Brand new posts are up on my Chicago Cycling Examiner page. Please click on them. And have your friends do the same. I have added racing coverage as well today.
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20.2.09
19.2.09
Thursday Hate
You knew this one was coming...
The Weather.
More.
Fucking.
Snow.
And that ride home from downtown last night was excellent. Beautiful. And by that I mean I hated every goddamn 30-mile-an-hour-head-wind, snow-in-my-face, tires-skidding-out, cabs-passing-too-close, fingers-and-toes-frozen 30 minutes of it.
GOD I can't wait for training camp. 15 Days.
"Morrissey! Is that you?!? Get your fat ass up here!!!"
The Weather.
More.
Fucking.
Snow.
And that ride home from downtown last night was excellent. Beautiful. And by that I mean I hated every goddamn 30-mile-an-hour-head-wind, snow-in-my-face, tires-skidding-out, cabs-passing-too-close, fingers-and-toes-frozen 30 minutes of it.
GOD I can't wait for training camp. 15 Days.
"Morrissey! Is that you?!? Get your fat ass up here!!!"
18.2.09
Hump Day
A birthday haiku for Tattooed, Ninja Stare
Eating fear and shitting watts
Good wheels and big balls
----------
February 17: 179 lbs.
16 days.
"Yeah, but you're still only going at light speed..."
Eating fear and shitting watts
Good wheels and big balls
----------
February 17: 179 lbs.
16 days.
"Yeah, but you're still only going at light speed..."
16.2.09
Food
I read a bit today from Michael Pollan’s January 2007 New York Times article, “Unhappy Meals.” Michael Pollan is the author of “In Defense of Food” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. I haven’t read either book, but from what I have gleaned from people who have, Pollan has a strong stance on the subject of whole foods and food culture versus food reductionism and science.
That is to say, he argues that by reducing our foods to mere delivery systems for macro- and micronutrients we are doing more harm than good. By taking the vitamins and anti-oxidants out of their context and the systems in which they work, we render them useless or even harmful.
Take for instance, the Omega-3 fad. Touted as a benefit of eating fish, we don’t realize that fish obtain the nutrient from green algae - its primary source, along with other leafy greens. As well, the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids come from the interaction in the body another essential nutrient, Omega-6, which is found in seeds and grains. Within naturally evolved food cultures this ratio is close to one to one and is linked to cell structure and function.
However, with the industrialization of grain-fed, Omega-6-heavy beef production, rather than free-range, grass-raised - and little to no consumption of green vegetables - the western eater receives almost no Omega-3s through intake of whole foods. Supplementing it in pill form is virtually ineffective unless Omega-6 consumption comes down.
The idea of food-culture resonates with me strongly. The so-called “French Paradox” contradicts everything about American food science: a diet loaded with fat, butter, and wine that produces, for the most part a healthy, fit population. The key is in whole foods, Pollan argues, in shunning heavily processed foods, in communal dining without snacking.
All food-cultures evolved along with their environment and available foodstuffs. For example, the majority of humans were once lactose intolerant, some entire populations still are, getting sick when they drink cow’s milk. Yet, certain genes that produce enzymes for its digestion were passed along over thousands of years as humans became agrarian, and spread until the populations adapted. This benefited the cows, too.
The reason I relate to so much to this idea is another book, published several years ago, called “Eat Right For Your Type.” I referenced in a past blog a cancer scare I had, years ago, that led to a massive and permanent weight loss. The falling of the Berlin wall in my life is the still that one life-changing event in 2001.
If you, in our time together, come to understand only one thing that defines me, it is this: I spent two months believing I had cancer and learning about what I had been putting in my body up to that point. It was like somebody had ripped off the heavy blanket covering me on a sunny day, and I will never go back. To eating like that, looking like that, or feeling like that. I don’t have so much of an issue with food itself - maintaining a pretty consistent weight and body size ever since - as I have with the food of the western diet.
Coming out of the battle victorious and armed with new knowledge I still had many questions for my doctor. Such as, why am I still so irregular? I felt terrible all the time, even though I was doing my damnedest to eat healthy, high fiber foods. His answer?
That’s just the American Diet.
Bullshit.
So off to find more information I went and ended up at the homeopathic place on Addison, a block east of Damen. I spoke with a gentlemen there who informed me of Peter D’Adamo’s book, “Eat Right…” and said I should give it a read, being a Type O. He said that Type O’s have trouble processing wheat gluten and it makes them irregular. So I bought the book, then the idea, stopped eating wheat products, and within a week, was shitting like a champion.
The idea is simple, and sound I believe, regardless of any doctors who scoff at the science. Type O is the universal blood, in fact, because all other blood types evolved from it. That is a Type A can receive Type O, but not visa versa. This evolution took place as humans agrarianized and began cultivating more complex and starchy grains, as well as animal for dairy production.
