Seriously?

Cincy3 cyclocross races

2011-11-09T06:26:00.000-06:00

Good news: my body did alright with three cross races in three days.
Good news: on a course that was not to my liking at all (all uphill or downhill), I had a decent result.
Bad news: I feel like my legs are not firing on all cylinders.
Bad news: I crashed a lot...

Mike, Patrick, and I traveled to Cincinnati last weekend for the Cincy3 cross races. My goal in racing the elite 35 plus was to go as hard as I possibly could until I was totally cooked, then go a little harder.

I definitely accomplished that goal and had some fun along the way.

I started at the back of the field all three days and practiced getting aggressive to move forward quickly. That backfired a little on Saturday when the rider in front of me couldn't clip in, and I ran into him, putting both feet back on the ground.

I finished 18th of 30-some on Friday on a hilly, tough course in Covington, KY that was probably the hardest I've ever done.

On Saturday, the field was stacked with some of the top masters riders in the country. I was the last rider at the start but managed to move to 30th. Great rolling course in Middleton. Some racers were saying it was too fast - the pros were doing sub-6 minute laps - but it was a hoot!

On Sunday, I raced with Mike and Patrick. It was a surprisingly muddy course in Harbin Park. Again, I was trying to ride aggressively. With a tired body, that meant I crashed big-time FOUR times! Two full-out ass over teakettle endos, and two slide-outs, one where I hit my chin on my stem so hard I couldn't feel it, and another where I hit my head and was grateful for my helmet.

Even with those crashes I still finished just a minute behind Heenan. I rode, despite the down time, pretty well around the corners and technical parts. I passed a lot of riders in the technical parts, and there weren't enough long power sections to make up more ground.

Heenan now leads the cross clash 4-2. Maybe it's 5-2. Not sure any more. I'm going to be racing 45 plus, back with the other old guys, so I may have to concede the contest. It's been fun, and seems to have motivated Mike a bit.

Off to Louisville Friday morning. Not sure how the serious working pros do this. It would have to be a hard life to work all week, then fly or drive every weekend to another cross race for not much money.

Summer Poems #2, #3

2011-09-17T09:22:00.000-05:00

Mabel Loves Her Mom’s Cupcakes

When she makes the chocolate ones,

she adds a real-butter cream cheese frosting

on top, the kind Mabel loves. And Mabel,

being 9, doesn’t care about fat, only cares

that her mom sometimes adds chocolate chunks

to the cupcake batter. She lets Mabel use

the mixmaster to blend and a spatula to clean

the sides. She lets her husband lick the bowl.

And she always makes extra when she

has a party order and when those cupcakes

bake, she mixes the frosting with

one block of cream cheese,

one stick of butter,

a lot of powder sugar,

and just a teaspoon of vanilla.

Her mom has to make extra frosting since

Mabel will eat it right from the bowl.

That frosting is Mabel’s favorite part.

All My Eggs In One Basket

Half the eggs in my basket

cracked, spilling yolk off the cliff

until a whir of creamy river

cascaded into the valleys

of blackberries. My mother

ground the eggshells into a fine

powder, added it to a chocolate

milkshake. I drank deeply, licking

the inside edge for every last

drop, holding the remaining

eggs safely.

New Poems: Understanding the Human-Reptile Relationship

2011-09-12T19:06:00.000-05:00

Understanding the Human-Reptile Relationship

There are leaves on that turtle,

he only eats them while

slowly making his way across the road.

Does he know he’s in mortal peril? Cars

race past, oblivious to the plodding pace

or the intricate design on his belly,

unaware that this turtle is a superhero

in turtle town, having made the trip across

County Highway G on four separate

occasions just to get upstream and float

down to his cheering pals. No, the humans

do not hear the cheering throngs

on this side of the road. Neither,

for that matter, does the turtle,

being, as he is, in the zone,

one step at a time.

Parts for Sale

2011-09-05T10:54:00.000-05:00

Building up a cross bike?

Parts For Sale List

Contact: Paul Warloski (pwarloski@gmail.com)

I can bring parts to races or meet you.

FSA Energy 42cm road handlebars $30

TRP Magnesium brake set $150

SRAM Force brake set $40

Specialized Phenom saddle 143 $40

3T ARX-Pro Stem 120mm $25

FSA OS99 stem 120mm $15

SRAM Force compact crankset 50/34 175mm $140

SRAM Force front clamp-on derailleur $30

Thule wheel holders with notch (4) $20 each. Nearly new.

http://www.thule.com/en-US/US/Products/Bike-Carriers/Accessories/13696

Make Offer:

Shimano 500EX brake set (well-used)

Fizik Arione saddle (well-used)

Dura-Ace crank set 53-39 172.5 (well-used)

American Classic seat post 27.4 (well-used)

Speedplay Zero pedals blue (well-used)

Dura-Ace clamp-on front derailleur (well-used)

Ultegra rear derailleur (well-used)

10-speed chains 2 (well-used)

9-speed chain 1 (well-used)

CBX Pro cowhorn TT bars with Profile Design brakes, profile design extensions with Shimano bar-end shifters. (well-used)

Three ancient but usable roof rack trays (well-used)

Yakima towers (4) for Nissan Versa (compact)

Yakima bars (2) for Nissan Versa (compact)

Yakima fairing

Front Wheel: Mavic Reflex Rim with Chris King hub that needs overhaul. (well-used and ancient)

Rear Wheel: Mavic Open Pro Rim with 105 hub (well-used and ancient)

Strange Winds

2011-08-28T06:59:00.000-05:00

In Milwaukee this morning, it's beautiful. 70 degrees, blue sky, calm.

On the east coast, though, Hurricane Irene continues to batter people with high winds and heavy rain.

That kind of surreal difference is an appropriate metaphor for the Sunday before the start of school tomorrow.

It's quiet in my house, I'm drinking coffee and eating my oatmeal at a leisurely pace. Tomorrow I will be rushing to get on my bike in time to make it to school.

The kids show up Thursday, and by then I'll be out of my mind excited and ready. The first three days of teacher school drive me crazy. They're necessary - meetings, preparation, discussion - but that's only a cloud until the stormburst of kids shows up Thursday morning.

They'll be scared, excited, sad to see summer end and school start. The usual bundle of conflicting emotions. Little hurricanes.

Meanwhile, today, I'm watching the weather channel for updates. Good friends are riding the storm out, and I'm worried for their safety. The calamity of Katrina in New Orleans is still too fresh in my memory.

Unlike my students, there's not much good that comes out of a hurricane, especially one that crushes major cities like Irene.

For me today, it's all about waiting and preparing. The wonderful storm that is a new group of 7th graders starts Thursday. As I fine tune my lessons, I'll keep an eye on the weather and keep praying for the safety of the people on the east coast.

Cyclocross Saved My Life

2011-08-14T12:23:00.000-05:00

It’s Always a Good Day to Ride – A New Column by Paul Warloski

Posted by robbie on 5/02/11 • Categorized as Featured,rider diary

Paul Warloski is back on his bike, re-learning the ropes. Photo: courtesy

Cyclocross Magazine would like to welcome new columnist Paul Warloski, who like many of us, has a passion for cyclocross. Only for him, this passion nearly consumed his life, literally. Follow Paul as he takes us along for a ride of trials and tribulations of a cyclocrosser with a refreshed perspective.
’Cross Saved My Life but Racing Damn Near Killed Me
by Paul Warloski

Cyclocross saved my life.

And at the same time, ’cross nearly destroyed what was left of my sanity.

I have been racing on the road for 20-some years, mostly in masters categories as a cat. 4 or 3. But when I discovered ’cross five years ago, I was hooked hard. I won several races as a 4, upgraded, did well in the masters 40 plus events, and started to work on getting serious about it.

In the fall of 2008, I was starting to overcome some asthma problems when I broke my collarbone in a freak crash in a ’cross race. I started training soon for the 2009 season, lifting weights, doing long base rides, and adding in some tempo.

And on a long March 2009 training ride from Milwaukee around Waterford, I was 100 yards from stopping at a local gas station for a break and to call my coach to tell him how ridiculously good I was feeling already in the season.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I was the only vehicle on the road, dressed in a red and yellow kit.
Next thing I know, I was on the ground, fighting for my life. In a split second, a young man in a large pick-up truck broadsided me as he turned left into my path.

I was thrown 20 to 30 feet, my shattered femur came through the skin and a hand-sized chunk of thigh skin and muscle was partially scooped out. I also broke my shoulder, tore the labrum and rotator cuff.

For some reason, I saw the femur and literally tried to push it back into my skin. That didn’t work.

I spent eight days in the hospital and two months away from my 7th grade students, first getting in-home therapy, then going to physical therapy three times a week. I know now I was lucky to survive. If the crash hadn’t occurred in front of a convenience store with many people there to assist me and stop the bleeding, or if the truck had been moving slightly faster, or a myriad of other what-ifs, I would have died.

My friend Mike and I went later to pick up what was left of my bike. I nearly got sick when I saw it.

The doctors did not expect me to walk normally again. And they cautioned me that I would likely never race my bike again.

’Cross season was coming in six months, and they told me I wouldn’t race again?

Right.

I managed about six races that first year, mostly to spite the doctors and have a focus for getting through rehab, until the pain in my knee, where pins still held the titanium rod in place, grew too great as I was trying to get up the stairs at the USGP in Louisville.

In 2010, though, I started to feel like a cyclocross racer again; but on some days, I grew critical of myself and upset at the lack of results, especially when I told myself I should do well at a particular course.

And now the pressure was greater because I needed to be back where I was before the crash. I’ve never been good with people telling me what I can or can’t do. I worked so damn hard in PT that they told me slow down. I needed to get back on the bike. I needed to race.

That has been my life-long “problem” with bike racing: I measure success in results, and then I become frustrated and angry with myself when I don’t do as well as I expect. The problem was that I needed to race to prove something to myself, to show myself and those around me that I could be successful at this. And so I put incredible pressure on myself to be successful, and I was one crabby, morose dude when the race didn’t go as I “planned.”

This column will not be the story of some kind of miraculous recovery, or a greeting card reminder of how valuable life is, or even a testament to hard work.

Instead, I will be documenting a year of training: not just my body, but my mind and emotions. I will be training myself all year to work as hard as I can and race ’cross as well as I can. I will train myself to work hard to ride fast and enjoy whatever success comes my way. I will work to eliminate the expectations and the “shoulds” when I get on the bike.

And that’s it. I will work to have no expectations of myself other than to race well and hard and have fun. I will work to celebrate any result, when, in the past, I would have beat myself up for not finishing on the podium.

So to start 2011, I’ll write this on a card that will hang on my mirror and stay in my race bag: Cyclocross is the most fun I can have on two wheels.

And thanks for reading. Drop me a comment with your hugs or hate.

Paul Warloski races cyclocross for the My Wife Inc. cyclocross team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is 47 and a middle school English teacher. He was nearly killed in a 2009 crash when a large pick-up truck broadsided him on a training ride. In this column, he is documenting a year learning how to be positive and content regardless of results as well as physical training. He maintains an irregular blog at http://warloski.blogspot.com.
Photo Gallery:

Orange Hair and Peaking

2011-08-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

Orange Hair and Peaking – A Column by Paul Warloski

In 2005, I was having a very good year racing on the road. My training seemed to finally come together, and I found myself in several breaks in 40-plus events. I wasn’t winning, but I was consistently placing top 5 against some very good company.

But as the season points added up, I could feel the pressure get to my head. I started missing the key breaks, missing out on points. The expectations I placed on myself caused so much inner turmoil that I freaked out on the bike, my legs and good form turning to concrete.

By the time Wisconsin’s Superweek came around in July, I knew I had to take a significant step to lighten the mood: so as a 41-year-old man, I dyed my hair orange.

Bright orange.

It still didn’t work. I had a few days of decent racing, but it was mostly a very frustrating experience.

Then, and during the following season, I realized I wasn’t having any fun racing my bike. Racing had become a battle against myself, a battle I was losing.

When I started racing cyclocross five years ago, I thought it was the answer. I was having a great time riding my bike in the mud and grass, falling over and laughing.

I was having a great time until I started to win in the 4s in 2008. By the time the state championships rolled around that year, I managed to build up enough pressure in my head that I had my worst race of the season, psyching myself completely out of the event.

I don’t think even orange hair would have helped.

And in 2010, one year after the crash, when I should have been glad to just ride my bike around in the mud, the same self-critical pressure returned. As soon as I finished well in the first races of the year, the siren of expectations dashed the “fun quotient” against the rocks. Races that I came in feeling physically strong after good training weeks were the races I finished poorly in, all because I expected to challenge for the win.

I expected results even though I hadn’t been able to train most of the year because I was still rehabbing my thigh and knee. I expected results even though I still run awkwardly up hills and over barriers.
And I had these unreasonable expectations even though I was just 20-some months away from a life-threatening accident where one of my legs was shattered.

Clearly there is an issue here for me!

As well-trained athletes, we expect so much of our bodies and our minds. We expect to bounce back after crashes and hard rides. We expect that if we put the training time in, we should get results. And sometimes we end up measuring ourselves by our results, and if those results don’t come, we are somehow lesser people.

And that is the point of this year of training. I will train my mind and heart to enjoy what I can do that day, to view whatever result I get as a success. Given my long history of beating myself up for failing to meet my impossibly high expectations, it is a challenging task.

My coach, who you will meet as Coach Crusty, wrote it down for future reference: “Warloski will work on staying positive all year.” I am getting some help and doing a lot of work to make this mental and emotional shift.

Whenever I have peaked for certain events throughout my cycling career, I have done poorly. So there will be no peaking to my training this year. I will race some road events, some mountain bike events, some time trials throughout the spring and summer. Each of those races will be good training and good days to be on the bike.

And by the fall, when the real season starts, when we again get to ride in mud and grass like kids, I will simply be able to ride faster than I could in the summer.

I am not going to peak for nationals, even though nationals are just down the road in Madison. Sure, I want to do well, but it is just another race. I will prepare as best I can. But at nationals, it will be just a good day (although cold) to race.

Today, at the gym, I was tired. I could not lift as much as usual. So I had a chance to practice choosing my attitude: I lifted what I could today. I kept telling myself, it was a good day to lift.

And tomorrow, I get to ride my bike in the basement and watch movies. Even in the basement, it is a good day to ride.

And I won’t need orange hair to ride anywhere.

Mad Cross Skillz

2011-08-14T12:19:00.000-05:00

It’s Always a Good Day to Ride: Learning to Trust the Bike and Find Those Mad ’Cross Skillz

Following Russell’s Wheel: Learning to Trust the Bike and Find Those Mad ’Cross Skillz
by Paul Warloski

Like most riders who come to ’cross from the road, I sometimes struggle with technical skills.

I’ve learned a lot in the past five years. Yet I still grab too much brake, don’t trust my tires enough, and slow down too much before barriers and corners.

The remedy this season? Lots of practice in a park nearby and lots of mountain bike riding.

Before the crash, I definitely had more power than technical skill. I’d sometimes get the hole shot, then crash into the first barrier. I’ve needed be extra friendly to riders I took out in those crashes!

After the truck collision in 2009 though, I have to learn to get everything out of my body that I can. I can’t run quickly up hills or through sand. My legs and hips just don’t move very solidly any longer.

On a reasonably mild Sunday in January, I went on a mountain bike ride with Russell J. and several other local riders, the local “mofos.” We started in Hoyt Park in Wauwatosa, just outside of Milwaukee. The trails wind along the Milwaukee River on both sides, and snow was deep enough in some places to make the riding a bit sketchy.

It was my first time on a mountain bike in a group for a long time. And even though it was an easy group ride for most, I had to really concentrate on cornering to not hold up the other riders.

And like many of us, when I concentrated too much, got too tense, I forgot how to drive the bike. I was forcing corners and slowing down too much through corners. When I relaxed and just let the bike go, I felt better through the corners.

I remembered my first mountain bike race back in the 90s. I had zero idea what I was doing, and I fell more times into trees than I ever wanted to do. Even a few years ago, when my road skills and power had improved, I still couldn’t drive the bike, I fell over multiple times in mountain bike races at the southern Kettle Morraine.

At the end of the group ride, most people drifted to their cars. I wanted to ride more. Russell suggested a back loop. I decided, since Russell is a skilled mountain bike racer, to glue myself to his wheel, study his lines, and pay attention to nothing but his rear tire.

So we took off. I rode around trees and through snow faster than I ever had before. As I removed the thinking from my own brain and just followed Russell’s wheel, I flowed through corners and up and down the small hills.

I let the bike ride free on the trails, just pedaling. I set my critical self on the ground back in the parking lot. I allowed myself to just trust the bike and tires. I felt so good I even forgot to watch Russell duck to avoid a low-hanging branch.

I plan on riding the mountain bike a lot in 2011. I plan on doing many of the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) and the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series (WEMS) events. I plan to ride the mountain bike at least once a week, learning to corner and descend smoothly and quickly.

Plus, the mountain bike scene in Wisconsin is pretty laid back. My goal is to ride hard, have fun, and enjoy the after-party with new friends.

If I can learn to navigate trails on the mountain bike, barriers, corners, descents, and off-camber courses will be much simpler, and I will be able to make up time that I lose on uphill run-ups.

And in addition to the mountain bike riding, I’ll be spending a lot of time this summer on the ’cross bike. Mike Heenan, who runs the “my wife inc” cyclocross team, has a set of PVC barriers. I’ll drag him and other teammates out to Mitchell Park and practice my skills so I can run through barriers like Tim Johnson and carve corners like Todd Wells.

I want to be able to ride my ’cross bike like I was following Russell’s wheel on trail.

WFQ Points

2011-08-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

It’s Always a Good Day to Ride: Chase Fun, Not Points

Chasing the WFQ Points This Year
by Paul Warloski

Actually, I was a little embarrassed.

