Quake 'em up, shoot 'em up

I don't know why I'm choosing this time (if any) to write. Maybe I'm concerned for my follower. There's been a post drought since the 'cross season has ended, and I apologize. My follower deserves better. Anyway, I can assure you the real reason is because I feel cyclist-inspired and got a neat picture from a recent ride today (thanks Jloh).

I enjoyed some play time in the snow, and also had my first ride with Cycles 54 last Sunday. It was a great time and I am starting to feel good about the upcoming road season. I have been riding here and there but nothing too serious yet... After the holiday treats disappear from the fridge and all my friends go back to where they came from, I'll be able to start getting my base in. Hope after an intense road season I will be forced to be in better shape for cross.

Other than that I don't have much to say to you, good reader. I had a mini-adventure when we got lost in the woods during a blizzard and couldn't find our way out because of our disappearing tracks (thanks fresh 12" blanket of snow). As we exited the desolate forest, a park ranger greeted us and informed me he was ready to assemble a search party to find our dead frozen bodies. It was fun, nonetheless. Every once in a while I thought our lives were in jeopardy when we knew there was a frozen stream somewhere not far from our current position. It all looked the same under the snow.

Thank you. Hope your holidays have been kind.

To the ocean and beyond... Not the county

I have not written for quite some time. So to all my follower (intentionally singular) out there, be informed that I have purchased a new bicycle. One of the bikes under heavy consideration was the Felt F5. Entry level carbon fiber, 105 components, and the price made it super appealing. What I did not expect was the opportunity to buy a Felt F4 with Ultegra components for about $100 more. I test rode it, loved it, and purchased it. While I enjoyed the Tarmac's frame a bit more, I really liked having the Ultegra groupset on this bike. I had to compromise at some point, since my 2,300$ budget would not allow for the ultimate bike. And to have a hi-mod carbon fiber ultegra bike for that price seemed almost out of this world. So rode, purchased, rode some more, and loved.

"But Arthur, how can you ride that beast in these frigid temperatures?"

Well... no beast she is, first of all. But today I completed my second ever century. And by completed I mean fell 8 miles short of a solid clean 100. That's okay, it was still amazing. Getting to the beach with zero emissions? Practically zero, I did discard some gel packages in trash receptacles. Super. I have learned a lot from my last century, and learned even more this time around. It's a commitment, spending 6 hours inside your head. All you can do is exchange some inner dialogue with yourself. That I knew. I also learned to change hand positions, so no carpal tunnel this time (wahoo). New information? When the first 50 miles of your century seems like a breeze, it probably has something to do with that strong tail wind pushing you along. The last 50 miles will KILL you. And they did, each mile shoving a dagger into my side. By the end I was absolutely Caesar-fied. Also, while the temperature may be 32 degrees, the 16 MPH headwind makes it much cooler. Booties are important, and will be on my to buy list. Double socking it didn't help as much as I had hoped.

I've been reading a lot again, which has inspired me to write. Maybe I'll start a blog where I can post some of my short fiction and literary expeditions...

To the ocean and beyond...

The county, not the beach. I got my bike repaired today. Bought a new derailleur (Deore LX this time around), but upon installation noticed that my hanger/drop out was bent. SO this is how the derailleur got stuck in the back wheel. Anyway a quick $15 hook up with the bicycle magician and she's ridin' like new. And what's even better? Her sound. No longer ratchety clank just the quiet sound of tires humming whispering those sexy secrets into my ears.

Did a nice trek out to New Egypt and back as the sun was starting to set. I wish I could have pushed her a bit further but no need to be stranded in the dark. It felt good though. It's been too long since I've ridden off the trainer (using old MTB on trainer while the Volpe was out of commission). As I've said before... awesome riding so far without having to stop. I think I passed through two lights the entire journey?

Also have a lot of progress in my road bike research. This weekend I went to Bernie's in Hamilton, Jay's in Princeton, and Knapp's in Trenton... in that order. If you look at a map you'll realize how ridiculous that is. Especially when my point of origin was East Windsor. I began with the Orbea Onix. It was a no-go. Felt okay at the shop, rode it for a while, but no. Staff was awesome though. Went through a lot of trouble to get me fitted as best as they could for a test ride. Even measured my shoulders. This was all good until I sat down on a Madone 4.5. Wowee. Although I have to say Jay's did not really go through much effort to give me an accurate judgement. They didn't even raise the seat for me, so I felt like I was on a tricycle. But the feel of the bike was already 100000% better than that of the Onix. So Onix crossed off my list. Talked to a kid there and said I should try lots of different frame styles. Directed me to Knapps. I battled the fierce memories of last week's race (sponsored by this very store) and made it to the parking lot. Went inside and test rode the Specialized Tarmac. By far the nicest bike I've ridden. It felt amazing. I liked the feel much better than the Madone. It just felt right. So I talked and mingled some, then left to get back home.

