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December 13, 2008
Well
this will most likely be my last entry for this year. This is the
busiest time of the year not just for me but everyone. So whats been
up, well I have taken up rollerblading, which will actually help my
cycling speed and endurance, but also it is allowing more muscles in my
legs to be worked and developed which will help out more in the long
run. Working a ton of hours and spending time with the family, you
know the usual things that we all do. So looking forward to next year,
still waiting for a couple of the racing calendars to be posted for
next year, most are up, but a few more to go. emails have slowed down
which is a good thing for this time of year. Once we all get back to
normal with our lives then I'm sure they will start back up again,
which will be great. Well I guess that is all for now as I have three
kids who are waiting for dad to finish this up so that we can go out
for our bike rides. So talk to guys later. Be safe and have a Very
Merry Christmas.
November 23, 2008 Hello
boys and girls, so with the holidays approaching things have been busy,
its always the last 45 days of the year when we all wish that there
were more hours of the day. Shopping, cooking and working. Rest and
repeat. I know its been awhile since I have answered emails on here so
lets get to a few. Diane
from Bangor (the naval base, not maine) asked "I recently swtiched from
mountain pedal set up to a road pedal set up, since then I have noticed
a pain that is not dabilitating, but is becoming annoying. Could it be
the pedals?" Diane
where as the intial answer would be yes, there could be more to it than
that, such as. Are the pedals the only thing that got adjusted or did
you always raise or lower the seat? Are you adding more miles or days
that your riding? If the only thing that you swtiched out was the
pedals then it could be a definate possibility. Take a couple of extra
days off the bike and then swap out the pedals and give it a try. If
the pain is gone then problem solved. Brian from Racine was wondering "What are your thoughts on indoor trainers?" Well
me personally I would much rather be outside. When living in Seattle I
rode year round no matter what the wheather was. The main reason why
is because while during the winter months everyone was riding their
trainers inside I was out in the weather. I found that during the
first part of the season I was much stronger than my average
comeptitor, mainly because during the winter months we have the wind
and the rain that we have to contend with. By the time the season
started then all of those natural obstacle were gone and since I had
grown accustomed to them, with out them I would just fly. Now if you
are dealing with blizzards and you don't have a mountain bike to take
off road during the winter months then by all means just jack up the
reistance on your trainer and go to town. Always always always utilize
caution during the winter months. I promise I will do better about posting your questions, keep them coming and talk to you guys later. November 8, 2008 So
again its been two weeks since I posted, sorry guys. Between a root
canal and the family sharing a bug its been a little more than hectic
around here. Well tomorrow I'll be heading for Sky Harbor Mountain
Bike trail with the CMC C-Fit Mountain bike group. The group is
growing which is good and its starting to take notice. Been working
with hospital officials about getting a sponsoring bike shop, which
isn't the problem, its just getting the medical group to hash out what
"legally" we and they can say about the sponsorship, which is becoming
a hurry up and wait thing. Works been good, we have a person on our
team that is about to go into surgery so I'm going to be stepping up to
the plate and picking up some overtime, which is good, well because it
is rapidly coming up on the holiday season and lets be honest, we all
need all the money we can get our hands on. My middle son ran his
first cross country race yesterday and finished top 25, his actual
placing was 21st, but Jason had stated that he just wanted top 25,
which in itself I was so proud of him for. Well hate to cut this
short, but need to get going for now, any questions comments or
concerns feel free to e-mail me at cblackman@mezagog.com. Later boys and girls. October 26, 2008 Sorry
I haven't been around in two weeks, life, well has been life. This
week has been a good week, survived a dual child birthday party
yesterday, kids had a blast, and of course we filled them up with all
the sugar that could handle for two hours and then sent them off to
their respective mom's and dad's, although I was the only dad there.
It was so lonely. Any who been riding a little more than usual which
has been a good thing. Went out today and got reminded on how much fun
Mountain Biking really is. I wasn't on a new trail, not on a new bike,
actually ran into a group of men who were older than I who were getting
into the sport for the first time, and it was really great. They
didn't care about components level, weight of their frames or any of
the normal stuff that you find yourself researching the more you get
into this sport. Nope for them, it was who could ride a route the
fastest. They were brothers in there 30's and 40's. Just watching
them reminded me of the first time I went out. I didn't care about
bike set ups or anything of that nature. It was all about the fun. So
to say that it was an enlightening day would be an understatement. Well
there you have it and thats all for now. As always any questions,
comments or concerns please feel free to contact me with the any three
ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. October 12, 2008 Well
the ending of another week, but the beginning of another one. So we
have had a string of Automobile accidents here in Fresno and as a
result two of my co-workers were involved which in turn led to me
working about 20+ hours of overtime this pay period. Downside to all
of this is that I was unable to make the Mountain Bike ride that I have
been feverishly working on. 0 for 2. In baseball I would need to
seriously consider some extra training, but in this case I just need
everyone to get recovered from their respective accidents and
injuries. Oh and speaking of injuries I'm going on a month with out
one........................ yeah for the not so graceful mountain
biker. So it was report card time here, and several of the
neighborhood kids were extremely excited to show me their report
cards. Why, well some of the kid's parents are unable to supply bikes,
so I made a few of them a deal. You show me a report card(that belongs
to them) that had nothing lower than a C. Then I would put a bike
together for them. Just like in Washington I have quite the collection
of bike parts and were able to put three bikes together, which I gave
them for their hard work in school. Wifey looked at me kind of strange
when I just gave it to them, but hey, in today's economy sometimes even
finding 5 dollars can be a challange, so thats why the agreement was
what it was. This way they get a bike, mom and dad's don't have to
worry about finding the money for a bike, and I make a little bit more
room in the garage. See win win win. Well there
you have it and thats all for now. As always any questions, comments
or concerns please feel free to contact me with the any three ways
possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. October 5, 2008 Well
this has been a really good week, up until today. See today I should
be reporting on the Mountain Bike Groups first ride, but unfortunately
that didn't happen, we met, but then got ran off by Security,
apparantly there was a break down in communication, although I have to
be honest with you, for a breif moment we were feeling alianated,
because we were mountain bikers. Yeah I know, those days are behind
us, but it doesn't take much to rekindle some of those harsh feelings.
