tin foil Jens...

My tin foil hat looks good on me now…doesn’t it?

I made the prediction earlier this year that Trek was going to get their hooks into Jens. Some people thought I was crazy. But look at the logic here…

Jens has a outspoken personality. His interviews are always entertaining. He’s known for attacking in the break aways. Putting out a monstrous effort. His great one liners of ‘shut up legs’, ‘suffering’…

He’s marketable, which in Trek’s eyes means money. Plain and simple. Put him on a shirt, maybe even a make a Jens edition bike…people will buy it.

He’s going out on top, so why not make some money off of him.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m not blaming Jens. It’s a paycheck, and every damn one of you would take it as well. I mean look at Ray that started Ray’s Indoor Mtn Bike Park. Trek got him, and now he’s retired riding bikes all over the place. Not a bad way to spend retirement. Again…I don’t blame him.

 

Trek needs someone to lift their brand up after the whole Armstrong thing. Who else are they going to go after? Fabian? He still has years to ride, and could be on another bike in a year or two. Trek is scrambling for something. Did anyone even pay attention to the team this year at the Tour? Other than Jens…me either. I didn’t know the Schleck brothers were racing till mid way through the race ;) And when Fabian leaves mid way through to go ‘train’ for another race, what does that say about the faith of the team doing something, or even your teammate hanging out for Jens’ last ride on the Champs?

But one thing sticks in my head…he had a very long career. This career in cycling started in 1994. He rode throughout the Armstrong era. This era was plagued with doping. It’s been proven by independent laboratories.

It has also been proven that during the seven wins (yeah, I said it…wins) of Armstrong that no one was found to be clean. Unless you watch this:

http://youtu.be/tCBkEVXgtJM?list=FL8HuvNQy1FYDy9YzF8nDsMw

Although he denies ever doping, there are a multitude of evidence that states just the opposite. So my personal question then is, why do we raise up riders like Jens but not Armstrong? Was Armstrong a dick? I wouldn’t expect any less. During the height of Led Zeppelin, do you think those guys were ‘cool’? Doubt it.

So why give this guy (and many like him) a free pass? If doping is wrong, it is wrong. Or is it just a case of who is more marketable at the time? Open your eyes kids...

Habit

Habit. We are creatures of habit. In some sense habit and route make our lives make sense. We understand our surroundings just a little better with these two things. If things do not go according to this route/habit, then our day seems off. Seems wrong.

What if you do not get your morning cup of coffee? And if you do get it, you have to stop somewhere or get it from somewhere else? Your morning may feel different. Ever forgot to brush your teeth in the morning?

We feel comfortable in our habits. Aristotle believed our ethical virtues arise from our habit. Who we are, ethical; is determined through our habits. Our habits are acquired by our own choosing. Our habits determine who we are. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” –Aristotle.

Want to change who you are? Change your habits. Change your route.

The problem with this…it gets us out of our comfort zone. The habits that we have acquired so far become comfortable to us. However; if we expect any change, we must change our habits. If we want to become anything else, then we must step outside of our comfort zone.

This applies to cycling as well. Want to be a better cyclist, then step outside your comfort zone. As we do this, we begin to push our limitations. Taking your cross bike onto a mtn bike trail. Your skills will increase exponentially after repeated habit. Without your mtn bike you do not have the luxury of wide tires or suspension to get you over/through rocky sections, roots, going down bumpy hills. If you take these luxuries away you are forced to think about the trail more. Think about the line. Think about how to get through a tricky section. Instead of just ‘jamming’ through it without thought. To just ‘float’ over the objects.

This goes the same for riding a single speed or fixed gear bike.

Know that hill that you always have trouble with, even with gears? Hit it with a single speed. See what happens. I’m sure the first few times will be horrible. They always are as we move outside of the comfort zone. But as you continue to ride on the single speed/fixed you will notice improvements in your overall general riding.

Now try this practice on a local mtn bike trail with a SSCX... ;)

What I have noticed from this practice, is that I started getting PR on some of the local Strava segments; either on my single speed or geared bikes.

Maybe in some way we understand the greater complexness of it all when we really take the time and understand the simplicity of it all…

And remember; who you are is determined by what you do…

Amithaba...

Cloak-nDagger Cyclocross

Cloak-n-Dagger Cyclocross:

So if you’ve heard me talk of Cloak-n-Dagger Cyclocross (CDCX) then here is my idea in full…kind of…

I will send you a Strava route that I have already done. Depending on route, I may also send you a GoPro video that I have done of the course as well, to give you a better idea of what the course is.

After you receive this info, you will have 72 hours to complete the route. If for some reason you cannot do a course in a given week, please let me know ahead of time, so I can plan accordingly.  As many laps as you can do in 40 minutes plus one lap; like ‘normal’ cyclocross rules. You will have to record this on Strava. Once you have completed it, send me the final Strava route for final time keeping on my end.  I will keep an xl sheet with all the people participating in my madness, and their times/laps. The other fun thing…I will NOT tell you whom else I have signed up for this. So you will not know. I will not send out two people at the same time. So your time, is your time. When I give you your time, I don't care about weather or anything like that. So no excuses! If it's raining...it's raining. Plan accordingly.

I will keep all the records private. I will not have more than two riders doing the same course in the same week. As of now, courses are on the west side to the south-west side of things. I am using many different kinds of terrain. From road, to gravel, to dirt; so after watching the video (if one is provided) or checking out the Strava, plan bike accordingly. I do have these set up for a cross bike, but if you want to use something else, I am not going to bitch. So bike choice is yours.

At the end of it all; and as of right now, this is just a trial run of things; you will get something. Not sure what that is right now. It may just be a swift kick in the ass or something kind of cool. I’ll figure that out as I go. I tend to do things on the fly, but they always work out, if you are flexable. Hell…I may have you do Fight Gone Bad at my local gym…

That is about the idea of things.

Why am I doing this?

Well…that’s a little deeper.  To get that answer you may have to get me drinking; which isn’t hard to do ;)