I stood in front of friends and fellow racers at the Wisconsin Cycling Association’s cyclocross banquet, holding a trophy.

Fifth place overall 2011 WCA in 45 plus.

The trophy is a guy standing next to a bike. It has my name on it. The trophy is ceramic or something. I know that because of what I’ll tell you at the end of the story.

During the season, I made sure I raced every race in the series, even races I don’t like, just to maintain my spot in the points for the trophy. To me it was purely a symbolic and tangible piece of evidence that I could still race my bike, just 18 months after the crash.

Since the doctors said I probably wouldn’t be able to race again, I had to prove them wrong. And to finish in the top five overall would be the proof.

So the 2010 season was a Groundhogs Day of sorts: I usually finished around the same people every race. My goal every race was to stay with Ferguson for as long as possible. That usually lasted a few hundred yards.

To be sure, the competition for the fifth place overall spot with Dave E. was a good time. We’d duke it out every race, and usually the race came down to who won our two-up competition and won trash talk rights for the next week.

Here’s the problem, though: While I have a lot of friends on the ’cross circuit, I didn’t go on ’cross racing trips with my good friends on my team: my wife inc. racers Mike and Ross traveled to Cincinnati and Louisville for races while I stayed home to chase points.

They went to Chicago for fun races while I stayed home to chase points.

For me, chasing the points wasn’t about having fun with different people. Chasing points was pressure to prove my “value” to myself; it was another way to put pressure on myself to perform.

Most of us have done the same thing, pursuing an overall points total as a barometer of our worth as a bike racer, even, like me, of our worth as a person.

That’s the whole point of this year of new post-crash attitude: this year it’s seriously all about chasing points for the Warloski Fun Quotient (WFQ).

While it’s always fun to talk with different people at races, traveling with your “crew” on road trips is something else. Our trips to Ohio and Cincinnati the previous year were epic. We didn’t party up a storm or have wild stories to tell. Those road trips are just damn fun, high on the WFQ.

And in planning the 2011 season, I’m going to race my bike as often as my body will allow. The only points I’m going to chase are the WFQ points. I’m going to find the most fun, unique courses and events and spend my time there.

For instance, on a whim last year, I went down to Carpentersville, IL for a Chicago Cup race. It was a hoot, especially an off-camber hill turn. High WFQ points.

I will steadfastly refuse to precisely define the WFQ; The WFQ is anything that makes a ’cross race a good time. Circles of Death are not high on the WFQ list.

The WCA series this year has a bunch of new races and as one of the committee members, I get to help “shape” the courses. My only goal will be to raise the fun quotient for everyone!

(The only downside to being on the Cross Committee is a certain obligation to race WCA races. This year, though, if the race doesn’t meet the WFQ, I’m not going! Sorry, guys…)

And if I’m tired and need a break, I’m going to take one. It’s going to be a wonderfully long season.

From September to January. I can give myself WFQ points for taking a mountain bike ride in November and missing a race.

So far this year, I’ve made a schedule of all the possible road races, crits, time trials, and mountain bike races in the area. If I’ve been tired or not feeling ready to race, I didn’t go. Yes, I missed out on seeing friends at the events. But I could ride with friends in Milwaukee.

At the WCA cross banquet back in January, I asked friend Mike and and his wife Jessica to the ’cross banquet to celebrate my fifth place. Mike is the director of our my wife inc cyclocross team, and Jessica is the head sponsor.

Talk about anti-climatic.

I stood there with my trophy, now embarrassed that I worked that hard for this piece of ceramic or whatever it’s made of, sheepish that I dragged Mike and Jess along with me.

A week ago, sometime in the night, I heard a crash in my house. A framed poster of the mwi Cross the Domes race had fallen and knocked over the fifth place trophy. It had fallen to the floor, breaking off the man’s helmeted head.

It seemed an appropriate metaphor for my changed state of mind: The trophy was all about my head needing validation by scoring points. To continue the metaphor, I’m now just riding my ’cross bike, gaining valuable WFQ points, and drinking a beer with my friends when the racing is done.

And that is living at its finest.

Thanks for reading.

Finding Perspective

2011-08-14T12:14:00.000-05:00

It’s Always A Good Day To Ride: Finding Perspective

Finding Perspective: How To Play That Hand (or Bike) That You Were Given
by Paul Warloski

Although I’m no longer going to win any prizes for prettiest legs, the crash that nearly took my life has offered a surprising gift.
The day I was brought in by ambulance, the doctors took me into surgery immediately, the first of four, and I spent eight days in the hospital.

Many friends and family members came to visit, and in the first few days, memories of their visits were a little fuzzy.

On the fifth day, Jay L. visited me. I had known Jay from the track at Kenosha and from the various group rides around Milwaukee, but I didn’t know him well. So when he arrived, I was a bit surprised.

But Jay knew exactly how I was feeling. A decade earlier, Jay, a serious Cat. 2 racer, was hit by a semi truck and dragged underneath it. Most of the muscles in his right leg were literally scraped off. I knew the story and could see Jay’s mangled leg when he rode.

But Jay didn’t come to compare war stories. He simply told me what happened to him and what happened after his accident. He told me about the multiple surgeries and constant pain and therapy.
Jay still rides many Tuesday nights at the Kenosha track, spends his summer racing the Wisconsin Off-Road series, doing long group rides, riding at Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park, and enjoying the camaraderie of his friends on bikes. He loves riding anything on two wheels and has raised his son Nate with the same kind of love of cycling.

Jay loves riding his bike regardless how fast he is or how much he measures up in a race.

And when Jay visited that day, he was also letting me know that I was in for a long recovery, that I would never be the same kind of cyclist, that I could expect a painful and challenging therapy.

Everything was going to change, and everything was going to take a long time, much longer than I’d ever expect.

He could never have prepared me for what was coming.

Therapy began for me at the hospital on the third day. The PTs had me walking to the bathroom and doing small steps with crutches. I had to learn how to walk again.

In the first four weeks, a PT visited me at home. I did everything he asked me to do and more, and when he left, I did more, stretch bands, rubber balls, simply raising and lowering my leg, firing the hamstring and quad muscles.

By the second or third visit, I was so sore from all the extra work I was doing, the therapist scolded me and told me I had to slow down or I wouldn’t make any progress.

But my identity was so wrapped up in being a cyclist that I had to push myself harder than ever. I couldn’t teach, I couldn’t ride my bike. What the hell was I?

Once I “graduated” from in-home care, Kim took over the physical therapy. I made more progress than the doctors ever expected due to Kim’s work and my stubbornness and determination. And when my leg was healed enough for me to walk without crutches or a walker, the doctors operated on my shoulder, repairing a broken humerus, torn labrum, and torn rotator cuff.

Therapy for the shoulder was a lot more painful and arduous than my leg. There were days Kim had me in tears both because the pain was so great and because we seemed to only make incremental progress.

Formal physical therapy ended, and I kept on with lifting and riding. That fall, six months after the crash, the my wife inc crew traveled down to Jackson Park in Chicago for the first Chicago Cross Cup race. My only goal was to finish and not be lapped by the 40 plus leaders. I managed to finish in the top 30. It hurt a lot, and I had to stop and walk over the barriers, but I finished!

I raced several times in 2009, mostly in the Cat 3s, finishing near the back of the field, but still finishing unlapped. In Cincinnati, I had several good finishes including a surprising top five in the 45 plus.

My knee, with the pins still in it, was really starting to hurt. So when mwi went to Louisville, and I had a hard time climbing the steep flyover stairs, I decided to call it a season.

My thoughts often returned to Jay throughout the season. “It’s a long process, Paul,” he kept saying. “Be easy on yourself.”

And again in the 2010 season, when the demons of expectations and self-criticism emerged full force that I wrote about in the last column, Jay kept reminding me about the long process and that I get to ride my bike again. I’ve been given that: I can still ride. I’m alive. I have two legs that work and can pedal.

In this off-season, while I put in the base miles and the time in the gym, Jay’s perspective is part of my mental and emotional training.

The results don’t matter. What matters is how hard you race, how much joy you bring to a race, how high is the fun quotient.

This fall, I want to ride my ’cross bike with the legs I have now.

We are just little boys and girls riding our bikes in grass, sand, dirt, and, hopefully, mud. We ride our bikes for fun.

Thanks for reading.

Feeling the Flow

2011-08-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

It’s Always a Good Day to Ride: Feeling the Flow – Or Learning Not to Think

Flow – Or Learning Not to Think
by Paul Warloski

I dragged my friend Angie up to a Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike (WEMS) race in Green Bay in early June. As part of my new training focus for ’cross, I’m riding a lot more on the mountain bike to work on my technical skills.

Riding for three hours seemed like a great way to practice. I had no intention to be aggressive and serious about racing. I didn’t pre-ride the course, I didn’t even warm up.

The Suamico course was a lot of fun: a nice balance of singletrack and fire roads. When the race started LeMans-style, I leisurely jogged up to the bike.

Once on the bike, though, the competitive instincts kicked in, and I jammed into a big gear and passed as many people as I could.

Since I wasn’t really racing, I wasn’t very aggressive in getting around a racer who was pretty slow in the singletrack. So I just pedaled, getting used to the trail.

The weather, which had already been November-cold for May, turned worse, spitting rain. It felt like ’cross weather, and I was happy!

I passed a lot of people, and was only passed by one guy, an elite racer. I plowed through the middle of the mud puddles because that was the most fun. The whole day, despite the cold and my increasingly frozen feet, was very high on the WFQ (Warloski Fun Quotient)!

I really concentrated in the single-track, especially in the corners. I thought about minimizing braking, on carving through a corner with my outside foot pushing down hard, on looking ahead, not down.

The hours spent at Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike park this winter seemed to pay off. I felt more comfortable in the technical stuff than ever.

By the third and last lap, I think I was beginning to see things that weren’t really there. The course was a little twisty as it turned back on itself. I swear there was a rider just ahead of me. So I rode a little harder, trying to trick myself into not thinking as much through the corners.

I never caught him. At the finish, I saw a guy in the same kit, but he told me he finished several minutes ago. I’ve been told that people doing 24-hour and 12-hour races start to “see” things in the woods. If I had done the six-hour, I might have been seeing the pink elephants.

After the race, Angie and I talked about the race. At one point, she said she loved just being able to not think at all during the race, just ride.

Huh? Not think? I was analyzing every corner, trying to figure out how to ride it. I asked her about that. She told me she just rides with a clear mind.

Angie’s ride sounds zen-ish, emptying your mind, purposefully not thinking. I’ve practiced zen before, mostly with little success. I have, to put it mildly, a lot of energy, and I’ve never had much success sitting still, much less quieting my brain.

I want to learn to be mind-less on the bike, enjoying and living in the moment, losing the expectations. (I promise I’m not going to get all new-agey, Dr. Phil on you.) I want to learn to just have fun while racing as hard as I can.

At the yoga class I take to be more flexible, I’m focusing more on breathing instead of the physical movement.

I’m learning to rewire my brain to accept the results that come, rather than focus on getting results.
Part of my goal this year is to just ride my bike and be more like Angie, not think when I corner or ride through the technical stuff. Some of that is being more comfortable, of course, as I get technically better on the mountain bike with practice.

I want to be more mindful — or maybe it’s mindlessness — as I ride. Or maybe it’s a different sense of purpose: changing how I think about what I do.

And keeping positive is a lot easier when I’m rested. I recently did a weekly group ride on Thursdays called the “Beat Down.” I’ve been riding a lot, lifting heavy three days a week to build my strength back up, plus teaching squirrel-y seventh graders at the end of the school year. I’ve been tired, just on the good edge of over-training.

Pre-crash, I was always at the front of the Beat Down. On the first ride of the season, I didn’t last half of it in the front group, and I struggled to get back to my car in one piece. And again the next week, I took the short cut home after getting dropped because my legs were so thick.

I allowed myself a moment or two of self-pity for what had been, then changed how I was thinking: I kept telling myself this was one of those survival, “that which does not kill you, makes you stronger” kind of rides. I pictured how much stronger I was getting with all the hard training.

I was so tired after the ride, I couldn’t think. I got lost driving home. I suppose that is one way to enter mindlessness: ride yourself into the ground.

And I know my teammates and friends will tell me I have no problem being mindless; I just want it to happen more on the bike while I’m racing.

So the mindlessness is a goal for the year. Learn to just pedal the bike in that moment while riding as fast as I can.

At least I’m not sitting, trying to calm my mind, staring at a wall.

Thanks for reading.

When To Ignore Coach Crusty’s Program

2011-08-14T12:08:00.000-05:00

It’s Always A Good Day To Ride: When To Ignore Coach Crusty’s Program

Posted by molly on 8/06/11 • Categorized as Featured,rider diary

Cyclocross Magazine columnist Paul Warloski profiles his return to cyclocross after a near-devastating injury. Follow Paul as he takes us along for a ride of trials and tribulations of a cyclocrosser with a refreshed perspective. If you missed it, check out Paul’s last column, Flow – Or Learning Not to Think.

When to Ignore Coach Crusty’s Program
by Paul Warloski
It was one of those rare days this summer in Wisconsin: sunny, 75 degrees, mild winds. I was camping with a buddy in Boulder Junction, home of some beautiful woodsy roads and trails.

My friend was going fishing, and I was headed out on the ride. The training program told me to ride zone 2 for 80 minutes.

When I returned, my friend asked me where I’d been.

“Riding. Why?”

“You’ve been gone three and a half hours!” And since I’d forgotten the bike computer at home, I had zero data on heart rate and power.

It had been an incredible ride. I found some dirt roads leading into the middle of a forest, another road that turned from dirt into two inches of sand.

I had a lot of practice riding through sand that day. I learned to sit back a little and power through it. If I could manage riding through sand on road tires, I’m excited about what I can do with ’cross tires.

The next day, I was scheduled for LT intervals, six intervals of five minutes each at just below threshold power with another 45 minutes of zone 2 riding.

Oops. Again, over three hours later, I came back. I found another dirt road and found some amazing paved trails around Boulder Junction. I rode hard on flat roads, powered up steep hills and coasted the downhills. On one part of the trail, I rode quickly in a light gear, getting my heart rate up and carving all the corners.

It was a blast. And none of it was on the training program.

Coach Crusty (whose real name is Craig) and most other coaches, will always tell their client to not be slaves to the program. I pay Craig, though, to simply tell me what to do so I don’t have to think.
I’ve been working with Craig for about four years. His nickname is Crusty because he’s a bit of a curmudgeon. But I love him, he’s a damn good coach, and his approach with me has worked. We have also become friends along the way.

Minutes before the crash that nearly killed me, I wanted to stop and call Craig to tell him how good I was feeling already in March. My legs were tired and thick from lifting and riding, but it was one of those days when you just know you’re going to have a little something, a little snap, that season.

And after the crash, Craig has been carefully and slowly bringing me back. He has had me in the gym a lot, doing traditional lifting and a lot of functional training. He’s had me put a lot of base miles in at a zone 2 or 3 pace to rebuild my aerobic system. He’s listened often to complaining how tired I was or how slow the recovery was going.

And always he’d remind me of what had happened to me and that recovery would take time.

Sometimes, we cyclists get a little fixated on data and our training plan rather than going out and just riding. Sometimes, we just have to leave the power meter at home and ride.

Some days, I love nothing more than pointing my bike in one direction, getting lost, then riding to find my way home. It’s important to bring your phone and some money for those days because they can turn into epic long rides. Or I go out to the Kettle Moraine Park or Crystal Ridge to just ride the mountain bike.

And those rides are usually the ones highest on the WFQ (Warloski Fun Quotient) so I can give myself a lot of points! The rides in Boulder Junction were huge on the WFQ scale.

Even when there are specific intervals to do, I still can ride aimlessly to find interesting places to visit. I don’t do enough of that now.

So after I put in a lot of miles up north, I’m listened to my body and took a rest day, pedaling my commuter bike to the coffee shop to write.

Maybe the pros aren’t able to approach their training like this and still be successful. Most of us aren’t pros, though. We race cyclocross because it’s the most fun we can have on two wheels.

I’m learning to change my perspective on training. For the most part, I follow Crusty’s program religiously. When the program is challenging or tough, I use the intervals as an opportunity to push myself, to visualize riding hard in a ’cross race, to dig a little deeper than I think I can.

I love those days, love it when I can complete a specific task that’s challenging, and complete it to the best of my ability.

But some days, we have to be flexible enough in our programs that we can just go ride, explore the worlds around us and remember why we love riding that bike in the first place.

Fire Sale to Finance My Cyclocross Habit

2011-08-13T20:41:00.011-05:00

I just sat down to figure out my finances for cyclocross this year. With two new bikes, new components, and new wheels coming, it's time for a fire sale!

Please contact me at pwarloski@gmail.com for information!

Frame	Condition	Price
Blue Norcross Lg (58cm TT)	Excellent. Used as A race bike for about 30 races.	900
Waterford R-33 (gold/orange) 58 cm (57 cm TT)	Two years old. Several paint chips. Frame in great condition. Chris King headset. Carbon fork.	1,200

Part	My price	Quantity
SRAM Pg-1070 12-23 Cassette	40 each	2
force Brake Calipers TRP Magnesium Cross brakes	85 160	f-1; r-1 f-1; r-1
Double Tap Levers	230	0
Rear Derailleur	65	0
PC-1091 Chain	20	2
Compact Crankset 50/34	140	1
Crankset 53/39	140	0
Front Derailleur Clamp-on	30	1
FSA Energy bars 42cm	30	1
Thomsen Elite seatpost 31.6	45	1
FSA AL7050 stem 120	15	1
3T Rx-Pro stem 120	25	1
Specialized Phenom saddles 143	45	1

The End of Superweek?

2011-07-19T15:14:00.000-05:00

All through the 1990s, when I was living in New York, I'd drive home and stay with my sister Teena in Milwaukee and race Superweek. I started in the 4s, moved on to the 3s, then found some success in the 40 plus division by the time I lived in Wisconsin.

