|
bmungo
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Ben
Gender: Male
Interests: Cycling, Cross-Country Skiing, Football (Soccer)
Expertise: Cycling, History, Football, Politics
Occupation: Student
Industry: Studentry
Message: message me
AIM:  benmungo3
Member Since:
6/15/2006
|
|
| That's pretty much the attitude I have to take with Arsenal these days. It was so disappointing; we dropped from top of the League by 5 points to third, out of all the Cups, and 6 points behind United in the League. So it goes.
On the bright side, all that training I did in the shitty weather (seriously, it rained 3 or 4 days a week) over the winter is paying off. I did 4 laps yesterday and averaged 19 or more overall, and 14-16 up the climbs. Better climbing legs FTW! Last Saturday Nat, my dad and I did a ride to Piermont, and I could definitely tell that my climbing is a hell of a lot better. I kept Nat, who is a great climber, in my sights on all of the climbs; I don't think I conceded more than 45 seconds or so to him on any climb - a big improvement from last year when he would just blow me out of the water.
School has been distinctly meh over the last few weeks. There doesn't seem to be any end in sight, and I know for a fact that I won't be prepared for the SAT because my parents have decided that we should go to Arizona <rolls eyes> over break. I mean, if we're going somewhere, we should at least go somewhere that doesn't involve driving 40-50% of the time. Just how I want to spend my vacation, in a car.
I leave for Spring State tomorrow, and I still have to pack, do Health homework, a Physics lab, and study for an AP US test. Fun. </complaining>
| | |
| I decided to write a little journal in my free time at the Lodge, so....
Day 1 (Saturday): Woke up really late (for me) and got to Viking at about 1 ish. First time out we did about 10 km, but not at a really high pace. I dropped everyone pretty easily (I don’t seem to have lost my skiing balance or strength). Did a short 2 km loop after lunch, dropped everyone quickly on the backside of the loop, finished about 4’ ahead. Then challenged Dad to a 1 km sprint race, got an early lead and held him off to win by 10”. Did a victory salute!
Day 2 (Sunday): Sooo sore. Did between 16 and 20 km at Wild Wings, beat Dad 5 (!) times; we were going pretty hard and I only opened up a gap right at the end. I really need some new poles and waxable skis. Skate skis would be better, but I need to learn how to skate first. Classical is so much slower. Dad suggested that we (and his friend Ben, who we call “Big Ben” [he’s 6’6”]) do the American Birkebeiner next year. I was a bit dubious, as I only ski about 4 or 5 times a year, and the Birke is 52 km in a day. He said that if I didn’t want to do the Birke, I could do the Korteloppet, which is only 26 km. I’m pretty sure that I could do the Korte pretty easily (I could have done another 10 km today if it was an organized event like the Korte or Birke; we only started skiing at 1 PM and I only paced myself for 20 km rather than 26 or more). I think I might do the Korte next year and the Birke the year after. While I’m not unaccustomed to jumping into things way over my head (before my first century the furthest I had ever ridden in a day was around 50 miles). Back to today, my metabolism/circulation has gotten much better; it was in the 20s all day but I took off my gloves (I had bare hands) for the last 6 km or so. I wasn’t that bad, although I got a small cut on my right hand from some ice after I fell (my sunglasses were very foggy after a lot of climbing). Slow skiers should be pushed to the side of the trail. Three (!!!) times today I was slowed down by mad n00bs. The first time I intentionally fell so I wouldn’t crash into the back of this lady who was going like 14 kph on a looong descent, while I was going near 30 kph. The second time I had to squeeze through a tiny gap on the left side of the trail after two guys decided to stop and chat in the middle of a descent. The third time I was level with someone just as we reached the bottom of a very short climb and I was going 5 kph or more faster than he/she was. Why are people so averse to bombing down descents? That’s the best part of XC; pwning people while in an aerodynamic tuck and screaming around 90˚ turns. :D
Day 3 (Monday): Terrible weather all day. It was in the 40s and rainy, so we didn’t bother to go skiing (believe me, it would have sucked). Chilled in the Lodge and went to Bellows Falls for lunch. I got a cool Frisbee from Sam’s; it’s “the compact version” of the world record holder for the furthest thrown round object (or something like that). Nat bought the same thing in Bar Harbor on the ATM trip, and it was really cool. The only problem with it is that it takes almost no effort to throw it really far, so that other people, who don’t know how far it goes, tend to be overzealous in their throws. We went to a sports bar for lunch, and although the food wasn’t great, we played some pool, which was fun. When we got back, we all went outside (it was still raining) and made an … interesting snowman. He is quite voluminous and has many sticks for a moustache, giving him the look of a French gentleman. After that we pelted each other with snowballs for a while and tried to snowboard/surf down the hill on sleds. Claire was the best, and developed a technique where she faced the front of the sled and used the string (normally used to pull the sled) to control the direction of the sled. I tried it once and fell flat on my face, so I went back to the “normal” surfing/snowboarding position, which is harder to balance in, but safer to fall from. Anyway, I hope the weather is better tomorrow, because only 2 days of skiing would REALLY suck. :-/