Right now, Tarmac wins. At $2,200 MSRP, it's right in my budget. I decided to move up to entry level carbon instead of upper level aluminum. If I don't drop the extra couple hundred bucks I'll hate myself in a couple of years when I'm actually ready for such a bike. So it's an investment.

Weather looks to be shitty this week, so will put old tire on the Volpe and throw her on the trainer. Decided not to do the last cross race next Sunday. Bike is running so smooth, feeling pretty good, will just save money and energy for next year's road races. I didn't want to end on a bad note, but if I were to have another malfunction this race I'd die.

Godspeed.

DNF is an awful way to spell defeat or the story of my derailed derailleur

Tolerating all the pain and anguish that goes into a cyclocross race only to come out with a DNF next to your name is well... more painful than the race itself. I was doing great the entire race, well within my goals I set. Legs were jellied from all the running and inefficient mud cadence, but still I pushed through. Out of breath, heart pounding, and bike gives up on me. I'm not sure exactly how (know it has something to do with the several pounds of grass and mud caked on my bike) but my rear derailleur found itself wedged between my spokes making my bike immobile.

I couldn't even run it or anything, I had to shoulder it and was still a ways from the finish line so swallowed my pride and took a DNF. This happened on the second half of the last lap, and in retrospect, I should have just walked it. I would have given up the place I fought so hard to attain but at least I wouldn't have this overwhelming feeling of letting myself down.

Now I have to wait on new parts (Shimano LX this time, no more road derailleur for me) before I can race again. I'll hook up the old MTB to the trainer to make sure I still maintain some physique and hopefully on November 28th I'll be able to finish the season on a better note. Some spokes were also bent, but my wheel is actually perfectly trued. It's kind of funny because last night it wasn't. So at least something good came of this jam.

Still looking at lots of bikes. Going to try to ride a Trek 2.3 this weekend, as well as an entry level Madone, and see how they measure up to the Cannondale and TCR I was looking at. May go with the Alliance 0 instead of 1 because unsure how I feel about a compact crank for road. I'll get some opinions...

upcoming Mercer Cup USGP....

Moving in with parents for a bit to save some money has already paid off. With no rent cloud constantly hovering over my head, I was able to get myself a Kinetic Road Machine trainer. I opted for the extra package with computer/accessories (who doesn't love discounted accessories?) to fine tune my work outs. Furthermore, father invested in a heart monitor that he no longer uses so am able to plan crazy exercise regiments, and intervals are so much more effective. Although I don't have any device to measure my power output, I've been using MPHs to judge the sum of my efforts. And finally I'm able to measure my cadence. I always assumed I was in the 80's but it turns out I find myself most comfortable/effective/efficient pedaling in the 90's.

Also began looking at road bikes, for real this time. Have a TCR Alliance 1 on hold for me at one shop, and hoping to check out a few others to get a feel for the perfect road monster. That's something I'm incredibly excited about... my first season doing road.

ANYWAY wanted to pre-ride Mercer today for USGP but canceled on account of the weather (as well as the number presentation). But that's okay, I'll still get my fix in tomorrow after work. Living only 5 miles from the course is very convenient for a weekend of races. While tomorrow should be rainy and crazy cross weather, Sunday will clear up (although still be undoubtedly muddy) so excited to see the two sides of cross in one event. Been training a lot and hard so hope to yield better results than the past couple of races. Going to make myself come in top 50%, and hoping to break into top 30%. Did a work out today, but tomorrow will take it very easy and hopefully legs will be feeling as they should... powerful. Well till the Mercer Cup..... . ... . . ..

so long Philly

And so I am gone from Philadelphia. Emptied out my room, set up a bunch of equipment in the free space and spent some time working on the track in progress. Drank some brews with close friends, and my arm is still sore from

Went on a ride through East Windsor/West Windsor today and found it extraordinarily nice to not have a series of red lights to deal with before I can get a workout in. Strange living at home again, but it did seem inevitable. At least I've got a job and hobbies this time around. Race Sunday. Probably last one for the season. Been training hard, expect to do better than the past few....