So next week I will be working deligently with the hospitals
adminstration to ensure that we don't wind up with a repeat for the
12ths ride. Well in other news, my youngest son should be sporting a
Specialized Rockhopper soon. So we will be out on the trails as a
family having a lot of fun jumping and hucking ourselves all over the
place at woodward park. So my wife is about done with her degree so
she'll be making the big money soon and uncle mezzy can start planning
some more mountain bike trips. Which will be awesome. Hopefully we
will be doing the millerton lake trail soon, I keep looking at it and I
must do it before the end of the year. Everyone I have talked to who
has done it, says that it just nice. Well gotta cut this short, phone
just wrang and my hospital needs me to come in early. Later September 27, 2008 Well
progressivly the pain that I had been feeling is getting better.
Downside to the week is the fact that as soon as I woke up last Sunday
I had a nasty little head and chest cold thing going on. Which
fortunately was knocked out of my system by wed. Work wise things have
been great. For those of you that don't know. My last Hospitals that
I have worked for I have had some very odd shifts and really have not
been able to go out with the groups, now with my current schedule being
Sunday thru Thursday Night shift then things are a whole lot easier, so
much easier that not only have I got the non-competitive group ride
that I'm leading on Saturday's but I will also be doing a Mountain Bike
Group starting a week from tomorrow, so to say that my luck and life
have turned around would be a gross mis-statement, because it is
sooooooooooooo much sweeter.Seriuosly, Home, Work, Cycling is all
great. Took the my kids out moutain biking this morning and they had a
blast. Even my youngest son who swore up and down that he would never
leave his BMX bike had a blast, good for daddy since he is a mountain
biker, but bad for daddy, because now I have to buy another Mountain
Bike.........................Why do I do this to myself? Well
there you have it and thats all for now. As always any questions,
comments or concerns please feel free to contact me with the any three
ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. September 19, 2008 Well
its been an interesting week to say the least. Fortunately with the
pain killers and muscle relaxers on board I still remember the entire
week which is a good thing. So I tried going for a bike ride yesterday
to see if I was going to be able to be ride leader tomorrow, and it was
a resounding no. Not so much because of pain, but because of the lack
of range of motion, so I notified the group and informed them of the
situation and apologized for my absence tomorrow. Got a call from the
boss today, which was nice. She was concerned and wanted to ensure
that I was recoving well. Which all things considered I am. Well the
gathering of parts to build the AL-1 as a single speed is coming
along. I promise I wont build it until I have a camera and
photographer so that everyone will see how to build up their own Single
Speed bike. Also on the photo's for the ab exersizes have been
postponed for obvious reason, once I can do them I will photograph
myself doing them and then get them posted. As you can tell by my
writing I am pretty bummed about not being able to ride. Sounds weird
but I do miss it. Fortunately I have time to recover and train for the
home grown cross series here in Fresno. The first race has been
postponed and I have until the 26th of October to prepare. Well
there you have it and thats all for now. As always any questions,
comments or concerns please feel free to contact me with the any three
ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. September 15, 2008 So how was everyone's weekend? Mine well here is a copy of an email that emailed to everyone at work. So
yesterday morning, my youngest son Jason wanted to go for a bike ride
to woodward park and play on the Mountain Bike trail, so I said sure.