Day 4 (Tuesday): Interesting day overall. Got up at about 9:30, but we only hit the road at 12ish because my Dad and I were playing with Edward (the 2 1/2 year old son of Big Ben and his wife Cathy; he's the cutest toddler ever, seriously). Went to Mountain Meadows up near Killington and got some good father-son bonding done in the car (I love just chatting with my dad, he's a very intelligent and funny guy). We actually drove for a couple of miles on one of the roads I rode on the ATM trip (VT State route 131, I think) and we climbed the Proctorsville Gulf. Skiied around 14 k in pretty poor skiing conditions, very icy the first lap we did, although the inner loop was better. MtM has some pretty good descents, even though they aren't very steep. Nice and technical, and I went over 30 kph on one of them :) Fast descending FTW! Tried a bit of skate-skiing, which is really fast and fun, although difficult without skate-specific boots, poles and skis. I might have to rent (yuck) skate skis and boots a couple of times to get the technique down before buying a full skating package. Quick rant: Snowshoers who walk in ski tracks should be shot. The first lap on the outer loop I fell twice because snowshoers had trampled all over the ski trail. After the first lap it was OK because we did the inner loop first and by the time we did the outer one again they had re-groomed it and filled most of the holes with (relatively) fresh snow. Once again it was very warm outside after skiing for a few ks (it was 25˚ with a little wind) and I skied without gloves for most of the day (its a nice feeling actually, because my metabolism is high enough to keep me warm). I've completely stopped wearing coats while skiing, all three days I just wore a few cycling base layers, arm and leg warmers, and a jersey and ski tights over top. Its much faster (aerodynamics) and more comfortable (better range of motion and feeling for the trail) than a huge puffy jacket and snowpants. We're going home tomorrow....I always wish we could stay longer, but as they say, Que sera, sera.
Day 5 (Wednesday): Back home again now, kinda bored but more concerned about my wisdom teeth getting pulled tomorrow. Apparently its possible that I could lose feeling in my lower jaw permanently if they pull them out and the nerves get torn or something.... ...hopefully that won't happen. Anyway, about today, we packed up pretty quickly, checked on our trees (the owner of Alyson's Orchard who owns the Lodge as well, a Mr. Bob Jasse gave us these metal tags to put on trees, so they're "ours" now, sort of), said goodbye to everybody and left by about 11ish. Stopped in Walpole and picked up some chocolate for Mom (a chocolate Mouse and a chocolate Penguin). On the way to Brattleboro, we (Dad and I) heard an fascinating discussion of Machiavelli's The Prince (of course we were listening to Public Radio, being the nerds that we are) in which several different interpretations of his work were discussed (I won't delve into them, it would take too long). Didn't buy anything at Sam's in Brattleboro (very unusual for us) but we got a half-gallon of maple syrup at the Food Co-op (it will probably last 2 or 3 weeks :P). I slept a lot on the drive back, and that's pretty much it for Ski Week '08. I can't wait 'till next year!
I, for one, certainly did not expect the former Road World Champion (Zolder, 2002) Mario Cipollini to actually return to pro cycling, but he has, with the most despicable of teams: Rock Racing. The team owner Michael Ball, who owns the Rock & Republic fashion label, knows absolutely f--- all about cycling, but thinks he can actually set up and effectively DS (DS = directeur sportif, the team manager) a team. Anyway, I've always liked Cipo and I really wish him the best even though I'd rather have seen him return with Liquigas or Lampre-Fondital.
I'm not going to discuss Arsenal's 4-0 drubbing away to Man U in the FA Cup. Any time Bendtner is in the starting lineup, I expect us to lose. He is f---ing useless. On a happier note, Petacchi has won two stages of the Ruta del Sol, bringing his season total up to 3 wins, and February isn't even over yet. Zabel finished a strong 3rd in the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve (Yes, I know, you think that the "ao" is a mistake. Its not, the race is in Portugal).