Superweek - now called the International Cycling Class - was THE race in the midwest and in the country. The pros got 17 days of hard racing, and the rest of us had big fields, challenging courses, and the feel of being "pro" for a week.

The who's who of pros who have raced here is endless, including Armstrong, Horner, and Cadel Evans.

In the last few years, Superweek has earned itself some bad reviews: racers not receiving prize money or having checks bounce, cities and towns not getting paid for using their facilities, police departments not getting promised payments. The race lost some very cool venues because of this. I don't know enough of the causes of the problems to cast blame. As a racer, I only know what I've experienced.

Half of the racing has moved to Illinois, and even those courses are struggling.

The organizers of the Tour of America's Dairyland have brought in a well-organized, tightly-run stage race, in contrast to the Superweek of the past.

And this year, the reputation - and ToAD - has clearly had an impact. This year the fields have been small, really small. My fields in the masters 4/5 have been between 8 and 15. The Whitnall Park Road Race had about 25 since it was the only Wisconsin road race and had double points for the overall. The race paid 12 deep today with 12 riders.

The women's 3/4 field today had FOUR riders. Even the pro men's field, with the exception of Downer, has been very small.

Clearly, the Superweek organizers must be hemorrhaging money. It's a sad event that Superweek has been run into the ground. I'd be sorry to see it go. We are lucky in Wisconsin to have so many racing available to us.

I can't see how the race can be rescued. Maybe a week-long event? Maybe an Illinois event?

In the event I used to race, the masters 1, 2, 3, we usually had fields of 80 to 120 guys. Riders would come from all over the country for some of the best racing outside of nationals.

Yesterday, in the Whitnall RR, there were 23 finishers.

An era of great racing in Wisconsin appears to be on its last breath.

Imagine the Customer Service with My Car - Dave's Garage

2011-07-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

On my way home from the Whitnall race on my bike, I had a double flat: the tube in my bike bag also went flat.

I stopped in a Dave's Garage in Greenfield on Forest Home Avenue and asked for duct tape to try and fix one of the tubes. The man behind the desk handed me a roll of black duct tape.

"Let me know if it works," he said. "If it doesn't, I'll give you a ride home."

Mind you, I'm in my spandex kit, soaked with sweat, and I'm sure very fragrant!

The duct tape patch didn't hold, and sure enough, Adam, a young man studying to be a firefighter, gave me a ride home.

All I could think of was that if this was the kind of customer service they give to a random stinky bike racer in spandex, imagine the kind of work they'll do on my car.

I clearly have a new place to bring my car. I encourage you to do the same!

http://www.davesgarageinc.com/

The Prairie Project Part 1

2011-07-04T12:55:00.000-05:00

For once, a non-political blog!

Since I bought this little house in Milwaukee last year, I've been thinking about the prairie I want to create in the back and front yards. I want lots of prairie grass and wildflowers.

Yes, I want butterflies, bees, and birds in my backyard!

So today I finished up Part 1 of the Prairie Project. Part 1 consists of covering all the grass I want to get rid of with newspaper, then covering that with a thick layer of mulch. Since there's been no rain lately, I've had to "water" the mulch to keep the newspaper wet. Darryl, my neighbor, gave me some grief this morning, wondering what I was growing in there!

The idea is to kill off the grass while leaving all the organic material intact. I'll likely till all of it together in the fall or next spring. That's the only downside of this process: it takes a few months.

The long term goal is nearly all prairie in the yard, front and back. Now I just need to wait. In the meantime, it's a good excuse to ride more!

The Darkness is Rising in Wisconsin

2011-06-30T12:48:00.000-05:00

It's not often I will publicly say someone or something is evil. I don't even like to use the word because it often portrays the person or idea as hopelessly wrong.

But that's just what the MPS layoffs are.

And this morning's Journal reveals a lot of villains in Wisconsin.

MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton yesterday announced 519 MPS layoffs in ADDITION to not filling 514 other jobs. That means over 1,000 jobs in MPS are going to be cut because of the current budget crisis.

This includes 554 teachers.

For context, according to MPS, there are 10,396 full-time equivalent positions in MPS, including 5,576 teachers. That is over 10 percent of the entire teaching staff of MPS. Class sizes, which directly affect the quality of education, will continue to rise. Any class size over 25, in my long-time experience as a teacher, reduces the time I get to spend with individual students to help them.

It's terrible. It's evil. It's wrong.

This affects an entire generation of kids.

And there are plenty of culprits to go around, plenty of people who should take direct responsibility for the evil that has occurred in this city.

1. MPS. Thornton has asked the teacher's union MTEA for significant salary package concessions. Yet Thornton and his administration have not offered to do the same. What an incredible gesture it would be if Thornton would tell the teachers, "Hey we all need to share the sacrifice. I'm going to give up the same as I'm asking you to give up."
    But I haven't heard that from him yet.
    (On a separate but related note, one also has to wonder why there are nearly 5,000 non-teacher employees in MPS.)

2. The MTEA. The teacher's union, once again, is refusing to any change in the contract. MPS has asked the teachers to pay 5.8 percent of their pay toward pensions to save about 200 jobs. The MTEA has said no, once again protecting its veteran teachers at the expense of younger energetic teachers.
   And yes, it is that simple. We obviously live in a time of brutal economic reality. We need to accept that reality.

3. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the state Legislature for passing a state budget that cuts over $800 million from education. Clearly, Walker and the Legislature's priorities are business over education of our future.

4. The citizens of Wisconsin. We should all be alarmed enough at the long-term ramifications of this kind of budget cutting to be roused to action in some kind of education revolution. We have to be able to say that it's okay to pay a little more in taxes to directly fund education in this state.

5. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Today's layoff story was on B1. Even on the website, it is buried. This should have been a screaming front page headline, and an above-the-fold story with multiple sidebars about what this means for the children of Milwaukee.

In all the argument about budgets, the adults continue to neglect the effect of their actions on children.

Yes, the sky is beginning to fall. Yes, this is dramatic. When a school district cuts 10 percent of its entire teaching staff, it's a disaster.

Yes, MPS teachers will continue to cope as best they can. But we're asking them to do an impossible task.

The Mohawk Indians, who I used to report on when I was a full-time journalist, tried to steep all their decisions in the long-term. How will this decision affect us in seven generations?

If we do not fix the slide we are on in this state, we will be seeing the effects of these decisions much sooner.

Reality Check for Education Funding

2011-06-12T08:55:00.000-05:00

This is another column where the "Seriously" title is appropriate.

I cannot fathom, comprehend, understand any part of a government that is willing to cut education spending.

Much less cut education spending in one state by hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Wisconsin Legislature committees are working on Gov. Walker's proposed budget now. He initially wanted $900 million in education cuts.

That is as short-sighted and wrong a decision as one can possibly make if you have ANY sense of the future.

That kind of cut puts large districts, especially Milwaukee Public Schools, in serious trouble.

And with districts already having to cut budgets to the bone over the past four years, cuts now mean larger class sizes and fewer services to kids. Larger class sizes means classes of over 30 kids.

That's no way to educate students. Thirty kids in a classroom has been a realistic magic number. I've had classes of 25 and classes of 29, and the difference is remarkable. It's as if there is a critical mass of bodies in a room that results in more disruptions and less learning.

I can only believe in some kind of institutional racism or class war when a government choose to cut spending to education. The districts that hurt the most serve the most needy students. In Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and other large districts in the state, many, if not most, of the students are black.

How can anyone expect kids in poverty to make something of themselves if they don't receive a quality education? The only answer I can come up with is they don't. Those in power want those in poverty to remain in poverty and uneducated.

That's about as pessimistic and conspiratorial as I will get. But it's the only conclusion I can draw.

The situation in MPS is dire. If the brave teachers who remain there have classes of 35 to 40 students, many of whom are special needs, there's little chance of any quality education happening, no matter how good those teachers are.

We should be pouring more money and more resources into districts, including districts in rural areas, with high populations of kids in poverty. Not less.

Here are two solutions:
1. Raise sales tax for education. Sales taxes are reasonably progressive because poor people buy less and rich people buy more so the percentage of income is relatively balanced. And to Republicans who seem like they can only say "Cut budgets and don't raise taxes," it's okay to raise taxes to directly fund education. It's okay to invest in our children and future.
Unless, of course, my conspiracy theory is correct!
2. If you're going to trim school budgets, cutting teachers is not going to work. Get creative with funding:
- Provide bag lunches for kids with a sandwich and an apple.
- Require a sliding scale pay to play program for all sports programs. I know that's the sacred elephant in the room (to mix metaphors), but sports programs require huge amounts of district money when our purpose in education is student learning!
3. Either expand or eliminate funding boundaries. It's fundamentally unfair for suburban districts to be able to spend more per pupil than urban districts. And it's unfair and regressive to require MPS to draw from a smaller taxable pool than suburban districts.
Creating Milwaukee County school districts, for example, would eliminate many spending inequalities.

Gov. Walker seems intent on cutting education funding. How that will help him create the 200,000 jobs he promised is beyond me.

By raising taxes and redoubling our state's commitment to education, we could create many new jobs that would directly help student learning. We'd have to do things differently, to be sure.

Spoken like a true liberal, my conservative friends will say: Tax some more and spend some more!

And they'd be right. I see education, though, as a greater good for our society, one that will ultimately produce more jobs, more educated people, and a better society.

Unless, of course, that pesky conspiracy theory is right.

Time to Piss Off My Friends and Colleagues

2011-06-10T09:11:00.000-05:00

I admit it: I didn't go to Madison to protest Gov. Walker's end-around on collective bargaining for public employees in Wisconsin.

If there had been protests against the $900 million in education cuts he proposed in his budget, I would have been there.

I've been a teacher for 17 years, and I've been a member of the union the entire time. Not that I had a choice, of course. Once you're a teacher, you're a part of the union and have to pay dues.

And I know teacher unions have done positive things in our country. And I appreciate the benefits and salary I have now that teacher unions negotiated.

Teacher unions, though, also have, among other items:
1. Kept and protected bad teachers in their jobs. I had to work on a team with a teacher who hated middle schools kids, yelled continuously at them, and taught nothing. I often talked with her about the kids, trying to make something positive. But when it came time to renew her contract, the union fought the principal to keep her.
2. Does little or nothing to train and support struggling teachers.
3. Protects veteran and sometimes poor teachers with the first hired, first fired policy. A teacher I know well has been let go from her job once, and has received a lay off notice after six years in her new district. This is a teacher around whom school culture and curriculum is built. She is a dynamo of teaching knowledge and skill. Her kids love and respect her and, best of all, they learn. I would gladly trade jobs to be able to work with her again.
4. Protects veteran teachers in contract negotiations. Teacher unions in both Milwaukee and Kenosha, two large urban districts, have been asked to reopen their contracts to protect the jobs of hundreds of teachers who otherwise will be laid off. Both said they will not reopen negotiations.

So I'm not a fan of teacher unions at all. Our job is to teach kids. That's why we're here. Obviously, more teachers in the classrooms means better education for the kids.

In each district I've taught in, I've worked - and continue to work - with some excellent teachers, men and women who understand how kids learn and shape their teaching so that kids learn rich material and gain understandings about how their place in this world.

And while Walker's move to bust the union was draconian and back door politics at its worst, there is opportunity to reshape how we educate our children. (If, of course, the bill is approved by the courts.)

School districts could work with teachers to craft and create a series of steps that will make schools more effective. For example, we can create a fair evaluation system that is based on mutual goals, not on meaningless test scores. I would love to have an evaluation system that would allow my principal and I to sit down and create a set of goals together. Something like:
- special education students will improve their reading comprehension by 15 percent this year; or
- By the end of the year, 80 percent of my students will score proficient or above on district writing assessments.
- By the end of the year, 80 percent of the students in my class will be able to proficiently argue a solution for a real-world problem with a multi-media presentation.

The possibilities are endless, and each goal would address the Common Core Standards adopted by Wisconsin and other states.

And best of all, I could sit down with my principal, knowing full well that I have enough skill and experience to achieve those goals, and say "I want a six percent raise if I achieve all of them."

Districts and teachers could identify (teachers might even self-identify) those who are challenged in working with kids, adapting curriculum, helping kids learn meaningful material, and actually help them! We could create teams of teachers to help each other become better!

This could be powerful especially if there is a financial incentive to improve. Most people, if they know there is a significant financial incentive, are going to work a lot harder to achieve the task!

Imagine: District and school administrations working with teachers to create powerful learning environments, working together to help kids learn more effectively!

I'm fortunate to work in a district now that is small enough for the superintendent to be on a first-name basis with most of the teachers in the district. And our district has apparently always had a cordial relationship between the district and the teachers' union.

But I've also worked in a large urban district where the relationship was bitter. That union usually hunkered down to protect itself and its members at the cost to the kids. That's not okay in my book.

I'm not sure I'm able to imagine what life without a union might look like, or if that's even a possibility. Teacher unions may be an anachronism in today's society. Or perhaps they're needed more because teachers need a strong united voice.

What would be my ideal is that we'd keep a flexible union that worked with districts to promote positive learning for all children. That's the only goal. Once we accept that as our goal, then we can talk.

Maybe that means longer school days, maybe that means more school days, maybe that means a different funding system, a different curriculum.

The bottom line is that any teachers' union works to promote kid learning, not protecting teachers.

Apparently, there's some card at my school I'm supposed to fill out to join the union. This has been such a challenging year trying to find things that work with my students in addition to finishing my special education licensing that I really have no idea what it's all about.

And the union leader in my school is a friend I trust - at least I hope she's still a friend after reading this! I want to buy her a beer and talk politics and unions and kids. She's one of those teachers who gets kids and creates awesome learning opportunities for her students.

She also believes strongly in the teachers' union for all its flaws. I look forward to hearing her thoughts about why I should re-join our union.

Regardless of Walker's misguided approach to "solving education's problems," we have a serious opportunity to re-shape how our unions and teachers organize for student learning!

Let the Kids Loose and See What Happens

2011-06-08T16:53:00.000-05:00

I really don't much like the last days of school.

For some ridiculous reason, our grades close Monday so Tuesday through Thursday is wasted time that teachers usually use to show movies, have parties where kids eat chips and drink sugar soda and get fired up.

I hate being a babysitter.

Today, though, was different. Our kids raised $10,000 - you read that right - for Acres of Hope, a Muskego farm where people - particularly veterans - with brain injuries go for therapy with animals.

The students chose the "rewards" for raising certain amounts of money. For $7,000, the male teachers dyed their hair pink - and it's real dye that required bleaching, then dye - and the female teachers got their noses pierced.

And for $10,000 - which we haven't even come close to in nine years of doing this - the kids wanted Mr. Marzion and I to do a "wedding ceremony." Yes, they wanted us to be married.

Never mind that John is already happily married with three children, and I, while single, most definitely prefer women.

That's what the kids wanted. And for $10,000, I'll be glad to accomodate them.

So today, in our babysitting time, my room was designated the "wedding planning" room. And I was very nervous - not for what they might come up, but for the whole babysitting thing.

Boy, was I wrong. There were maybe 20 kids in my room, 13 girls, 7 boys (who were "looking out for the groom"). Those kids seriously got to work.

Carley took over and wrote everything on the board. Kids split themselves into committees and small groups with specific tasks. I vetoed make-up and lip gloss! And we gradually moved them to a "Friendship Ceremony" rather than a marriage, which was going to be weird anyway. We had a chance to talk about the perceptions if we "married" and they agreed the friendship thing was a far better option.

Kayla, the other Carley, and someone else wrote/adapted some very cool vows, Molly and others wrote invitations and announcements.

It was a pure example of what happens when kids start a task in which they're interested and vested. They had a task they cared about and spent two solid hours working on it.

That's what middle school education should be. That's what authentic learning could look like. Imagine if we researched the debate over same-sex marriages, the history of marriage, the purpose of marriage in society, the role of ritual and ceremony in our culture and in other cultures.

Such a curriculum would be incredibly rich and force kids to think on their own, to consider different opinions. That may, however, be too much for some parents to think that their children aren't ready to think on their own.

There's few standards that we can't incorporate into tasks and projects like this. The task was silly. Imagine if these kids worked on real-life tasks with real-life results.

There is Hope in the World...

2011-04-08T21:52:00.000-05:00

In the midst of daily teaching 7th graders, I sometimes lose track of the great kids who are destined for great things. We tend to spend way too much time focusing on trying to help those who aren't doing their work, helping those who struggle, or dealing with knuckleheads who act like third graders.

Tonight I had the chance to participate in an event organized by some amazing high school students, who give me great hope for the future. They had attended a leadership meeting in Illinois that focused on providing positive alternatives to drinking and using drugs.

These students, inspired, organized a similar event for our 7th graders. The high school students, most of whom I knew when they were 7th graders, planned small group games, large group games, pizza, and a quality speaker talking about peer influence and positive behavior. The high school students conducted themselves incredibly well, stayed patient with chatty 7th graders, and planned an amazing event that was inspiring on so many levels.

To be honest, I just wanted to go home tonight, and the thought of spending three more hours with kids after a long week was a big daunting.

But the three hours sped by quickly. I had a great time, got to know several of my students a lot better, and had a great chance to hear about their lives. And the kids learned that it's possible to stay drug and alcohol free.

I hope we have more events like this. Not only do I gain more faith in our future watching these high school students, but my 7th graders get to see older kids who are strong, athletic, good-looking, and smart be positive and stay away from drugs and alcohol.

It was a good night.

Rep. Ryan's Plan Just Plain Wrong

2011-04-06T19:50:00.000-05:00

Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, who represents Wisconsin, has proposed a budget plan that puts reducing the federal deficit on the backs of poor and elderly people.

And continues to keep it off the backs of the wealthy and the military.

