Rest Weeks Suck....I mean really suck. I get that they are a necessary Evil I really do. Coach says rest I rest. Does it mean I like it? Nope. N.O.PE. Riding keeps the demons in my head at bay...literally. Wether its my ADD or whatever during rest weeks I just lose my shit. Its always when the most drama creeps into my life, maybe its my capacity to deal with the drama is what changes-- to top it off I always get sick during rest week. Never fails. I am like a shark and need to keep moving to be happy, healthy and sane. I have no idea how sedentary people don't just go postal. I got in 1.5 hrs of riding this week. That is a horror show. I hated every second of not riding. Thankfully, rest week is over...and frankly, I may never take another rest week again in my life...Like Hellboy I am going to need to take out the hacksaw and cut my devil's horns off as they grew pretty long this week.
I won't lie I did use the week for some good. With a lot of help from my friends I finally got my road bike built up! I still stand by the fact that my cross bike is the best riding road bike I have ever owned but I am tired of the looks. People just can't help giving me shit for rocking the cross bike on the group rides etc. And the reality is my road bike is a really sweet machine. Jeremy Sycip outdid himself when he built me that frame and I am stoked to have it built up again. Plus it is getting old pulling the superdomestique bit and carrying all my water bottles in my jersey pockets..cross bikes should never have water bottle braze ons. Ever. But it does limit ones water carrying ability.
So this rest week became a mission to get the Sycip rolling again. The Friday before rest week I went up to Wooosssstahhh and picked up a campy 11 groupo from Zank! It was sooo great seeing Mike Z and his new workshop. His shop is clean!!! It is so organized and tidy and well thought out. I was very impressed to say the least. It is also like a museum/shrine that has all I hold sacred. You can start with steel. That would really be the starting and ending point. The boxes and boxes of columbus tubing spoke of so much potential. The one box labeled PergoRichie made me pause. I am going to need to have Mike dip into that stockpile and build me something out of that...not sure what. Maybe a bike for D2R2? Hmmm that sounds like a pretty good idea to me. Ok so step #1 was complete! To build a bike you need parts. And Campy 11 is a damn fine place to get started.
The next step in this mission was getting the bike built. Time was of the essence so I turned to my good friend David Wilcox. He is part owner of the Broadway Bicycle School in Cambridge and one of my all time favorite people in the universe. I've been dying to take a class with David. I knew we wouldn't have time to have him teach me anything as we were trying to get the bike built in the few short hours that my youngest was at preschool. Failure would mean the DSS and my wife would be coming after me. David is a professional and had that bike built up in a blink of an eye. It was pretty much gonzo bike building at its best. He did a thorough and PRO job all while working on a totally unrealistic time frame and with an ever more freaked out client standing right next to him. David has nerves of steel and is one of the most patient people I have ever met. Watching him work was mind boggling. I learnt so much in those 3 hrs it wasn't even funny. BBS is like the shops I used to love in Northern California. It just has so much soul and character. Go in there and check it out seriously. Take one of their classes they really have a unique thing going on. I bid my good friend adieu and made it back to pick up Syd with seconds to spare!
Those shoes look real sexy don't they? Yeah they are awful pretty but they are torture devices! Seriously. Steps #3 & 4 took place under the tutelage of my good friend Sara Bresnick-Zocchi. Noticing a theme yet? Damn I am so lucky to have such good friends. And not just good friends but hugely talented and generous ones. Sara has been awesome. Not only is she teaching me how to ride a mtn bike like a real mtn biker she has been helping me through a myriad of bike issues. Least of which are those horror shows in her hand in the picture above. I love sidis. Am I a slave to fashion? Pretty much. But don't hate me for my sexyissimo footwear. I hear the angels signing every time I open a box of fresh sidis I swear I do.
But last year the hot feet became unbearable. Sara has been working with Bill Peterson founder of Foot Fitness which has made orthotics for so many of the legends of our sport. She suggested I try a set and see if that would help. So I got the full foot scan work up and in two weeks I will have my orthotics! So sweet. That was step 3 in this fit/set up. #4 was a totally thorough evaluation of my position on the bike using a great combo of old school and new school fit techniques. Lazers, plum bobs, cleat placement, we spent hours I don't even know maybe 2.5 just dialing it in. Well Sara did all the hard work I just tried to look PRO (that is impossible..) and not fall off the bike each time when getting off so she could move the saddle up a touch here, move the saddle forward a touch there. She is a perfectionist and intuitively nows where a rider should be on the bike in relation to their body. 