I think that's a suitably long post for just about a week of craziness and fun. Now, back to worrying about my wisdom teeth getting pulled.
-Ben
| | |
| Alliteration FTW!  Though, to be honest, this entry will cover a little more than a week. I'm such a politician.
Weekend Before Last (2/2 and 2/3): I don't remember much except for Sunday...Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-1 and I went to the Saturday Kitchen...Then Sunday was the Super Bowl! Fantastic game which was the best Super Bowl game I have ever seen, and included the best SB play (Manning to Tyree) I've ever seen....incredible stuff! World Champions!
Last Week (2/4 through 2/7): Last Tuesday was the day that was 60˚ IN FEBRUARY. I did 40 k in a short sleeve jersey and bib shorts. I don't think its ever been that warm in FEBRUARY. Finally got to using my 53-tooth big ring to its full potential. The form seems to be coming, I felt solid on the climbs and I kept a very high pace on the flats. Did 40k again on Thursday, even though the temperature had dropped about 15˚. In Health we did lots of random stuff, including watching the Giants' parade on Tuesday. The only other thing that I recall from last week was that about 10% of all my classes were empty because of the Junior College Trip stomach virus.
Last Weekend (2/8 through 2/10): WINTER CONGRESS!!!!!! Friday- pretty good, we had a nice bus ride down to D.C. and some good speakers on the Speakers' Program. We were in one of the House Office Buildings, and we heard from Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a diplomat from the PLO, one of the Directors of the America-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, a guy who studies asymmetrical warfare and political
movements, and a former staffer on the Giuliani Campaign for President. Saturday and Sunday- Spoke four times, twice in support of my bill, once in opposition to a bill which tightened security on the Mexican border (I talked about the causes of Mexican and Central American immigration and why it would be stupid to increase security) and once in opposition to a bill which demanded the retroactive repeal of anti-sodomy laws (I said that it was unconstitutional because Article 1, Section 9 states that there may be no ex post facto laws passed by Congress). For once I actually did homework while at a State Convention, but I ended up working late on Sunday anyway...
This Week So Far (2/11 through 2/13): First week with tests this term. Had AP US on Monday (retake from missing Friday), and I OWNED THAT MOFO. 100.5! Health today was annoying, with a few tough questions. PreCal tomorrow, and I'm sure that Mr. Chen will pwn me once again. He has my number, it seems (boo bad pun). Rode 40 km in the snow yesterday, and it was a bit harder than I expected. A lot of my climbing style is reliant on getting out of the saddle, and this is hard when my rear wheel is slipping a bit on the snow. Most of the people who saw me must have thought that I was completely nuts, which, in truth, I probably am.
Alright, I have to study for this PreCal test and do my mentally challenged (P.C. for "retarded" -ed.) Health homework. Two more days 'till break and SKIING!! :D
-Ben
P.S. Since Val will be the only person who reads this, I'd just like to say, "Hi Val! I'll probably visit you Wednesday or Friday next week b/c I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Thursday. See you then!"
| | |
| Wow. I haven't typed anything here in about...8 months? Jeez. Quick Spring Schedule Rundown:
1)FREE!
2)AP Morality: my cohorts are still quite pretentious, and I'm mad at Mr. G for various reasons,
but I'm going to try to enjoy this class a little more.
3)PreCal (Chen): I have the Doctor again, thankfully. Not much to say about this, unnastannow!?!?
4)Lunch. Bleh. The only person I know this lunch period is Daniel Hyman-Cohen. Funny guy, but I'm sure we'll drive each other crazy over the course of the term. The Greatest of All Lunch Tables is a shadow of its former self.
5)Health (Garber): I'm going to try to transfer out of this ASAP and get 5th lunch. She's so...boring.
6)AP US (Stern): Its American History. What else needs to be said? :D
7)AP Latin - Vergil (Brockman): Was alright last term, but I don't like the sound of this term. She's actually going to give us more than ONE test!
8)Physics (Ali): Physics with Ali is always fun. I like this class. Too bad there won't be any m-g-etch this term. :(
9)Gym (Fisher): Not a Fisher fan myself, but I'll deal.
10)FREE!
| | |
| Ok, so I was wrong after all. Anyway, enjoy this video of Thierry's best goals for the Arsenal:
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wRSLeTRotY
A Different take on Henry's Departure:
http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=70941 | | |
|
