A shitty day indeed…

Why even have a Tour De France? If someone wants to ship me out to France I might be able to race, sounds like they need some people! Go Floyd, at least I know he is clean! Vino has everything to prove as well.

I am just pissed!

And to top it off, Randy Walker (Northwestern Football Coach) had a heart attack and died last night at 52.

Is it 4pm yet?

Unbreak my Heart...

Well I went to the doctor on Thursday afternoon and all my hunches were….wrong! What I suspected was bronchitis or an asthma issue was actually a small heart problem. I have Pericardial Effusion which is a build up of fluid around the heart. Sounds fun! I have an in-depth Echocardiogram today to make everything clearer so I’ll know more this afternoon about what I can and can’t do. Most likely however is that I can’t do the race on Sunday and I’ll have to sit around for a couple more weeks and eat asprin and anti-inflammatories. This is a bummer for me as I’ve trained this season to come to a peak right now for a couple of my favorite races. But I am also relieved to figure this out and nip it in the butt so I can get back to training and racing so I have to keep my eyes on the big picture (Ironman.) I’ll keep you posted on any updates I have!

News and stuff:
It isn’t fair. Twinkie the Kid, Chester Cheetah? Kool Ade Man will get my vote probably, he is the best actual character although give the King a couple years…

With this ruling I am afraid to be a cyclist. Driver is inattentive and kills a cyclist. He’ll likely get off and not a community service misdemeanor on the record get off, 100% clean.

Gotta go to Iraq! Canadian Army here I come! :)

Congrats to Steve Sinclair on his hole in one last night. “Last night I got my first hole-in-one! It came on a 156 yard hole at Hollydale in Plymouth while golfing with my roommate. I babied a wedge in, and three bounces later a shot I urged to 'please be right' and to 'get down' found a home. Coming a day after running into Eddie Vedder, I think I'm going to play the Powerball Saturday.....”

My Tour Picks won’t get in-depth like the Tank but I like to throw something out there so you know who to watch for. All controversy aside (this year’s tour could be one of the biggest debacles ever) I am excited.

1. Ivan Basso- He can’t be stopped. He can’t even be contained this year. Is 10 minutes too much to ask?
2. Alejandro Valverde - He’ll just be the first pretender and can hang on after the Basso bloodbath
3. Jan Ullrich- Looks like he won’t get his fresh blood, thus he won’t be a contender. I am surprised I ranked him this high, but I think he can beat Floyd.
4. Floyd Landis- This is who I want to win. We’ve been instructed by the same cycling coach this year and I’ve seen him in person
5. Cadel Evans- A surprise pick? He is tough as hell!


George- 7th overall (Discovery is so strong that someone will be in the Top 7. It’ll be George.
Levi- DNF (someone has to DNF, Levi lays it down alot.)
Vino- DNF (will take a fall, figuratively but unfortunately, I hope he can ride the whole Tour)

Polkas- Cadel Evans- He is crazy and his nutrition will last over Rasmussen. Look out for Garzelli who as far as I know hasn’t even raced this season just to go for the jersey.

Green- Boonen One of the sprinters will finish…why not Boonen?
White- I am not a Euro dork so I can’t even predict this one…

Here is my list of approved cyclists to cheer for:
Any American, but particularly George and Floyd (two of the good guys). I don’t like Horner but if he can take a stage over some random I don’t know or care about more power to him.
I also cheer for Cadel and Vino.

Sometimes it is fun to watch Jan, I haven’t seen him dominate for years though but I would love to see Jan’s low cadence triumph over those ultra-lightweight spinners. Of course watching him agonize is fun as well, no matter what, having Jan around will be entertaining! What ever happened to Kloden?

I am guessing Rasmussen won’t put on a show like last year’s TT. Too bad, that was one of the biggest blow-ups I’ve ever seen!

Feeling a bit better today so that is good. It’s early though so who knows!

