Sunday, June 29, 2008
They Brought Game!
Well Ham on Wheels, like all worthy competitors, accepted the challenge and came out for the infamous Spin Mafia Classic ride. With a group of nearly 30 riders it was bound to be a history making day of pedal pushing. Despite a flat or two and some seriously thick, muggy air, it was a fabulous day in the sadle. New friendships were established, camerderie was high, meat was exchanged and the Spin Mafia has expanded it's influence yet again.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tee Tee
The Spin Mafia represented very well at the State Time Trial. Pave, Pedro, Joey, Fast Eddie, Paulie Walnuts, Robster and Lizbeth all brough home BAR points and contributed to to the team's meat supply. Kudos to Godfather Ben for bringing out the best in us and to Julie for the great post-race champagne. Karen and Co, always put on a great race. Best of all it was Mexican-free ride home!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Summertime Groove
June 20th -- officially, the longest day of the year. Somehow we got here pretty fast in 2008. I figure today, the official first day of summer, is as good a day as any to post an entry into the "family" blog. So here goes...
I noticed recently that attendance is up at the Saturday 8AM ride. I like that. Now, don't get me wrong. There's something special about the SM wintertime training rides and intimate conversation that the Saturday ride inevitably becomes in January and February when temperatures force most reasonable cyclists onto the trainer and out of the wind. But summertime is good stuff for cyclists. We live for this time of year... a bluebird sky, the sun above, the smell of pine in the air. It's poetry -- youknowwhatI'm saying?
Anyway, after the usual parking lot meet and greet to share stories and get gear together, we roll out casually falling into line (usually 2X2) to work out the legs and get the HR going -- some appear to shake the cobwebs out more easily than others, but we all ride together up our first series of hills and past the lake. That is when things start to get interesting and the SM ride begins to take on a shape and texture that is always unique to that day and determined by the mixture of cyclists who chose to forgo a leisurely breakfast with the paper and to haul ass to the start before (or just at) 8 that day. So when we we hit Duval the pace starts to pick up, and you cannot ride Duval without generating a paceline. That road just screams paceline. It's not negotiable.
Well, so now I could go into to a play-by-play of the ride for those of you who have never experienced it, but words will neither accurately convey the experience nor, as they say, do it justice. So with that, I will digress for a moment to muse about an aspect of the ride that is worth taking a few minutes to describe...
Somewhere along the course of the ride (you never know where exactly), something gels and that is when SM regulars and guests alike get rolling into one of those sections of road when all the legs seem to be spinning in a harmonious orchestration of feet to pedals, wheels to pavement -- making for a smooth, spontaneous groove. Take the new hills we've incorporated into the route ever since a recent detour led to that discovery.
This road is prime cyclist blacktop with a high groove potential.
I love "the groove." "The groove" is different than "the zone" in that "the zone" is a fairly solitary and personal experience that is often discussed in athletic terms about an individual who is performing in a well-balanced peak of mind/body excellence. You hear people say, "he's in 'the zone'." A very solitary experience. Whereas, "the groove" is more akin to a group or communal experience. It mystical almost and much more powerful by definition (due to the basic math).
In fact, there are actually times when one must be in and then pass through "the zone" in order to reach "the groove." If you are able to get enough people into "the zone" at the right time -- and under the right conditions -- an amazing transformation occurs that can elevate the entire group into "the groove" -- it's a beautiful thing to witness.
If the groove were a color it would look like an aurea borealis.
This is what I get out of bed for each Saturday to ride with the SM. But, hey, there's a whole lot of us groovers out there. Of that I'm pretty sure.
I noticed recently that attendance is up at the Saturday 8AM ride. I like that. Now, don't get me wrong. There's something special about the SM wintertime training rides and intimate conversation that the Saturday ride inevitably becomes in January and February when temperatures force most reasonable cyclists onto the trainer and out of the wind. But summertime is good stuff for cyclists. We live for this time of year... a bluebird sky, the sun above, the smell of pine in the air. It's poetry -- youknowwhatI'm saying?
Anyway, after the usual parking lot meet and greet to share stories and get gear together, we roll out casually falling into line (usually 2X2) to work out the legs and get the HR going -- some appear to shake the cobwebs out more easily than others, but we all ride together up our first series of hills and past the lake. That is when things start to get interesting and the SM ride begins to take on a shape and texture that is always unique to that day and determined by the mixture of cyclists who chose to forgo a leisurely breakfast with the paper and to haul ass to the start before (or just at) 8 that day. So when we we hit Duval the pace starts to pick up, and you cannot ride Duval without generating a paceline. That road just screams paceline. It's not negotiable.
Well, so now I could go into to a play-by-play of the ride for those of you who have never experienced it, but words will neither accurately convey the experience nor, as they say, do it justice. So with that, I will digress for a moment to muse about an aspect of the ride that is worth taking a few minutes to describe...
Somewhere along the course of the ride (you never know where exactly), something gels and that is when SM regulars and guests alike get rolling into one of those sections of road when all the legs seem to be spinning in a harmonious orchestration of feet to pedals, wheels to pavement -- making for a smooth, spontaneous groove. Take the new hills we've incorporated into the route ever since a recent detour led to that discovery.
This road is prime cyclist blacktop with a high groove potential.
I love "the groove." "The groove" is different than "the zone" in that "the zone" is a fairly solitary and personal experience that is often discussed in athletic terms about an individual who is performing in a well-balanced peak of mind/body excellence. You hear people say, "he's in 'the zone'." A very solitary experience. Whereas, "the groove" is more akin to a group or communal experience. It mystical almost and much more powerful by definition (due to the basic math).
In fact, there are actually times when one must be in and then pass through "the zone" in order to reach "the groove." If you are able to get enough people into "the zone" at the right time -- and under the right conditions -- an amazing transformation occurs that can elevate the entire group into "the groove" -- it's a beautiful thing to witness.
If the groove were a color it would look like an aurea borealis.
This is what I get out of bed for each Saturday to ride with the SM. But, hey, there's a whole lot of us groovers out there. Of that I'm pretty sure.
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