4 x 8 Minutes of Pain Cave Spelunking

This is my first year riding the trainer and it has revealed itself to be a whole new breed of physical punishment. You’re not concerned with balance, people around you, hills, or any kind of obstacle so all you have to think about is working hard. This has fostered an ever growing familiarity with pain and has allowed me to explore my pain cave deeper and more thoroughly than ever before. Oh, the discoveries that await me! I have hardly scratched the surface! Tonight I had a particularly insightful visit...and here it is...

First, the warm-up. I’m out in a field. It’s nice and sunny there but there are dark clouds looming in the distance around a cave. For some horribly stupid reason (curiosity, probably) 10-15 minutes later I leave the nice sunny field and enter “MY PAIN CAVE”.

Minutes 1-2: This place sucks! It’s like pedaling through gravel as all the junk gets flushed out of my legs and my blood starts pumping. I keep running into bats and cobwebs, it’s really narrow, and I hate the music in here. But I keep going.

Minutes 2-4: Why is this cave going uphill? My legs are already burning and I’m breathing fire but it doesn’t feel that bad. That jerk in the diesel truck who always flips me off tries to pass me, but he can’t match my power. Next up, it’s my high school soccer coach also in a diesel truck. I annihilate him! So long to those losers as well as all the dogs that have ever chased me and that one defender from Stevensville.

Minutes 4-6: The cave starts to open up. This part’s still really hard but I feel like pain isn’t such a bad thing. I kind of like it, almost. Then, in the distance, I see my power animal! It’s a red fox. It says something really inspirational and moving but I’m too hypoxic to understand so I just smile and nod.

Minutes 6-8: My arteries are pumping battery acid but it’s too late to turn back. I have no idea how much further I have so I decide to just push through to the end and hope I make it. Finally, there’s a light and I hear Dusty Slivka yelling something. I don’t care what it is but I just want it to be over with so I take it up another notch that I didn’t know existed. Muscle fibers are literally exploding and then all of sudden it’s time to relax.

Cool down: yadeyahe, yadeyaha, yadeyahaha my life (hey,ey,ey,ey,ey,ey) my life (hey,ey,ey,ey,ey) My life (woo) my life...

And So it Begins...

Happy First Day Back UM Cycling  Folks!

Today marks the beginning of our of our climb to the top! Take good notes, dazzle a teacher or two,  before you know it we'll be skipping class to head west and put our hard work to the test. 

Thank you to everyone who made it out on Thursday...Yes all 16! of you!!! These Tuesday Thursday "Pain Cave Visits" will continue all the way up until we start racing. If you are thinking about racing with the Grizzlies this year, getting on the bike now is key! Again, 7:00 in the WPEM LAb every Tuesday and Thursday. 

spread the word, rumor has it he have 24 interested riders, lets get 'em out!

Something to look forward to: Celebrity Riders have been scheduled to join these rides to give both insight and advice to the collegiate scene and road racing in general. 

Welcome to UM Ivy!

Sludge

Another week of 20 degree weather, overcast skies, and old crusty snow. So, what to do? This is the time of year that if you want life to be exciting you have to make fun for yourself or get really excited about events that or only slightly less mundane. Anyway this week's highlights besides Dusty's superbly designed trianer rides were the giant batch of chocolate milk that I made and Friday's lunch at the MT Club. I wanted to make something delicious to drink for post-trainer rides so I mixed an entire gallon of milk with a whole container of Ovaltine. The fact that I even care to write about this is a testament to my week.

So the other highlight was Friday's lunch at the MT Club. Matty, Bryce, JDunph and I went there to surprise Ivy and lunched with her after she punched out. Really no special reason at all besides we're excited that she is officially signed up for classes and ready to race for UM. Also, I'm especially glad the guys made it out even after a filling Man's Breakfast Club

Me: Bryce, we're going to surprise Ivy at work tommorrow.

Bryce: Why, is it her birthday?

Me: No.

That about sums up my week...absolutely riveting I know.

Untill next time,

Lindsy B Campbell

Getting Golden

This past weekend, Elliot and I headed down south, originally, to the race the Rock 'n Roll Marathon. It was not to be however, over the past 5 weeks I had narrowly survived a fit of anti-biotic resistant TB and Elliot couldn't run more than a mile on a pesky stress fracture. In the end, we found ourselves on the sidelines.

Not all was lost. We decided to take advantage of our 48 hours of sunshine by renting road bikes and logging as many sun-drenched miles as our legs could handle.

We went to Tempe Bicycles that afternoon to pick up a matching pair of Masi road frames. What they lacked in performance (each weighing close to 400 lbs, decked out with Shimano 105 or lower) they made up for in....well, nothing at all. They were grade A pieces of shit. With the knowledge that the shifty piece of American engineering between my legs could rattle apart at any moment, I kicked off and headed north.

Never having any idea where I'm going, I let Elliot do the navigating. We charged for two hours into a head wind. Looking down out my shapeless, rubbery, atrophying legs; I felt like a slightly fuzzier, much whiter version of Gumby. Being out of shape sucks. Eventually, our route took us far from town into the red rocks and scrub brush of southern Arizona. Luckily, after about 40 miles we turned back towards town and the wind pushed us home. The first ride of the season was a killer.

