Training Ride

[elSicomoro]

That, or they were both trying to lift boxes of scotch.

[warch]

HA! er...I just call him...Bobcat. (imagine Eartha Kitt voice)

[Griff]

If some combination of scotch lifting and landscaping (LOL) contributed I'll just live with the pain.

[Griff]

I'd just like to thank the Cellaristas who helped with our fundraising. When all is said and done our team will have collected something like 7K. My wife lost an aunt to the disease so this charity has special meaning for her. As an extra incentive, I may even let the cellar folks in on a secret Nigerian deal I'm privey to.

[elSicomoro]

I'm in a sports conundrum here...

The Rams are playing the Bears on Fox.

The Cardinals are in town playing the Phillies on CSN.

Cardinals or Rams?

Rams or Cardinals?

Decisions, decisions.

[elSicomoro]

D'oh! I put the above post in the wrong thread...my bad.

[Griff]

We did it! We met some great folks made some new friends and became part of a community this weekend. I'm actually a little depressed that its over, but everyone is pushing one another to go again next year. We ended up riding with a couple other folks whose pace matched our own and one lives up in Vestal so we'll see her again. She's our age and a mother of two who weighed in at about 98 lbs. She could climb like a nut but weighed so little that she had to pedal a lot on the downhills and got knocked around by headwinds a bit. She and my wife both look like twenty somethings so it was fun to watch the young males trying to make time with the cool cycling chicks who would eventually drop in a line like, "Well giving birth to my two kids gives me an advantage on these long rides."

On Saturday, we lost a few folks to dehydration (no permanent injuries) on a long gentle climb from the lake which coincided with the highest temperatures of the day. The medical support was great and the fireman at the next rest stop broke out a truck and set up a really coarse cold shower. I met some really ham radio folks from McGraw. Unfortunately, a heavy thunderstorm showed up three miles before we reached the next rest stop at Swedish Hill Winery. When we got to the winery, we were waved in off the course for what we thought would be a temporary halt at 86 miles. After a while they let us know they'd closed the loop and would be busing us back to the campus. Almost everyone was bummed out, although a few were just relieved to be done. Our riding partner called a buddy on her cell phone who was working at his start-up winery over in Locke. They drove our bikes back in his pick-up and we met up at the beer/wine tasting tent.

As I drained a lovely amber ale from Empire brewing company, we started trying to put the best spin on our being shorted on our hundred. It was determined that we couldn't face the folks who pledged us, so we got back on our bikes cold and did about 15 more miles at a really brisk pace. Our odometer read 101.02 miles at the end of the day. The girls started up with the Powerpuff Girl commentary, they were hardcore dragging our male asses back. We spent the next couple hours sipping beer and wine with stupid smiles on our faces. The next day our number four guy had to ride the short course with the friends he rode up with so it was just me, my wife and our skinny friend this time. I got to be the hardass this time, leading our little group through some nasty headwinds which kicked up near the Montezuma Mosquito Refuge. Theres actually a Montezuma Vineyard, think about that for a second. We got nicked by a shower but completed our 50 mile loop. My legs gave me no problems but my butt doesn't feel like sitting so I'm gonna cut this a little short. There are a couple interesting tales of other peoples adventures, I relate later.

*historical mans inhumanity to man section optional*

Our hundred mile loop actually completed an historic journey we crossed paths with on our training ride, down through Sheshekin PA. After the Wyoming Valley Massacre (not that the conflict began there), Gen. Sullivan marched North through Tunkannock, Sheshekin, along the Susquehanna, and up the West side of Cayuga Lake where he returned the favor. The cycle of retribution actually continues today as a Native American land claim is still in play for the area around the Northern end of Cayuga. We saw a lot of signs in yards opposing the land settlement, one touching sign, outside a farm in question, claimed that seven generations of the same family had lived and farmed there. There is no fair solution, but on the positive side, I saw no tanks or suicide bombers.

*over*

[Griff]

Interesting related article. Our team leader for the ride is a powerful example of living with MS. He is probably in his mid-fifties and utterly addicted to cycling. He is extremely fast and in fantastic shape, riding whenever his symtoms are not overwhelming. He did a double century recently and he's a major figure in the local cycling scene. The man is just an inspiration.