Somehow, Ryan, who is chair of the House Budget Committee, thinks the federal government can somehow cut spending WHILE cutting taxes, primarily for wealthy individuals and corporations.

Medicaid, the federal program that aids poor and severely disabled people, would be cut and poor people would lose their right to Medicaid assistance. Medicare, the program that helps seniors with their insurance needs, would also be cut.

Granted, the federal government needs to reign in spending on both those programs. The two make up a big portion of the federal budget, and if we need to make cuts, those programs need to accept some cuts.

But Ryan's plan to cap the maximum tax rate at 25 percent for EVERYONE is ridiculous. In times of need - as we are in now - we all need to sacrifice. Reducing the percentage of tax the wealthiest of Americans pay reduces the percentage of their sacrifice.

That's called a regressive tax. The poor and elderly shoulder a larger percentage of the cuts in relation to their total earning capacity.

But that's Ryan's plan, apparently. If the rich have more money to spend, they'll spend it to stimulate the economy. That is the trickle-down theory made famous by former President Reagan back in the 80s. That didn't work so well for a majority of Americans.

What that tax decrease means is this, according to 2010 tax law:

Anyone making over $82,000 a year will now pay 25 percent of their income.
People making $171,000 to $373,000, who previously paid 33 percent of their income as tax, will also pay 25 percent.
And people making OVER $373,000 will ALSO play only 25 percent.

What's even more ridiculous that while the poor and elderly shoulder a greater share of the cuts, the military shoulders nothing.

NOTHING.

Once again, the elephant in the room is military spending, which account for over 50 percent of the federal budget. Military contractors have conveniently put factories providing jobs in all 50 states so that Representatives and Senators will not have the will to eliminate these jobs.

And no one is talking about how we might restructure that military spending into green spending on the environment, or, god forbid, education spending to produce a more educated and flexible work force.

Rep. Ryan is just plain wrong. I hate to think he's mean-spirited or callous. But if actions speak louder than words, that's my conclusion.

Walker's Budget: We Should Have Expected It

2011-03-04T20:23:00.000-06:00

When Wisconsin Gov. Walker released his 2011-13 budget Tuesday, no one should have been surprised with its contents.

Walker is a very conservative politician, and his budget is about as conservative as it gets. The Tea Party anti-government folks must be ecstatic.

But his budget, which includes no tax increases, puts the majority of the burden on poor and middle class. And it cuts $900 million from state education, hardly a way to create a long-term investment in the Wisconsin economy.

A "regressive" tax puts a greater burden on the poor than on the rich because the tax costs more in percentage term. A "progressive" tax spreads the burden out among all tax brackets. The current U.S. tax code is, by definition at least, progressive.

Walker's budget provides more money to fight crime and more tax cuts and exemptions for business, while refusing to raise any taxes. These are the kind of conservative budget items we expected from a conservative governor.

But Walker's proposal hurts those least able to pay in other ways:
1. He cuts aid to local governments by $96 million and will not allow those governments to raise local property taxes. While Walker says the locals should save money through cutting employee health and pension benefits, the local government programs that help the poor, elderly, and children of the community are also likely be cut.

2. Walker cuts $834 million in state aid to schools. Plus he reduces the Milwaukee Public School aid further by opening up the enrollment in choice schools, which directly reduces the amount of aid MPS receives from the state.
   That is an incredibly huge amount of money that will not be going to public schools in Wisconsin over the next three years. Gov. Jim Doyle, Walker's predecessor, increased state aid to education in his 2007-2009 and 2009-2011 budgets while raising taxes slightly. Even Republican former governor Scott McCallum maintained aid for state schools in his budget.
   This is a long-term hardship on the poor, particularly in the larger cities of Milwaukee, Kenosha, Green Bay, Racine, Madison, Janesville, and others. For those poor and lower middle class kids, a quality education is the only way out of poverty.
    And all Wisconsin residents, when their children, at least those not wealthy enough to be in private schools, have class sizes over 30 should rise up to protest.

Clearly Walker is not interested in creating the 250,000 jobs he promised during his campaign.

If he is, then he is only interested in creating the kind of jobs that don't provide good living wages and benefits.

The budget repair bill and the 2011-2013 proposed budget only create a larger gap between the rich and everyone else.

And that's not what Wisconsin expects. Wisconsin residents deserve a lot more.

Dear Gov. Walker: This is what happens to 7th grade teachers...

2011-02-14T18:44:00.000-06:00

Dear Gov. Walker,

This is what can happen to me after a long day of teaching 7th graders. I imagine it's similar to working with the legislators in some way!

My task was simple at the end of the day: Get to the dentist for a routine cleaning. It had been a long day with my kids. Lots of challenges, lots of feeling like I need a lot more me's to help all these kids.

I left with plenty of time, out to 894 to head north to Shorewood. I had never been to Dr. Hart, but he has sponsored a bike team and races for years, and I wanted to support him.

Oops. 894 heading north is closed! So I drove down to the airport and around to head back north, adding 15 minutes to the trip. I was going to make it, but it was going to be close.

I drove a little quickly, still thinking about the kids and what I could be doing to help them want to use their brains more to be more creative, have more fun learning.

I was thinking so much that I headed to Madison instead of heading north on 43. And there was a traffic disaster ahead.

Not sure why I see the more inconsiderate people on highways than anywhere else.

I called the friendly people at Dr. Hart's office to let them officially know I'd be late. I hit some more traffic on 43 north, but made it to Capital and exited. The iphone gave me good directions, and I turned north on Oakland.

I read the street signs for Lake Bluff, found it, and turned left, only to realize there was a stoplight at the intersection and it had already turned red. Oops. No cars in the intersection, and I was only going to be 15 minutes late as long as I didn't ....

that's right: get pulled over. As soon as I saw the police vehicle behind me with lights flashing, I seriously started to laugh.

The Shorewood officer, though, was very kind. He must have known I was a teacher of 7th graders after looking at my face. Apparently we're supposed to have our insurance cards in our car as well (not sure I ever got mine from WEA), but I didn't.

The officer only gave me a citation for no insurance card and graciously ignored the red light issue!

Then Dr. Hart's office was wonderful. Good man, good staff, quality service.

I bought some tasty food at Outpost at the end of the adventure, and now I'm cooking up a chicken, red pepper, and asparagus dish with red wine sauce over brown rice. Yum.

And Gov. Walker, I know you're a busy man, but guess what I'm doing when I finish my dinner?

You got it! Grading papers!

Thanks for reading.

Snowmageddon/Storm of the Century

2011-02-02T07:29:00.000-06:00

Usually, when a school district I work at calls a snow day, I'm not very convinced it's necessary, unless it's a "cold day."

You know of course that when I was young, I had to ride my bike in snowstorms to school or trudge on wooden skis across the barren tundra. And it was uphill both ways in four-foot drifts.

At least that's what I remember when I was on the school bus.

But this morning, I look out on the city of Milwaukee that is paralyzed. And we didn't get the worst of it, that coming in Racine and Kenosha counties to the south of us.

There are Facebook reports of friends around the area who can't get out of their houses because the wind has driven snow drifts too high to open the door. Motorists are stuck on an "impassable" Interstate 94. Wind gusts of 60 miles an hour continue to blow the 16-20 inches of snow that's dropped since Tuesday.

Drifts four to five feet high cover everything I can see. And more snow is coming. I don't even want to look at my alley. I'm a little worried I won't be able to get out even tomorrow!

Even though I know it's possible, I can't get over a blizzard with thunder and lightning, as reported by the weather channel in Chicago. A cyclone is about to hit Australia. More severe weather has hit and is expected throughout the country.

With all the snow, people say "what about global warming?" It's the gradual heating up of the planet that is likely causing this kind of severe climate change and weather events.

Regardless of what you believe in the face of a lot of science, climate change has been evident the past few years with significant weather events. In many ways, it's scary. To me, a person with a too-wild imagination, it can ONLY mean, of course, a precursor to the end of the world.

I wish I had some snowshoes today when I venture out to view the city and take some photos. I'll probably use my skis to get around.

And if this blizzard is called the "Storm of the Century," it is indeed worthy of a snow day.

Palm Springs Not in Love with Cyclists

2010-12-27T22:05:00.000-06:00

It is a beautiful thing to leave Wisconsin to ride in 65 degree weather in Palm Springs California.

But many residents here don't seem to share the good feelings!

The total exception was Mike and another guy at Palm Springs Cyclery. Great shop who offered a lot of help in choosing a route. Mike, by the way, is moving up to Milwaukee with his wife, who has a business up in the tundra land. We chatted about places to live, bike shops. Good guys. Also Evan at Big Wheel Bikes, who brought the rental bikes to us, has his act together.

I set off to attempt to conquer the Palm Springs Tram road, a steep 3 mile climb averaging between 5 and 8 percent. A lot of climbing for January. And the road surface was a bit sketchy. I love going up, but am not as fond of coming down, especially with a lot of traffic on a steep descent!

I made it to a mile to go and turned around because it was getting stupid cold. Hello? I left Wisconsin to ride in the heat! On the way down, I exceeded the speed limit yet cars still backed up behind me for all of three minutes.

At the bottom, an older man in a white cadillac had pulled over to the side. To my knowledge, he wasn't behind me on the descent. I rode around him, and he leaned out of his window. "You're an asshole," he told me.

"What?"

"Fuck you," he said. I responded in a different way, and he kept on flipping me off. I have NO IDEA what I did to him.

As this kind gentlemen drove off in a huff, another man in a van with kids inside told me I wasn't a vehicle and get the hell off the road. This kind Californian was, I think, behind me.

Several other drivers, on wide roads, felt compelled to drive their cars within inches of me.

Seriously? You gotta a problem with me? Do you?

Or are you just jealous of how good I look in spandex...

I'll try again tomorrow. Point the bike and ride. See where I end up.

No Success But Great Courses o' Fun!

2010-11-14T19:56:00.000-06:00

Some pros can ride sick and still do a great race.

Not me! The Saturday and Sunday races were both a lot of fun, but not so successful!

I traveled to Indian Hills for the ChiCrossCup race Saturday. These guys want to host a UCI race there some day. They're ready! It's a great venue with an excellent facility. The course should take advantage of some more of the off-camber little hills on the golf course, though. It needs some more technical challenges!

I never planned on going really hard Saturday, just hard enough to open the legs a bit for Sunday. I did have a chance to heckle Nikki Cyp and the officials, though! No idea where I finished, though, nor do I care!

And speaking of technical challenges, Paul Roltgen created a crazy course for Sun Prairie. Full of short punchy climbs, off-camber turns. Kind of felt like a BMX race in some respects. It was a blast. Another one of those courses where you wanted to race again.

But my legs fell off somewhere on the course. There was a small explosion and boom, they fell off, just one and half laps in! I used my hands to pedal the rest of the way...

My whole goal was to follow Greg Ferguson's wheel. I stuck behind Dave Eckel for too long, but when I passed Dave and tried to bridge to Greg's group, it wasn't happening! Boom!

So I limped around the course, having fun with it. But if someone had offered me a beer at the top of the hill, there's no doubt I would have stopped and shared it! I finished, somehow getting 7th out of 12 or so.

I'm hoping that with some active rest this week, a good training week, I'll be firing on all cylinders for Sunday's state championships. It would be nice to end with a bang and some really good legs.

Not a boom where my legs fall off.

It's Happening

2010-11-07T16:39:00.000-06:00

Maybe I got a little something this season after all.

Roscoe and I traveled to Woodstock, Il for a ChiCrossCup race. We signed up for the 30 plus race, but neither of us felt terribly ambitious at the start.

Within 20 yards of the start, the chute narrowed. Guys were going to be pinched. Sure enough, a mountain bike dude was pinching me into Ross. I let off the gas and was now WAY back in the 65-rider field.

Since we were there to train and have some fun, we both were nicely relaxed. And since many Chicago racers use their brakes WAY TOO MUCH, we had fairly easy times moving up in the field. Riders also had issues with the short sand pit.

In the whirly section, Ross was just ahead of me so we said hello as we passed each other! I kept him in sight until the last lap when his big-ass motor had more juice than mine.

I passed a boatload of guys in the race, but I had no idea where I was in the field. So it was a pleasant surprise to check the results to see I was 14th! Ross finished 8th!

It was a great course today, lots of flow. EXCEPT for the two barrier sections, placed at dumb-ass parts of the course. You couldn't run over them, just kind of step over and keep moving. They totally disrupted the flow. The rest of the course, though, was awesome, full of fun little climbs and descents, and tight corners.

I'm totally stoked tonight, even though my legs are dead. I rode completely within myself, rode hard, and just picked off guys one - sometimes three - at a time. There's hope for me. I keep wanting to sing "Ain't no truck big enough" but that's going to be bad karma or something.

Next week, Mike and Ross bring the mwi circus to Fort Collins. And since it's sponsored by Fat Tire Ale, I'd sure like to be there. But I'll head down to Hilton Island for the Chicago race, then to Sun Prairie for the next to last WCA race.

I'm not sure if you can call what I'm doing peaking, but I'm certainly coming into some form. I felt like a bike racer today.

Maybe?

2010-11-06T20:11:00.000-05:00

I discovered my big gear today.

And although I still didn't feel good, I was much faster at Estabrook Park, the 8th WCA race of the series. Beat a couple of guys who are strong TTs on the road. But I don't think either one was feeling his best today. There's definite improvement.

I'm beginning to think Crusty and Herman were right in that the more races I have in my legs, the faster I'll get. And everyone else is starting to slow down after a long road or mountain bike season.

Maybe there's hope for me yet this year!

Last weekend, I had a good race at Washington Park on Saturday and a so-so race in Madison at Warner Park Sunday. Thanks to the city of Madison to let WCA hold a cross race for the first time in a city park!

I'm getting sad the season is already more than half over. There are only three WCA races left, another three Chicago races, and Jingle Cross in Iowa. That's it.

Can't wait for nationals to extend our season. Even if it is in the middle of the damn winter.

Persistence, Patience, and Perspective

2010-10-17T14:29:00.000-05:00

No legs this weekend, but perspective from one race definitely made the second a lot more fun.

I wasn't really happy to travel to Badger Prairie for the race Saturday. I'd much rather be traveling with Mike and Ross and the traveling mwi circus.

Nor am I a fan at all of that course. It's all hills or descents.

But as a way of appeasing my spirit that I can still race cross, I'm chasing WCA points.

The course met all expectations. Boring. The only interesting parts were bunny-hopping the railroad planks and railing some higher speed corners. (I don't think I've ever bunny-hopped anything successfully before!)

And before the race, I was amped up, maybe too much. I got a good start sitting third behind Greg and Mark, the two I really wanted to keep up with. But my head started to drag my legs into the hard Dane County earth.

Too much self-expectation and pressure makes my head and legs explode. I did not ride well. I did not keep up with Greg or Mark or anyone else, really.

After the race, Mike told me on the phone that I have to look at the big picture. First, I'm still recovering. Second, I don't have many races in my legs since the crash. Most of these guys raced a full mountain bike and/or road season. I didn't.

Then Crusty told me, again on the phone, that a lot of this season is working toward next season. Getting races in the legs, getting used to the suffering on the bike again.

That night, Myerson twitted about practicing patience and perseverance. Okay, I'm getting the message.

I drove down to Carpentersville Saturday afternoon to avoid more driving. And since I'm not joining the circus on any races, this is my chance to do a road trip. Got a lot of class work done, visited Emmett's Brewery in Dundee for a couple of pale ales and an amazing burger.

The race this morning in Carpentersville, Il was just what the doctor ordered. It was the most fun cross course I've done in a long time (sorry, Mike, our course was hard and challenging, but the climbing was not fun for me!) There were off-cambers, straightaways, an awesome little hill that was a blast to descend, an easy sand pit, and a couple of barriers. There was even a hoop-te-do with six mounds of dirt closely spaced, like a moto-cross obstacle.

It is definitely the kind of race I want to come back next year to win. It was so much fun I did a cool down lap on the course, and seriously considered shotgunning the 30 plus just to race some more!

Once more thanks to Mike and Craig for offering their wisdom. I'm a pretty emotional guy (what a surprise!) and get amped up easily. I'm learning (even at my advanced age) to channel that energy into positive fun.

Even when I'm riding so hard, I can't see straight and puked a lap ago....

That's what I love about cross. It gives me a chance to act like a tough guy even when I'm not feeling it.

Jeff Littman

2010-10-05T14:16:00.002-05:00

I've known Jeff for a lot of years. Usually I was pissed at him because he'd usually beat me in a sprint! And his team, Wisconsin Health and Fitness, lovingly known as the Red Horde, always tried to beat up on our little team.

And as I got to know him, as a person and as a racer, I knew him to be an incredibly competitive, passionate cyclist, who'd rip your legs off in a sprint, then congratulate you after the race. He was a good man and an amazing advocate for the sport.

Jeff died today after being hit by a car last Friday. In some ways, it is better. If he had survived, he would have been paralyzed and likely suffering from brain damage.

All weekend, I've been thinking of him, of me, and countless other cyclists who have been hit by vehicles. I am lucky to survive. Jeff was not. Our passion should not be so dangerous. We should not have to risk our lives to enjoy pedaling through the world.

I don't want to continue to weigh in on the cyclists v. driver argument. We all need to be more vigilant. Nor is now the time for blame.

Now is simply the time to remember Jeff and what he brought to us.

On Saturday at our cyclocross race, I rode with Jeff in mind. He would always want us to ride as hard as we possibly could, no matter how we felt, no matter how much suffering we endured. I remember him telling me once he trained much harder than he raced.

Jeff is now a guardian angel of cycling. That sounds lame, but I can imagine him up there, guiding cyclists around hazards, keeping us safer, pushing us to ride our hardest.

I, we, the cycling community, will miss you terribly.

Race Report: First Cross weekend of 2010!

2010-09-19T13:27:00.000-05:00

Saturday:

A strange thing has happened to my body since the crash: I used to be a good climber and hills made me happy.

