The Countdown begins!

100 days until the Étape du Tour!

Training is coming along slowly but steadily... still working on base mileage for now before I start a build cycle in the upcoming weeks.

For inspiration, I turn to Spartacus:
You go deep. You go max. You go full gas. You go over your limit. But to reach something high, you have to be ready for this pain.

Yes, Cancellara would be considered a hard man.

Start of the Classics season! - Milan-San Remo

Photo by Graham Watson.

Yes! The Classics season has begun! I am about as far from a "Classics-type rider" as you can get but I've always enjoyed watching these tremendous one-day races.

If you're reading this blog, you likely already know that Matthew Goss won the first Monument of the season, the 298km race that starts in Milan and finishes in San Remo. It's traditionally been labelled the "Sprinters' Classic" since the parcours isn't hard enough to break the field up and it ends up in a bunch sprint.

This year's race was a very good one, though I found the finish somewhat entertaining. There was a lead group of 8 that broke away from the peloton and made it to the end. This was a highly select group that included several types of specialists, including sprinters (Matt Goss), "classics" riders (Philippe Gilbert), and time trialists (Fabian Cancellara). As they came to the finish line, nobody was initially sprinting. They were all just looking around, trying to see who would make the first move. I actually thought they were going so slow that they'd fall off the bike.

Heroes, part 2

As a follow-up to yesterday's post regarding heroes who fail, I wanted to write down my thoughts about real-life heroes who rise in times of disaster and tragedy.

The workers at the nuclear power plant at Fukushima are truly heroes. Nicknamed the "Fukushima Fifty" by the media, these workers have been exposing themselves to radiation and all its associated risks to try to prevent a nuclear disaster. Whether they will be successful remains to be seen. How their health will be affected also remains to be seen. But they are truly heroic.

I've read a few posts and comments around the internet from people who say "Oh, if I were them, I'd ask for XXX [money, fame, women, etc] after this is all over." What some people don't understand is that the Fukushima Fifty aren't doing it for any of those things and aren't expecting any reward afterwards. They know that it's their duty to do this work even while under unimaginable stress and risk. Their reward is in knowing that they are doing what is right and in the honor of serving their community over themselves.

I would also suggest that instead of buying tickets to useless shows like Charlie Sheen's disaster tour, you donate that money to organizations like the Red Cross or the International Medical Corps that are trying to help on the ground in Japan. They need help. Charlie Sheen needs to be ignored.

When heroes fail us....

I wrote this blog post on my flight back from Vancouver after having a discussion/debate with one of the other passengers sitting next to me on my flight. I usually try not to wax philosophical... it makes my head hurt.

What is the concept of a hero? I took a course in college that was entitled "The Concept of the Hero in Greek Civilization" and in that course the professor talked about the ancient Greek ideals of a hero, including the requirement that heroes were mortals who had to suffer before achieving their glory. (They also had to die, but that's a minor minor point.)

Obviously, the concept of a hero in our current world is much more flexible. We have heroes in every aspect of society now… ranging from social justice to sports, from the political arena to theatre. But what happens when our heroes don't act heroic? What happens when they fail? Why do we care so much? Why do I often hear things like "I can't believe that XXXX (insert sports figure or celebrity) did that! He seems like such a nice (or loyal or clean) person! They should know better. I'm so disappointed. They are role models... etc etc."

I envy Vancouverites

Greetings from Vancouver. I'm here for work but this is what it looks like outside.

I regret not having brought my bike. I look at the mountains in the distance and want to go climb them. We don't have climbs like that back in the New York City area.

I should pay attention to my meeting....