By PEGGY PECK, UPI Science News


SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18 (August 18, 6:09 p.m. PDT) - A survey of multiple sclerosis patients living in England found that 45 percent use marijuana either for relief of disabling leg spasms or to ease MS pain - and use increases as symptoms worsen.

Neurologist Dr. M. Sam Chong of King's College Hospital, London, said the "use rate is actually higher than we expected, especially since 18 percent of the patients said they used cannabis in the last month." In an interview with United Press International, Chong, who presented the findings Sunday at the 10th World Congress on Pain, said that about half of the patients "started using marijuana only after MS was diagnosed."

Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disorder that destroys myelin, the casing that protects the spinal cord.

He said that 74 percent said that marijuana either eliminated or controlled leg spasms that make walking difficult or impossible while 54 percent said they used marijuana mainly for pain relief.

The medical use of marijuana is controversial and far from proven. Earlier this year a study published in the journal Science reported that marijuana did not improve MS symptoms or relieve MS-associated pain.

Nonetheless, Chong said, his survey results indicate that marijuana is beneficial for some MS patients.

The 15-page surveys were mailed to 300 MS patients who are included in an MS patient database used by the neurology department and outpatient clinics. Two hundred fifty-eight surveys were returned. He said that patients who reported more severe symptoms were more likely to use marijuana, than patients who had mild or moderate symptoms. "And as symptom severity increased, use also increased," he said.

"If patients were smokers, then they smoked the marijuana," he said. But most patients were non-smokers and the preferred delivery was "to bake it in a cake and keep it in the refrigerator so they could cut off pieces as they needed it."

Generally, "patients reported using marijuana just before bed" rather than using it throughout the day.

Dr. Sandra Chaplan, a clinical professor of anesthesiology at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of the organizing committee for the pain meeting, noted that recently researchers have identified marijuana receptors in the brain, a finding that suggested it may have a role in pain relief. Moreover, she said that only recently have "we come to recognize that intractable pain is a symptom of MS, so it makes sense that cannabis should be investigated for MS symptoms."

But Chaplan said that smoking is not a medically acceptable mode of delivery. "We need to find a delivery system - preferably a pill - that will deliver the analgesic effects with little or no cognitive effects." Meanwhile, she said, physicians are unlikely to recommend marijuana to MS patients.

Chong agreed: "Neurologists are not likely to start prescribing marijuana, but among MS patients marijuana use is increasing because it is commonly recommended by members of patient support groups."

[Griff]

MS update We're a lock to get to 8k so now our team is hoping to collect 9 grand, cool.

Caught the Chris Thater memorial over the weekend. They had a pretty strong field this year with US Olympians and pro racers from all over the planet. The Northern Menace supplied this years winner.


Mark Walters held off Mike Sayers and defending champion John Lieswyn to win the 50-mile professional cycling criterium for the second time on Sunday in Binghamton.

WAYNE HANSEN / Press & Sun-Bulletin





BINGHAMTON -- Mark Walters wasn't looking forward to the inevitable. When he and the eight other riders in the leading break of the Chris Thater Memorial professional cycling criterium came around the corner onto Beethoven Street on Sunday and saw the rest of the trailing field in front of them, he grew nervous.

The leaders, having lapped the field, were about to find themselves back in the pack with 11 of the 40 laps remaining, and Walters was about to assume the unwanted challenge of winning the race in a last-dash sprint to the finish.

Ready or not, Walters proved up to it. He edged out Mike Sayers and defending champion John Lieswyn in the final 100 yards to capture his second Thater title in three years with a winning time of 1 hour, 52 minutes and 7 seconds in the 50-mile race. Mike Jones, a Harpursville native, had mechanical difficulty and did not finish.

Laura Van Gilder won the women's race, a 35-mile criterium, with a time of 1:35:09.

"Everything worked out perfect for me all day," Walters said with the benefit of hindsight.

When he and the other riders in the leading break caught the main field, Walters, the reigning Canadian National Road Champion, reunited with his Navigators Cycling teammates. Their blue and yellow jerseys became a fixture at the front of the pack for the remainder of the race, and Walters gained a big advantage on Sayers and Lieswyn.

The two challengers, who unlike Walters were riding without a full complement of teammates, could do nothing to put pressure on him. Had they attacked, they would not have been able to break away from the Navigators riders setting the tempo at the front, but they surely would have tired themselves out trying.

