It was the First annual Jingle Bell Ride.

On Friday, 12-23-2011, we went up the L.A. River trail from the mighty Tortuga’s Long Beach Cyclery in Bixby Knolls, Long Beach, to 3rd and Traction in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles for lunch at the Wurstküche.

The goal is to make the JBR an annual event; an event the cycling community anticipates with zoom’d out holiday fever; a fever so intense it will give HeyZeus (nuestro Padre; aka the Birthday Boy) cause to make a sneak attack off the front from this sacred tomb (or did he already do that?) with frenzied cheer and declare the celebration an honor to his martyrdom.

The two comrades in the photo on the right instituted the infamous Southern California New Year’s Day ride in 1986 and they’re feeling just audacious enough to put together more cycling extravaganzas to celebrate life on two wheels.

Sometimes even poser racer-boyz just need to mozy along on their steel & carbon ponies with a chillax’d attitude and enjoy the scenery at a holiday pace.  The river trail is beautiful in its solitude; it allows a respite from the heavy chaos of motorized street life but at the same time, simultaneously, it’s a romantic reminder of the unrelenting brutality of the environs through which it meanders.  The LA River Trail is an under-utilized resource.

In some respects, it was just an excuse to ride the river and then saunter along in the urban jungle to flex our street-cred and show the auto-community we own the f*#’N roads and declare that the time of the pedaling revolution is upon our all-jacked-over civilization (and growing).

It was a successful first annual event. We had about 35 riders.  Next year we’ll buy the place out.  The event attracted riders from across the Long Beach cycling spectrum.   Charlie Gandy was there and rode the entire ride in his full tripped-out Santa Claus suit (completely drenched in sweat on arrival). If you weren’t there you missed out on a messed-up good time.

The Wurstküche boasts a sexy list of tasty sausage dogs and french fries with a great selection of beers to keep the spirit lively.

We just might have to schedule a few off-holiday-season excursions to enjoy a great venue.

Put it on your calendar for Christmas Season 2012.

Muy Jesus Animaux!

When you get home, first thing to do after you walk through the door: drink a glass of water.

You know you don’t drink enough water and chances are you’re dehydrated. Every stroke of the pedal is turning your muscle into jerky.  You count every mile, complement every exercise, consider all things fitness but you don’t drink enough water.

The weekday morning rides are generally about 25 miles and 80% of the time I don’t even touch the water bottle; now that’s jacked-up and just plain dumb.  On the morning rides it’s cold and damp and the brain isn’t thinking thirsty but none-the-less you gotta drink water.

Time to drink up.

Here’s some interesting statistics:

•75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated
•Mild dehydration slows the metabolism
•Dehydration triggers daytime fatigue

I found a simple formula (HealthyLifeJournal.org) to determine how much water you should drink: simply take your weight (in pounds) and divide by two ( __ lbs / 2 = __ ounces a day).

According to HealthyLifeJournal if you weigh 170 lbs you need 85 ounces of water a day; this is total water intake and many foods have high water concentration.  In general,  HealthyLifeJournal says you should drink 80% of this in pure water.  So at 170 lbs, 80% of 85 ounces is 68 ounces; about 8.5 eight ounce glasses of water per day.  Bingo. There you have it.  That’s a good place to start.  Doesn’t seem like too much and doesn’t seem like too little.

The Mayo Clinic has a good reputation for all things healthy.  Visit their website to read what they have to say about water: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/water/NU00283

acqua: Corsican
eau:French
agua: spanish
aigua: Catalan
wàsser: Alsatian
pape: Tahitian

Plus de l’eau Animaux!

There was A LOT of FAT in that New Year’s Day Peloton {you know what I mean}.  There were some fit boys but even some of the fastest got a little bit of muffin top and a pretty soft center {you know who you are}.

We love riding the bike; Great exercise; Keeps you fit;  It’s good for you.

Blah.Blah.Blah. You know the rides like the back your hand and so does your metabolism.

I pushed the pedals over 12,000 miles in 2011 and cannot eat nearly the same quantities as my 13 year old son and I can’t help but think there’s just something wrong about that.  His metabolism is dealing with a developing body.  My metabolism is simply dealing with consumption.

The calories you burn during exercise isn’t what keeps the fat off; it’s about getting the metabolic furnace burning hotter all day long.  The hotter the furnace, you more calories you burn; all day long.

Cross-Fit is a kick ass approach to fitness; short intense work outs, something different everyday.  The secret to firing up the metabolism is keeping the workouts varied; don’t settle into the same exercises all the time.

It makes sense.  Make a commitment for 2012; light up the fire and improve your nutrition.

Try to keep up with Heather Bergeron.  She use to be a distance athlete.
Now she’s just bad-ass.

Google her [here].  Vist CrossFit.com & CrossFitNewEngland.com

Junk-up your Bike-Fit / Jack yourself up with your own flavor of Cross-Fit stuff.
You know you want it.

Be Mas Animaux!

Today is the day of our reckoning.  The year is complete.  All the miles have been posted. There are no more chances to redeem yourself.  You’re either content or disappointed – it’s your choice.