Monday I was kind of down but when I got home Jess took me to the movie Click! It was a nice break and a good movie. A lot more deep that I ever thought from Mr. Sandler but still good. Yesterday I did some more research on my symptoms and I might have bronchitis. I’ll have to call the doctor today to check into that. Needless to say I am still not feeling great. Last night I went down and watched the practice crit with Chili and it would’ve been an awesome night to race. Big fields but easy races! Both fields must’ve had 30-40 riders. That was the last practice crit of the year so good thing I had some good racing last week! Hopefully in a couple weeks I can get back up to Baraboo and start hammering again. I rode an easy 20 yesterday and it was very tough. Anything above 130BPM was hurting me. But I was able to rid a lot of phlegm. Interesting to see what happens this weekend. This weekend is a big one for me and I can’t wait and hope I feel better! My favorite race, quality family time and 4 days off of work!

Random Thoughts & News (in no particular order):
-The more I research Tahoe, the more I want to go. Trail insanity!
-I got my annual (bi-annual if you account for next-to-nothing last year) raise yesterday, every little bit helps
-Wedding planning is back in full swing, need to get some more stuff figured out
-My dad retires on Tuesday, crazy!
-Beav having some minor foot surgery next Friday, requested a weekend of recovery at Miller Park
-Brewers 2-0 against the Cubs so far, two afternoon games will make work go well
-Passion, I need to ride mountain bikes, hoping to be healthy this weekend so I can go somewhere and ride for fun!
-Close friend interviews at my work, here’s to hoping for a new co-worker!
-Jess’ sister got a new job and will be closer, congrats and awesome!
-3 days after seeing Russ I haven’t heard from him or anyone in regards to the bachelor party!
-Going to the Mallards game tomorrow, weight gain inevitable!

At what point is someone too old to go to the bars downtown? I mean like late on a weekend night? I say once you are 23-24. No one wants to see a group of 10 old men (three of us were slightly under 30, everyone else older) hanging out like a bunch of creeps at State Street Brats. I don't know why people want to go down there, I haven't had fun in a downtown bar after 10pm in at least 5 years and actually every time I've been has actually been a really crappy time (not average.) It's a little different if you go somewhere that caters to an older crowd (Essen Haus, Cardinal, Terrace come to mind) but to go to a typical State St. bar is stupid and I am instituting a personal ban. The only reason I should ever be down there is when I want to eat bar food or play some trivia but never to "rip it up." Why not go to the Hody instead (cheaper beer, older crowd and tons of bar sports?) Even Hooters was significantly more fun which is saying alot! Rant off.

I am sure there is more but it’s early and I should get to work!

Questions. Need help, opinions and am just curious what others think. Basically I have those summertime blues.

A) Vacation: Jess wants to take a vacation around October. I’d like to also but am not 100% bound to it. Any ideas? Our current thoughts:
1. We have to go to Russ’ wedding in Ohio, so maybe go to the Carolinas and Virginas?
2. Fly out to Tahoe and ride some trails and go to Yosemite.
3. Nothing, save it and take more later.

B) Health: I am still sick, my stomach related issues are starting to clear up but by no means am I healthy in the gut. Lungs feel better, but not good. Mucus output still high.
1. Go back to the doctor
2. Wait until my prednisone is done on Thursday, then see?
3. Screw it and feel like crap

C) Cycling: My motivation for racing should be at an all-time high. It is currently at an all time low. I am not sure if it is just because I’ve felt like crap for a while or the hot temps or what. Mostly it is due to the fact that my body won’t let me do what I want or what I am capable of doing on a bike and riding at 80% at this point seems counter-productive. But I also worry about my fitness disappearing and my top-end speed is definitely dwindling. What should I do?
1. Ride on at the risk of running myself further into the ground
2. Rest more, try to get healthy and build it back up for a second peak (might ruin my WORS overall but that is already hurting anyways and I can concentrate on other things.)
3. Screw the season, get healthy and train for Ironman
4. Quit

D) Cycling: Is road riding getting more dangerous? I am having a hard time justifying trying to be a roadie
1. Yes, more riders with less skills, more road rage, more inattentive drivers
2. No, Cycling was always dangerous
3. No, it is safe, just more media.