The Bank Job, without the accent or action

Back to lending 40 hours of my time a week in exchange for some hard earned cash. Bank again, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. I go in, get a list, throw out some ideas, send lots of e-mails, fax lots of documents, print some things, then go to lunch. Since I take my lunch at 2 p.m., I come back at 3 to 2 hours of work which just fly by. Although this is only temporary (again), I have some prospects on the horizon.

Unfortunately this has made me busier than I'm used to. In addition to my determination to do extraordinarily well at the Mercer Cup USGP, I have become addicted to Quake Live. I needed a first person shooter that operates on OS X. How surprised I was to find out one of my favorite games was free online with nothing more than a browser plug-in. Yowza! My last weekend in Philadelphia was spent drinking cans of wine (thanks Always Sunny) and shooting demonish figures with all sorts of weapons. When wars inevitably head down the DOOM/Quake path, I will be well prepared and even excited. Go Earth!

As for racing... or lack there of. I am not doing any races till Spring Mount... Only two weeks away but I will be very well prepared. I have GREATLY increased my workouts and am in better shape than ever. I plan to PEAK for the Mercer Cup, and then maybe do another race or two before I call it quits for the 'cross season and start preparing for road. 

"Arthur, a roadie?!" No, not yet at least. I have really enjoyed this season of cross and really like the competitive aspect of cycling so am going to spend this winter/spring training for the upcoming road season. I hear it's much more competitive, and I hope this will push me to train harder and get me to a new level for next year's cross. This also means.... a new bike! I will have all winter to research and decide but right now I'm looking at the Giant TCR Alliance 1. Maybe some cyclist will happen by this post and scream "NO DON'T DO IT BECAUSE..."

Lastly, Halloween this weekend. I will be spending it in New York City escaping the giant mechanical spiders at Psybotik. Where'd all the darkpsy go this year? I don't know but not NYC that's for sure. I saw Gappeq was playing in Warsaw and it made me incredibly angry that my Polish citizenship doesn't allow me reduced price travel between here and the motherland. Instead I'll cope with the loads of progressive-borderline-house tunes that will be jammin in my ear drum all night long ["This-Is-House-house-house-house" (dun-ch-dun-ch-dun-ch)] Ugh. Although I love progressive and downtempo but why an entire night of it the one day of a year it's Halloween?! I hear Treavor Moontribe sometimes sneaks a dark set in so maybe given the occasion my head will be spinning. High hopes.

beaten, worked, and tired...

Went to Granogue yesterday to watch the two UCI races. Meant to get there earlier, but left some things at parents' house so had to make a 2 hour detour. Brought along two friends to experience the frenzy that is cross, and had a grand ole time.

If I remember correctly, I fought for my 63rd of 85 people today. I knew it was bad when the announcer said something along the lines of, "If you just slowed down a bit, you could have let [first place person] pass through and finish on this lap." Ouch. But I did not, I did four laps just like the big guys and have the hurt to prove it. I couldn't seem to get my muscles to loosen up today, so I felt like I was battling myself up until the 4th lap. During the run up I hobbled like a penguin. Still a good time and I left lots of room for improvement. While I still remain defeated, I won't let it get to me since this is my first season cycling. But I will be sure to outdo this performance at Spring Mount. I promise you I will.

For $10 I enjoyed two glasses of Victory's HopDevil and one glass of the Prima. Although I left with no prize or medal, I do have the Victory pint glass to remind me of the cold rainy day.

Again, I will keep on increasing the intensity of my workouts so next time will be better, not worse. To date, this is the most difficult course I've raced. I did like the spiral and I feel my cornering has definitely improved. Now just need that strength thing....

(The last one is from Granogue)

Godspeed.

mud sheddin' shreddin'

In celebration of an AOK interview, I bought myself some egg beaters. For those not cycling inclined, they're mud shedding pedals that will possibly save my life on Sunday... no more desperately stomping out dirt from the Wellgos. I installed them, put in the new cleats, and it was all like... Cinderella.

I did a longer higher intensity ride today, and tomorrow I will take it a bit easier in preparation for Sunday. I also set up a makeshift cyclocross course at Mercer County Park (USGP here I come!) and road that for about 30 minutes.  There was many a stick lying around, so I actually managed a pretty well defined course--complete with run through the sand.

Since I will most likely be moving back to Jersey, I checked out some local shops in Princeton today for some info on clubs/teams/whatever. Pretty much to no avail... know there is one shop I'll never step foot in again and that's pretty much all the info I got.

I think I might check out the races at Granogue tomorrow... should be pretty fun to watch. 'Til Sunday.