We go to Woodward park and started playing around at the various
stations. One of the stations that we stopped at was the logs that
they had laid out at various heights and difficulties, so I start on
the intermediate logs, things were going good until the logs transition
to a taller height. Realizing that I was in the wrong gear and not
having time to drop down in gears in time I decided that I would just
jump off the bike, land on the ground and then catch the bike as it
dropped. Well that was the plan at least. As I went to jump off the
bike, I forgot to lock the brakes and once my weight was on the handle
bars, the bike rolled back and flipped me, as a result I had a total
drop of between 7 and 8 feet and I landed square on my back. As I am
falling I'm telling myself that my son is watching and I need to bounce
right back up. Although upon landing I realized as I was looking at
all the pretty spots that I was now seeing that, that was not going to
happen, and wound up lying there for five minutes before I could move,
although I did do the self extremity test on myself, you know the one,
can I move my fingers, toes, and so on. Not to be a kill joy, since my
son had just congratulated me on (in his words) " A spectacular" crash,
We stayed for a little more time so that he could play a little more
before heading back home. Once
we arrived back at home Jason was telling everyone about my spectacular
crash to include my wife who took one look at me and said "Your not
looking so well, I'm TAKING you to the ER", and I'll be honest for
about 5 seconds I thought that this would be a total waste of time,
until I went to turn my head and well it wasn't moving, alot of
shooting pain, but no movement. So off to the ER we go, upon arrival I
got triage and within 30 minutes of triage I was in a room. Within 20
minutes I'm in CT, X-ray and have some very nice pain killers on
board. After the pain killers, I wasn't minding the C-Collar or back
board that much, and yes they took full C-Spine precautions, which was
making Carmen(my wife) more and more nervous. Oh also once the pain
killers were on board I started thinking out loud about the mistake
that I made on the log and how to correct them and had stated that I
was going to try again in a couple of days, which immediately prompted
my wife to ground me from my mountain bike. No seriously you can ask
Tammy my nurse and the Orthopedic that was taking care of me they were
standing right there. After a bunch of tests, X-rays, and CT's it was
determined that I did not break anything, although I have bruised my
neck and back and successfully given myself whiplash, I was informed
that I am not going to work until next week, 9-21-2008 is the date that
they gave me that I could return and I am to be lying down and resting
as much as possible. Now here is the funny part, my head, neck and
back are hurting me more today than yesterday, so hopefully this will
loosen up, oh lets say by wed. Cause this hurts alot. Well
there you have it and thats all for now. As always any questions,
comments or concerns please feel free to contact me with the any three
ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. September 8, 2008 Well
I got only one word for you CYCLOCROSS baby, well there was some
question on weather or not Fresno was going to have a season this year,
well its on and old Mr. Mezzy will be there, next Thursday will grab my
racing lisence and get ready. The first Race is Sunday October 5, 2008
at Woodward Park. This will be a 5 Race series and the person who puts
on the Cyclocross series typically puts on the Mountain Bike Race here
in Fresno, well one of the people, so hopefully we can say that the
questions about the off road racing here is Fresno can be put to rest.
I want to thank CCORC for keeping us all up to date on the happenings.
For those who lurk around the site you already know, but for the new
readers CCORC can be found at www.ccorc.com.
As I have said in the past, they are a great group of people. The ride
group with Fresno Heart went out last Saturday, and I'll get that
posted up tomorrow. Last but not least the reason why the core
excersizes have not been posted yet is because my wifes Digital Camera
is broken and I need to buy her a new one, but that will be after my
lisence is paid for. Well
thats all for now. As always any questions, comments or concerns
please feel free to contact me with the any three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. September 3, 2008 Well
its official, I will not be able to race in the Tahoe 100. The
Mountain Bike I was going to use I broke a couple of weeks ago, doing a
time trial on the San Joaquin River Valley Trail. So I'm seriously
bummed about that. Lets see what else is going on? Oh I have had
several people start using for coaching which is a good thing, although
unlike most coaches, I'm actually requireing a payment, and the reason
why is because I've been there wanting to do all this athletic stuff
and had to make a choice, do I pay my entry fees, or do I pay for a
coach. Where as I would have loved to have one, I never had the money
for it, so I had to do the trial and error method of training,
fortunately I'm wiser now and my coaching skills have progressed quite
well. Hopeing to be a Level II Cycling coach by the end of next year.
That is the other really cool part about being in California at the
moment, is the fact that they have all those training programs in
state. Yeah me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Work is going good by the way, I
don't remember if I stated that or not. The kids (even my 5 year old)
are riding bikes to work, and my daughter comes to me and wants to know
if she can race in a cyclocross race???????????????????? I don't think
they have a wee wee wee kid division in Cyclocross, but who knows.
Well thats all for now. As always any questions, comments or concerns
please feel free to contact me with the any three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. August 29, 2008 Today
was a great day, well sort of. Earlier this year I had stated that I
had purchased my first brand new Bicycle since I was like 4, well I
lost it today, not to a thief, no I didn't sell it or loose it in
a bet. I made a comment to my eldest who is 12 that "sure son you can
have my bike as soon as you can throw a leg over it.", well guess what,
my little boy is growing and quick to. So now the Mako belongs to him,
but thats ok. Today was his first day of riding it to school, although
I did ride with him to make sure that he secured it properly, and no I
didn't wear the spandex suit to his school, although I got to be honest
I was sssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooo tempted to. What I'm a dad I'm
supposed to embarass my kids, think back to your dad. Also my daughter
rode her bike to school for the first ever!!!!!!! She had so much fun
doing that, that when she got home we had to go for another bike ride,
at age five she is racking up miles already. Now the one thing that I
still can't get over is the fact that it is the end of August and
Fresno got up to 107 officially today, 110 at my house with my dial o
thermometer. And after several emails this week asking when the
excersize section is going to be up, I am hoping to have my wife due
the "photo shoot" tomorrow and aiming for tomorrow night. Well thats
all for now. As always any questions, comments or concerns please feel
free to contact me with the any three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. August 25, 2008 So
I'm now working the night shift again, but the one HUGE bonus is that
this time my work days are Sunday thru Thursday which pretty much means
that I wil be having every weekend off so that I can help out more with
the cycling group with the hospital. Also started running again to
prepare for the Two cities Half Marathon coming up in November.