E) Cycling: I read those IMBA ads and wonder what I would do without bike racing. I like riding my mountain bike for fun but we lack trails to sustain interest. What would/should/could I do if I don’t ride anymore without getting fat and dying?

That's enough for now. Let me know if you have answers or opinions on any or all. Looks like another evening doing nothing for me...grrrr........

The weekend has come and gone…didn’t really feel like a weekend at all which kind of sucked! We got out of work early on Friday and we came home and finished cleaning up the house. Of course our guests were delayed but my brother and family got there just in time to head down to JT Whitneys for supper! We had some good eats and good time!

Riz was there!

I bet Barry $2 he couldn’t eat a large bowl of cole slaw in 1 minute, we then upper it to 2 minutes (without stopping minimally) and he did it in like 86 seconds.

It was then back to our house for some euchre and karaoke and Boggle. A good time was had by all but I certainly didn’t get enough sleep, after 4 hours the dogs were whining because it is 5:30 and I am usually up. Well I got up and went to the couch downstairs only to try and watch Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo. That put me asleep for another hour. I still couldn’t eat much. People got up and Larkin and I played some cribbage (I just can’t beat him, I must now suck at cribbage.) We got ready and then to Qdoba late. We got to Pirates Cove after that and played some mini golf. 11 people, $10 to the winner, $1 to the loser, Riz and I were both in the money, any guess who did what?

After that we headed to the northern Dells for some parasail action. I basically sat and chilled and watched as the two Russ’ went and 4 others rode in the boat. After that we headed home. Got home and hit the liquor store to stock up for the evening and then went to Hooters. Hooters was actually a fun time as well. They have a back game room and since no one goes to Hooters anymore we had that to ourselves. We played pool and darts and everything! It may be the last time I get to Madison Hooters as I am guessing it won’t be there all that much longer, 6:30-9pm on a Saturday night=dead! We headed back to my house and were playing some awesome drinking games. After a game or two we subbed Russ’ beer for a Mad Dog. Then he got insane and just started taking 5 second pulls on it and in about 20 minutes he had half the bottle down! Then the party took a turn downhill as we headed downtown to the bars. When we arrived at the Red Shed it was 10:45 or so and the bad omens began as less than a minute after sitting down Paradise by the Dashboard Light came on for 20 minutes of agony. By then Russ finally showed up and the car ride down didn’t treat him good and he sat with his head on his hands refusing to get going again. We sat there and did a whole lot of nothing (I was DD) as everyone was frustrated that Russ was pretty much done. Finally Russ puked, right on the table in two glasses. He then was kicked out. At the same time the rain came. A couple of us went out to check on Russ and he felt much better but his night was pretty much over. After everyone finished their long islands we headed to Brats. Brats was pretty much the same, we holed up into a corner until someone puked (this time Russ’ cousin Allen) and then it was done. One Taco Bell trip later we get home and I am in bed around 1am.

Woke up Sunday morning (late=8am) and read the paper and watched the hour of Deuce Bigalow I missed the day before. After that I threw in some Hitch and saw half of it until the Russ’ stopped over. They were both doing well and heading back to Columbus. I then went over to talk to Jerry about his 6-hour win the day before and then back to my house and all of a sudden I was alone. Larkin and crew went downtown, Jess to Spring Green with her dad and it was just me. I turned on yet another movie called She’s the One. Pretty random actually, too bad I missed the first 20 minutes and then some random 20 minute chunk in the middle, I’ll have to check it out again. Jess got home in time to watch Nascar so we did that, got a call from Larkin about meeting at Dotty’s at 6:30, hung out there for a couple hours, back home, chill and then bed time. That is my weekend. A good time but seemed way too short!

I am pissed at Blogger and I'll try to add photos tonight if I get a chance...lunch update-I hope they are here now! :)