Cleveland Does Rock!

Literally! I went to the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" while I was there a couple of weeks ago. It was quite impressive! The Hall sits on Lake Erie and is very easy to get to from the freeway if you follow the signage. They had a very nice display on The Beach Boys and great presentations on a wide variety of performers and groups. My personal favorites were The Who, The Allman Brothers, Rush, The Clash, and The Ramones. The story on the rise of Punk Rock was very interesting and brought back alot of memories. There was also a cool tribute to Les Paul, inventor of the electric guitar. If you're ever in Cleveland, make sure to visit. Foodwise, I ate several meals at a local restaurant chain called Max and Erma's. Very good food and great service make for a pleasant time. The price was decent as well. By the way, great skyline Cleveland!

Its been freezing cold when I've been home so I haven't been able to ride much at all. I can't wait for the pro cycling season to get started. Het Volk is on March 1st and it couldn't get here soon enough. I really think cycling is starting to get its collective legs under it after several years of doping scandals. Although I don't think we've seen the last of it, I do think our sport has made huge strides in cleaning up. In the classics I think we'll see great racing from Fabian Cancellara, Damiano Cunego (who'll pull his crap together this year), Daniele Bennati, and Tom Boonen (who I think is due to crank it up). I'd love to see Slipstream tear it up this spring!

In the major tours, watch out for team CSC. If Frank and Andy Schleck, and Carlos Sastre can put together a team strategy they'll be hard to beat in the Giro & TDF. Damiano Cunego could do great as well. I don't think Cadel Evans has a team that can help him win a major tour, but he'll continue to be in contention. Sadly, Alberto Contador could win the TDF again. But I'm sorry to say I don't trust him and his new Astana team. DS Johan Bruyneel is bad news considering the number of doped up riders with a USPS/ Disco history. I can honestly say I'll be rooting against them.

I worked in Philly this week and as I was driving down the freeway I passed the exit sign for "Manayunk". My mind went instantly back to the mid eighties and Winning magazine. I loved reading about the Corestates U.S. Pro Championships Road Race. With a 10% to 17% grade, that half mile climb up the infamous "Manayunk Wall" was gruesome to be sure! I remember a picture of a guy with a garden hose, spraying riders down from his front yard! It'd be cool if I could time a trip with a race.

Cleveland Rocks? We're about to find out!

It's not often you get such a beautiful day for a ride in January! I set off for a 30 mile jaunt today with the temp in the low 70's. Perfect! After yesterdays relatively easy 25 miles, I wanted something that would put some burn in my legs. My route has a couple of short, steep climbs that are quite nice. One rewards you with a nice 40 mph descent that feels great. I've come a long way in the last year and a half. I've lost around 40 lbs since I started riding again. I'd like to drop another 20- 25 to be honest, that'd get me very close to what I weighed when I raced cat 4's in the late 80's. However, I'm a realist too. I don't have the metabolism of a hummingbird anymore. I don't have the time or the drive to ride like I used too either. I'm out of town working quite a bit and when I'm home I love to spend time with my wife and kids. I'm content to stay where I'm at right now weight wise.

This week I'll be in Cleveland working. I've never been to Cleveland, but I hear "it rock's", at least that's what the songs says. And being it has "The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame", I guess it better. I think The Pretenders are from Cleveland. I saw them in concert twice in the 80's. They were awesome! If I remember right, The Call and Simple Minds opened for them. Cleveland sits on Lake Erie, so this time of year it should be breathtakingly cold (I bet they don't get winter day's in the 70's like we do in Richmond!). It's also home to the Cleveland Indians & The Jake. In Cleveland, they can't play baseball in January, so I'll have to wait on that. I think they banned "Chief Wahoo" in the name of political correctness, which sucks! The Braves did the same with "Chief Nok-a- Homa", what an great name! I hope they've got some decent restaurants as well. When you're on the road as much as I am you try to find something different. I can't stand most of the chain/ clone restaurants anymore. Sometimes I think if I sit in another ChiliApplebee's again I'll go homicidal. That crap is way overpriced! I'll be frequenting Cleveland a lot this year, so I'm hoping for the best!