Starting a small base and will grow it from there. Also going to be
trying to hit the last three Duathlons in California and since I have
the weekends off this makes this so much easier to hit. So several
frequent readers were asking what happen to the core excersize tab,
that should be up by the end of the month. Again these will be basic
excersizes that will help stregthen and tighten your core so that you
can become a more effecient cyclist and runner. Also again thank you
all for the well wishes while I was away. So the next four months will
be kind of intense training wise. I updated the Ride reports to
reflect this past Saturday's beginners ride, so if you get a chance
check it out. Which brings up something that I also wanted to touch on
based on some of the emails I have been getting. Starting a riding
group is nothing more than telling people hey I'm going to be going for
a bike ride at this time, starting at this location and we will be
covering this route. Sometimes it catches on easily and sometimes it
may take a little time, but the key here is consistancy, and your
attitude towards it. If your upbeat and energetic and show that your
willing to help your fellow athletes then your group will grow and
flourish. If your a go hard or go home kind of person, then you could
make it work, but you will be missing out on some really good times,
just something to think about. Well thats all for now. As always any
questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me with the
any three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. August 22, 2008 So
I haven't been around in a while, sorry about that. So migrane update,
yes there still there when out during the heat of the day, how bad is
the heat been, well let me put it to you this way. Last week we had an
89 degree high and I was running around in a light long sleeve shirt,
so after many conversations with different experts in the associated
fields we have determined that it is best that I end all of my outdoor
excersizing by 11 a.m.. Lets see what else has been going on? Well
the people of Spain have had a wonderful summer, the TDF a.k.a. the
Tour De France winner as well as the Olympic. Oh yeah I also turned 38
last week, so I need to update the banner at the top of this page.
Also my schedule at the hospital has changed to sweet little schedule.
Sunday thru Thursday Night shift. Set in stone, so I have every
weekend off YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also available now to help out
with the beginners group with the Community Medical Centers. Fresno is
also getting their first Marathon, so next week I will be running
more. Spent the last two weeks putting a little more emphasis on my
core and stretching because as any duathlete, triathlete or runner will
tell you, the bike and the run are two totally different muscle
groups. They just require the same core to be nice and strong as a
base, which I have to be honest with you.......................... I
was letting it go just a little, so its nice to see everything back the
way that it was back in Feburary. Well that is all for now, I do want
to thank everyone who sent out well wishes on the whole headache
thing. As always any questions, comments or concerns please feel free
to contact me with the any three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact Us Tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. July 2, 2008 Well
I have been to the doctor and he is thinking that what I may be
suffering from is Migraines. Yeah me, although he has given me a
medication to try, so a little later today I am on a mission to induce
a migraine to see if the medication will work. I know it doesn't make
any sense, well to me it does but then again those who know me will
tell you that I'm a little off. So today is a go big day to give
myself a headache, all in the name of science of course. Although he
did find it interesting that in my early teenage years when I was
living in Nevada that I had the same type of headaches and when I moved
to Fresno then they returned, so there is a desert theory as well.
While I have been off the bike I have been doing all sorts of research
on bike frame building and techniques. There is a school in Oregon
that I will start saving my pennies to attend. Hopefully next year I
will be able to attend the school and then start playing around with
frame materials and geometry. Well thats all for now, I need to start
getting ready for my headache. As always any questions comments or
conerns please feel free to contact on with any of the three ways
possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact us tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. June 25, 2008 So
I have not been on the bike this week, why you may ask? Well for some
reason once my heart rate gets above 110, then I start getting a sharp
shooting pain on the right hand side of the base of my kneck that
radiates to the entire right side of my head. Why is this so alarming
to me? Well I'm left handed so all of my brain activity is on the
right hand side of the brain bucket. It doesn't matter what activity I
do. Once 110 hits then blamo, I'm in pain. So until I can get into
the Doctor, I'm playing it safe, but on the flip side this had given me
time to search out other things that I have wanted to do. So what else
is their other than excersizing, well for one, I have been pondering
the idea of building my own frames,(cyclocross/touring, Mountain and
Road) so I have been looking into equipment and training classes,
waiting on my study guide for the USA Cycling Coaches exam and also
looking at getting my Personal Training Certificate, so I still have
plenty to keep me active. Although I have been feeling like a lush
since I really haven't seriuosly worked out since Saturday. June 23, 2008 I
know, its been a whole week since I updated, man have I been busy with
work, working weird shifts and modifing days off. Well Saturday when
I left for work it was 101 degrees at 12:30 in the afternoon. We broke
a record that day here in Fresno with a high for the day at 110
degrees. Now, what was it like riding in weather that hot, well it was
toasty, but I wasn't pushing myself or my bike that day going to work.