Since the crash, though, I struggle up hills. I don't have as much power. I can't snap up hills like I used to.

So despite my initial glee about the course conditions at No Good Double Cross in Eagle: lots of mud, repeated climbing of the steep, reasonably long hill drained me. I still did alright overall in the 45 plus, yet I felt slow and sluggish.

One positive was the bike driving. The mud tires gave me a sense of confidence to carve through a lot of corners without brakes.

The course was okay. I missed stretches of length, where we could get into a rhythm and go. It felt a little choppy, and the "orchard" was pretty rough with rocks. The venue owner told me the whole orchard pathway had been opened up by the tornado that swept through Eagle last year.

The venue, though, is unique and fun. If the promoters could find a way to lengthen it, that would be better.

Sunday:

Last year Jackson Park was my first post-crash race. I finished somewhere in the 30s or lower, but I finished and wasn't lapped. I was thrilled.

Today, there were 100 40 plus riders who lined up! With some heavy hitters. A definitely stacked field. I forgot how much of an argy-bargy a cross start could be when my foot got knocked off my pedal as I was clipping in. I lost 10 spots right away from a second row start!

I drilled it then steady and strong. I felt tired, but still passed a lot of people. Many riders in Chicago use their brakes WAY TOO MUCH. Once I cleared through riders, and had a clean line, I barely touched the brakes except in the off-camber stuff on the hill.

I was able to jump and power through a lot of the course. My legs felt dead from yesterday's race and all the training, but I was still able to hammer along.

One of the best parts of the day was that I passed several riders or caught up to several riders while I ran the barriers! Last year, it was all I could do to walk over them!

I was also thrilled with Mike Heenan's gluing and bike build up job. Riders all over the course were rolling tires (lots of off-camber stuff) and I just dug in with no brakes and flew.

I finished 20th despite the poor start and tired legs. I was very pleased to see that result, given the long year of training, rehab, and continued therapy. And while the drive was long, the wake-up call damn early, the competition was fierce down there. I'll definitely go back.

Jackson Park was a great course, although I don't understand why XXX Racing didn't tape off the whole course. The little red flags became seriously hard to see as the race wore on and I was seeing double.

I'm beat now after driving home and showering. An excellent way to start the year.

Next weekend, all the big dogs show up to Sun Prairie for the USGP. A while back, I had dreams of making a run at the 45 plus USGP overall, but those hopes have been derailed. Still, now that I have the kinks worked out, it's time to be aggressive and ride hard.

I can't wait!

Encouraging

2010-09-05T08:20:00.000-05:00

Every so often in school, we give/take tests to see where we're at with our performances.

Cyclists do the same kind of tests, but these involve a bit more suffering!

Since Coach Crusty and I have been focusing primarily on strengthening my whole physical system post crash, we haven't done a test for a few months.

The last test, in March 2010, was very disappointing. I had lost a great deal of power at threshold (the point where essentially the lactic acid builds up too quickly for your system to dissipate) since the crash.

Prior to the crash, now a year and a half ago, I did a test that was pretty darn good for early season in March.

So Wednesday, we did a full-out power test that involved 5 minutes all out effort, followed by a rest, then 20 minutes very hard effort. The idea is to bring your body to its maximum effort sustained over 20 minutes to measure what it can handle.

The results, as I completely bury the lead, are very encouraging. My functional power threshold is nearly back to pre-crash levels - within a couple of watts.

And what's ironic is that the weekend before - still mostly tired from all the construction this summer - I considered not doing much racing this season again because I didn't think my body could handle it.

It may not sound it from my writing, but I was THRILLED with the numbers, cautiously though. I know I still am challenged with fatigue. My body now requires a bit more recovery time after hard efforts. Sunday races, after a Saturday race, may still be a challenge.

But I'm a heck of a lot more confident today than I was before Wednesday. I feel stronger mentally, and that, of course, fuels my body.

Two weeks to go before cross season starts! I got my new wheels yesterday, brought them to Mike's for gluing. I'm stoked to begin the season.

I have no delusions that I'll win states again or that I'll win the WCA series or challenge at the USGP races. I am just going to ride as hard as I can, push as hard as possible, and see what happens.

A HUGE thank you goes to Coach Crusty, better known as Craig Harding. His program and words of encouragement and perspective are rocks I can climb on.

Instead of getting all excited about the season, Crusty has me doing painful intervals today! BRING IT, and bring on the cross season!

Leg-Ripping or Bust

2010-06-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

For some reason tonight, while I was struggling to stay upright on a training ride, I learned something about me and racing my bike:

If I can't race to rip someone's legs off, make them suffer, then I don't want to do it. I want to ride so hard that if someone is going to beat me, they're going to really have to work for it.

And right now, the only way I'm going to do that is by entering the wheelchair division for the 80-plus grandma race.

I did not feel it today at all, one day after the Greenbush race. Legs were tired, brain rubbery, felt light-headed.

And struggling up little hills, struggling to ride made me realize why I get frustrated by not being able to race the way I want to. There's no point in just going in circles with a bunch of other dudes dressed in our team kits.

Racing is about suffering and who has trained the hardest, who is willing to go deepest to pull out a win. Right now, I'm not even hanging on. I know I need to restart somewhere. But that is the essential issue.

So I'll keep training so that by Superweek maybe I'll be able to do some leg-ripping in the master 4/5s. And that will be good.

Like a Glacier

2010-06-24T17:28:00.000-05:00

I went up to Greenbush today to race. I downgraded to the 4s again so I could race the masters 4/5 event. After a speeding ticket in Fredonia, I arrived andgot ready. I felt pretty good and lined up in the second row with the mindset of racing, not just riding.

The Greenbush stage of ToAD is beautiful, and it was a sunny warm day to boot. Great day to be on the bike. Of the four laps I was supposed to do, I lasted 2.5, getting dropped up the big hill.

The one post-crash element that is interesting is that when I run out of gas, there's no pushing beyond. I'm done. It was brutal to ride to the parking lot! Even now, several hours after the race, my legs feel shattered. Progress is slow, but sure. I lasted 22 minutes in the 3s race last Saturday in Grafton and nearly an hour today in the 4/5 road race.

Yesterday, on my ride, I had some issues with water! Not mine, but the heavy rains have caused flooding everywhere, including my back yard. (The birds seem to love it, though, eating worms and taking baths!)

This road had a creek running over the top of it!

And this shirt is, of course, the reason I ride:

Apparently Recovery Takes Time

2010-06-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

Even after a year of recovery, I'm not any where near back to where I was in terms of performance in bike racing.

I know, I know. I need to give myself a break. And I am. Really.

In my first real road race since the accident last March, I lasted six minutes! Granted it was a masters 35 cat. 1, 2, 3 race at the Tour of America's Dairyland today in Thiensville, WI. And granted in the second lap we were doing 32 miles an hour up a small incline.

Clearly, I was way out of my element. I knew that going in, and I was hoping to last at least 20 minutes and then maybe the whole race. But I just don't have the power to ride that hard yet.

It's okay and all. I understand that a compound fracture of my femur does not heal quickly. And the full recovery may never happen.

I think that's what is bugging me tonight. Coach Crusty says I need to start the road racing from the beginning again. He said that most people don't come back from injuries like mine, especially to that level of bike racing. And he said it's amazing I've come as far as I've come this quickly.

I never accepted that my bike racing life may have changed in any way after the accident. I've always treated recovery as something that will take some time to get back to where I was and then keep making progress.

Tonight, I'm realizing that I may never get back to where I was. That's sobering. I've been training myself hard, lifting and riding, working to get fit again.

And while I'm making a lot of progress, I may never reach a high level.

And although that may be the "reality," I'm still going to train and race as if it's not. I don't give a shit. I love to ride, I love to race, especially cyclocross.

I'll keep riding my bike to school, I'll keep working at the bike shop to help others find bikes, and, most importantly, I'll keep racing cross.

But my dreams of being a national level cross racer may not come true.

Yet the beauty of cross, though, is that it really doesn't matter. What matters is going out and riding your brains out, slog around in the mud, get heckled by your friends, do the best you possibly can. It doesn't matter what race I do, the elites or the 4s.

Cross is all about the fun and being competitive. It really doesn't matter the category I enter to be competitive.

I started this entry feeling a bit discouraged about the racing prospects.

And once again, considering cyclocross has made me realize why I ride my bicycle. I have a good friend who is facing some personal challenges who always tells me she chooses always to be happy.

And thinking of cyclocross makes me very happy indeed.

Quite a Trip

2010-06-14T08:26:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I flew to Columbus, Nebraska to help my family move my grandma from Columbus to Eau Claire where she is living in an assisted living center.

It was sheeting rain when my sister Teena and I left the hotel in Columbus with the moving truck. When we pulled off the highway in Fremont, two women in a pick up truck raced up to the truck and told us the back door was open.

Oops. Serious oops.

So we walked to the back of the truck to see all the boxes in the back soaked from the rain. One box had broken up and books we found in grandma's attic were gone, presumably all over the highway.

And my duffel bag was missing.

We backtracked down Highway 30, saw the carnage of books scattered all over the highway, but no bag. Our parents were about 40 minutes behind us, so we called them to look for the bag, but they had no luck.

Teena had loaded some of mom and dad's stuff into the truck, and I told her to leave it open in case there was more to load. But when we left the hotel, it was sheeting rain, and neither of us checked the back to lock it. My fault. You'd think after 25 some moves in my life, I'd check something like that.

In the bag was clothing, shoes, a journal with some recent poems, and, most importantly, press clippings from my grandfather's glory days as a high school running back from the 30s. I also had a picture of grandpa's football team.

My car keys were also in the bag...

So Teena and I kept driving, but found Highway 30 closed due to flooding. After numerous false turns, we ended up detouring to Omaha. After an extra hour or more in Nebraska, I was never so happy to see Iowa!

With the open door, detours, we were going to be late for my bus to Milwaukee. Teena planned to drop me off there, I'd take the bus back to the airport to pick up my car. So we burned a boatload of gas while I drove 80-85 in the rental truck through Iowa! I put the invisibility cloak on the truck and flew!

The great spirit was looking over us. I caught the Badger Bus back to Milwaukee, arrived at 9:30 pm, and took a taxi back to my house.

I'll ride over to the airport today to pick up my car. Thankfully, I had a spare key at home and left my side door open since the house key was in the bag.

Good to be back in Milwaukee!

We're Back!

2010-06-14T08:11:00.000-05:00

Under advice from my esteemed laywer, Dan Goldberg, I pulled the blog last year. The kid who hit me didn't have insurance, and Dan was trying to work his magic with other insurance companies. In the meantime, he thought it was prudent to hold off on writing.

But the case is fully complete now. So we're back to comment on education, bike racing, and poetry. I'm working on creating a website for my poetry so heads up.

Thanks for coming back!

taking a break

2009-08-05T15:43:00.001-05:00

I need to take my blog down for a bit starting tomorrow, Friday, August 6. Talk to you soon!

We Need to Share the Road With Morons Like This?

2009-07-30T20:12:00.002-05:00

Read the second letter to the editor in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/52023367.html
Seriously? I'm supposed to share the road with this guy? He wants me to ride on a trainer or a bike path? I'm a road hog?
Please. As a non-"professional" cyclist, I share my road with cars every day. I take up a few feet on the side of the road. True, there are group rides.
Maybe I allow the cars to alter traffic around me.
Maybe the cars should move over and stay off the roads.
Maybe the future tragedies can be prevented when morons like this remember we all get to use the same roads.
As a guy who now has intimate knowledge of what happens when cars don't see cyclists, it'd be nice to think even people like letter writer Terry Smith of Waukesha might learn to share the road.
Or maybe he's jealous of how good I look in spandex...

Next Stage; Good Weekend

2009-07-28T10:16:00.003-05:00

No, not of the Tour. That's over, thank god. Now we can focus on the real racing that comes in September! Yes, cyclocross. What else matters? Road and mountain bikes are just good training.

Superweek is over, so my house is now empty. Jonathan left yesterday, Daniel this morning. Jonathan had a forgettable Superweek. He doesn't much like crits, preferring stage races with long climbs and tough TTs. Plus he got sick with a persistent cold while here.
On the last day, racing in Whitefish Bay, he crashed hard, ending up in the Froedert Hospital ER. He had ripped a large gash from his left forearm, cutting down to the bone. We got home around 1 a.m., then he packed, slept a few hours, and took a taxi to the airport at 5:30 a.m. Rough way to race a bike for a living.

My weekend was considerably better. A few days in Eau Claire, visiting the family, including grandma Irene, the 94 year old from Nebraska. Nephew Lucas is still recovering from his broken leg. We saw Harry Potter and agreed it was a good transition movie, and the next ones would be good.
Kate and I went down to Viroqua over the weekend. I got there early to try out the new Specialized Stumpie 29er hardtail. Whoa. Sweet ride on some sweet trails in Sidie Hollow Park. My former student Savanah and her family helped create the trails. Savanah's uncle and aunt own Blue Dog cycles in Viroqua. Very cool shop, very cool people.
Saturday morning was the Butter Churn ride, put on by folks associated with Organic Valley. More beautiful countryside, long climbs up the ridges, great descents. Savanah rode with us, but she tired by the end, riding a mountain bike with knobby tires! How can you beat a 20 mile tour in beautiful country when there are two rest stops, plus organic chocolate milk at the finish?
You beat it with the Kickapoo Country Fair! Brett Dennen performed under a rainbow with the earthy crunchies from around the state and country dancing. Loads of fun.

Needless to say, I'm beat today. The bike shop was slow both Sunday and Monday. Time for a ride now. The new stage begins Aug. 1, whether I'm ready or not. Coach Crusty will start sending me programs that I'll adapt as I need to in order to keep PT Kim happy.

Buffalo Shout Out

2009-07-19T10:01:00.002-05:00

Back in the 80s and early 90s, I lived near Buffalo, NY. I had already love to ride, but had no idea about training or anything else.

I joined the Buffalo Bike Club and made some good progress as a rider, particularly with the help of John Roden, Larry Reade, and others.

This weekend I hosted a couple of riders from the Buffalo area who were in town for Superweek, Ryan Nye, a newly minted cat. 1 racer, and Janell Clare Bedard.

It was very cool to remember names from the past, especially Boyd Johnson, now making his living at least partially from bike racing. Boyd was a young pup of a high school student when he started riding with us. The boy could ride back then too.

Ryan and Janell are on their way to Pittsburgh right now.

Good to reminisce about the BBC, Handlebars Bike Shop, and Roden, who really gave me a start in learning how to train. He took his time to ride with me often, teach me how to train.

And now Roden apparently just focuses on 'cross! My respect for him just grows!

I'm Listening to Kim the PT

2009-07-15T14:27:00.002-05:00

It's beautiful outside, and I'm sitting inside after a long nap. All the travel lately, with actual work at the bike shop and actual classwork to do has left me exhausted.

Kim the PT says listen to my body during the recovery. The body says sleep.

Seriously, how long will this go on? I want to be able to ride all day today, not just a short 60-minute cruise. And I didn't ride or lift the last two days because of the fatigue.

Once again, I'm grateful for good insurance and a teaching job this summer to give me time and space to recover.

Now I get to encourage nephew Lucas who broke his tibia and fibia last week, and is now wearing a full-leg cast. I planned to go up again this week to visit him, but I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe a weekend of rest and riding will do me good. That's what Kim the PT says.

Much of the My Wife Inc cyclocross team just signed up for the Cincinnati race weekend in October! After all, if I can't train and rest, Mike and Crusty might ride faster than me after all.

Not.

Tip off?

2009-07-07T07:38:00.001-05:00

Not to be cynical, but might Hincapie have tipped off his old friend Armstrong that Columbia was about to put the hammer down?

I'd hate to have Bruyneel's job at the Tour. If I were him, I'd hope this weekend's mountains make the Astana's GC ambitions a bit more clear.

Riding the Bike - Outside!

2009-07-06T12:14:00.002-05:00

For the first time in six weeks, I rode the cross bike last night, out to the Milwaukee Athletic Center on Ryan Road and back.

I took off the current stem and used a shorter, straight up stem to alleviate some of the pressure on the shoulder. I still had to take my left hand off the bars to reduce the pressure, but damn, it felt good to be out on a beautiful evening.

This morning, I rode out to PT, where PT Kim thought I was crazy for riding outside, then to the gym. I'm learning not to lift and ride hard on the same day!

Tomorrow, I'll ride a couple of hours if I can, in between class and the shop.

It's good to be riding outside again!

One More New Poem to Review

2009-06-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

This one took a long time to work out in my head. It came about from a series of stories on NPR about the Godspot, a place in our temporal lobes where, if stimulated, can cause visions of god, angels, light and dark.

The God Spot
thanks to Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Touch me there. Reach your finger inside
my skull to feather
that spot on my temporal lobe.

In some kind of burning bush
hallucination, you might fire up
light and dark, even fire up angels,
or maybe, in my case,
demons running out of control.

Ancient mystics may have had the sacred
disease that brought visions, epileptic
brain seizures that bring God into sharp view.
If I had the sacred disease,
I might see angels
and not fear demons.

You just brush that spot
and, in an exclamation mark of emotion,
color bursts the sounds
and smells
and visions of God
or the Something Beyond our meager existence.

Maybe, in the beginning, we all had this god-spot.
Maybe most of us never
knew what was possible. And maybe

we are hard-wired to sense the Something Beyond,
the Supernatural, the
Eternal Now the mystics knew.

So if you can’t touch that spot in my skull,
touch me with your peyote in a mecca
of God, Muhammad, and Buddha.

Mystical experiences of meditation
shape sand dunes in my skull in two weeks,
and in two months you might see cities on a hill.
Touch me

somehow. I don’t care if God causes
the visions, or if the touch
causes God:

I want the burning bush
alive in my backyard,

the adagio in perfect D major,
popping off the top of my skull.