I'd Like You To Meet My Psychologist; Dr. Blue RC4

In the Summer of 1984 a high school friend invited me to his house to watch the Olympic games. That day I was introduced to the greatest endurance sport in the world. I had never given cycling, as a sport, so much as a passing thought. Watching Alexi Grewal sprint around Steve Bauer and take the Gold medal just blew me away! I can picture him now. Arms in the air, freaking out!

In the 7th and 8th grade I had a yellow Schwinn Varsity I used to ride a few miles to a friends house. That came to an abrupt (i.e. violent) end one summer afternoon when I was riding home. I was peddling through our neighborhood and was distracted by a high school girl, watering her lawn in a bikini. I took my eyes off the road, and looked back over my shoulder to sneak a peak (lear actually) and plowed into the side of a parked station wagon! I slid over the hood and onto the sidewalk; getting pretty scraped up in the process. I was so embarrassed, I didn't even look back. I dusted myself off, picked up my bike (the front wheel was destroyed) and started walking home. Come to think of it, I bet those people were wondering what happened to their car.

I also remember when I was in the 4th or 5th grade my brother and I had some "cool" bikes with banana seats. In an effort to keep the neighborhood crime free, we used to race around pretending we were CHiPS. I believe, being the oldest, I was "Ponch" and he was "Jon". We used plastic baseball batting helmets for motorcycle helmets and used to park our bikes side by side (with the helmets hanging from the bars) just like on TV.

After trashing my bike, I had neither the money or interest in getting another one. That all changed that summer afternoon in 1984. At least my interest did. Being in high school; I was still broke. So I just watched cycling on TV whenever it was on. I remember watching Paris Roubaix and the 1985 Tour de France (my first). I was thoroughly captivated by how tough these guys were. That, coupled with commentary by Phil Liggett and John Tesh really made an impression on me (Tesh made some great music for TV cycling as well). Those events, and Winning magazine, introduced me to athletes I'd never heard of. Men such as Greg Lemond, Bernard Hinault, Larent Fignon, Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche, Eric Vanderarden, Marc & Yvonne Madiot, and others.

Later I would read about the giants in cycling history. Legends like Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck, Freddy Martens, Jan Raas, Jaques Anquentil, Raymond Polidour (the eternal second), Charly Gaul, Fausto Coppi, and many others. The first time I watched "A Sunday in Hell" I almost passed out! What drama!

The fall of 1985 I finally scrapped together some money and bought my first bike. A nice red and yellow Club Fuji with Suntour components. I put thousands of miles on it over the next several years. Around 1990 I bought a sweet Bottecchia Limited. It was white, with Campagnolo components. I also bought my first set of Shimano clipless pedals. That Bottecchia was awesome! So awesome that when I started riding again I bought another Bottecchia, a Sprint BZ562 with Shimano 105. Having the shifters on the brake levers was a welcome change. Finally, when I was working in Plano, Texas last spring I found a real nice bike shop across the street from the hotel I was staying at. That's where I bought my current ride. A Blue RC4. The frame is all carbon fiber and it has Shimano Ultegra components. It's great on long rides and climbs like a dream. What a phenomenal bike, I couldn't be happier!

I work out of town a great deal so I do most of my riding on the weekend. Still, I managed to put several thousand miles in last year. Today we had some pretty decent weather, it was in the mid- 50's so I ventured out for a quick 25 miles. Nothing to taxing, mostly flat with a few small hills. This was the first time I was able to ride outside in about a month, so it was nice to loosen up the legs. I'm not near as hardcore as my younger days, when I didn't care how cold or nasty it was outside. However, riding inside on the trainer is bloody boring! I'm on for about 45 minutes and I'm ready to go homicidal.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be nice again as well. If not, maybe I'll throw the 1987 Tour video on and get inspired!