life changes

lot's going on in the Carp household right now, job transition, trying to advance the coaching business and have an exciting but nervous potential with a friend on a business proposal.

the cool thing is I have had more time to figure out the Ipod thing- just got one for my b-day last fall but now am figuring out the cool uses such as putting all the pictures on it that I took on my work phone over the past few years (a phone that I will now be returning in a week).

So, nervous, anxious and excited describes the Carp at this time in his life (yeah, sometimes you gotta go 3rd person)

see you on the road

carp

There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.......

It’s mid-winter. That means riding in all weather conditions and making the most of training time. That also means figuring out how to deal with the poor conditions and what are your individual limits/needs for those conditions. Basically, your individual time-temperature curve.

First, let me say I ride in ALL bad weather here in Chattanooga, I do not however ride if I feel the weather is DANGEROUS. The difference to me is in visibility, icy conditions and thunderstorms. The coldest ride start I have had this year was 2 Saturdays ago when it was 7 degrees (Fahrenheit) when I rolled out the door. 3 ½ hours, one climb and a coffee stop later I was still fine when I rolled back in the door.

THE key to me is dressing right. You hear of layers but exactly how do you layer. Here are my key points: Good base layer (especially wool or synthetic fibers that wick away moisture because if you get wet, you’re in trouble), arm warmers on the OUTSIDE of long sleeve jerseys (so you can take them off before a climb- and not get wet!), good gloves and shoe covers (the importance here is that if you wear to many tight layers on your extremities they will get COLDER due to lack of blood flow), a solid chest cover (wind resistant vest or jacket that can again be pulled off if needed), a solid head cover that fits under a helmet (yep- I don’t recommend going without a helmet just to wear a hat- get something that fits under a helmet).

We on the Hincapie Development team are very fortunate to have availability of the best made clothing in the world, I recommend to everyone to compile your winter gear as needed season after season, piece by piece if budget doesn’t allow a big one time purchase

Some Ghetto techniques are plastic bags between shoes/shoe covers, toe or hand warmers, a hot water bottle or warm camel back to make sure you have available water and it can add to the heat retention in the ride, and a “rescue layer” which is basically plastic (rain jacket, bag, etc) you can put on if you run into trouble being wet in a wind.

The recommendation you will hear anyone that rides in cold weather make is you should be cool but not frigid when you leave because you will warm up just from increased heat production from the work. So, if you are warm the first 2 minutes you may get cold later due to sweat.

See you out on the road.

Carp

How do you know when it's cold?

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause........

so, here's a bit of a story. Last Christmas (not on the exact day, but sometime around the holidays), I was enjoying a Rogue Santa's Private Reserve Ale, a wonderful brew that comes out just once a year. It was at that time when Seth (my then 6 year old) loked at the bottle, saw the picture of Jolly Ole' St. Nick on the label and promptly says "Santa drinks Beer?" My wife was not amused........

Fast Forward to Today. I took the boys out for a bite this evening, santa hats and all. So we had a good dinner, the kids actually behaved and things were good. So I'm waiting on the bill and the waitress tells me "a guy at the bar payed for your meals" What? I'm like, we can't accept it, she's like- "it's done"

so, Now I'm on the recieving end of a pay-it-forward trail and I'll be looking out to help the next soul that appears in need........

and Seth, yes, apparently, Santa Does Drink Beer............

Winter Gear Review-

alright- just finished a short 90 minute ride outside- it was 19 degrees when I left and 27 when I got back- wore my Hincapie Aerotex winter hat for the first time today and loved it-

my first impression was maybe it needed to be lined a little more as it was cool starting out- but 5 minutes in I was comfy, and my head actually sweated in the thing after about an hour- normally this may spell disaster- BUT- it's windstopping properties are exceptional and I NEVER got cold in it- this is now on the top of my list for the frigid rides.

you won't find it on thier site yet- but check you local Hincapie Retailer (Suck Creek if your in the "nooga)

carp

How do you know your blood sugar has dropped?

You swear you saw this in the woods while on a small 1 lane road.....

It was just a white tree that had fallen partially over......time to get back to the Van and eat something.

Heff?

so my boy Sam gets a bit bored and decides he's going to take pictures of himself.

here's the one from the PacesetterCycling team site-It's appeared on multiple blogs in recent weeks but I thoguth I would share it as well.

If the bike racing thing doesn't work out, maybe a future as a Gigilo???