Why? I didn't need to risk a heat related injury, because I was trying
to break a personal record. I just took it easy and slow, as a matter
of fact I stayed middled, meaning middle chainring on the front and
middle cog on the cassette in the rear and took my time, left a little
early and it worked out very well, so if your riding in situations like
I was in over the weekend, just remember you have to take care of
yourself and if you have heat stroke you do no one any good. As always
any questions comments or conerns please feel free to contact on with
any of the three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact us tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. June 16, 2008 Happy
Monday, hopefully everyone had a good weekend? Mine was good. So what
is new? Not a lot really, usual stuff. Working, Riding and spending
some time with the wife and kids before I had to go to work. It was a
weird weekend work wise. We were hammered. In the next few weeks I
will be adding yet another tab. I know, I know, I have already added
two this year. This one will be simple excersizes for you to do that
will work your ab's. See the one really cool thing about cycling and
running is the fact that they are great cardiovascular and lower body
work outs. Downside is the fact that they do nothing for the "core" or
ab muscles, which for these two excersizing groups are very important
to keep your back pain free. So this way as your body is burning fat
you can rest assured that your chance of getting back pains will be
reduce. Not that lack of back support with your ab muscles are your
only reason for back pain. If you are suffereing from back pain or
knee pain you need to have your position on the bike looked at by a
certified bike expert. A properly fitted bike will cure most secondary
aches and pains. Just as you would have someone look at your running
style if your running into secondary pain while running, you want to do
the same thing with the bike. If you used to do either in the past and
quit due to pain, you may want to have those evaluated so that you can
get back into the sports. As always any questions comments or conerns
please feel free to contact on with any of the three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact us tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. June 13, 2008 Man
I am fighting some kind of nasty stomach bug, how bad, well it has
taken me 33 minutes to put up this sentence, so this may take a while,
fortunately most people read faster than I type so you wont even notice
the difference. Last night we had our first beginners class last
night. It was a blast, alot of good information was put out, Mario and
I tagged team the class. there was alot of interaction, the class were
actively participating in the discussions, questions were plentiful
which was a good thing. We covered everything from bike building
materials, things that you should check before you get on the bike,
commuting, clothing, lighting and everything in between. It was a lot
of fun and looking forward to the next class. As always any questions comments or conerns please feel free to contact on with any of the three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact us tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. June 11, 2008 Well
I finally did it, in the How To section of the website there is now
content, bonified content, my procrastinating days are
over.............yeah right. Actually everything just happen to fall
into place that allowed me to do the write up, photo shoot and posting
all in one day. So if you get a chance check it out. The subject
matter is on changing a tube that has gone flat. Well I have recieved
several emails about my saving write up that I posted on the 7th, some
good, a few bad and of course some of you bring up some very good
points. I got four that stick out in my mind, because with cycling and
especially commuting via bicycle Beth from Poulsbo, Wa, Seth from
Titusville, Fl, Wendy from Hopkinsville, Ky and Carrie from Beaverton,
Or. were all saying the same thing about my saving write up, Seth from
Fl stated that yes he had saved 325.00 a month in gas, but had spent
287.00 dollars on new clothes since his waist is dropping the more he
rides. Carrie though did bring another good point as last year she
started commuting via bicycle January 3, 2007 and stated that for the
year that she had saved almost 1500.00, but as the weight started
dropping then she had to buy a new wardrobe twice, once for the summer
and once for the fall and winter, and then since she had lost quite a
bit of weight, she felt more comfortable wearing the cycling clothing,
so she bought three outfits, then since her Mountain bike was only
allowing her to go so fast, she upgraded to a Felt carbon fiber bicycle
(Carrie seriously if your could get your husband to talk to my wife
that would be great :-). so she saved 1500.00 dollars in gas but then
stated she had spent around 7000.00 on wardrobe, bike and accessory, so
now I have to ask, don't you feel better now, though? Well we have a
Beginners class starting tomorrow, here in Fresno at the Hospital Group
that I'm working at. So I'm getting excited about that, and at the
time of this writing I am still scheduled to make a group ride with the
guys and gals with Fresno Heart, so hopefully I can finish my honey do
list, before its time for me leave. Speaking of which I need to go.
As always any questions comments or conerns please feel free to contact
on with any of the three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact us tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. June 9,2008 So
I have a co-worker that used to ride all the time, him and I got to
talking last week, or maybe it was week before last, any way, we were
discussing how he has shifted his focus from cycling to running for the
time being. So I ask if I could borrow his road bike for a bit until I
can raise the money to get my own again, he agrees and drops it off
yesterday. I'm expecting a mid range bicycle, so much for my
expectations. He loaned me a Giant TCR Limited fully decked out in
Carbon Fiber and Ultegra. Got to be honest it took all of my self
control not to start complaining about everything from headache to
cramps to try to get out of work and go ride this thing. It is sweet,
I'm estimating the bike comes in at 18 pounds tops, and is totally
choice. It is a far cry from the 27 to 30 pound commuter bike that I
normally ride. Good point, I now have at my disposal a completely race
ready bike that I can throw my leg over and tear up some pavement.