So how did it all work out? Bellisimo! The bike felt like a totally different bike. And yes for all you bike geeks out there she did slam the stem. But realistically its not that much drop. But back to how it rides. Just fast and comfortable. Crazy. Bike fit is everything I am sorry. I get the argument it is the rider. And I guess if you took Julien Absalon and put him on a huffy yeah he'd still crush. But for average riders (which is what I am average on my best day) like myself and most the rest of us it makes a huge difference. I can't wait to get the orthotics and see just what a difference those make with the shoes. Its really the last chance for the sidis. Either the orthotics fix the torture racks or they are gone. Doesn't matter how damn sexy they are.
The next step in this mission was getting the bike built. Time was of the essence so I turned to my good friend David Wilcox. He is part owner of the Broadway Bicycle School in Cambridge and one of my all time favorite people in the universe. I've been dying to take a class with David. I knew we wouldn't have time to have him teach me anything as we were trying to get the bike built in the few short hours that my youngest was at preschool. Failure would mean the DSS and my wife would be coming after me. David is a professional and had that bike built up in a blink of an eye. It was pretty much gonzo bike building at its best. He did a thorough and PRO job all while working on a totally unrealistic time frame and with an ever more freaked out client standing right next to him. David has nerves of steel and is one of the most patient people I have ever met. Watching him work was mind boggling. I learnt so much in those 3 hrs it wasn't even funny. BBS is like the shops I used to love in Northern California. It just has so much soul and character. Go in there and check it out seriously. Take one of their classes they really have a unique thing going on. I bid my good friend adieu and made it back to pick up Syd with seconds to spare! Those shoes look real sexy don't they? Yeah they are awful pretty but they are torture devices! Seriously. Steps #3 & 4 took place under the tutelage of my good friend Sara Bresnick-Zocchi. Noticing a theme yet? Damn I am so lucky to have such good friends. And not just good friends but hugely talented and generous ones. Sara has been awesome. Not only is she teaching me how to ride a mtn bike like a real mtn biker she has been helping me through a myriad of bike issues. Least of which are those horror shows in her hand in the picture above. I love sidis. Am I a slave to fashion? Pretty much. But don't hate me for my sexyissimo footwear. I hear the angels signing every time I open a box of fresh sidis I swear I do. But last year the hot feet became unbearable. Sara has been working with Bill Peterson founder of Foot Fitness which has made orthotics for so many of the legends of our sport. She suggested I try a set and see if that would help. So I got the full foot scan work up and in two weeks I will have my orthotics! So sweet. That was step 3 in this fit/set up. #4 was a totally thorough evaluation of my position on the bike using a great combo of old school and new school fit techniques. Lazers, plum bobs, cleat placement, we spent hours I don't even know maybe 2.5 just dialing it in. Well Sara did all the hard work I just tried to look PRO (that is impossible..) and not fall off the bike each time when getting off so she could move the saddle up a touch here, move the saddle forward a touch there. She is a perfectionist and intuitively nows where a rider should be on the bike in relation to their body. 
So how did it all work out? Bellisimo! The bike felt like a totally different bike. And yes for all you bike geeks out there she did slam the stem. But realistically its not that much drop. But back to how it rides. Just fast and comfortable. Crazy. Bike fit is everything I am sorry. I get the argument it is the rider. And I guess if you took Julien Absalon and put him on a huffy yeah he'd still crush. But for average riders (which is what I am average on my best day) like myself and most the rest of us it makes a huge difference. I can't wait to get the orthotics and see just what a difference those make with the shoes. Its really the last chance for the sidis. Either the orthotics fix the torture racks or they are gone. Doesn't matter how damn sexy they are. Monday its back to the same Bat time same Bat channel. Time to get back on the bike and be "normal" again...
I don't believe for "average" riders rest weeks are truly necessary. We are not stressing our bodies enough, and have too much non active time as it is. Unless you're riding 12+ hours a week (every week), I don't think you really need to take so much time off.
ReplyDeleteI like how you think! No more rest weeks for me!
ReplyDeleteScrew rest weeks, rest days are all we need.
ReplyDeleteRainy days make good rest days, as do the days when you just plain hurt too much and don't want to ride.
Seeing SBZ for a fit Thursday, hell yeah!
-t