Even lighter yet.

Carbon sweetness, come to me baby!
















Well I just hit the scales at 128.4, time to eat now. I rode nine out of the last ten days and need a break big time. Three hours today with Feeman putting the screws to me on the way home pretty much put the last nail in the coffin.

Stop the press!

If you are a Two Johns podcast fan you will certainly enjoy this:







RaceFace Nascar sunscreen in stores now.....the search is over. And better yet, each one comes with a built in bottle opener! No longer will you have to comb that mullet forward over your face to avoid a sunburn while chugging your Busch Light. So get out your cut off jeans and wife beater and get down to the race track now.

Pre ride ritual

I often try different pre-ride meals. This one, however, will not get a replay. Butter and molasses on whole wheat, with a ginger ale chaser.

















Winter still drags on and the endless piles of clothing just won't go away.

















On a better note, the weight loss is surpassing my expectations, maybe I have a tapeworm. My high school jeans fit great and may even be coming back in style soon!

Today the Flahutes rode indoors, but not us.

Well I'm nearly at my 130 goal. A few more carrot and spinach dinners and I should be there soon.






















This winter has really been hanging on a long time. It was all I could do to get in eight hours in the last five days. I don't care about the snow and ice, but the damn 25 mph winds with sub zero windchills are getting pretty old.











Good thing Feeman is still out of a job(Sorry dude), but at least I don't have to do this alone everyday. In the last three months he's only refused a ride one time. I usually just yell at him like Chief used to do to me. So far he's taken it pretty well. I do have plans of cutting his brake cables though, there is no way I should be dropping him on downhills.

Overseas greetings.

Well I installed a hit counter that tells me countries of origin for my blog readers. I noticed quite a few European countries including a couple Belgians. Here's to you Flahute riders! I will assume that you are Flandrians because someone from the Ardennes region probably wouldn't be reading my blog. I'm sure we are training in similar conditions right now. Van Petegem is pretty cool but VDB is a punk.
And yes, that is Stella Artois that she is holding.

Bring out the gimp!

Ok, so I realize that the amish have been getting more modern these days but this one really caught me by surprise.

Can you feel it!

Here his what's left of Feeman after yet another 3 hours windy ride in winter.

















Maybe you need another beer.













Perhaps if you ate more like me this wouldn't happen to you.








My typical work lunch. Jack LaLanne you got nothing on me, except some pretty scary eyebrows.

Forget Disneyland!

Mr. Phelps, you just won a crapload of gold medals, what's next?

I'm going to Outer Bongolia!

The pinnacle of fitness?

Well as one more young pro dies in his sleep at the Tour of Qatar, I have to wonder; Our sport must be filled with the most horribly out of shape specimens. And to date, I have never heard of a single bowler, curler, or chess player dying in their sleep at age 22. I'm so glad to hear that the peloton has cleaned itself up.

The team's veterinarian was promptly fired after the incident.













Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cyclists.

Winter projects

Well I'm finally getting around to making the Norco a little lighter. It was 27 lbs. the last time I raced it. Of course I was pretty heavy too at that time.








The first thing to go is these Hellbent bars. The 4mm wall thickness and 350 gram weight are both quite uneccessary.
















Ahh, now here we go. A great exchange rate against the British Pound made these a real steal. Light, strong, and better yet...Campy quality. These are UST only with nary a spoke hole to be found. The freehub feels like only Campy can and the bearing smoothness is remarkable. The last upgrade was a Crank Bros 65 gram headset and the bike is suddenly 3 1/2 lbs. lighter. I am also sporting a lighter weight mid section with 4 lbs of fat missing. This cold weather riding is good for fat burning. That combined with the spinach sandwiches I take to work makes for a good combo. I don't foresee myself ever hitting the 128 lb. mark again, but I will try for 130.