Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Update

...or lack thereof, as it were. One word sums up my life in the last couple of weeks: triage. Some things get critical attention, others are deferred, and some get blown off completely. This blog has been in that last category for awhile now. Not that there's not stuff to write about. Lot's of topics rattling around in that half-empty block atop my shoulders. How about a quick shotgun blast of verbiage on a couple topics, just to keep this blog rolling along...

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San Dimas Stage Race:
An impressive weekend for Cody with a 2nd place in the Pro RR and a 4th in the crit, and that's against many of the best domestic riders in the US. But do you remember another SB rider to snag the silver in that San Dimas Pro RR not too long ago, getting pipped just barely by Chris Horner?

The Masters races looked interesting to this observer and I'm sure there are some stories below the surface of the results pages. In the 35+, the change from the Day-1 TT to the final g.c. results show how important time bonuses can be, and also how crucial it is to have a solid cohesive team. Chris DeMarchi won in large part because he scooped up nearly 50 seconds of bonuses. Congrats to Chris and his Amgen/Giant brethren:


Greg Leibert used a great TT and help from a solid Cynergy team to claim a well-deserved 45+ win.


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Training
Uhhhhhh.. next topic.

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Home Remodel Update
This is starting to get very real. The architect is done and we really enjoyed working with him. It cost around $12,000 but was extremely useful. He was equal parts interior designer, lighting expert, ergonomic consultant, structural whiz, and bureaucracy expediter. He will continue to consult when we start construction. We have two teams bidding for us, and we really like both of them. Unless their numbers are vastly different, we will struggle to decide which to use.


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Gardening Update
In this triage process of my life, I must admit that gardening is ranking above training on the importance scale. There are certain times of the year when stuff just needs to get done in the garden, and this is one of them. Seasons change and don't wait for you to get your act together.

Some pictures (apologies to those who've seen them already on Facebook):

A while back I bought a Raspberry plant in a 3-gallon pot and it was extremely root-bound and overgrown. I divided the root ball into seven parts and planted them all, figuring maybe half would take. Now, six weeks later, they're all growing and looking really healthy. Across the walkway from these, however, I planted six Asparagus crowns and unfortunately only one has survived. You win some, you lose some... but there's always next year.


I mulched my Strawberries with straw. Novel concept, eh?! Well it turns out that straw is full of wheat seeds, so now I also have a crop of wheat growing in the Strawberry patch!


I just picked seven artichokes yesterday from these thriving plants. I have a recipe for using Artichokes, Fava beans, Garlic greens, Lemon, and Thyme, all of which I can harvest from my backyard right now. By the way, I've also picked a huge crop of slugs from these same Artichoke plants, but I haven't found a recipe for those yet.


First-time potato farmer, and so far they're doing well. Companion planted with Garlic and Rosemary (not shown here because I planted after the picture). By summer I'll harvest them all together and make Mondo's famous potatoes!


Who knew greens could be so colorful?!? See the happy Fava beans along the side of these two beds.


Thinking ahead toward summer... tomato plants started inside. Roma and Brandywine.


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Lots more to blog about but now I think a training ride is bubbling up on the importance scale.

Random topics I'd like to pursue at some point...

1. "Retirement" is a thing of the past. Why? Prevalence of "defined contribution" plans and the woeful shortfall in people's savings. Those people with "defined benefit" plans will suffer their limited cost-of-living-adjustments in the coming era of much higher inflation. But anyway, why shouldn't people continue working at some level into their later years???

2. Paths kids choose, such as my daughter being baptized and confirmed Catholic despite no religious influence from her family. Lots to cogitate about that one.

3. Commitment-phobia -- What do you do when you see somebody who has an incredible, smart, funny, attractive, fit, and all-around awesome girlfriend, but he seems a bit frightened to take the obvious next step, as in getting married?

That is all. Time to ride.

6 comments:

IE sprinter said...

Mark,

You should have see the 35+ crit....Fours all within 15 seconds of eachother....I was nervous for Chris but he took third in the time bonus sprint and 1st overall...A nailbiter...

Also,

How is it that your pictures can be placed in and you write on the side of them? I cannot do that without scrunching my words. Do you insert them in a certain order? Mine come out jacked up and I spend 20 minutes fixing them....

Dave

Marco Fanelli said...

Dave-

I would've enjoyed watching the dynamic between Sho-Air and Amgen/Giant. You would think Sho-Air had the upper hand going into the RR, with so many strong guys high on gc (inc. 2nd and 3rd, plus JP lurking not far back). I'm also wondering what happened to Rock. I thought Mark Noble would be the man to beat, but he had a mediocre (for him) TT. He had told me that his teammate Tony was on fire, which proved true as he posted a great TT time. What happened to them in the RR? DeMarchi is an excellent all-around rider and clearly he made the most of his opportunities. I suppose it helps to have such a strong team too, led by one of the most experienced and craftiest riders in US history.

I use the HTML blogger editor and it lets me size the pics (small, med, large) and position them left, right, or center. If I want text along the side, I just start typing where the HTML tag ends. Then I put in a BR tag so the next block of text starts below the picture. Not sure that makes any sense...

IE sprinter said...

Actually, yeah some of it does....I will try the HTML editor next time.

As far as the RR; DeMarchi knows he is not a pure climber, and not a pure sprinter, he is basically a big, powerful all-rounder if you can believe that. So what he does (and has done) is create a break by attacking until he gets strong guys with him. Then it's off to the races. It's hard to explain, but he can attack multiple times and recover quickly, (I cannot go into his training program, since I am his training partner when I have time.)

SDSR really is a power riders course, but you also have to climb well enough to get within a minute of the TT winner. Basically, you have to be in shape. lol

Anonymous said...

Hey Mark,

I also had to watch the action of San Dimas from the sidelines....via emails,txt messages, and phone calls from team members. Having a cohesive team(as you said in your post) assist in gaining time bonuses is a must. Bishops Peak/Artscyclery.com sent a cohesive Cat 3 team....to work for the leader after the TT. They were 24 secs down after the TT and they worked together to get the time bonuses for their leader. The barely squeaked it out.... stealing the final seconds in the criterium and winning the GC by slim 2 seconds! Plus, our super studly junior also took 5th on GC. He has only been riding less than a year so he has mucho talent in those legs!

You racing at Sea Otter this year?

-Craig Nunes

Carson Blume said...

Check our report at http://www.womenscyclingmag.com

Marco Fanelli said...

Hey Craig-
Congrats to your team. Well deserved win -- I heard it was particularly hard this year in that 3's race.

Woah Carson! I didn't realize that mag was yours and Marian's creation!! Sooooo cool.