Down side, I'm getting spoiled and will wait until I can afford a bike
of this caliber, because I have only had this bike in my for 22 hours
in my possession and have already put 50 miles on it. 25 miles last
night when I got off work and then another 25 miles this morning. It
is effortless, I guess its like the Nurses and Doctors used to say
"Quality makes you want to ride". So I want to take this time to thank
Matt publicly for allowing me to borrow such a choice bike. Now you
may be thinking that the commuter is going to be sitting for a while
and you would be wrong. See all of the resistance that I'm getting
from the Mako will pay off 100 times fold when I jump on the Giant. Ok
now that I am done sounding like an elementary student at Christmas
time, I should start getting things ready to go to work. As always any questions comments or conerns please feel free to contact on with any of the three ways possible. cblackman@mezagog.com, the Contact us tab on the left or via the link down on the bottom right of this page. June 7, 2008 So
I've been getting excited about the Beginner Cyclist Class that the
corporate group of the hospital is getting ready to put on. I'll be
there with Mechanical instruction, which is so cool. So the past
couple of weeks have been some what breezy, and with the way that it
has worked out, I have had a head wind going to work and coming home
everyday. The thing that I find interesting, well let me back up
alittle. When riding in Seattle we rode year round, sure there were a
few that would hang things up in December and would not get back on
until March, but for the most part we rode year round. I have actually
met several cyclist that cycle only thru certain conditions, and just
about the time that I was getting ready to laugh my butt off, I
realized something, I am in Fresno now, I haven't seen a decent rain
drop in four months, and everyone has told me that these windy
conditions are exetremely unseasonal. So to a Fresnonian this could be
inclimate weather, so maybe I should lay off on the laughing. Any who
speaking of the wind, I'm actually loving it, because once this wind
stops blowing, I will be able to see how much faster I've gotten. Matt
at work is loaning me a Road Bike, for training with the Double
Centuries that I plan on riding next year, that and I have been giving
consideration doing a few road races in the fall. Now I have had
several emails requesting the formula that I use to come up with total
of savings since being back on the bike. So I take the money that I
was spending on gas in a week, then I take how many days I would go
between an oil change, then take the insurance cost divided by the
number of days in the month or you could take the insurance payment and
divide it by four, and then if you really wanted to get depressed and
your financing then just for kicks throw your car payment on there. So
if I had a vehicle like my wifes it would look something like this Gas: 240.00 dollars a month Ins: 95.00 dollars a month (full coverage covering Everything) Maint: 35.00 (usally do an oil change a month) Car: 375.00 (Based on my fianancing a car similair to what my wife has) Total: 745.00 a month, which is translating into 8940 dollars. Anually Now
every household needs a least one vehicle that is large enough to carry
everyone in the house, why? For emergency situations and things of
that nature, unless your childless household or single, keep the car
for the unexpected. So As always any questions comments or concerns
feel free to shoot me an email at any of the three ways possible. Feel
free to contact me at cblackman@mezagog.com, or the contact us tab on left or scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on that link. June 4, 2008 Just
as many other hospitals, the one I am currently working at has an
Employee Wellness program, but unlike some of the others they actually
support more than just a softball team of adminstrators. We have a
cycling group, and yours truly has been asked to help out with a
beginners class. So hopefully I will finally be able to load and get
photographed the how to section. Although while I'm thinking of things
that are being neglected on the site, the trail rides section is kind
of suffering as well, so over the summer you will notice that these
sections get more updating and stuff. I am starting the process of
becoming a level three cycling coach thru USA Cycling, and will
inevatablly go thru the mechanics program as well. Was supposed to
have the day off and was going to be heading out to the hills for a
bike ride today, but the story of my life, something has come up. So As
always any questions comments or concerns feel free to shoot me an
email at any of the three ways possible. Feel free to contact me at cblackman@mezagog.com, or the contact us tab on left or scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on that link. June 1,2008 The
past couple of days have been interesting and enlightening. See being
a cyclist especially one who commutes to and from work you expect
people to look at you kind of funny, but a strange thing has happened
at the hospital. Several people from several different department have
started asking questions and for advice, which is a good thing. See at
gas at four dollars plus a gallon people start looking at other means
of saving money, so lets take a look at what realistically you can look
at in saving. Case and point. If you work 3 days a week you can
expect that if you live within 20 miles of your work then you can
expect to go thru about three gallons of gas a day. I know, I know
your car get 30 miles to the gallon (at highway speed for more than 50
miles), hence the reason why I say three gallons a day. So $4.00 time
3 is 12 times three is $36.00 dollars for your three day work week, and
that is just your commute to and from work. so 36.00 dollars at 52
weeks is a total of 1872 a year. Doesn't sound like much right. well
stop and think for a second almost 2 grand a year. What could that be
