Jason

Mo Better Movember

Being the trendsetter that I am, I've been participating in Movember for the last two years.  Movemeber is a charity where men (i.e. me) grow a mustache to raise money and awareness for prostate cancer.  One of my great regrets in life is that I never had a "beard phase" (and no, not that kind of beard).  You know when you see pictures of guys at their wedding, or old photos of your dad, there's always that shot of him happy and looking goofy with his shaggy beard.  Dangit, I don't have that shot and it bugs me.  But given work and Katie's relationship right to veto anything that makes me look like an entirely "unkissable grizzled homeless man," there's no shaggy beard in my future ( unless I climb Everest, sail around the world, get lost in the Amazon or get transported back to 1840).  Drat!

So instead of a Shaggy Beard Phase, I get a "Partial Mustache That Never Gets Long Enough to Get to the Really Cool or Soft Phase." This year my work endorses it through our official "Movember" team, and Katie's on board (until exactly November 30) because I told her that we can't let the Cancerists win, because really, when it comes to cancer, you're either for it or against it.

I decided to go with the "70's Narc" look.  Actually, and honestly, it's a tribute to the mustache that my late uncle Costa had in the 70's.  There's a picture of him with my mom with a huge grin and sporting the absolute coolest Greek Beard of that decade.  Whenever I see that shot, I think, "That's the coolest guy ever."  But because I come from the "geek" side of the gene-pool, my 'stache is an homage to cool.

Participating in Movember is like being in hip club for a month.  You see people with barely there mustaches and you give them a knowing look.  But it's also kind of like playing Dungeons and Dragons.  Sure, when you're with you friends in the living room playing and laughing together killing Orcs its the coolest club going, but when you go to the dance after to football game, having a 21st level Elf Wizard is decidedly uncool.  Same with Movember.  Sure, when you're surrounded by co-workers and friends all of whom know about it, especially in a small town like Aspen, there's a definite camaraderie and even some jealous looks from guys who didn't get the hall pass from their girls to play with the other kids.  But I went on a business trip to meet some important people about a week into my growth and felt the need to start every meeting with a disclaimer that I'm not an aspiring pornstar, but rather, I'm growing a mustache for charity.  And the looks I got in Chicago on trains, at restaurants or even at the hotel check-in noticeably lacked any hint of jealousy or appreciation.  Katie was also in Chicago for business, and we went to dinner a few times with some of her clients and co-workers.  Surprisingly, and much to her credit, she did not lead every introduction with, "This is my boyfriend Jason, he doesn't always have a wounded caterpillar on his lip."  So while I was completely insecure 'bout my 'stache away from the nest, she just handled it as a non-issue.  Have I mentioned how lucky I am?

Anyway, once you're in the mustache club, you start to notice when others get involved.  I came across this picture that one Mr. Lance Armstrong tweeted about his Movember mustache.  I immediately went to the mirror to confirm that my mustache totally dominates his.  If this were the Tour de France, he would be Ulrich and I'd be staring him down over the bushy glory that is my Greek heritage.  So sure, Lance can put out something like 1000 watts, maybe I choose to allocate some of the energy that could produce power to growing my rockin' mustache.  Also, and I feel that this needs to be said.  Looking at that picture of Lance's mustache should end the steroid allegations.  Clearly there's no extra testosterone in that body.  I mean, I could grow a better mustache when I was 13.

So next time you're out and about you can play the Movember game.  Try to guess weather the mustache you see is a Movember mustache or a "real" one.  Use these helpful guidelines, Cowboy hat = real.  Sitting on a Harley = real.  Suit and tie = Movember.  Woman = run.

My CycleOps Friend

Being both old and technoilliterate I have just stumbled onto the idea that I could "friend" CycleOps through Facebook.  I'm officially fan number 696, not quite enough of me to push them over 700 but I tried. 

It's really cool being a friend of CycleOps.  For instance, there's some wallpaper you can download for inspiration, it shows a guy in a basement with the catch phrase, "Remember to save just enough to get back up the basement stairs."  That is infinitely more motivating than the Power2People/Jason site's poster of me in my boxers sitting on the couch watching 30 Rock and eating my boy's Halloween Candy with the catch-phrase, "It's a long winter, there's plenty of time for training later."

As my dear ol' gran pappy used to say, "Any day you can make a friend is a good day."  So yesterday was a good day.

End of the beginning, or the beginning of the end?

As my many readers know (Hi Megan!), I put my bike away for the off season. While I am not a huge fan of the trainer (I get enough of spinning my wheels and getting nowhere in my daily life), it does allow me to focus on the finer points of my cycling.  I haven't been on the trainer since the end of spring, so comparing what I did then to what I can do now at the beginning of winter is kind of interesting.  Well, maybe not quite "kind of" maybe more, "sort of," or "desperate for motivation," interesting. 

Here's what I learned after two days of indoor PowerTapping.  One, my cadence went down.  Earlier this year I was at 95, now I'm at 85.  I've lost 10 points and a whole letter grade.  I hope my parents don't get a note, I need this grade to stay on the wrestling team.

What's interesting is that I keep reading that a high cadence is great for cyclists, but that multi-sport athletes should actually use a slightly lower cadence (I chose "lower" instead of "slower" because "lower" sounds less judgmental).  Something to do with needing to run after biking.  If anyone in the PowerTap nation has any ideas or actual knowledge beyond, "I read somewhere once" I'd love to hear it.  If not, I'm happy to stick with the low cadence=good for multi-sport because, honestly, "I read somewhere once" is more basis for my actions than I usually take.

But what is really interesting is that my power has actually increased.  My last TT in April was 220 at 100 cadence.  My TT on Thursday?  240 at 92!  BOOOOM!  Suck on THAT all you naysayers who I totally made up to have someone to taunt because everyone I know in real life is too nice and supportive thus robbing me of my right to have a foil. 

So I did a little digging on the Google and found this site that tells you what the Power-to-Weight ratio is for cyclists at various levels.  At 165 pounds and pushing 240 I'm theoretically at the top of the Cat 5 world (My TT was eight minutes and the nearest on that site is five minutes, so there's some fuzzyness in this stuff that's already fuzzy).  

So anyway, I'm not sure if that was my last TT of the season, or my first TT of the new season, but I'll take it.  I also like having some cool new graph goals.  My goal by next April is to move up one whole internet graph category and be at the top of the Cat 4 world.  Sure, that's like being Mole-Man, but any empire is better than no empire.  Anyway, to hit that goal I need a P/W number of 3.81.  So if I can push 265 and drop my weight to 155 that means...well, it means I can expect to picked on more.  I mean, 155 pounds!?!  I'll have to carry my trainer and bike around with me everywhere I go just so I can show that "I HAVE THE POWWWWWERRRR!"  Only instead of He-Man saying that while holding a mighty sword, it will be a  scrawny guy in spandex running from Girl Scouts.  Frankly there's a part of me that's not sure its worth moving up a category if it means that a strong wind can knock me off my bike.

As it stands I'm actually feeling pretty good about my cycling right now.  I know a whole heck of a lot more about the sport than I ever have.  Honestly, before I met Katie I was recreational cyclist who loved the sport.  Now I feel more like an actual cyclist who loves the sport (just one of may ways I'm better for knowing her).  I feel like I'm starting to gain enough knowledge to begin to discern what works for me and maybe create actual plans for getting better rather than relying entirely on guessing and generic advice.  So I'm really looking forward to training this winter because I think I can make a jump this season.  Anyway, I read somewhere once that this happens to cyclists at my stage.