New Poems for Comment

2009-06-18T15:39:00.002-05:00

Hello all, I'd love some feedback (positive and negative) on some new poems. My brain still feels a little rusty and tired, but these are some beginnings.

Lord Stanley
for Jeff Kresge

Get me a hammer to knock
out these two loose teeth.
Took us three hours to shovel
the snow from the pond. I want
to play. Dougie’s stick smashed

my mouth into pulp of bloody teeth.
I missed only one line
shift, drowning the pain
with two Blues and cotton balls
stuffed into the cavities.

The Cup’s stories are not always
suitable for the youngsters,
as the gleaming silver has been left
in a brothel, for example, lost,
plunged to the depths of a pool.

That damn Cup, misspellings
and all, will someday stand
in Buffalo so I can die
happy, and my mother

can put away the photo
of the illegal goal in 1999, the photo
that shocks her awake every morning
like no coffee shot every could.

It’s different here in Buffalo, where boys
still slap sticks on frozen ponds,
the frozen Canadian wind blowing
hard and cold, and those boys
just skate faster.

Potato Musk

Earthy tangs of brown green
and yellow inspire

rooftops of strawberries
to grow in barrels.

Get your hands dirty
to hold off the rain

of darkness out there
into compost and peat.

All six growing stations
connect to your enemies:

wind and evaporation,
so let’s see what happens

in the back yard of yours,
when senses delight

in sun, water, soil.

You’re Really Nice, But
for Bonnie

Under the tan brick façade,
maybe I am bitter. The recessed
display window
has a front tooth gap filled
with colored crepe paper.

The large banana hook
in the corner is broken
and tarantulas might still
lurk in that part of the store.

The candy case stayed
even filled with trays of licorice
and jars of bright colors
too bitter to eat.

And the candy sometimes
came with a spoon, for the fairy
food that melted in my
empty mouth.

Concrete Tablets

The dark-haired
girl sits on
the pavement

sipping iced
coffee while
her mother

makes new lists.
She holds white
chalk to write

her name Kate,
draws light blue
little girls

pink flowers
blooming gray
concrete stone.

Bay Sounds

Oh, that was cool.
No, but I’m going tonight.
Soft sneakers scratch sidewalks
and flip flops pop stick. The car

engine purrs. Go! shouts one
stomping along the sidewalk
after sticky brakes slow
at the corner.

Soft laughter from the next
table, from behind, from above.
Mom! His pencil scratches.
That’s there, mom. I don’t care.

Do you want anything to drink?
But it’s all tangy and nasty
and there’s the loud thud of full
plastic cup in the garbage.

Okay, bye, I’ll call you. Hello,
Dan! Who’s that? Oh man. Hi Ellen!

You look wonderful. They are in the same place
there. Slap, slide of flip flop sandpaper.
For the two weeks I’ll be at camp,

Absolutely not, no. But I’ll tell him.
I’m sure she’ll get a chuckle out of it.

Bass beat in the back of the truck.
That’s Sam, right there. I’m
off Friday.

Numbers Don't Lie

2009-06-18T13:19:00.002-05:00

Crusty and He-Man,

Power numbers on the bike - now that I have a new, non-crushed power tap - suggest very interesting progress.

I won't share them because I don't want to make you nervous, but for a gimpy, one-armed old man, they are definitely promising.

I have just a couple of more weeks until I get out on the road. That leaves me July, August, and September to train. That should be enough to make you think twice...

How many more days until the cross season starts?

And should I buy you two rear-view mirrors for your bike so you can see me coming before I pass you?

And yes, I'll knock either of you over with my surgically repaired shoulder if you try to get in my way...

Temperatures

2009-06-07T20:11:00.002-05:00

It is June, isn't it?

Funny how in September through December, I crave the cold and miserable weather. I can find something inside to forget about the lack of body fat and my chattering teeth and ride the cross bike.

But in June, it's prety damn hard to put on a heavy coat. Forty degrees in September can feel ridiculously cold, while 40 degrees in February feels like a heat wave.

Once again, it's all about perspective.

We'll Try This Again

2009-06-04T14:00:00.004-05:00

I already wrote one entry today about my visit to Dr. Grindel. It was a frustrated angry screed about the driver of the truck.

But I got a text from a friend who I'm visiting this weekend about perspective. So I took down the post and writing this instead. I kept the screed as a reminder of a bottom point. But now I'm okay.

Here's the news: Grindel said I need to wear the sling with a cushion for another four weeks.

In another eight weeks, so three months from today in September, I can start full on strength training.

In the coming four weeks, I should take the sling off often during the day to stretch and move the shoulder. I should do several passive movments to stretch including putting my arm on a kitchen counter and moving my body away from it to relax it.

In the following two months, I can do more therapy and begin to put my hand on my bike handlebars inside on the trainer.

The planned July 5 "comeback" race in Eau Claire at the Firecracker mountain bike race is off for me. Grindel said, "no, no way."

"That's a serious no way?"

"No way."

Alright then.

He did show me some of the radiology of the operation. I didn't understand any of it, but saw what a rotator cuff shouldn't look like (it was all frayed like a disintegrating rope); a dissolvable half hook thing that looks like a curtain holder, used to hold other tissue in the labrum (the cartilage around your shoulder) together.

He also showed me the tunnels he dug with a "crochet needle" into which he sutured the bone back into place.

So now I'm left with an uncertain summer. I'm working part-time for Crankdaddy's, which will be awesome. I'm writing poetry and a book proposal and article about teaching. I'll continue to train and do therapy as hard and often as I can. And finally I'll do some traveling about the state, particularly up to Eau Claire and my parents' cabin.

I knew there would be rough moments in the recovery. And this was certainly the worst so far.

My potential comebacks are now:
Aug. 2 Crystal Ridge mountain bike race
Aug. 9 state time trial
Aug. 16 River Falls mountain bike race
Aug. 30 Suamico mountain bike race

But now I'm off to see Kim the wonderful physical therapist.

Bike Spaz

2009-06-04T08:11:00.002-05:00

Mike "Bike Genius, My Wife Inc Cross Team Manager" He-Man must just laugh at me sometimes. Maybe a lot of times.

His current source of amusement is my choice of cyclocross bike or bikes. I currently have a Redline that is a good bike, but since it's been used for winter riding, it's kind of beat up. I want to keep that as a winter ride and trainer bike.

I also have an Orbea cross bike that I bought last summer. I rode it for three training rides, then four races before breaking my collarbone! It's a good bike, but doesn't fit me very well, so I'm selling that off.

Now the choice is up in the air. Since Mike rides a Moots Psychol-x, I wanted one too! So we had that all ready to order.

Hold the phone. Now Mike is obsessing about Spooky bikes, very cool in the cross community. So I checked the Spooky website, loved the bikes, but saw that their largest is a 56 top tube. Since I usually have a 58 or 59 tt, we figured it was too small.

So I checked out the Blue cross bike since Crankdaddy's sells that brand too.

This morning, I talked with Mickey, bike designed and builder at Spooky. He said his 56s work with guys so now that's back on the table.

I'd love to have two identical cross bikes. That's totally a "want," not a "need." For cross, it's nice to have a pit bike so if your race bike has a mechanical or gets really muddy, you have a spare to ride.

My Redline would work well as a pit bike. And if I buy the Moots, that would likely be the pit bike, unless I could buy a Blue at a reasonable price. Two Spooky cross bikes sounds much cooler. Or maybe two Blue carbons?

Regardless, all the cross bikes are going to have SRAM Force as components with TRP magnesium brakes, and the funky oblong cranks that I can never remember. Basically, the set up is exactly what Mike rides!

So he shouldn't get too bent out of shape about my indecision since I'm trying to be as cool and pro as him. I hope that doesn't sound sarcastic because it's not. He's forgotten more about bikes than I will ever know so it makes sense to let him spend my money.

And while he may know more than I about bikes, I'll still beat him in cross. Maybe not this year, but definitely next year!

Bring it!

Shoulder Surgery, Teaching, and a New Ride

2009-06-01T19:40:00.003-05:00

After with Dr. Grindel's nurse and my PT extraordinaire Kim, I understand a little more about the surgery. First Grindel's children, if he has them, did not sneak into surgery to draw on my shoulder in purple marker. He draws out the bone structure to aid in surgery.

He went in arthroscopically through the front of the shoulder. When he discovered rotator cuff damage, he opened the side up to repair the greater tuberosity fracture by suturing the bone piece back in.

Then to repair the labrum, the cartilage around the arm bone, he put an anchor into the bone and sutured the labrum (I think) into place.

That still makes no sense to me, but to Chris Hougen and others who read this, they may understand. Bottom line: it will still take a long time to heal, and I can't move it this week or next.

Secondly, I'm grateful this year my school district doesn't do merit pay. I'm grading the final assessments in reading and writing skills, stuff we've literally practiced all year long. The grades are ugly, man. I'm depressed. Clearly I have a large stake in that failure. And while I'm sure the kids did learn some things this year, they weren't able to demonstrate it in a fairly straightforward, non high-stakes assessment.

I, though, did learn a lot, and I plan to work hard this summer to put it all into place so the kids next year learn this material - essentially writing and reading skills - much better.

Finally, to ease my troubled mind tonight, Mike He-man called to let me know the mountain bike is in.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=39219&eid=99

$2.3 Billion Should Be Used for Alternatives

2009-05-30T16:56:00.002-05:00

Here it is, the Journal's article about the zoo interchange reconstruction: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/46322737.html

I'm sometimes at a loss for words (not often enough according to my friends!), but this makes me speechless. A state legislator talked about how the interchange is not suitable for the "modern economy."

Maybe the modern economy needs alternatives to concrete. It's easy to sit back and deride the lack of progress on public transportation when people don't use it.

But if public transportation, including rail and bus, was cheap, easy, and available, you have to think people would use it more often.

And if gas prices continue to rise, as they will as demand increases and supply decreases, more people will look for those alternatives.

So why do we continue to invest in highways? Lawmakers, I assume, find it easy and safe. Build more roads. Why is it so hard to invest in light rail, more efficient buses?

I understand our cities, Milwaukee as an example, are laid out so that public transportation is a challenge. For instance, to get to my doctor's appointment at Froedert on Thursday, it would take a long time to get there using buses.

Why not change our mindset? Why not change how we start to look at transportation? What will we need in 50 years? Will gas be plentiful? Probably not, so let's look at the alternatives now.

Notice I haven't mentioned bikes yet. With fewer cars on the road (given more public transportation), Milwaukee is a pretty easy town to get around in by bicycle.

This is such a huge topic to consider. And I'm not doing it any sense of justice here.

But before this massive Zoo interchange project goes forth, I want to see a lot more discussion and movement on public transportation.

Not the Best

2009-05-28T19:16:00.002-05:00

Surgery today not great. The bone went back in, but there was rotator cuff damage as well as some kind of tear behind the shoulder with soft tissue damage. Apparently when I crashed, there was some dislocation of the shoulder. Dr. Grindel essentially put a patch on it.

The surgery itself took twice as long as it was supposed to. I'll know more next Thursday when
I see him again. Needless to say, I'm not a terribly happy boy. But Chris Horner found a hairline crack in his tibia and still plans/hopes to ride the Tour. The guy broke his collarbone last August, again this spring, and now this.

Maybe we should form a support group...

Tomorrow

2009-05-27T21:15:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the last surgery: Dr. Grindel cuts open the shoulder with an arthroscope to clean up any damage and pin or sew the bone back together.

I'm totally not worried about the surgery itself. I'm dreading the idea of the recovery. I've broken the collarbone/shoulder enough to know what's coming, and it's a pain in the a...

Good News, Bad News

2009-05-19T20:11:00.002-05:00

I figured it would come to this.

But good news first: Dr. Schmeling, the leg doc, said I was healing quickly, months ahead of schedule. He told me to ditch the cane, and go ride my bike a lot to strengthen the leg. Not a problem, doc!

So yesterday, I rode my cross bike with road wheels down the trail all the way to the Milwaukee Athletic Center. It used to be my warmup, but Tuesday it was a blast just to be able to ride. I was pretty tired this morning!

Today, I saw Dr. Grindel, the shoulder doc. I expected to hear bad news since the shoulder was simply not healing. It hurt often, especially with stupid quick movement when I forget I'm hurt.

At this moment, while I wait for Grindel's nurse to confirm, I'm getting surgery next Thursday. Grindel will either screw the loose bone back into my shoulder or push it back in and sew it into the bone. (If it wasn't my shoulder, sewing bone into bone sounds kind of cool.)

While it will heal as my leg heals, I probably won't be able to meet my goal of racing July 4 in Eau Claire. Grindel says these things take up to 12 weeks to heal. That means 8 or 9 weeks for me! And that means more weeks of riding the trainer.

Needless to say, I'm getting out tomorrow for as long as I can stand it. Same with the rest of the week until surgery day.

It'll be nice to put this all behind me. Except for the scar, and the limp, and the sore shoulder...

Progress

2009-05-09T20:31:00.003-05:00

Last night was a bit of a challenge. I wanted to go have dinner and drinks with friends. But by 8:30, I was sleeping.

I should expect that, I know. School and working out/therapy occupies all of my time during the week, and, as PT Kim says, my body is working overtime to heal.

Still, it's a bit frustrating.

Then I start thinking about perspective.

Only three weeks ago, the docs gave me permission to put weight on the leg, ride the bike, and begin more extensive therapy.

That Friday, I rode the recumbent bike at a gym for FOUR MINUTES, rested, then TWO minutes. I was wiped out and sore.

Yesterday, I managed to do my complete therapy workout AND ride 30 minutes on my bike (on a trainer in my living room) at a decent pace.

Three weeks ago, PT Kim told me to sit on the floor, back against the wall, and do leg lifts. I actually had to concentrate to lift my leg once, then again. Today I did that 30 times, along with sitting squats.

Three weeks ago, I laid on my living room floor with a theraband, trying to raise my leg. And I stood with my walker pulling the band front, back, and both side ways (is that a description?). Today, I pushed 60 pounds on the hip machine doing the same exercises.

Mom just sent me pictures from Easter when I was hobbling around on two crutches. Now I walk around, still hobbling, but I hardly use my cane at home. (Friend Lisa said I now have an awesome pimp roll walk with my cane. Time for the black cane with a silver death head!)

So there's measurable and consistent progress. That's good. I know when I've broken my collarbone or arm, it's taken six weeks to heal. And while it's now been seven weeks, this was a hell of lot more serious of a break.

I see the doctors soon. Schmeling (or his PA Jennifer) next Friday, then Grindel for the shoulder the following Tuesday.

In the meantime, friend Mike Heenan is keeping me focused on the big picture by sending my cyclocross schedules and challenges. It's going to be a bit of a challenge to recognize my limitations this fall, especially when I was hoping to seriously challenge at a state and national level. But 'cross is fun, and I can't wait for the road trips.

There better be some serious mud this season!

Beer Blog

2009-05-05T20:30:00.002-05:00

On Sunday night, I took dinner outside in the fading sunlight and sipped a Bell's Oberon Ale, from Comstock, Michigan. Summer can begin.

We have three beers on review tonight. The first is Indica India Pale Ale from the Lost Coast
Brewery in Eureka, California. It's a good beer, but not great. It's full, strong, but not remarkable.

Second beer is Snake Dog IPA from Flying Dog Brewery in Denver. It's a tasty beverage with an odd after taste, or maybe odd after texture. I'm not sure. But I had a sense that something thick like caramel slid down my throat after the tasty hoppy beer. I'll have to try another one to make sure.

But the total, absolute star of this round of tasting is Double Trouble IPA, from Founders Brewery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While it's not fair to compare a double IPA with regulars, this beer was amazing. It was highly hoppy, sharp and bitter, just the way I like it. Refreshing and alive. This beer ranks right up there with Tyranena's Bitter Woman, judged best of class in a blind taste test done by sister Teena and I some years ago!
The only issue is the 9.4 percent alcohol content. Yikes. I'm a lightweight now anyway, and one beer was all I could handle!

Clearly, a road trip to Michigan's breweries seems necessary this summer.

A Real Bike, But With Training Wheels

2009-04-29T20:23:00.003-05:00

Got on the cross bike today for the first time since the crash. Neighbor Katie brought it downstairs for me. It was a bit of a challenge to actually get on the damn thing.

But boy, that 30 minutes felt awfully satisfying.

We're still on track for the GOAL: the July 5 Firecracker mountain bike race in Eau Claire. Nephew Lucas and friends the Hougens plan to do it with me. I'll just enter the citizens and ride the course.

Days like this, when I'm starting to walk without crutches, give some hope. Even though I'm ready to sleep by 7:30 every night, I get better every day. At least that's what I tell the kids, better, smarter, better looking.

No, they don't believe me...

Only in Middle School, I Hope

2009-04-28T20:10:00.002-05:00

I don't know if this story will work in translation, but I thought it was hilarious!

I like pushing buttons of kids. One day I was talking about how women sometimes hear men's words through a super secret decoding filter that often sends messages that the men NEVER meant to send.

For example, women can hear men say something about apples, and wonder if the man is calling them fat!

So I said that in class. One student, a wonderful, lovely girl named Abby, started to argue with me.

"Abby, if I said chair, you'd think I was calling you fat!"

"No I wouldn't," she protested.

This was several months ago. Yesterday in class, Abby was pouting about something I said again.

"You're mean, Mr. Warloski!"

"No I'm not, Abby, I'd never say anything really mean!"

"Yes, you would. You called me ugly!"

"What??"

"Yeah, you said I was as ugly as a chair!"

"Are you kidding me? I never said that."

She waited a minute. Then she corrected herself.

"No wait, you said I was fat! Yeah, you said something about a chair, and that I was fat!"

Wow. Abby is neither fat nor ugly. She is a charming young lady. In a way, it's sad, but it was funny. The kids all laughed with me as I reassured Abby that I didn't mean that at all, and that in fact, she proved my point.