used for. Well you could go back to starbucks and supply your self
with a years worth of coffee. New Flat screen TV. Or you have just
successfully paid for Christmas, you kow that holiday that everyone
goes broke for and some into serious debt. Now since most of use work
five days a week then your looking at a savings of 3120 dollars. Now
how good of a christmas could that be? As always any questions
comments or concerns feel free to shoot me an email at any of the three
ways possible. Feel free to contact me at cblackman@mezagog.com, or the contact us tab on left or scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on that link. May 29, 2008 Well
the Gary Fisher is still doing great as a commuter bike. so far since
purchasing it, already saved a couple hundred bucks, as a matter of
fact the bike itself has already paid for itself and next payday
everything else with the bike(lights, tools, spare tubes and stuff)
will be paid for as well. Went thru and wrote a letter to the editor,
you can see it at http://www.fresnobee.com/277/story/631835.html
if you have a couple of minutes to kill. So far my best time to work
is 23 minutes, and thats with me in the tallest gear I have and masher
the pedals like the bike is a red headed step child. Hoping to become
more active in the bicycle community here in Fresno, California. I
have made a few offers so we will see if any get accepted. Hoping to
have some content in the how to section by next friday. I have Wed and
Thur off next week, although must see the dentist on Wed. which is
long over due. Now I promised a reader that I would post his question
and my answer to a question he had. Bob
from Beaumont Texas wanted to know how I handle post commute rides
nutrition wise. Well Bob when I get to the hospital and I have changed
into my scrubs then I make my way to the cafeteria and consume a quart
of choculate milk. The reason why I choose coco moo, is because where
as it sounds strange in all of the things I have tried in the last
going on five years, co co moo is by far the best recovery meal that I
have had. I know it sounds strange, but the fats, protiens and enzymes
just aid my recovery better than anything else I've tried. When I get
home I have some chicken breast and microwavable rice that I use,
although when the chicken starts getting old then I go for the tuna
with microwavable mac and cheese. I know there is a hug industry that
advertises all sorts of recovery products just and I've tried it and
almost went completely broke, so now I just grab the stuff that is on
sale at the grocery store, its not as immediate for consumption, but it
works for me. Now remember Bob this is what works for me, and you may
have different results, everyone is different and our bodies don't
handle things the same, so keep that in mind before you go to the huge
discount store and buy several cases of each item that I meantioned.
Just as racers will spend the off season trying different nutritional
formulas you will have to do the same. Well as always any questions comments or concerns feel free to contact me at cblackman@mezagog.com, or the contact us tab on left or scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on that link. May 19, 2008 Man
it has been hot here. Right about now I'm missing the whole Seattle
"heat" advisories. Which wife and I had fun with since they had a high
heat warning........................It was 85 I believe, that was the
same day that it hit 104 here. Well the heat has definately made me
ride a little faster, not that 100+ degree weather and a bicycle are
the perfect marriage, but once you start sweating, with the wind it
isn't all that bad. Also noticing that now that I'm in a flatter
enviroment I'm passing people like Levi when he's on his Time Trialling
game. Well the commuting thing is working out really good, so far
since taking it back up I've saved over 100.00 dollars in the last two
weeks, which immediately went to pay off some bills early. So at this
rate the bike will pay for itself in about two months which is sooner
than I was thinking. Then again at 4.00 dollars a gallon, it will
probably be sooner than that. The one nice part about this is the more
I commute the less nervous my wife is getting. First street here in
Fresno isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be at night. Just like
in Seattle, when I was walking, I was being hassled, but on the bike,
I'm pretty much left alone. Hopefully I will be able to get a video
made of my commute on a week night and maybe on a Friday or Saturday
and be able to make it to where everyone can see. As always any
questions, comments or concerns feel free to email me with the contact
us tab on the left or scroll down to the bottom of the page and click
the email link. May 15, 2008 HAPPY NATIONAL BIKE TO WORK DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes
kids its that time of the year when we all ride our bikes to work. So
since starting at Community Regional Medical Center haven't really been
able to hook up with any fellow cyclist, well that is until I responed
to a post from Mario at Fresno Heart and Surgical. We started
communicating via e-mail about the Fresno Heart team for the corporate
challenge for bike to work day, so I signed up under the FHS team.
Today was a photo op day so I rode over for the photo shoot and meet
some of their team. Seem like a really great group of people. Their
team is very active which is good, where as at my last hospital
everyone rode we just weren't organized, usually we would meet for a
ride and say something to the effect of "Loser buys". Man those first
few rides were expensive, yeah everyone was drinking Weidmere when I
was buying then mysteriously everyone switched to Bud Light when I quit
loosing, HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Anywho we have a ride coming up on
Saturday which looks like I'll be able to make since I don't have to be
at the hospital until 2:00p.m.. Also looking like the Tahoe 100 will
be my first race this year, hopefully I will be acclimated by then.
