Starting all over - again

Gunnar might've won the SuperCup race in Baltimore, but they took my pic instead.



Well, it's been about a month since I've been trying to get the training going. I've got the weight room stuff started and I've been doing the trainer workouts and even going outside some. Being from western Pennsylvania, it's a bit tough to get out in the winter especially when you have to wake up in the morning and be responsible and go to work. In recent years, I've found it a bit tougher to motivate myself to go outside in the cold. I used to live for this type of weather. I remember and some old training friends used to see who could deal with it more by going out on rides in the snow and see who started bitching about being cold first. Looking back at it, I'm pretty sure most of the world thought we were complete morons by being out on the roads when there was 6 inches of snow and the most we'd change our bikes was putting on 28 mm road tires. Of course that was 10+ years ago. I'm more using my blog here as a way to keep myself going and relate a few of the interesting things I've come across in my wonderings on the bike over the past 23 years. It sure has changed alot. I've made alot of friends as they've come and gone in the sport. Quite often, life caught up with them and the bike became not a big part of it, so I only get to see them once in a great while. Of the people I started racing with back in the early/mid 80s, I only know of about 3 or 4 who are still at it. I was never a pro, nor close to it, but I have stayed with the sport because it is one of the things that make up who I am.

As for the name of my blog 'Poor Dumb Bastard', that comes from my cyclocross racing. As a lifelong roadie, I got into cross racing in '01 and it's taken me a while to find my footing in it. One of the problems I've had to deal with is that I'm not as light as I once was. Another thing is that I quickly learned (in my third race - Baltimore Natz 35-39) is that turning on a cross bike is NOT the same as turning in a crit. Nothing like doing a 30+ foot slide on a muddy off camber dropping turn to demonstrate to the world that you don't know what the hell you are doing. 'Poor dumb bastard' moments like that have come quite often over the next couple years, especially at the moments when I'd thought I'd figured this type of racing out.

I know I tend to run on alot, but give me a break - I'm an old man. I'm allowed to.

Jay