You have to love 7th graders!

Back in the (School) Saddle Again

2009-04-21T21:26:00.002-05:00

Man, I miss those little balls of energy, can't sit still, need to be entertained, laughing kids. It's so so good to be back. Some are out of practice with the whole listening to the teacher kind of thing, but they'll get it back soon. Right now, though, I'm going to bed. I'm beat. I love those 7th graders!

Okay, one story: we sat around the cafeteria waiting for all the kids to get their pictures taken. I'm talking with a bunch of kids. I got my iphone out to check my emails, and one asks me if I have atomic fart yet as an application. No, I didn't, and since it was free, we downloaded it.

My young friend showed me how to set everything up.

"Now you can just wiggle your butt in class, Mr. Warloski, and it'll sound like you're farting."

So we did that, and we were giggling in class so hard. It was hilarious. Well, at least I thought so...

And the doctor said...

2009-04-17T11:54:00.002-05:00

You may return to school on Monday.

You may ride the stationary bike.

You may put 50 percent of your weight on your leg.

WOO-WOO. Nothing but good news today from Jennifer Johnson, PA for Dr. Schmeling. I love this woman!!!

So Monday I can return to school full-time. I need to have my crutches and/or the wheelchair available. I'm planning on making the kids move around anyway!

She wants me to ride the bike for therapy! So tomorrow morning I drive up to the gym and sit on the recumbent for as long as I can take it. I'd truly never thought I'd be excited to ride a recumbent at the gym in sunny weather!

And for the next two weeks, Jennifer wants me to use 50 percent of my weight on my left leg and progress to full weight after that as long as there is no pain near the fracture site.

I cannot tell you how stoked I am. It's tangible proof that healing is happening.

Some friends of my parents' visited me in Eau Claire last week. We talked about the crash and recovery. I talked about physical therapy and how the process of therapy does not seem challenging at all.

I don't mean that to sound boastful, like I'm tougher than others. Athletes who train their bodies push themselves so far. Most of us have trained so hard that we puke.

I bring the same attitude to physical therapy. It's just another workout. And I'm going to push it, just like any other workout on the bike.

I hope the therapists at the new outpatient PT facility understand this mentality. I'm going to push myself harder than you'll ever push me. Just show me how, and let me go.

On July 5, Eau Claire is hosting a mountain bike race called the Firecracker. It's at Lowes Creek Park where I've ridden, skied, or run since I was a boy. That's my goal: to ride that race, at least as a citizen. I plan to start riding outside in a month and by July hope to have a little bit of fitness.

Big step today. I'm excited and ready for the next phase of healing. My friend Chris, a chiropractor, said the next step is "beat the crap out of my leg" to help break up the scar tissue and strengthen and mobilize the leg.

In the words of retiring John Madden: "Boom!"

Oh...

2009-04-15T14:04:00.003-05:00

Prior to the crash, when I was lifting and training like a madman, I weighed about 175 lbs.

I just got on a scale here in Eau Claire. I was at 160 lbs. Even with a scale difference, that's still a big weight loss. Yikes.

It will take time to get that back up!

Beer Log

2009-04-14T20:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, sister Teena and I went for coffee and discovered a treasure chest of beer instead. The Coffee Grounds in Eau Claire, WI has an amazing selection of state, national, and world beers, many in singles.

Last night we sampled the Grand Teton Brewing Company's Bitch Creek ESB. Yes, we bought it for the name! Grand Teton is in Victor, Idaho.

It was a copper color, but delicious. Full, bitter. Not as bitter as I'd like, but still a great taste.

Tonight's sample is from Black Sheep Brewery in Rochester, NY. I bought this one, too, because of its name: Monty Python's Holy Ail Ale. "Tempered over burning witches."

When I first opened it, it smelled like a Dutch lager such as Grolsch. That's pretty good beer, but not my favorite. It looks like a lager as well, very light colored. It has a bit of a bitter after-taste, but there's not much difference between this beer and typical American big-name beer. Not a beer I'd get again.

Apparently, those witches were a little on the skinny side.

A Good Sleep

2009-04-10T11:00:00.003-05:00

I haven't been sleeping at all the past few nights: awake at all hours, fall asleep for an hour or two. It wore on me.

I'm with my parents in Eau Claire for a few days. For whatever reason, the clean air up here, a bed that was really comfortable, mom's cooking, I finally had a good night's sleep.

Man, that makes all the difference. I feel awake today, had a great therapy workout, and feel like my brain is attached inside my head.

Now, with the temperatures reaching 55 on a beautiful sunny day, I only wish I could go ride out in the hills of southern Eau Claire county. The farm roads often remind me of Ireland or Belgium. I've done four or five hour rides out there, just because I didn't want to go home.

Sundays with Paul

2009-04-07T14:13:00.002-05:00

In 1997, writer Mitch Albom wrote "Tuesdays with Morrie" about reuniting with a favorite college professor as he was dying with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Albom visits Morrie, who taught sociology for years at Brandeis University, every Tuesday, more as the disease progresses. Morrie teaches Albom lessons about life and pursuing deeper meanings of love and connection with other people.

Although I am not dying, just crabby about my broken leg, one of my favorite students ever visited me last Sunday. I taught Lauren in 7th grade, seven years ago. She's now a nursing student.

We went out to lunch for sushi as she drove me and my crutches, opening doors for me. I felt like a bit of an old man!

She showed me a scrapbook album of her high school years. And when we returned to my house, she played DVDs of her high school musicals. Lauren has an incredible alto singing voice.

She brought the movie "Yes Man" up so we watched that and ate some stew that Karen and John brought over.

I know that in "Tuesdays," it's Albom who learns all the life lessons, but in "Sundays" at least, I was grateful for Lauren's smiling, happy presence, bringing some laughter into my day.

CT scans of my leg after surgery

2009-04-04T17:46:00.008-05:00

This picture freaks me out a bit. You can see bone fragments. The report said the fragments are in the right place to heal. The lines you see are tubes, etc, used during the surgery.

I'm guessing the pins are by my knee, not my hip since there are no cuts near the hip.

This definitely looks like the knee. Maybe that's why it's so stiff!

Freedom!

2009-04-04T08:42:00.004-05:00

I was so excited this morning about two big steps for me, I called my friend John. We laughed about how ridiculous the steps seemed, but how huge they were for me in recovery.

Big Step One:
If you read this on a regular basis, you know Mom has been here for three weeks, taking care of me. Since I'm restricted to crutches and the walker, I can't carry anything like a plate.

Mom found a tray for the walker that folds up into a platform, then folds down in front. We tried it while she was here, and it worked well.

This morning, since Mom is back in Eau Claire, I was entirely on my own. The picture above is my coffee and hot cereal! I was thrilled to be able to eat at the table with the paper. Woo-woo.

Big Step Two: I slept in my own bed! I used the crutches to get up the stairs and slept in my room. The bed is a little low, so getting up was a bit of a challenge. And the toilet upstairs does not have a riser thingie, so that is a little low too. But still, it's a return to some normalcy!

Funny how I have taken those things for granted for so many years!

Life and Death

2009-04-03T17:20:00.003-05:00

Today was a day of feeling close to death, but then being reminded of the life and energy of 7th graders.

Mike He-Man drove me down to Racine today to pick up my bike so he could bring it back to the shop and provide an estimate for insurance.

Mike, Crankdaddy's chief mechanic and manager, told me earlier that in the case of vehicle/bicycle collisions, he always declares the frame a total loss because you never know what kind of internal stressors in the frame might cause the bike to fall apart at inopportune times!

After the crash, a guy told me the bike was okay. But last night I dreamed that when I picked up the frame, it fell apart in my hands.

I felt nauseous when I saw the bike today. Since Mom reads this, I won't go into details or show pictures. But the frame was in pieces. It was ugly.

I felt deeply grateful I am still alive and that I only have a broken femur from the crash. If you look at the frame, you would assume I had died.

He-Man drove me up to school so I could see the kids. I can't tell you how much I miss them. They all crowded around the wheelchair to see the scars. I only showed them a portion of the thigh laceration because parts of it are too gross for them to see.

As typical kids, they would say, "ooo, gross. Can I see it again?"

Many kids asked me if I cried. I told them I was in too much pain to cry, and I did a lot more screaming.

I wanted more time with them, in small groups, to hear about their lives and what had been going in the last three weeks. In three weeks, kids could start a couple of new relationships!

It's a cliche for sure, but today I realized how close I was to losing those kids. I'm grateful for the time with them.

And when I go back after Easter, and one of them is driving me crazy, I'll try to remember this day, and be thankful I'm around for him to bug me.

Finally, today Mom went back to Eau Claire. She spent the morning cleaning, doing laundry, cooking, worrying about me. She can tend to be a bit "motherly" and want to help someone with everything.

But she's been amazing here. She's let me work through learning how to use the walker and crutches, how to get around, she's even around when I'm doing my workouts and feeling all the pain. She's kept me company, and listened to me.

I will miss her a ton until I head to Eau Claire so she can take care of me there. I'm a lucky man to have had her take care of me these past three weeks. Thanks, mom.

News I'm Thinking About

2009-04-02T19:02:00.007-05:00

Item #1: I rarely understand Israeli politics, and don't often care, but this piece in the New York Times made me a little nervous.

New Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, already a right-wing conservative, apparently needed to reach further to the right in order to form his government.

For foreign minister, he selected nationalist Avigdor Lieberman. The guy, according to the Times, wanted a loyalty clause for all Israelis, seems to be racist against Arabs, and refuses the Annapolis agreement signed in 2007.

Here are a couple of quotes from the Times:

"Those who wish for peace should prepare for war."

"Those who think that through concessions they will gain respect and peace are wrong. It is the other way around; it will lead to more wars."

Obviously, the Israeli and Palestinian conflicts are incredibly complex, and I'll admit to understanding maybe 10 percent. It just seems odd to me that a foreign minister in charge of diplomacy with other nations would talk like this.

2) In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning, Eugene Kane wrote a piece about Milwaukee's school choice program. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/42301667.html

In it he admits to not always supporting the program, while Howard Fuller, former school superintendent and nationally known supporter of choice program, believes school choice gives poor inner-city black students a better chance of academic success.

Last week, several studies reported no significant difference between test scores of choice schools and public schools. Fuller concedes, and Kane seems to agree, that choice schools need more "quality, accountability, and transparency."

Kane also talked about how choice schools become a political football, particularly for politicians who want to bash the teachers' union.

As a public school teacher, I haven't liked the idea of choice schools, particularly sending public money to private, often religious, schools. But Milwaukee Public Schools face incredible challenges, and if a man as well-respected as Howard Fuller says choice schools are good for poor black students, then I have to rely on his opinion since I don't teach at MPS.

But as a teacher who fully believes in drastically reforming public education, I think there is room for choice within MPS.

For example, could we create a school - or a school within in a school - where we work out the theories of James Beane, Paulo Freire, and so many other researchers who say kids need to have meaningful and relevant curriculum that they choose and that is based on authentic questions the kids pose?

And could there be other options: music and drama schools, schools where learners learn by doing, schools where kids explore science or history in depth?

I'd be a lot more comfortable with this kind of choice school, rather than publicly funded private schools.

You should see my classroom when all kids are fully engaged in meaningful activities. It doesn't happen every day, but I'll tell you: there are no discipline problems. Ever.

In schools and classrooms where kids feel like the curriculum is meaningless and/or irrelevant, the discipline problems increase.

Regardless, MPS needs serious changes. The educational system does not work for the current clientele of student. If Howard Fuller believes choice schools are the best alternative right now, and we can all agree on more quality, accountability, and transparency, then that's a good place to start.

But let's not rely on the new Israeli foreign minister's views to shape our education discussion about MPS. Those who wish for a better educational system should not bicker about political agendas, but should be concerned about how kids learn best. Then we should design our schools to meet those needs.

High Priest Myerson

2009-04-02T09:40:00.003-05:00

If cyclocross is a cult - and we're going to assume that it is - Adam Myerson would be its High Priest, Chief Philosopher.

Myerson is a long-time cross racer, coach, and crit rider. In his blog writings, he can be a crusty, describing himself as an aging punk rocker. He muses on cycling, cross, beer, relationships, and the life and struggles of a traveling bike racer.

I met him four or five years ago when he did a cross clinic for his company Cycle Smart out in Madison. I just started cross at the time, and really didn't know much about the man.

Some months ago, Cyclocross Magazine published an interview with Myerson and a profile of him.

Here is something he said that made me genuflect in front of the cross bike:

"Road racing is a novel, and cross is poetry. Every word counts in poetry. Cross is like that."

Mostly Good News from the Docs

2009-03-31T13:37:00.003-05:00

In the first follow up visit, the orthopedic doctors at Froedert gave me almost all good news.

1. The stitches and staples are all out!

2. The dressing for the laceration to the side of my leg is gone now. The bad thing is that laceration looks worse than ever, but is actually healing well. I'll keep it covered when I go out in public!

3. Jennifer, Dr. Schmeling's PA, said it was very likely I'd be able to teach again after spring break! WOO-WOO!!!

4. Jennifer also said I was able to drive. That only means I need to switch vehicles with someone for a few weeks because my car is a stick shift. I love the stick shift, but as long as I keep racing - and falling over - I'm not sure it was a smart purchase!

5. No weight bearing on the leg for a few more weeks, but Jennifer said I can exercise it a lot. (I didn't tell her I was already doing that!)

6. Prescribed therapy for my leg: CYCLING!! (Yes, Mr. Principal, I need Wednesday off so I can ride 80 miles in the warm sun. Doctor's orders!)

7. Stupid cast came off my thumb. Every once in a while, I bump it against something and it stings, but it doesn't hurt much at all. No cast, no nothing!

8. My ankle, which was hurt when the television fell on it (don't ask!), is okay, just tender.

9. The only "negative" news from the morning is the shoulder. Apparently the muscles over the ball end of my arm bone are moving off the bone slightly. Dr. Grindel, who is also a cyclist!, wasn't thrilled to see the muscle, but didn't think surgery would be required. He ordered a CT scan for Thursday to see if there is any other damage.

I was doing a happy dance in my wheelchair this morning. Honestly, I was very nervous this morning, worried that everything was wrong. It is a huge relief to know that the healing is moving along nicely.

It's going to be a long process, and I may never have the same strength in my left leg. But man, when I get back in my classroom and on my bike, it's going to be glorious!

Mornings

2009-03-29T16:53:00.003-05:00

Usually, I hop out of bed in the morning, ready to take on the day.

Since the crash, though, particularly this week, I'm not a fan of mornings.

The pain meds I took at midnight are totally worn off by the time I wake up. And everything just aches. Soon, I want to wean myself off the meds, but right now, they're necessary.

So I wake up hurting, become crabby. The whole day has been one of those crabby days. I've worked really hard to stay positive, work hard at the rehab, and think positive thoughts about my recovery.

Today, though, I hated the guy who hit me, I hated the situation, felt sorry for myself. Blah, blah, blah. Now I'm done.

The only things that have brought me smiles today was finding the Beer Advocate website, where you can type out the kinds of beer you like, and it gives you a list of their favorite beers!

And the other thing that has been bringing me happiness is the thought of the new bikes on the way: A replacement road bike for the Waterford R33, and I'm using my tax return to buy a mountain bike, probably a Gunnar single speed.

Even though it snowed last night, it's sunny now and the snow is melting into the rain gutter. There is hope yet.

Mom

2009-03-26T12:55:00.002-05:00

At this moment, mom is washing up the lunch dishes. She threw some leftovers together, added BACON, and served it up. Dee-lish!

My mom is 73, but acts like she's much younger. She came down the day after the crash to help out in the hospital. She went back to Eau Claire to recuperate and get ready to help me post-hospital.

I literally would be lost right now without her. She cooks my meals, washes clothing, shops, even gets the paper in the morning, which I can't reach on the porch.

She survives by taking little trips for fun. The new Sendiks grocery store was a field trip! She's heading to Chicago Saturday to see a friend of hers.

I'm so grateful she's here. Despite all my very stubborn need for independence, I need her. I simply can't do things like carry my oatmeal to the table.

I'm going to have to learn to do all these things, I know. But by next week, when she leaves, I'll be that much stronger and that much more able to move around.

At night we've been watching goofy movies to laugh. We've watched Cars, Best in Show, the Incredibles. We're trying to laugh and keep the mood light.

To tell the truth, although I'm actively encouraging her to get back to her life in Eau Claire, I'm a bit nervous, no, a lot, nervous about her leaving. It's going to be very different here, and I'm going to have to learn to reach out to others for help.

Much of this recovery time has been humbling, like mom cleaning out my urinal bottle. Maybe that's what I'm learning?

Regardless, I'd be lost without my mother. Thanks, mom.

A Normal Day at the Office

2009-03-24T17:25:00.001-05:00

Some sense of routine has begun in home recovery. Mom made coffee this morning, while I actually made my oatmeal. Did the exercises, some school work, at lunch, tried to sleep a bit, more reading and school work, dinner later, then a movie while I do workout session #2.

Jay the PT came yesterday. I asked the health care company for an athlete. I got it. He works part time at a sports med clinic. He didn't think there was any reason I couldn't return to the kids after Easter. He likes to be active with treatment, pushing the patient.

I told him he came to the right place. I was thrilled with the no-nonsense approach. As he left, he said he looked forward to "kicking your, I mean I look forward to seeing you Thursday." Those are sweet words.

Whatever I do now just gets me back walking that much sooner. I can't wait to walk down to the village, get a raspberry scone from Great Harvest and a coffee from Broad Street and see my kids everywhere.

Jackie the neighbor brought Caden and Caleb over with some cool artwork and the magic helmet. (See separate post)

Thanks to friend Kristin for sending me the sacred brownies, to neighbors Sean and Heidi for the fruit, and to seriously cool neighbors Jackie and Katie for setting up the house and providing movies. Tonight, mom and I start with "Cars!"

