of using a razor, at least for now.

Ok, its time to musk up. I can’t wait to do a real ride tomorrow as opposed to a spin, but for now I’m looking forward to having the same party I’ve had every day this week, which I find in no way depressing.

Hope you are all enjoying your July!

Cheers

Crane

P.S. Tour? Something tells me good things about Sastre…

Hello People

I have to apologize for my extended break from blogging. I have been on “vacation” at home in Greenwich, CT for the past 2 weeks having decided to hang out for a break in favor of sun and very little stress (haha, like you can ever get rid of that). However, I have been filled with things to say, but unfortunately, the internet at my house has been down the whole time I’ve been here (you can ask Murphy, he was around for awhile), but today, I think I managed to use my remedial abilities with technology to fix it for good.

On to the good stuff: Besides going to the beach a lot and hanging by my pool 50-62% of the day, I have been making small excursions to NYC to visit my friend Donia in Brooklyn, and more recently, to partake with her on esoteric cultural outings. This past weekends’ was at a full moon tribal dance ceremony of sorts in Chelsea at the art gallery (COSM: Chapel of Sacred Mirrors) of Alex Grey (see link at side). The artwork in the galleries was mind blowing, and needs to be seen to be truly appreciated, especially as most of the works were at least 8′6′.

Check out this crazy shimmering example of his work:

Before going any further, let me just point out that a vast majority of the people at this event were tripping so hard that the energy in the place was sky high. I’ll try and find one of their blogs, because I’m sure the descriptions they can give of the scene would be much more entertaining.

In the dance room itself there was total pandemonium, with a large group playing tribal drums in a furious, skillful manner, as flutists and random percussionists joined in; all of them facing out to an ecstatic dancing mass of artists, squares, gays, goths, hipsters, gypsies, hot chicks, beaticks–all manner of New York artsy party folk.

I jumped in the thick of it with my friends Donia and Jen, and I had a great time dancing and screaming for a few hours. With the intensity of the music and also the spiritual element of the affair, I found myself feeling a much happier, almost cathartic sensation than normal from experiencing music and dancing as part of a night out.

The next day I had a kick ass brunch with Dones before navigating the subway from Brooklyn back to Manhattan and then the train back to Old Greenwich, all of which allowed me plenty of time to continue reading “Infinite Jest,” which is the best book I’ve EVER fread, and one I can’t recommend enough.

I’m trying to keep updates smaller and more regular, so with internet hooked up, I will work on that. Lots to talk about, I’ll keep you all posted on previous goings on and future happenings!

Take Care

Matt