So Sayers and Lieswyn settled in behind the blue shirts and waited for the final sprint. There was very little movement within the field until the finishing lap.

"Really, my best shot at this race is from a small breakaway in the sprint," said Lieswyn, who despite the circumstances managed to position himself well for the final charge.

So did Walters.

"I ended up being third position coming out of the last corner, which is probably the best position you could be in," said Walters, 26, who lives in Milford, Pa.

Coming downhill in the final straightaway with the wind at his back, Walters was riding in a virtual tie with Lieswyn and Sayers. As the unlikely trio -- none of the three riders is known for field sprinting -- accelerated out of the pack and neared the finish line, Walters inched in front to nip Sayers and Lieswyn at the end. All three riders sped across the finish line within a bike-length of each other.

"I honestly thought I had Mark," said Sayers, who was ahead of Walters in the final turn. "If it had been a non-downhill sprint, I probably would have, but he had a good run on me coming off the wheel. I just didn't close the deal."

Earlier in the day, the women's race also closed with a sprint to the finish -- only it was for second place. Van Gilder had locked up first place by more than a minute over her closest challenger.

Van Gilder, who drove from her home in the Poconos to compete in the event for the 11th time, made her move with 21 laps remaining. Looking to stretch out her competitors in preparation for an eventual sprint finish, Van Gilder attacked. To her surprise, no one followed.

"I really wasn't sure that I would stay out there," said Van Gilder, 37, of Pocono Pines, Pa. "There's a lot of strength in the field and it was windy, so I rode hard but conservatively so that if I were to be caught, I would have something to stay with them."

Instead, the race became Van Gilder's own personal time trial. Flying solo at the front, she continued to build her lead on the rest of the field, and she counted down the laps before earning her second Thater victory. It was her first win in Binghamton since 1992.

After the race, Van Gilder stood on the side of the road near the finish line. Next to her was Amy Jarvis, who lost out to Lynn Gaggioli in the sprint for second place.

"That was amazing. Wow," Jarvis said.

She had no idea. Van Gilder, known for her sprinting, certainly didn't expect to sustain a lead over such a great distance.

It was a risky maneuver, one that would make any rider nervous. But as Walters and Van Gilder can attest, sometimes those work out perfect.



Its a two day event named for a local racer who was killed by a drunk driver about two decades ago. The Mrs. and I are talking about competing in the citizens races next year. The event also has a roller blading race a well attended 5k run a a bunch of other activities.

[Griff]

I almost bought it last week on my standard ride. I had been three days without a decent nights sleep cuz one of the little ones has been sick. My plan was to replace sleep with exercise. Its been done before but this time it didn't work out. Something was growing in my sinus and I was beat. I dove down our hill and met a car on the tight lefthand corner. I had to take it wide and caught a piece of rough pavement as I leaned into it. I was yanked toward the car and had to turn right toward the outside of the corner. Consider the forces involved, it was DICEY! I road another five or six miles out and met a woman I know who is basically blind whizzing the other way with her kid on the back. At that point I knew I was a pussy.

I've have a couple great rides since. My hip/thigh issue seems to have cured itself so we're going on a big ride with friends this weekend. While picking up my kids prescription at the drug store, I stuck my arm in one of those blood pressure screening deals to see what cycling has done for my pulse and pressure. My pulse was 52 and my pressure was pretty low. I've always had a slow pulse, around 62, but thats pretty freaky.

[headsplice]

Nothings better than single track whilst drinking. I wasn't on this trip, but I know a couple of people (crazy single-speed nuts) that were. They just hang around and talk to the cops when they come along to bust up the fun.

Bicycle Punks

[warch]

Theo Wirth flying at night, yikes, that is not for the faint of heart! Sounds like Griff's cardiac muscle could handle it, though. I'm glad to hear that the downtown cops were not...bad.

[Griff]

Heh heh. I try to do my boozing after, I have a history of poor decision making under the influence.

[Griff]

I went mtn biking with my buddy over the weekend. It was raining so every root was slick, I'm pretty bruised up and sprained my middle finger which finger? this one right here broke a chain link, realized my chainrings are worn out, all in all it was darn near perfect. I was finally able to stick with him from a fitness perspective but he still has a skills advantage. We're going again Sunday and I'm gonna thrash him.

[russotto]

Rain? What is this "rain"?