...aiming for "not last"

I am going to get WORKED on Sunday. Practice at Belmont today was not as successful as in the past. I attribute a lot of it to my crazy hill workout yesterday, and lack of decent sleep last night but I fell behind the rest of the "B" group really quick. No painful falls though, although I had an incredibly close call when I ran into a chunk of lumber with some considerable speed.

After the practice I stopped to watch the Kensington Triple Crown. I didn't want to hurt myself before an ideally triumphant Sunday, so I decided to merely spectate. I got there and saw only two people with cross bikes, as opposed to the 35+ at the previous edition. I rode one lap through all the glass ridden urban obstacles with the other two people. We ended up doing some drills since we all came out for some cross. When I returned home I saw it got moved to tomorrow. I still had a good time and just recently I've been getting sad about leaving Philadelphia. Although I welcome a salary and health insurance with open arms.

High hopes for Wissahickon. I will try my hardest to get in the top 50% so I can have one ">50%" race on crossresults.com. I PRAY the "UCI" doesn't scare away some of the other newbies I compete with.

Oh, it went in (thanks Geoff).

Defeat with a capital "D," Kensington style

I've never been mugged or assaulted in Philadelphia, so what better time than now (figuratively of course). How? It's pretty humiliating so I say this is a step backwards in not embarrassing myself in a cross race. Oh the urban jungle, littered with natural(?) barriers and obstructions, it practically screams cyclocross. On my third or fourth lap of the course, I decided to just casually pop on over the barrier before the road section. This was doable, because I've done it the previous lap. My racing brain has a pretty narrow thought process: Engine, on. Gears... engaged. Mach speed. Brake. Hop... and before I knew it I flew over my handle bars onto the concrete. This time my fall was broken by my elbows, shins, and shoulder. I slammed into the edge, got back up, "I'm fine, thanks... No I'm okay, thanks..." and hobbled over to the pit area. When I got there, everybody with their "flat?" (lots of flats) Me with my, "Nah, I tried to go over that barrier and endoed into the concrete. It was cute." That got a laugh, so for about 20 seconds I was part of the group. I hobbled over to my corner and spoke to nobody the rest of the night. Need to work on socialization/not being awkward skills.  

I hated myself for not completing the race. I was doing very well for myself, increasing the lead between me and the pack behind me. At least I wasn't alone. Many many (I'd say of the 35 or so riders, about 15 finished? Flats, falls, all that jazz.) For now, I'll just ice and clean the bleeding parts and hope for a speedy recovery. I'll also need to fix my bike. Brake hoods are all sorts of out of place.

All in all a very fun training race. Only about four blocks from my place? Ouch though, ouch.

Happy Birthday barcode. If it wasn't for you, grocery shopping would be awful.

Climbing

I woke up at 5:00 in the morning to get some smallmouth fishing in at the Schuylkill (near Phoenixville). It's amazing that this is the same river that runs through Philadelphia. It was really cold and I couldn't figure out the bite. Since I wasn't having much luck with that,  just enjoyed the fresh morning air.

I started my more intense training regiment yesterday. Two weeks till the Wissahickon UCI race, so I am trying to not embarrass myself this time. High hopes.

Hillbilly Hustle v.4

Thanks to some friendly motorcyclists (no potentially violent Warlock encounters this time) I made it home okay. My race was at 9 AM, so I got there at around 7:45. There was an insane amount of fog on the way over, and after just recently having seen The Mist, I was incredibly frightened. Anyway, being the third person in the check-in line, I thought I was all good to ride. I needed a one day USAC license, which caused some trouble since being the third person in line meant helping the people working the booth figure everything out. I managed to get in two warm up laps before it was time to race. While lined up, I realized I forgot to add air into my tires and before I knew it the whistle sounded. I'm off and didn't get too great of a position (not that I would have won or anything if I had) so I fought my way up. Between me passing some people and other people passing me I managed 51/78. Cornering wasn't as much of a problem today as my lack of sheer strength. A lot more training to do.

I stayed to watch all the rest of the races (with the help of Yard's contribution). Favorites were Men's collegiate and the A-race at the end. Once I got in my car to head home, I found out my battery had died. Once I was on my way back, my phone (AKA navigation system) died. It was okay because I knew my way back. That is until there was an accident that called for the closing of two roads. That's where the non-gang-related motorcyclists came in and saved the day.

Although in my eight hours I spoke with practically nobody, I still managed to have a great time and enjoy the races. Can't wait to see all the crazy talent at the Wissahickon race in a couple of weeks.

