Wow, it is hot and the apartment still does not have a/c!  I never thought I could dehydrate while watching tv but it is possible.  Karl, Shane and I just made it back from Reno a few minutes ago and I will give a full update of the weekends shenannigins (sp?) sometime this evening.

later, g.

It has been a pretty busy past few days so here is a quick update of what I have been up to.

Saturday Shane and I did the Specialized/Sierra Nevada Crit here in Folsom.  It was an awesome event that was put on by the local bike shop here in town (Bicycles Plus).  It was great to actually ride to a race for once and not have to travel tons of hours.  Plus, we definitely got a good workout as the local boys are riding well.

After Saturday’s race Shane and I headed to Nevada City for a hard hilly crit.  Nevada city is a cool little town in the mountains and the crit course was great.  Scott Moninger ended up winning the race solo and Roman from Health Net also had a good ride.  Moninger is a Machine! 

It was a good weekend of racing and I suffered a lot which is good because it has to make me stronger!  No pain, no gain……..right?

That brings me to Monday evening when I went and hung out with junior members of the Davis Bike Club and gave a little talk.  I will admit it was a bit hard giving a talk and cycling advice after riding poorly on Sunday and knowing that most of those I was talking to were at the race.  However, it was fine and I had a great time.  I hoped those that were there were able to get something out of it. 

The kids on the Davis Bike Club are definitely fortunate to have someone like Joan Anton, who serves as the mom of the team, and all of the others who are involved to help out.  Thanks guys you are the ones that make cycling possible.  I also wanted to wish the members of the team best of luck in your upcoming races.

I also wanted to say thinks to Mark who was in Davis last night.  He supplied Karl and I with some pictures that he took from team camp this past January to adorn the bare walls in our apartment.  Thanks Mark.

Then today I went and visited with Dr. Testa at the UC-Davis Center for Sports Medicine.  I had visited Dr. Testa a week or so ago for a bike fit but this time I was not there for a bike fit.  Instead the saddle sore that I got in Europe had become ”aggrivated” after a weekend of racing and I wanted him to take a look at it and see if he had any recommendations for me.

Before I go any further I want to say that Dr. Testa is an awesome guy and I think highly of his ability to treat athletic injuries.  When it comes to sports medicine I don’t think there is anyone better.  He has worked with Pro Tour cycling teams such as Mapei and other top professional athletes so he knows his stuff.

Anyway, I got my saddle sore examined and he said at some point I am going to have to get it removed or otherwise I am going to keep having problems.  It would be a simple proceedure to make an incision and cut the cyst out but that is not a good idea because then the scar with give me problems much like the saddle sore is now.  Instead he would go in from the side and hook the thing out thus removing the cyst without leaving a scar on an area of high friction.  I would be set to go without much time off of the bike.

Aside from that Dr. Testa looked at my ear and throat and felt my guts.  My ear is still infected and leaking but I cannot get into the ENT until this Monday which is not too far off.  It has never hurt though so it is not really that bad just annoying.

I was also told that the antibiotics that I have been on for the last month have killed all of the bacteria in my guts so to fix that I have to eat some bacteria.  Basically, I have to take acidophilus which is just like eating a lot of very potent yogurt.

Finally, I was sent to the lab for some more blood tests to make sure I did not catch anything scary in Europe that is causing all of these problems.  On top of the blood and urine tests I also have to give a stool sample….which will be a new experience for me. 

At first the lady in the lab gave me a brown grocery bag to take home and I thought that I had to merely shit in the bag and give it back!  Once I got the bag I found out it is not going to be that easy and that they actually don’t need a bag full of shit…….just a small sample.  Therefore, in the bag is all the tools that I need to collect the sample and then bring it back to the lab.  Wish me luck!

Being totally honest it is really frustrating dealing with all of this “shit” (pun intended) and at times I feel like beating my head against the wall but what good would that do?  Well, maybe it would knock some sense into me but still it would not be good.  I can still ride and still ride well so I can only prepare to race!  Maybe I need to go and chop some wood to make me tough and put a little hair on my chest………….umm………that would not be good either because I would just shave it off.

I am excited to be doing Tour de Nez in Reno on Thursday.  Karl and I are driving up there tomorrow afternoon and we are staying at the Silver Legacy Hotel right downtown which should be fun.  Maybe my luck will change and I will win big at the casino……..I had better bring that quarter I did not use for the wash today.

Wow, that was rather long winded it is time to go and visit my good friend…………..the foam roller.

later, g.