Go ahead & bask in your glory [or not if you didn't achieve glory for yourself because you're weak; you know who you are] for tomorrow it all goes back to zero.

It’s Ground Hog Day all over again {and again and again and again . . .}.

Looks like Guero pulled it out over El Cuño (8684 to 8656 | 0.32% [32 hundreds of 1%] of El Cuño’s total miles). The Guero did some secret training while he was away at Santa Ynez.  As mentioned in a prior post, it was an undeclared but real battle with the seriousness of personal competition; never be confused about the need for superiority.

Happy New Year!  Let’s keep the pedal to the metal in 2012 and break some personal records.  Keep plugging away and live by the Rules.

It was a year of great turmoil.  One that gives deep meaning and purpose to a group who depend on and support one another.  Each of us represents a thread in the fabric of our lives; tightly woven into the cloth that gives our daily experience a texture of warmth and comfort but simultaneously keeps us scratching as if there’s a festering irritation. One without the other is an incomplete existence.  The bantering, the joking and the slaps are all really affection in disguise and provides a mirror of truth that helps us keep honest with ourselves.

Prospero Año Nuevo Animaux!

47 tHoUsAnDtHs.(oF) 1% (0.047%)

El Cuñado {Cuño} (brother-in-law / jOeL; the DaGwOoD) and Guero are neck in neck in the final days before Tabula Rasa 2012 when the mileage tallies drop to zero faster than the ball in Times Square.

El Cuñado and Guero have ridden their two wheel ponies 8547 and 8543 miles, respectively, to date (Wed 12/28).

The boys are separated by a mere 4 miles after 12 months of battling for dominance with only 3 days to go.  That’s about 0.047% of Guero’s total miles  (47 thousandths of 1 percent).

They’ve both got their chests all puffed out acting laid-back, nonchalant and indifferent but everyone knows it’s just a show.

They’ve got the gloves off going toe to toe.

According to the Freddie Network of shared data from the Training Journal, El Cuñado logged Wednesday’s ride (12/28) so we know his stats are up to date.

Guero’s last log was Monday (65 miles through Laguna Canyon). 65 miles on a Monday; what’s that tell you?

(Ah-huh, that’s right! Not so laid-back, nonchalant and indifferent.)

The proof is in the pudding.

Vamos a ver Animaux!

Señor St. Frêddy Claus surprises the kids with kick-ass Christmas Swag these days.

He delivered a spunking jack’d out scribble-scrabble to my boys this year; a drawing tablet by Wacom that can be used to digitally sketch directly into Photoshop.

Drawing by Henry:
Nous avons, ici, l’Animaux del peloton; a work of artistic expression as tribute to his irascible FrêDaddy.

Q’eSt qUe Fait Animaux? Stay off the ChizÁin.

Jack Spade makes some jacked-out, low poser profiled {i.e., obvious}, designed shit.  It’s stuff that’s slightly under the typical cycling fashionista’s {i.e., obvious as in “you’r a poser”} gear radar.

The apparent detail to quality and con{struc}tion makes me believe these bags are built to withstand hard steed wrangling, but none of the bags have a stabilizer strap; either there’s a mindful disregard for the bag’s life on a bike or their engineering falls short due to a lack of insight {perhaps they stink[s] it just messes up the design sensibilities; I can live with that}.

It was the racer boys who invented commuting;  so racer boy, you need to be just as fashionable (but not Fashionista) off the race circuit too.  It’s time to get involved in the 21st Century Multi-Modal Transport [21C-MMT] scene.  Ride the Ride, Talk the Love.

Visit the Jack  Spade Website.

Their messenger bags come in variety of sizes:
•Weekend
•Field
•Atlas
•Day
•Port

And a variety of materials:
•Waxed Wool
•Waxed Canvas
•Heavy Twill
•Mill Leather
•Nylon Canvas
•Luggage Nylon

[21C-MMT] Animaux!

Photo Credits: jjjjound.com for background image; jack spade for bag image.

There’s a special glory to life when your entire world is jack’focused on cycling and everything else comes second.  Come to think of it, that defines a rule {or it should} and you gotta live by the rules.

The peloton I run with is a tough mo’Fo hard-ass crowd and you gotta take the flak with the jack when it comes to your annual mileage tally.  That being said, I will run with anything necessary to deflect the constant barage of grief by offering a story to pave the way to my salvation in the justification of my cityride miles.  Today’s cityride(s) took me 12 miles through the local environs and included a stop at Bev’Mo where I found a treasure.

In general you gotta love Pinot Noir and when the bottle comes with a bicycling love-label how can you resist the additional temptation.

And besides, in my youth I knew the man himself; Gypsy Boots.  Up in his utopian regard for reality he was way out on the fringe, but no one could resist loving him because everyone wants to live in the pure existence of love and its disciples are cherished; in some respects, isn’t that why you ride with this peloton?.

Gypsy Boots at Bev-Mo: $29.00

Go buy a bottle.

Merry Christmas y’ALL!

Muy Vino Animaux!