The next morning we rose early and did the same ride before the plane ride home. We both felt stronger and the desert sunrise was unforgettable. We made it to Missoula that evening, with slight tan lines and enough vitamine D to get us through 'till spring.

Everyone, start getting juiced for a spring break training trip. There is nothing better than putting in day after day, of long, hard (that's what she said) sun-soaked miles with your best friends.

Signing off,

Matty

1st Night in the Lab: Huge Success!

Thank you to all those who showed up to the Lab last night, and a HUGE thank you to Dusty!

For those of you who just couldn't quite make it, WOW you missed out!, The likes of Lindsy, Ivy, Dan, Elliott, Jeff, Myself, Matt, JB, Jeremy, Rollo, And the Slivka's were all trying to outdo their neighbor under the wrath of Dusty. Its got me more jazzed then ever before! Lets get the word around today and make thursday an even bigger event! 

I really couldn't be happier with how this team is coming together. Pat yourselves on the back Grizzlies! 

Attendance goal for thursday: 15

First Group Ride of 2009!

After getting home today, I felt the need to share thoughts on my first group ride of 2009. Don't worry, a post from LC will be in the top position again before you know it.

It was cold when I woke up. The frozen fog hanging just above the treetops made me shiver just looking out the window. I was feeling hesitant about layering on the spandex and getting back on the saddle after an unusually warm holiday season. Anyway, we rolled out a little after 1pm towards east Missoula. We only had to brave the freezing fog for about 10 minutes before we broke out and were greeted with bluebird skies and warmer temps that lasted the rest of the ride, (until we got back within 10 minutes of town).

Other than the crazy change of weather, the ride went off without much fanfare. Nice slow base miles to start the season. I know the weather is going to get nasty again, but starting the season off with lots of riders, who are as stoked as me for whats to come, will make these next few weeks of training go much more smoothly than they would otherwise. I can't wait for spring!

Jeremy

Why I Love Training

The first collegiate race is about two months away and I know everyone on the team is super stoked for racing, traveling, our kits, and hanging out together. But there is a lot of work to do before we're ready in March. The time for getting after training is (almost) upon us. Sometimes getting excited to spin till you puke can be difficult especially if it means you have to get on a trainer. So for those that are looking for some inspiration here are some reasons why I love training and am looking forward to it just as much as racing.

The Food: This one's a given. Food tastes better after you just burned off more calories than you could possibly consume in the next meal. I've eaten rice, beans, and cabbage more than a few times in the past week and long before the precious stuff emerges from the microwave I am salivating every time.

The Sleep: There's nothing better than being able to conk out at 8:30 and wake up twelve hours later refreshed and ready to do it all over again. Although this can be a problem if you literally black out the moment you hit the pillow leaving the light on and other important appliances (such as the stove top on high for boiling tea). Apparently the other night my sister came in to talk to me because she thought I was still awake because the light was on and I kicked her and yelled at her. I don’t remember any of it. Now she just comes in and turns the light off. Thanks Sam, I really appreciate that.

The Dreams: While dreams of flying or biking in exotic locations are generally more awesome I have had (believe it or not) some pretty fun trainer dreams as well. Last night Pink Floyd, Ayn Rand, Steve Prefontaine and I rode in my basement for about an hour. The conversations were incredible.

My Alcohol Tolerance: I have hardly started training and my alcohol handling abilities are at an all time low. On Monday night I got loopy after drinking one beer and it was a pale ale (Harp, imported lager beer, Ireland; 4.55% alcohol). Really, I’m the most affordable date around but before you start lining up fellas see “the sleep” above.

I’m Training Not Working Out: All of that may be fine and dandy but there is no greater motivation than your mindset. You see, from now until the end of April every time I break a sweat I’ll be training, not working out. Working out is what many girls do when they go to the gym or wear cute little outfits on the Kim Williams Trail. They want to do enough cardio (WTF?) and crunches to ensure that they've burned a sufficient amount of calories to allow themselves an extra rice wafer for dinner without guilt. What I do is different. It's called training. When working out one concentrates on how their butt is going to look in their jeans. However, when training I’m concerned with becoming so scary fast that no one will have the faintest clue what my butt looks like because I passed them a fifteen minutes ago. This is the kind of motivation that gets the pedals up and over time after time after time. I don't want to be hot or fit so much as I want to turn into a finely tuned cycling machine that resembles a supernatural creature more than a human.

I hope this helps but if you’re still not feeling “it” let me know and I’m sure I can come up with some more

Lindsy B Campbell

Stirrin' it Up

Bryce's post got all the cycling juices in me flowing again. I had put away much my excitement for the holidays as to have enough energy to take on everything else this season throws at me. Now, thanks to big B the excitement is back.

I can't wait to get back to town and UM cycling. Our jackets probably on a doorstep somewhere, the proof for the kits is in the process of being made, and other than a busted up hand, thanks to a mild sidewalk tumble on New Years eve, I am feeling healthy, healed, and wholesome...

Trainer rides as Bryce noted are going to start in Jan. so stay tuned for an e-mail...

Everything else unsaid,

JDunph