Hey Jake, I have something for you...

Sounds great, I'll be super jazzed as long as it's a medium, blue, Italian world championship, wool Santini jersey just like the one Felice Gimondi wore when he won the worlds the day I was born. You know, the one that the ladies use to sew the race numbers to, fits so perfectly it feels tailor-made, soft as cashmere and straight from the motherland.

Yessiree! That one!

I rushed home to don this

pedal this

up this

I do believe that was a seated sprint with big Eddy in the wake of one very pinner Italian

For the record:
the Montjuic coarse in Barcelona was the last day Lance raced as an amateur in 1992. I had an opportunity to represent the US at the World Police and Fire Games on the Monjuic coarse in 2003. All I remember was the insane crowds cheering and the LA County Fire guys handing me up water.

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LEBRON JAMES has his safety pin, do you?

 

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This page intentionally placed as a reminder that Obama protected an additional 1 million acres of National Forrest

Dueling Genuflects...

they cut the tape prior to us knowing who kissed who's ring

With the 2nd storm in 8 years hitting the California Bear, I have made it my mission to roller-dope after hours in the SW lounge and it's been taking me longer and longer to get motivated. Everyone knows that once the Pope genuflects to Eddy, it's time to roll! Then I switch to the Damon Kluck 67 min suffer fest brought to you by a very boring Chris Carmichael and company. It gets the job done.

Excuse me sir, will this take me to Sunol?

Not even Doug E. Fresh and Titi were up in time for this morning's boogie. Olive's volleyball season kicked off today and I had my first 0430 start since last year. I didn't ditch the balaclava until I got to 101 and San Thomas. Thank god for my double Kucharik wool kit. The creek trails have seen better days...

the miles sure seem to tick by quicker in the dark, I did a double take when I saw this sign

when did they build this thing? do people actually go?

in case you're working on you spike

The plague that makes your booty move...

With the storm easing off the gas for a moment, I caught a south-east cross wind to the Indian Valley for some solo open road therapy. Hitch-hiking and bumming water at the fire house are never out of my repertoire when committed to 'The San Benito'. Thank you county roads, thank you Paul the rancher, thank you John Caletti for the reliable welds and thank you Governor Brown. Infectious Grooves 'Therapy' was running through my mind along Peach Tree. I could hear Ozzie Osbourne's voice whipping through the rolling hills.

Hare Canyon to Indian Valley via Bradley

Indian Valley to Peach Tree via the condemned CDF conservation camp

Peach Tree North 

Peach Tree looking west

Lonoak west to King City

I think I still have my mixed tape that Jay Eppenbach and Nate Evans (RIP) gave me with a few Infectious Grooves tunes.

Feeling a little tired...get your wallet out

It looks like Baskin Robins is at it again, Olive and I spied a fantastic new poster on our way to OSH and this time they're targeting the tired American. Who could it be? Maybe the exhausted mother shuttling kids around town - no, moms need healthy food. Maybe the whooped high school student athlete with a drivers license - no, they need to eat protein and veggies. Maybe the mid 40's professional with a penchant for sweets - no, that guy (me) knows better and would end up tossing and turning all night due to the sugar toxicity.

Click HERE for a nutritional summary from BR and note the delicious Carmel Cappuccino Blast only has 780 calories and 123 grams of sugar. Remember the American Heart Association recommends no more than 23 grams (6 teaspoons) of sugar per day! In case you haven't figured it out, sugar is very cheap and it's a great way for companies to increase their margins. You have to admit, this add is effective, you get the impression that it's only a cappuccino and the Europeans are healthy and it only has a little bit of whipped cream what's the big deal? If my calculations are correct, I suppose you could knock one of those diabetic ketoacidosis shakes back as long as you did not eat any sugar for 5.3 days. Keep your head on a swivel and be brave out there.

The kid can ride...

 ...with impressive seated power on the steep stuff. Nephew Wuleur Luke Grenier and I had a great pre storm boogie. Staying seated on the steep stuff is not easy to teach, it probably has something to do with his countless hours of egg-beater drills in the pool.

16 year old Nephew Wuleur

speaking of young seated climbers...

German egg-beaters 

It's January - you know what that means...

...it's time for folks to sell you on anything and everything. I spied this cover at Book Shop Santa Cruz and had a nice laugh with Will W. from Aptos Fire. I didn't crack open the magazine because I figured we've all heard just about everything in the book on this one, right? It dawned on me that it's high-time that I share how to actually get stronger, leaner and happier with every ride. A couple of these secrets originated from my Polish cycling teammates and some of them I've been trying to perfect over the years via trial and error (more error than anything).

How to get stronger: 10 mins every morning of rubber band monster walk. This will engage your hip and butt allowing for larger muscle groups to carry you through crucial sections and the ability to push a bigger gear when necessary. This also helps prevent injury and allows you to play a little pickup tennis or basketball at Brommer Park.

How to get leaner:  this one is simple in concept yet hard to execute; when you're hungry drink water and brush your teeth. My teammates used to say they were the most hydrated and had the best oral hygiene in the peloton (they also had veins visible on their bellies). They claimed food tasted like crapola after using American toothpaste (never stopped me from hitting the granola after those late night wrecks on hwy 17). Right after Robert Zrzyzostaniak won a stage at Cascade Classic, he brushed his teeth...

How to get happier: this one is super easy to execute but hard to remember when life gets busy. Once a month always plan a date night with your significant other even if it's a simple coffee cruise or watching some bad NetFlicks together. You always ride better and happier when your crew is happy. When Mama Wuleur is happy, we're all happy.

 stronger, leaner, happier, and cheaper

frequent muncher cards are always good for the happier part (stick to the free salads...)

Wuleur cross training..."Olive, wait up for us?"

We're back after a few days of cross country skiing, chopping wood and hiking at 7500' and quickly realized that Olive was using it as cross training for volleyball. We chatted about the obligatory new year's resolution tradition, what colleges Olive is interested in and why Kerr won't start McGee. In the 80's the US Nordic Ski Team's motto was - Train the Brain for Pain. After a full day of skate skiing, I can appreciate how they got that mantra. In the new year, we will continue to focus on and enjoy the small things in life. For example, Sunday family dinners, sneaking in workouts and visiting coffee shops during Olive's tournaments, tracking the monarchs on our milkweed bushes, Warrior games at Papa Bill's, saving for travel, enjoying Olive's late night baking, Honey dog walks, La Madrona hot tub dips, neighborhood garbage pick-up, graffiti removal, evening cliff cruise's and pedaling bicycles (to Yosemite).

Olive

Mama Wuleur

 Olive's late night baking - lemon poppy-seed

For the record: that loaf of yummy fits perfectly into my 1990 Kucharik wool jersey