This man was #2 for eight years?

I'm not sure how you measure "american-ism" but I'm positive that wishing for Americans to die for your own personal, "I told you so" isn't so patriotic.......

Reuters
WASHINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) - CIA director Leon Panetta says it's almost as if former vice president Dick Cheney would like to see another attack on the United States to prove he is right in criticizing President Barack Obama for abandoning the "harsh interrogation" of terrorism suspects.

"I think he smells some blood in the water on the national security issue," Panetta said in an interview published in The New Yorker magazine's June 22 issue.

"It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point."

What's the point?

Iisn't health insurance supposed to prevent you from this..... after all that's why they call it insurance.

They concluded that 62.1 percent of the bankruptcies (in 2007) were medically related because the individuals either had more than $5,000 (or 10 percent of their pretax income) in medical bills, mortgaged their home to pay for medical bills, or lost significant income due to an illness. On average, medically bankrupt families had $17,943 in out-of-pocket expenses, including $26,971 for those who lacked insurance and $17,749 who had insurance at some point.

What's been going on here....

I've been gone for a while. Holidays and road trips are always fun, yet stressful in their own right. I'm finding that if I don't write the recap of events on the road trip home from the event, it rarely ever gets written. I'll work on that. After all, I've readers (somewhere) to entertain.

In the couple of weeks I traveled to the sun scorched land of Texas for some work at the Source Endurance office as well as some bike racing. Including the best weekly series this side of the equator. The Driveway. 60 minutes of fast and furious bike racing on a super smooth course. The best thing about racing in Austin is that all the races are fast. Numbers of a Thursday night race:
Average Speed: 27.5
Normalized power: 322W
Number of entrants in the P,1,2,3 race: 60+
Number of times Pat McCarty jumped: about a million.
Number of times Squadra has won this race in 2009: Lots.

From there it was on to Dallas to do some fast and fun Criteriums for the entirety of Memorial Day weekend. These races usually start and end FAST. At some point a small group goes, usually in the last 4-8 laps and it never gets any easier.

Co-worker Dave Wenger won Saturday's race on a brilliant 7/8 lap to go move and stuck it. Ouch! I'm surprised he could even raise his arms at the finish. Congrats Dave.

So I raced Thursday, Sat, Sun, Mon. Then came Tulsa Tough. 3 motorcycle fast days of criterium racing at the P,1- NRC level. So much fun! Racing with Pros is hard, but more relaxing in a way because compared even to Elite Amateurs the guys are smooth and can drive their bikes. But the races were hard and I didn't finish as well as I would have liked.

Reality Check:
The beauty and bane of doing hard races is that with a power meter you can really analyze the file and see what happened. This is especially useful when you actually get dropped and mark the next dangerous move that goes out the back end of the field. You see, just like watching "game film" in other professional sports, a power meter can tell volumes about when, why and how you failed in a bike race. Were the efforts too much? Too high of powers? Not enough rest between jumps? Cadence effect? Overreach? Just blow-up? Just plain out-horsepowered? Well, it happens and the important thing is to figure out what happened, why and take steps to correct it. However, the blow of getting dropped to the average over-inflated bike racer ego is a bit more tricky (insert would have, could have, should have here) to manage so it's important to consult with the rider and tell them what was found and explain the steps.

That's what happened to me beginning in Texas and running into Tulsa Tough. Of the six races, I didn't finish 2 of them. That's odd for as it hasn't happened in a long, long time. Sure the two races were widely regarded as "hard" as in teeth marks on your handle bars hard but still.... I should be finishing them. So onto the power files and Wha- La! Training plan to correct the weaknesses. After all, what's the use in the power meter if you just look at it and say, "wow" right?

Which brings me to peaking and the power meter....

Oh, to be 19 again......

Joseph Schmalz with Mercy Cycling just signed up with Source Endurance. He's had an SRM all season and from his files, he's improved an astounding 6.7% in his LT since Daylight Savings started. That's just from riding and racing. Gawd, I wish I was 19 again......

He's decided to harness the power of science and really see what can happen when he stomps on the throttle. This should be interesting.

Scary. Is your food safe?

Aside from all the "organic, green, heart healthy," yada, yada crap. This is why you should cook your own food and not buy the expensive processed stuff......

From the NY Times:

"In addition to ConAgra, other food giants like Nestlé and the Blackstone Group, a New York firm that acquired the Swanson and Hungry-Man brands two years ago, concede that they cannot ensure the safety of items — from frozen vegetables to pizzas — and that they are shifting the burden to the consumer."

Apparently it's the consumer's fault that companies can't guarantee uncontaminated food. Who knew?

Why now?

In honor of those who have deadlines and those taking finals......

Joe Martin Stage Race. Stages 3 and 4.

JMSR has come and gone for 2009 and I learned a few things, as always. For many in the mid-west this is the first “real race.” This is the first chance to test themselves in a bigger pond than the local events. For some, it’s a rude wake up call. Mid- May is here and all the early season would-have, could-have, should-have days of training and missed training have accumulated in this race. Some aren’t fit and should be in order to hit his/her goals for the season. No more excuses. At the amateur level this race is very difficult in so many ways. There’s no hiding in Time Trials, Climbing or tough technical criteriums. Joe Martin has all the above. Also, you’ll see a wide range of abilities in the amateur ranks, especially over a 3 day period. Riders that are strong will show it and riders who should have been training instead of worrying about the cold and chilly air will be making excuses.