Why do I say that, well todays high will be between 98-102
degrees............... Last year in Seattle I believe the hottest day
was 87, huge difference. Well I'm hoping to be able to post some pics
of the photo shoot later this week or early next week(If I can get
clearance as their not my photos) Well I guess thats all for now, have
a good week and ride safe (Helment and lights (yes even in the daytime
hours))  May 8,2008 So
I'm back to commuting via bicycle again(YEAH BABY). Dropped the old
the job and went back to the hospitals. Yes in Fresno its just like
every other city, you work mad hours but the Hospital is where it is
at. So I'm commuting via a brand new Gary Fisher Mako, Hardtail rigid,
which for the Central California Valley is great. The range of
elevation on my 9 mile commute is exactly the same as climbing the
first block in dowtown Seattle. It is sweet. So why am I meantioning
this is because of two reasons. The reason why it took so long for me
to go back to bicycle commuting is because of my wifes fears of me
commuting via bicycle in downtown Fresno at 10:30 at night, which took
a ton of phone calls and several trips home using the exact same route
that I would be riding, after a period of time I was able to convince
her that it is do able, not perfect, but then again unless your on an
enclosed bike path no commute is perfect. The other reason why I am
bringing the elevation change up is because unlike my initial approach
to commuting when I first started four years ago in Seattle of going
until my legs gave out on an 11 percent grade road, this city for all
of its quirks, is actually a great place to get into bike commuting.
It offers bike lanes and frontage roads, it is flat, not perfectly flat
but flat enough to be labeled flat, and lets be honest 4+ dollars a
gallon is a bit much. So there you go, if you would like more
information then you should stop by the commuting page and read up on
that, and as always if you have any additional question feel free to
e-mail me. January 12, 2008 Well
another year down, although looking back at last year, my mileage was
really good until we moved. Thanks to several people with the CCORC, I
now have a bike that I can use and a frame to build up. I'll get
pictures of both up hopefully in the next 24 Hours. They are both
Mountain Bikes which is really really cool. I got the idea of the
doing the Climb to Kaiser on a 1991 Gary Fisher AL-1. This is the
frame that was given to me. I am currently in the process of locating
some original equipment. Well maybe not completely original Case and
point. The AL-1 came with the Deore DX line, and I'm currently
locating a Deore XT groupset, from the same year. I am constantly
amazed at how much NOS (New but Old Stock) is still out there.
Fortunately I have been in contact with Recycled Cycles in
Seattle,(Whats up guys), They have some of the Evolution sized
componets, let me back up a little. We all know that Gary Fisher is
one of the most Visionary and Revolutionary people in the world of
Cycling. In the Late 80's he had the fore-thought to impliment
Oversized componets and geometery on Mountain Bikes, Well the Idea
wan't immediately recieved, Gary was ahead of his time, and
discontinued the evolution line, so I now have a rare bike, downside to
it, is that all of the parts can be rare as well. But when I'm riding
the Climb to Kaiser, I will take pride in the fact that all of the
hunting, ebay shopping, bike shop calling, emails to Gary Fisher will
so be worth it. Well will update some more later. December 9, 2007 Well
there will be a new tabby thing for your reading entertainment.
Actually two. One will be training and other one will be Central
California Racing. Due to the totally different climate that is down
here. They literally have racing going on year round. Last night I
had a blast as well as the munchins we all went and hung out the guys
and girls of CCORC (http://www.ccorc.com)
for the "Lou" cyclocross race in the dark. My daughter was of course
walking around the course singing her favorite song "Girls are gonna
kick your butt". It is her own work and her word association needs
some work, but she's five and has a wonderful imagination and simplies
loves bikes. The race was awesome. In the next couple of days I'll
have the racing tab up, which will be the races that I either race in
or a spectator at. So for my dozen of fans look for that in the next
couple of days. Lets see the other little bit of news is that as of
January 1, 2008 I will stop smoking so I will be using the racing and
training for my major motivation on keeping up the smoke free life. I
found that they have more off road duathlons in Central California,
than in the Seattle area. So I have enough Mountain Bike races and Off
road duathlons to keep me on track. Well thats it for now. Later guys I
know I haven't been around at all lately, well there is a logical
explination for it. I'm not in Seattle anymore. In all of the hussle
and bussle of every day life, well we are now in California, in the
lovely central valley and before you ask, yes my wife has family here.
See why I'm here now. So a little update on the my cycling, well ain't
much been going on, but I should be able to get back to adding stuff to
this website in the next few weeks. I did do a couple of rides thanks
to Dave, yes DAVE YOU ROCK. He's been great, been able to show me
several of the trails around as well as where to go for the road rides
as well. Dave is a walking talking encyclopedia of cycling knowledge
in the Central Valley, so if any of you who knew me in Washington ever
find your way down to California, look me up as well as this really
great club called Central Valley Off Road Club. These are some of the
nicest folks you will ever meet on the mountain. The really cool part
about this whole thing is I'm off nights now. I know I had to leave
Seattle to get off nights. I'm now working grown up hours. Monday
thru Friday 9-5'ish. In the next coming months you will see that the
Trail Rides Section will begin to grow. |
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