Belmont v2.0

I don't know why I'm listening to it, but Floating Point 2 may be one of the lamest chillout compilations I've heard. Sorry if anybody from Igoba Records is offended, but I simply cannot enjoy it. On a similar note, I've been pretty productive on the production front (ha). Should have a twilight track (twilight: subgenre of psytrance) up shortly. 

Now to cyclocross... Finally met some people today. It was pleasant to be able to speak, although I was a bit giddy and overexcited from the workout so I'm sure I sounded very antsy or nonsensical. Regardless, it was a good practice and I've definitely improved some since last time. I found cornering slightly easier, but that could have been because the ground was a bit more moist this time around. During the last lap of the second half of the workout I fell off my bike. Don't worry, I'm okay. My fall was cushioned by my head. There was a flash of white during impact, reminiscent of the game Punch Out. You'd hit the guy and there'd be a high pitched ring + flash above his head. Aside from a minor head ache, I feel fine. I got up and was able to finish the workout. 

Someone I talked to suggested I do this race Sunday, the Hillbilly Hustle in New Jersey, so I think I will. It's now officially part of the unofficial list of cyclocross races I plan to compete in. 

The city looked really amazing from the Plateau but I didn't have a camera that did it justice. I have a few pictures from the trip home, but nothing amazing. Next Wednesday I'll bring a normal camera. A cyclist also stopped near me to take a picture. I'm sure I managed to creep her out with my silence and unintentional stalking. For some reason I thought it would be less creepy if I turned my light off. Lesson learned.

Stuck in holes

I have not been whitewater kayaking this year and that's pretty disappointing. I forgot how fun it could be.

I'll eventually have a bad ass video up from the around 20 seconds of footage my father took.

First Cyclocross Practice at Belmont Plateau

A fun and interesting experience. The great thing about practice is that although I was absolutely dominated by practically every last person there, my performance won't be all over google when you search my name (Oh SpectraCross!). There were a lot more people than I expected (I'd say around 40?) and it was nice to be able to ride a cyclocross course without having to race.

(I tried to include as few people as possible to scale down the creepy)

This practice made me realize I have to do a few things... change my work out regiment, shake my fear of passing people, and practice the more technical aspects (cornering was awful). I've been doing mostly endurance training, putting in lots of mileage and occasionally including intervals or a sprint oriented workout. So that will change in the coming weeks. As far as the technical aspects... not 100% sure how to handle that. I will try to ride some more single track (just discovered a ridiculous amount of it in the woods at the Plateau). I'm also not sure how much of it was a result of my tires:

I just upgraded (busted the sidewall on the WTB All Terrainasaurus that came on the Volpe) to Vittoria Cross XGs on the left. They didn't grip as well as the WTBs, but I kind of blame that on the minimal-ish nob structure in dry conditions. I think they'll outperform the WTBs in the mud since they'll shed mud much better. The problem may have also been the higher PSI I was running (about 55) to not be embarrassed by potential pinch flats from my clinchers. I could be totally wrong about everything and I hope that somehow somebody who is knowledgeable reads this somehow and comments. 

I think that's all I'll blab about the practice. Wish I met more people but given my awkwardness and how incredibly intimidated I was by all the really good people, it's obvious I didn't.

As for entertaining stories for any of my friends not interested in cyclocross... Well I don't really have any. Some lady kept hassling me about getting her pigs blood on the ride back on Spring Garden. Wasn't sure how to respond, so I didn't. Worst red light ever.

And then there is a new development on the Warlocks incident that happened a while ago. Being the intimidating motorcycle club that they are, I try to avoid any confrontation (sign on door reads: "NO TRESPASSING. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again").  Well this one day it was inevitable. It all started with some eye contact. Before I even had the chance to greet the man with a friendly hello, "Hey Homo!" I was happy that they live up to the badass Warlocks name, and about a 2 months later, I finally came up with the only appropriate response (that would surely have resulted in a thorough beating): "I believe Hogwarts is that way." Warlocks, Harry Potter, get it?

"The jerk store called, they're running out of you!" Godspeed.

An introduction...

What is The Gorka Factor?

Think Fear Factor. Then take away the fear, and add Arthur Gorka. 

While I have many thoughts and opinions, I'm going to keep this blog limited to mostly my cyclocross progress and outdoor adventures. Since I'm relatively new to the sport, I probably won't be able to impress you with many stories of glory. However, I will do my best to have neat pictures and the most entertaining tales of defeat you'll hear. 

I don't want to bore you with introductory nonsense, so here are a couple pictures of things to come: