Thursday, February 14, 2008

Good day for me, bad for cycling.

Wicked recovery day for me. Pretty sure that if anti-dope came knocking I'm test positive for a caffeine overdose.
I'd write something about the ongoing (and escalating) battle between the Grand Tour organizers and the UCI, but not only would it work me up (and ruin my no stress rule) but enough has been written by many others. For a nice solid rant, check on poor Keir's blog (who seems to have been pretty worked up) or many of the other cycling websites. All I have to say, the rider's union needs to stand up and be heard. The riders are what makes it all work. Take a stand for all.
On a cooler and much less talked about note, I am pretty much an espresso king and full fledged barrista now. Wicked course. Seven of us with 2 teachers with more coffee knowledge than you could shake your fist at. Full day. Started off with espresso basics and tastings. Tried with different grindings, and different pour lengths, and then got down to business ourselves of playing with their multi-thousands of dollar espresso machines. Quick lunch break with the class to a local (and excellent) Indian buffet. Best $8 buffet I've ever had, fresh and well done. Back to class and time to work on espresso bevies (cappuccino and latte) and basically playing with the milk frothers. And of course the usual sampling of our creations. A little work on machine maintenance and we were done. And wired. Back home now and preparing for a nice salad for dinner. Back to riding and business as usual for tomorrow. I'm thinking a good ol' solid 3-4 hour spin. Nothing strenuous. Just spin de legs. You know, 90... 10 rpm.... 53x11... just spin.

Side note: I was fully the only one to be able to make milk explode. Don't worry, its cool now. Apparently when the milk is ready you turn the steam DOWN, not onto the higher settings. Who knew? Now, some coffee extravaganza pictures. Wicked.

Partners in crime: Adam Thuss (l) & Dave Vukets.

Vukets in learning mode by the chalk board.

Me working the machine like a seasoned pro.

Enjoying our cappuccinos like good little cyclists.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

speaking of doping... Floyd is coming out to play this summer...
Yah gotta be into mtbing though cause he's doing hundred milers.

I was at one race last year (SM100) down in Virgina and he was there. My buddy, Harlan Price (http://boxedbee.blogspot.com/), beat him out though by fractions of minutes for the hundred miler.

jac.

Anonymous said...

here's the write up...

http://boxedbee.blogspot.com/2007/09/sm100-looongg-of-it.html

here's the results...

http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm

SM100 rocks!

Anonymous said...

fear not sandy...drink up. caffiene isn't banned. WADA is "monitoring" it and thinking about putting it back on the list, so go ahead do 1 more!
Wenzel

Scott said...

Hey dude....im gona give you guys a call in the next few days as i have to write the 2008 road preview and road teams article for pedal. So i want everyone to think up really intimidating quotes so when it gets printed and health net reads it, they'll be scared. very scared. ps. im jealous of your coffee excursion and basically of everyone in south carolina. It warmed up to just under zero today...guess what that means? Slush...oh Slush.

Anonymous said...

hey, whats up with pedal not printing an annual this year?!?!?
With the 15th aniversary of La Ruta!!!
The past 2 years they had a summary.
This year was one hell of a good year at La Ruta!

Pedal should do a cover of the ultramarathons in the US (the hundies! Not many canadians, I think just me down there!

www.ultramtb.com

jac