Commuting by bike...

I've been thinking about commuting to work by bike for some time. For me, the cleanup and bike logistics are the main deterrents. They aren't too major, but our building is really not designed to accommodate bicycle commuting. Of course, the roads between home and work suck too. I'd have to take a pretty long route just to avoid the worst of the traffic. Nonetheless, I'm thinking about giving it a try.

On a related note, someone got hit riding on I-35/29 this morning at 4:30AM (story). Now, this is undoubtedly a stupid thing to do, but it is still a tragedy for those involved. What disturbed me the most was the comments on the story left by readers. There certainly is no love for bicyclists in the Kansas City area.

Maybe its time to relocate to a more progressive community.

Biting off more than you can chew...

Joe Martin Stage Race with the professionals: recommended that you train more than 10 hours/week.

Okay, so I thought I had a chance of sitting in and making it to the finish with the group in the road stages and figured I'd probably get shot out the back in the crit on Sunday. I was almost right. I got dropped on Sunday more or less right out of the gate, but I also didn't quite have the necessary fitness to stay with the group on the hills at the end of the two road stages. So, I rolled in after the group in both, but within the time cuts.

Yup, it was pretty hard and I was pretty blown on Sunday. Even though I got blown out I actually think I'm not too far from being able to ride in the group. I haven't done any training intensity this season and I've hardly done any racing. Both of these things would be necessary to be able to survive this stage race, even as pack fodder.

My First Adjustment

I've never been to a chiropractor until today. I have known for some time that my hips/legs were not quite balanced. Even when I was racing years ago I could tell there was a slight difference. I figured this could either be a leg length discrepancy or a skewed rotation/tilt of the pelvis. While I haven't been suffering any chronic pain in my back or legs, I finally decided to see if it could be rectified.

So today I went to see Dr. Kucera at Sage Integrative Therapies. She confirmed that there is something going on in my hips. Specifically it appears to be my left hip and probably my periformis muscle on that side. While I was there, she also adjusted the cervical and thoracic regions of my spine. I am going to see Dr. Kucera weekly for a while and we'll see if things get better.

I have also gotten Graston Technique from Dr. Kucera a couple times in the past. I may see about making it a regular thing.

Martes Noche Criterium - Cinco de Mayo

The rain held off and so the crit was on as usual. Today everything stayed together and it came down to a field sprint, which Shadd won. Some guys are heading down to Joe Martin and were not making any efforts. I made a few surges and on the last one ended up a bit off the front by myself. No one figured I was going anywhere so they let me ride out there for a few laps until about 4 laps to go. I just wanted to get a few efforts in before the Joe Martin Stage Race to hopefully be ready to ride hard on Thursday afternoon.

I don't have any delusions of grandeur for Joe Martin, especially in the Pro/1 category. I am just going down for the training and race miles. Hopefully, I won't embarrass myself too much. I'll be satisfied if I have a decent ride in the TT on Thursday, finish the 2 road stages in the group, and make it through Sunday. There's a decent chance I'll get dropped on Sunday, but who knows maybe I can just latch on to some wheels and stick in there.