The Pro riders make the race whatever they want, as evidenced by the stark contrast between Stage 2 and 3. Mostly, you have to get up the hill fast to avoid the time cut and then you have to not get dropped for the road stages, and survive the hardest criterium in the world. I wish that the team limits were 6 at the Pro level. I’m positive it would make for a much more competitive and wide open event. 8 guys can control a 3 day race (no, the TT does not count as a “full stage”) although Ouch was pushed to the breaking point this weekend. 6 can’t. Also, why do you need 1 less guy than the team size for a Grand Tour for 3 stages? That being the case, the criterium was more fun to watch than the previous few, which saw the crowd size dwindle from a few thousand to a few hundred. I guess people want to be entertained by fireworks. On to our race.

Stage 3- The wall and the climb that sucks.

As per the previous day, Mercy decided it best to put the pressure on the other riders and teams by placing guys in all the moves and making others chase. However, we did burn a few guys and needed a few miles to “loosen up.” When the race went hot, it was approximately 500 meters until Bill Marshall was in a two man move that rolled out a 1:05 advantage nearly instantly before being chased hard by a combination of a few teams. They were caught at the bottom of the 3 tiered climb we would ride 3 times on the day. Immediately afterward, I’m on the move in a powerful group that I thought looked good. Another 45+ mile break? Why not…. But it was not to be as we were brought back quickly. Then goes Brian Dweiza in a 4 man move that would roll for nearly an entire lap. That would bring about the beginning of what I thought was the most impressive ride of the day.

Christian Helmig. Apparently, a few of his teammates, himself included, wanted to do the Pro, 1 race. For whatever reason it was not to be and so they came into the 1,2 race with guns blazing. Helmig rode at the front of the race, setting tempo and controlling a field of 82 guys nearly 100% solo while also marking the dangerous moves himself and thus nullifying them. For you see, Christian himself was sitting in 4^th place overall and having him in a move to “gain time” doesn’t really help if 4^th place is sitting right behind you.

Following Dweiza’s move, I found myself in an excellent move with a number of riders that were “out” of contention and powerful enough to roll away. Indeed if I would have worked with the move, it probably stood a good chance of working. Instead, my sitting on resulted in others following suit. But I was merely there to protect Mercy’s GC rider. And it wasn’t going to happen considering Helmig was sitting on my wheel riding tail gunner of the move. Crap.

Helmig did have plenty of help returning the “dangerous” moves to the field. That’s not saying he got lucky. He was smart enough to know what he could not do by himself. Props to him. Meanwhile, anything dangerous was chased by everyone else who was afraid of missing the move. The right mix never happened that would force Helmig to really have to pull himself to pieces and thus Metro was able to hang onto the top rung of the overall. Impressive… at least I won’t have to worry about him in the amateur ranks next year. He should be riding with a pro contract by then.

Stage 4. Hardest Criterium EVER!

I’ve never prayed for rain in a criterium, especially a technical one with two fast brick corners, because wet brick + fast corners = sliding, band- aids, shredded clothes. However, I think that Mercy has some of the better poor conditions riders in the 1,2 field. 4 riders all experienced in Cyclocross typically will do well in crappy conditions. But it was not to be.

Instead, I got to race the super fast, super technical criterium in dry conditions. With time gaps very close one thing was sure. It was going to be a knock down drag out dogfight. This would be the day where the accumulation of the pressure that Mercy placed on the field throughout the weekend would really show. Hopefully, everyone was a little tired and the “edge” would be taken off the legs enough to let Joe, Chris, and Kolt isolate the GC contenders and really turn the screws.

One small detail…. I was having a horrible day. I guess the cumulative 80+ miles of break away riding had taken its toll. I didn’t have any ability to match any accelerations on the hill and I had to use my entire repertoire of tricks just to stay on the lead lap and in the field. Basically, I took hot routes through corners and drifted front to back on the hill just to stay in the race.

Meanwhile, Kolt, Joe and Chris were covering moves and on the full offensive. Joe had been protected all weekend and his fresh legs were showing as he covered every threatening move all day. By the halfway point of the race, it was the same 8 guys throwing everything and the kitchen sink at each other. And that’s the way it ended. Everyone on same time with Joe finishing in 6^th place and Chris at 19^th. Not bad for a couple of Young Guns who last year were on junior gears.

The aftermath…..

Chris was hungry. Here’s his post race dinner at Wendy’s:

Spiced Chicken Sandwich. 440 calories, 1320mg sodium

Double Stack Cheeseburger. 700 calories, 1500mg sodium

Spicy Chicken “Go Wrap.” 360 calories, 730mg sodium.

Medium Fry. 330kcal. 340mg Na.

5 Piece nugget. 190kcal. 420mgNa

32 oz Strawberry Soda. 370kcal. 0mgNa.

Small Frosty. 160kcal. 75mgNa.

Total: 2550kcal. 4385mg Sodium.

He could have kept going, but we had to get on the road. When I showed him the numbers, he responded with, “that’s a good amount.”

PS. As I was writing this in the van, an early 1990’s Ford Ranger with no muffler, one taillight, and NO DOORS blew by us on the highway going at least 100mph. We were driving 75 and got passed like were standing still. I’ve never seen that in my life. But we ARE in MissourA.....