Type Os are a hold over from hunter-gatherers. Therefore they are much less tolerant of grains with gluten, and most dairy products. The more simpler grains - like rice, and rye, leafy natural greens, and lean protein, the better. I don’t know much about the methodology behind D’Amado’s findings, except that it’s worked incredibly well for me.
When I’m able to follow it.
Just try avoiding wheat gluten. It’s nearly impossible to do so without having to constantly explain that you are not some Atkins Diet jerkass. “Come on, have a cookie!” “What do you do about pasta?!” It’s so tiring that sometimes I’d rather just acquiesce, not give the lecture, and then suffer in silence with a copy of Katy’s “People” for an hour under the soothing hum of the bathroom fan.
But lately, I’ve really tried get gluten out of my diet. I didn’t have a single piece of pizza at our latest cycling team function last night, and I’ve avoided the cafeteria at work since Day One, 2009. I bring my lunch every day. And empowering myself this way, starting the day off right – “leaving it all behind you,” as Louis Armstrong used to shill - albeit naturally, is really making a difference, and giving me more willpower to keep on eating right.
When you have a hobby like mine, and performance is everything, an issue like this can really take on weight. And with the mountains of California approaching in the distance, having a lighter load makes all the difference in the world.
Sorry to take the tone of this one in a downward spiral, but seriously, I urge everyone to take a more thoughtful look at what they are eating. Think of food as whole food and the whole person it makes you.
That is to say, he argues that by reducing our foods to mere delivery systems for macro- and micronutrients we are doing more harm than good. By taking the vitamins and anti-oxidants out of their context and the systems in which they work, we render them useless or even harmful.
Take for instance, the Omega-3 fad. Touted as a benefit of eating fish, we don’t realize that fish obtain the nutrient from green algae - its primary source, along with other leafy greens. As well, the benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids come from the interaction in the body another essential nutrient, Omega-6, which is found in seeds and grains. Within naturally evolved food cultures this ratio is close to one to one and is linked to cell structure and function.
However, with the industrialization of grain-fed, Omega-6-heavy beef production, rather than free-range, grass-raised - and little to no consumption of green vegetables - the western eater receives almost no Omega-3s through intake of whole foods. Supplementing it in pill form is virtually ineffective unless Omega-6 consumption comes down.
The idea of food-culture resonates with me strongly. The so-called “French Paradox” contradicts everything about American food science: a diet loaded with fat, butter, and wine that produces, for the most part a healthy, fit population. The key is in whole foods, Pollan argues, in shunning heavily processed foods, in communal dining without snacking.
All food-cultures evolved along with their environment and available foodstuffs. For example, the majority of humans were once lactose intolerant, some entire populations still are, getting sick when they drink cow’s milk. Yet, certain genes that produce enzymes for its digestion were passed along over thousands of years as humans became agrarian, and spread until the populations adapted. This benefited the cows, too.
The reason I relate to so much to this idea is another book, published several years ago, called “Eat Right For Your Type.” I referenced in a past blog a cancer scare I had, years ago, that led to a massive and permanent weight loss. The falling of the Berlin wall in my life is the still that one life-changing event in 2001.
If you, in our time together, come to understand only one thing that defines me, it is this: I spent two months believing I had cancer and learning about what I had been putting in my body up to that point. It was like somebody had ripped off the heavy blanket covering me on a sunny day, and I will never go back. To eating like that, looking like that, or feeling like that. I don’t have so much of an issue with food itself - maintaining a pretty consistent weight and body size ever since - as I have with the food of the western diet.
Coming out of the battle victorious and armed with new knowledge I still had many questions for my doctor. Such as, why am I still so irregular? I felt terrible all the time, even though I was doing my damnedest to eat healthy, high fiber foods. His answer?
That’s just the American Diet.
Bullshit.
So off to find more information I went and ended up at the homeopathic place on Addison, a block east of Damen. I spoke with a gentlemen there who informed me of Peter D’Adamo’s book, “Eat Right…” and said I should give it a read, being a Type O. He said that Type O’s have trouble processing wheat gluten and it makes them irregular. So I bought the book, then the idea, stopped eating wheat products, and within a week, was shitting like a champion.
The idea is simple, and sound I believe, regardless of any doctors who scoff at the science. Type O is the universal blood, in fact, because all other blood types evolved from it. That is a Type A can receive Type O, but not visa versa. This evolution took place as humans agrarianized and began cultivating more complex and starchy grains, as well as animal for dairy production.
Type Os are a hold over from hunter-gatherers. Therefore they are much less tolerant of grains with gluten, and most dairy products. The more simpler grains - like rice, and rye, leafy natural greens, and lean protein, the better. I don’t know much about the methodology behind D’Amado’s findings, except that it’s worked incredibly well for me.
When I’m able to follow it.
Just try avoiding wheat gluten. It’s nearly impossible to do so without having to constantly explain that you are not some Atkins Diet jerkass. “Come on, have a cookie!” “What do you do about pasta?!” It’s so tiring that sometimes I’d rather just acquiesce, not give the lecture, and then suffer in silence with a copy of Katy’s “People” for an hour under the soothing hum of the bathroom fan.
But lately, I’ve really tried get gluten out of my diet. I didn’t have a single piece of pizza at our latest cycling team function last night, and I’ve avoided the cafeteria at work since Day One, 2009. I bring my lunch every day. And empowering myself this way, starting the day off right – “leaving it all behind you,” as Louis Armstrong used to shill - albeit naturally, is really making a difference, and giving me more willpower to keep on eating right.
When you have a hobby like mine, and performance is everything, an issue like this can really take on weight. And with the mountains of California approaching in the distance, having a lighter load makes all the difference in the world.
Sorry to take the tone of this one in a downward spiral, but seriously, I urge everyone to take a more thoughtful look at what they are eating. Think of food as whole food and the whole person it makes you.
13.2.09
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
Sleepy.
I had a body fat analysis done today.
Still at 180 pounds, I've plateaued. But according to the test I'm at 5.8 % fat. Crazy. I've never been single digits before, let alone this level. I don't need to lose any more weight. Otherwise, I'll start metabolizing muscle and lose power as a consequence.
I had a pretty stellar indoor time trial at Vision Quest with the team last week - dropping an average wattage I don't think I would've hit all last season in freakin' February. I gotta keep a level head through this - to just keep eating healthy, making sound training decisions, and most importantly, keeping everything balanced, beyond the cycling.
And getting lots of sleep. That too.
I want to make it though camp - 21 days! - and come out strong and finally start getting results. Now that I'm on the team's elite development squad, I have an obligation to make Cat 2 in 3 years. This winter has been much more structured and the results are real and quantifiable. The TT last week is solid evidence of that. Also, I feel my bike handling skills are improving vastly, as my time and comfort on the rollers increases. Up to no handed and standing now (not at the same time) and I'm able to tolerate mentally and physically being on them for more than just an hour at a time. Having a high quality saddle that fits is key.
Before I head to bed, I've posted two new articles on the Chicago Cycling section at examiner.com. Please go and read - I've earner over a $1 so far! At this rate, I should have enough for a 12-pack after the Midweek Gem. So do your part - and you'll get a High Life or two in return. You'll have earned it.
I had a body fat analysis done today.
Still at 180 pounds, I've plateaued. But according to the test I'm at 5.8 % fat. Crazy. I've never been single digits before, let alone this level. I don't need to lose any more weight. Otherwise, I'll start metabolizing muscle and lose power as a consequence.
I had a pretty stellar indoor time trial at Vision Quest with the team last week - dropping an average wattage I don't think I would've hit all last season in freakin' February. I gotta keep a level head through this - to just keep eating healthy, making sound training decisions, and most importantly, keeping everything balanced, beyond the cycling.
And getting lots of sleep. That too.
I want to make it though camp - 21 days! - and come out strong and finally start getting results. Now that I'm on the team's elite development squad, I have an obligation to make Cat 2 in 3 years. This winter has been much more structured and the results are real and quantifiable. The TT last week is solid evidence of that. Also, I feel my bike handling skills are improving vastly, as my time and comfort on the rollers increases. Up to no handed and standing now (not at the same time) and I'm able to tolerate mentally and physically being on them for more than just an hour at a time. Having a high quality saddle that fits is key.
Before I head to bed, I've posted two new articles on the Chicago Cycling section at examiner.com. Please go and read - I've earner over a $1 so far! At this rate, I should have enough for a 12-pack after the Midweek Gem. So do your part - and you'll get a High Life or two in return. You'll have earned it.
12.2.09
Thursday Hate
Just heard ABC News declare that the indoor cycling center that would be built in Washington Park would be replaced with a pool and basketball court.
What a crock.
How many velodromes does this city have? And public pools and basketball courts?
I am boycotting the Olympics in Chicago unless there is something permanent left for cycling.
What a crock.
How many velodromes does this city have? And public pools and basketball courts?
I am boycotting the Olympics in Chicago unless there is something permanent left for cycling.
11.2.09
Hump Day
February 11th: 180 lbs.
23 Days.
"You were my second choice for most likely to have snorted a line of coke off a hooker's ass."
----------
First, this public service message.
----------
I know funny, and he's not funny. New Orleans apparently thinks so as well.
----------
Hmmmmmmm. Any ideas? Maybe my lunchlady got a job with Halliburton?
----------
1894. This woman was born.
----------
As if University of Chicago needed to get more exclusive...
23 Days.
"You were my second choice for most likely to have snorted a line of coke off a hooker's ass."
----------
First, this public service message.
----------
I know funny, and he's not funny. New Orleans apparently thinks so as well.
----------
Hmmmmmmm. Any ideas? Maybe my lunchlady got a job with Halliburton?
----------
1894. This woman was born.
----------
As if University of Chicago needed to get more exclusive...
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