It was officially hot out today.  I like it when it is warm but the high today was suppose to be 102 F which is down right HOT.  I am not sure if it made it to 102 but the temperature of my apartment was in the lower 90’s all afternoon and has not cooled off too much yet.

I am not a fan of air conditioning because comfort is merely a sensation and I would rather spend money on physical things such as fast cars or motorcycles or sunglasses or other cool stuff.  Don’t get me wrong I will not object to it if others want it on because it does feel good.  If is turn it on just for myself though I feel pretty soft.  However, it was so hot in the apartment this afternoon that I could not stop sweating so I decided to turn on the a/c.  The only problem was that it did not work!

I think I lost gallons of fluid from sweating since I attempted to turn on the a/c.  That means I made many trips to the Circle K for their 44oz thirst quencher Diet Pepsi fountain drink.  I don’t care if I am drinking massive quantities of diet soda  because when it is this hot I have to drink it to survive!

It will be interesting to see how I sleep tonight?  Hopefully my body adapts to this heat soon!

later,

g.

Earlier this year when Karl and I moved to Folsom we did what any normal person would do.  We bought a Northern California Atlas and Gazetteer and searched for the most squiggly, zigzag, switch back, desolate, potentially epic roads we could find. 

One of the roads that stuck out to us was Mosquito Rd.  It looked pretty mountainous, desolate, and had the makings of being a very long day on the bicycle since just to get to the road we would have to ride over halfway to Lake Tahoe.

Needless to say we attmepted to do the ride sometime this past February but had to turn around due to high volumes of snow and ice on the road.  I obviously wanted to keep on going but Hollywood clearly was not tough enough and had to turn around because he was cold! Plus, he kept crashing and I would of felt bad if Hollywood got hurt.  I also did not want him to ride home alone since he might get lost so I turned around and rode back with him.

Since that futile attempt much time has passed but then today came………..Mosquito Rd. attempt #2.  This morning Shane (brother who is visiting) and I rode our bikes up the same roads Karl and I rode up in February.  In contrast to February it was much warmer today and there was no snow on the road but it could be seen in the distance.

We rode uphill forever and ever and ever and ever and never made it to Mosquito Rd.  Once we hit the four hour mark of the ride (all which were uphill by the way and no it was not uphill both ways).  I figured we should probably look at the map.  Apparently, we had missed Mosquito Rd. so we flipped it and headed back down the mountain but never did come across the road.  The only road we saw was a gravel path that I have concluded was the road.

It still ended up being a LONG ride with a lot of it being uphill.  After today’s ride I think I want to become a climber.  All I have to do is lose thirty kilos and that can’t be that hard!  The fact that I have not been able to stop eating (sweating also) since I got back from my ride over five hours ago really is not helping my cause.  Actually, if I cut off my infected ear then I might only have to lose twenty nine kilos.  Or maybe I will just ride by myself and that way I will be the first one to the top of every climb and the entire way I can pretend like I am going really fast.  If I never get beat I will think I am fast and that sounds a lot easier.

Sorry guys I have not cut off my ear yet but I did get an appointment with an ENT on June 26th.  That is much better than early July which I was told yesterday.  If I did cut my ear off before the 26th I would not have anything to go to the ear doctor for and I hate canceling appointments.

The best part about riding long is that I am not antsy.  My pacing around the apartment and flicking of the tv channels with the flicker is limited.  Basically I am less annoying!

later,

g.

This morning I went back to the doctor for my two week follow up appointment after he had given me some antibiotics to get over the “Bush Hooker Ambien Bird Flu” that I picked up in Europe.

He told me that everything looked good except for my ear………..which he said, “…looked rather nasty!”  Apparently, I still have an ear infection and after dealing with this for a month he is giving up on my treatment and sending me to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist.  The kicker is that I cannot get an appointment with the ENT until the begining of July!  What in the hell am I suppose to do until then?

After a few minutes of thinking I came up with a good course of action.  I went and rode six hours and turned my Ipod up really loud in my infected left ear.  I figured I am either going to ride the shit out of my ear or else I will scare it out with loud music.  I believe I feel better after my first treatment and if I can keep it up I should be good in a week or so plus be really fit.

Honestly, can someone please tell me what in the hell is an ear good for if I cannot hear out of it.  I pretty much can’t hear out of my left ear anyway and that is when it is not infected!  Basically, the only thing my left ear is good for is getting infected and that sucks!  I think I am going to get rid of it.  Plus, ears are ugly looking.  Therefore if I cut my number of ears in half I only be half as ugly!  Maybe that will get me more dates?

Have to run and watch “The Hills”  which is the new best show on tv.

later,

g.