What is Up with Froedert?

2009-03-24T17:04:00.005-05:00

Interesting news: I also have a broken arm. The tubersosity (ball end) of my humerous (the bone that runs from my shoulder to my elbow) is also fractured.

According to my doctor friend who read the MRI, I shouldn't be putting any weight on it. In fact, he says, he's not sure why I was released from the hospital.

In addition, there is a tear in my rotator cuff muscles that is not serious.

With the humerous, I should have it in a sling, immobilized. But that obviously would prevent me from doing anything on my walker or crutches.

My friend says I can still get around on the walker, but it will hurt and take longer for the fracture to heal.

Not sure why Froedert treats patients like me as separate body parts. Next week I return for appointments with one orthopedic who will treat my leg, and another who will treat my shoulder and thumb.

At least they're getting treated, I guess.

Why wouldn't Froedert want to treat a person first, then work on individual issues? I realize it's a teaching hospital, but seriously.

On Friday, while I was still in the hospital, an orthopedic resident came in to look at my hand. I was still wearing the club they gave me in ER. This is a minor distal fracture of the tip of my thumb.

So he removed the club, fashioned a metal splint around it, taped it up and called it good.

That afternoon I was called down to the hand clinic. There they told me they were casting the thumb down to my elbow!

Uh, no?

I told them what happened earlier so they called a doctor. We compromised on the smaller cast, but I still thought it was ridiculous.

The next day, the doctor who put the splint on came in to check on me. He did a double take when he saw the cast.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Ah, so that answers that question. It wasn't you they called to confirm the orders."

"No, it wasn't." He promised to talk with whomever. But seriously?

My Magic Helmet

2009-03-24T16:57:00.006-05:00

Enough broken bones! I now have what I need to stay safe on my bike: the Magic Helmet, created by Caden, Caleb, and Caden's mom, neighbor Jackie.

Home - Day 1

2009-03-23T11:28:00.002-05:00

I actually slept without sweating! I didn't have to call the aides three times a night to change my sheets because they were soaked with sweat. I even dreamed about water pouring down my head!

I woke after 7 whole hours of uninterrupted sleep. Smelled the coffee mom made, I started making oatmeal with the usual eggs and honey. I couldn't quite finish before feeling faint and sitting down. But it's the first morning after all.

Made up a chart with my exercises, another with the medications, called the docs for appointments, and contacted the home health care provider. Mom found me some funny movies at the library so I'll watch those this afternoon.

After exercises, now, I'm writing this, and considering a nap. The therapy is going to wear me out, but it's just like my regular cycling program, just a little more painful!

Thanks for all of comments, visits, cards, and calls this past week. I feel loved and missed. Thank you.

Hospital Camp is Ending

2009-03-22T19:04:00.002-05:00

I'm going home. There's many many things I will not miss about this place, particularly the horrible communication between the doctors.

But as camp ends, I am going to miss Super Nurses Pam and PB, Super Aides and Techs Becky, Charleen, and Emma a ton, I mean a lot a lot. They helped me keep my spirits up, my body properly medicated, cleaned, monitored.

Thank you ladies. Reunion Tour 2010???

It Will Be The Small Things

2009-03-22T12:59:00.002-05:00

Today, PT Kelly, also an athlete, told me I was cleared to use the walked to amble around my room. This means I can get out of bed, walker over to the bathroom, use it, and return to bed, ALL WITHOUT A NURSE OR AIDE WATCHING OVER ME!!

In The Morning

2009-03-22T09:42:00.002-05:00

I woke up pretty grumpy and depressed. I'm probably going home Monday where all the "new" routines will develop. It's there where I'll realize I can't go to school to be with the kids, where I can't go ride every day.

So I woke up like that. But a nice talk with nurse Pam, an amazing bath from aide Emma, and clean real-person clothing, it's a definite improvement!

Nurses of the Century

2009-03-21T21:25:00.005-05:00

Truly, the only way I've survived this week with a sense of humor and purpose despite the discomfort, pain, and uncertainty is with the help of a pair of dedicated nurses, both named Pam. One is Pam H., the other goes by PB since she is also a Pam H!

I've been fortunate to have them as my primary nurses all week.

They do their job efficiently, compassionately, and laugh at my feeble attempts at jokes, all with patience and grace.

Yesterday one of the patients was a mentally challenged person who caused several issues on the floor. Pam and PB both dealt with her the same way they dealt with all of their patients: professionally, courteously, and efficiently. And they kept their sense of humor.

The aides, particularly Charleen and Becky, have been great too. Today Becky washed my hair - rinse, repeat - and PB figured out the phone well enough to shoot these pictures!

Saturday Night

2009-03-21T18:27:00.002-05:00

I actually got to sit outside today! Bobbie and Jay wheeled me outside. We may have gotten greedy by sitting in sun because I grew dizzy after a few minutes, but man that warmth was pleasant.

So here's the question for today: Since I'm going to have some nasty scars on my left thigh, I'm thinking that I need to lose my tattoo virginity. Ideas?

No, Crusty, I won't do that, or that one either.

It'll be roughly a 4x7 rectangle. I'm thinking something bicycle related or something mysteriously symbolic. Kresge: Get to it!

First Detailed Pictures! Kind of Icky!

2009-03-21T09:39:00.006-05:00

These are photos from this morning when the docs took off the leg dressing, including the drainage sponge. Good news is that the graft, the patch closer to my knee, is healing nicely. So I n0 longer need the sponge, and that means I can wear pants!
The hole in the middle is where the bone came through, and the patch closest to you is the source of the skin graft.

Physical Therapy and my hot hair and outfit!

2009-03-21T09:28:00.006-05:00

So PT Extraordinaire Cheryl took me to the stairs to practice on the crutches. I can't put weight on the left leg so it ends up a lot of work.

The Full Story As I Remember It

2009-03-20T08:55:00.010-05:00

A few moments before the crash, I called my friend Mike and told him we needed to take personal days on Tuesday to ride in the 70-degree spring heat.

A few moments later, I considered stopping so I could call Coach Crusty to tell him that while he was making my legs very, very tired, I was feeling strong. I wanted to tell him that if the progress went like this for the season, I'd be a force by September.

And just a few moments later, I was lying on the ground in a fetal position, my left deformed. For some reason, tried to push the bone back into it's proper position. That didn't go too well, though, just more pain added to the more pain.

I had been riding northbound on Loomis Road in Wind Lake. I set out Saturday afternoon to ride until brain-dead enough to get lost, then find my way home. I managed to ride to Waterford, called Mike, then headed home on Loomis.

I had my thoughts about how ridiculously good I was starting to feel. Crusty was keeping me tired, but I could just feel strength in my legs that I had never felt before. And this was in March!

At the top of a small hill, a truck in the southbound lane stopped, or so it seemed, to wait to turn left. I remember a car behind it, maybe. Down the hill I flew. The truck pulled out a few inches, starting his turn.

But he stopped. The truck was now very much in my awareness pattern. Hands on my brakes, slowing, making decisions about what he might do.

Since he stopped, I assumed he had seen me. After all, I WAS THE ONLY PERSON/VEHICLE IN THE ROAD, and I WORE RED, ORANGE, AND YELLOW.

I continued on, and as I reached him, he accelerated. I tried to sprint away, but I think he panicked when he actually "saw" me, hitting the gas instead of the brake.

While on the ground, people started to gather. He hit me near the corner of Loomis and Fries Road, right at the gas station and just past the gymnastics place.

The poor man who reached me first had to crouch while I grabbed his arm or ankle in unbelievable pain. At that point, I wanted only to pass out or even die. I knew I was seriously hurt.

The driver, 21, walked around dazed, upset. Once the Wind Lake Fire Department arrived, their EMTs took over. Funny detail: at one point I told a woman I thought I was Edward Cullen, trying to protect my bike from the car.

It didn't work.

A kind woman Edie called some people for me. I tried calling Marzion at some point, but I don't remember.

In the haze of pain, the WLFD and Racine County deputies were very impressive, kind, compassionate. I can't ever thank you enough. I know it's your job, but there's a difference between going through the motions and excellence.

During the ambulance ride, one of the EMTs named Debbie had the unfortunate job of sitting next to me. She must have some serious bruising on her thighs from me grabbing them. I hope her husband understands! The WL crew in the ambulance was excellent trying to keep the mood light with a screaming/sobbing man in their midst.

At Froedert, there was none of the typical waiting for hours in an ER. They wheeled me directly into surgery. But some well-meaning, although too overanxious, doc started bending my knee straight WITHOUT KNOCKING ME OUT FIRST! No, I don't know what he was thinking either. Most of the Froedert neighborhood was calling police to report a screaming man! "YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO STOP!" "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?". Not sure what else came out of my mouth, but my sister and a friend clearly heard me in the waiting area.

The next day I found myself in this hospital room, home for a week, a place with little rest, many interruptions, some funny nurses, one potentially nurse, doctors who don't talk to each other, residents who are way too tired, a temporary home that I am seriously ready to leave.

Update: Friday Morning

2009-03-20T08:15:00.003-05:00

The main ortho doc came in this morning with quite a bit of information. He didn't think I'd be teaching until next fall. He didn't think I'd be able to sustain muscle ability to work in the classroom. So I may let the sub take the class. Then I could just come in "observe" when I feel good.

He also thought I'd definitely able to ride my bike again in the future, and, in fact, it will be great therapy. Racing cross this fall is a definite possibility. Of course, there's a "but." I will never be 100 percent of what I was. There is simply too much muscle and nerve damage. But as usual, I will simply do what I can. I will train with Crusty when I'm able to this summer.

Yesterday I had a series of conversations with a variety of people. It's interesting to note your blood pressure throughout the day. It increased with each conversation!.

So it appears I'll be heading to Greendale Sunday or Monday. My mom, Bobbie, and my landlords will "summit" on Satuday to rearrange the house for my arrival.

Apparently, I will get hooked with a home health care company that will come to my house daily for therapy. They will also assess my house for safety, etc.

I'll have to rely on friends for groceries, etc.

It's going to be a seriously long recovery. The dude who hit me has enough of his own pain. I don't think about him much. It is what it is.

Not a pretty sight

2009-03-18T11:18:00.004-05:00

The docs changed the dressing on my left leg this morning. Usually, it's pretty cool to see what modern medicine can do, although I don't watch the medical documentaries on TV.

This morning, when they unwrapped my leg, it was not a pretty sight.

Definitely not ready for a photo.

There's one hole with a bunch of stitches on the side of my calf.

Another hole at my knee, where the surgeons inserted the femur-length rod.

A roughly 4 by 7 hole on the side of the quadriceps. About the size, actually, of a headlight. More on this in a moment.

There is a fourth hole - golf ball size - also on the left of the quad where the bone exited. It's now stitched up with a lot of stitches

Another 4 by 7 hole in my upper thigh on the left that was a source for the skin graft for the original 4 by 7 hole.

Finally - what is this, six? - there is hole on top of my thigh, origins of which I can't imagine.

When the bandage came off, I was humbled. Grateful. Nauseated.

Humbled and grateful because I could see how close I was to losing my leg, even not making it if one of those arteries was cut. Nauseated because it was my leg, and it looked disgusting.

That 4x7 hole may have come from the truck's headlight. Not sure. The gouge took all the skin and fat layers, and left muscle hanging. So the doctors took a skin graft from my thigh.

Here's the strange thing that made the image more disturbing. There is a sponge on top of the graft, keeping it moist. In an extremely thoughtless decision, the sponge makers colored it black.

S0 instead of color or happiness on my leg, it looks like Level 18 leprosy or gangrened skin. That's helpful. I think a letter is in order.

Weekend Rides

2009-03-01T20:05:00.002-06:00

The forecasters predict something like the 40s by the end of the week.

On Saturday, I rode nearly two hours outside, bundled up like the Michelin Man (still looking good, though!). With the ipod - and I can't imagine surviving without it now - it was an easy ride, still cold with 25 degree temperatures.

Today, I struggled for two hours indoors on the trainer. Not even Lara Croft (Angelina Jolie) could entertain me enough to keep me really interested in the movie. I literally kept thinking about next fall and racing my bike in the grass and mud. That helped.

Spring can't come quickly enough.

Still, it was 48 degrees

2009-02-25T21:14:00.002-06:00

Crusty is all happy about 60s for three days. We in Cheeseland have to settle for one day above 45. But still it was beautiful out. It didn't smell like spring like that last 50 degree day in February, but still.

It was a shame Crusty had me scheduled for a rest week this week. I was itchy to go fly up some hills and crush some pedals. But I'm patient. Just waiting. Seven more months until the real season starts. Another two months until the preparation racing.

But I just want to ride. I talked to a guy named Tim today who I met on the road. He's returning to riding from a nasty collision with a drunk old lady in a car. He suffered a broken collarbone (broken from the sternum), three broken ribs, broken teeth, and a finger that snapped in two and is now pinned together. Tim was just happy to be riding today.

Then I checked all the broken bones on me, reminded myself they were all healed and that I have some sweet scars for stories.

Crusty, you may see me at your door Friday night if it's still warm Saturday. Gonna be cold here.

Crazy Nephews and Niece

2009-02-21T20:46:00.008-06:00

These are the coolest nephews and niece ever: Jonah has the greenish coat, Simon has the yellow hat, Ellie is buried in the back, and Lucas has the red coat and pretends to be dead. Maybe he is dead because one of his siblings just farted...

We went for a walk in Lowes Creek Park this afternoon. Really it was more of how many times they tried to tackle me or each other, how many times we threw snowballs, and how much snow went down our necks. We had a great time walking through the woods and sliding on our butts down the hills.

When we left, I let Lucas drive out of the parking lot. Jonah refused to drive in the car and walked! My sister and brother in law are going to have some fun when these kids are all teenagers!

Parent Conferences

2009-02-21T19:51:00.005-06:00

We met with parents last week to discuss their children and their progress.

Some of the conferences were enlightening to say the least. And I return again to notion that we as educators are totally missing the boat when it comes to adolescent education.

These adolescents are between 11 and 15 years old. Yet they are often put under an amazing set of pressures that sometimes we just add to.

Here are some samples of the conferences. In one, S., a wonderfully creative, sensitive girl of 13, sat between her mother and father. S. is in the special education program with a learning disability. S. is also a very emotional girl fully in the midst of puberty. She's not thinking about school much right now. She's thinking about boys, her body, boys, her friends and social status, her image, and boys. Her mom, on the other hand, is all about school. The mom, who works with high-powered kids, was pretty brutal to the girl. The mom demanded changes and voiced expectations that the girl could not meet, especially at this time in her life. Yes, S. needs to learn a balance between school and her social life, but that learning should be what we develop in our classrooms.

In another conference, a very bright boy, M., sat far away from his father. M. is pretty disengaged from school right now, but he kept looking at me in the conference for help. His father groused and complained and told us that his boy was no good, had never been any good. My heart was breaking throughout the conference, and I told M.'s father very clearly that M. was taking some good steps forward, that he was a good boy, and needed support. M., though, is not going to get that support from his father.

My colleague and friend John talked frankly with another parent about J., who is new to our school and desperately trying to "fit in" and try on different social groups. J. is trying, but his efforts don't always work out.

Yes, these are emotional issues that have nothing to do with learning science and social studies and algebra.

But what if we recreated our curriculums in ways that allowed S. and M. to investigate the issues that matter to them? What if they were allowed, for instance, to investigate questions that really meant something to them?

And what if they pursued questions that concerned them in an environment at school that allowed for mistakes, that graded on effort, that provided a supportive environment where kids actually learn?

I don't know how many conferences we sat through that involved kids who didn't do well on tests. Kids who can tell me complex stories and fix my cell phone don't know how to learn. And they don't want to learn material that has nothing to do with their lives, has zero relevance to their lives.

Once again, I come back to the notion that it's all about the kids. That's the bottom line. If we know what they need for their learning and their futures, why in god's name aren't we teaching that way?

The answers, obviously, are numerous, entrenched, and complex.

And I certainly never pretend to have all the answers. I'm constantly reading material looking for ideas how to pull this kind of classroom off.

But I know that on Monday, I'm sitting down with S. and M. in a conference of our own. And I'm going to ask them what they need from me, what we can work on together, what they want to learn, how I can satisfy the needs for grades.

I'm going to listen to and learn from them. And in the process, they will make me a better teacher.

Maybe their parents might start listening to them too.

At the very least, I'm going to do what I can to create a situation for S. and M. and the other kids where their parents have nothing from school to hammer them with.

At the very least, I'm going to call home and force the parents to hear me tell them what kind of positive impact their children are having on our classroom.

And at the very least, I'm going to call home, as often as I need to, to remind the parents just how cool and wonderful their kids are.

This is why teachers quit early

2009-02-11T15:28:00.005-06:00

Perhaps I'm complaining too much, but I'm getting irritated.

I'm passionate about what I do. Helping kids learn is what I love to do.

But there's a serious disconnect in our education. Today I sat in a meeting where we were told two things: the high school teachers are unhappy with the kind of preparation middle school teachers give their kids, and the district wants us to improve our test scores.

To do this, we need to use a scripted reading program, and we can expect some kind of scripted writing program.

I looked over the 8th grade placement test for English. It is a hard test. Far too challenging for the majority of non-future-English majors in middle school. Adolescents are simply not ready for that kind of thinking.

Meanwhile, more and more research experts tell us middle school children should be THINKING, CREATING, WONDERING, QUESTIONING to create authentic learning.

The experiment in my class - giving students free reign in creating what they want to create - has gone really well in some cases. Kids who haven't been previously engaged are totally fired up about their projects. Others are coming up with interesting and creative ideas for their writing.

But others remain disengaged, as if they don't want to think. The other teachers in my team see the same thing: many kids want to be spoon-fed and not think. It almost seems like they want to be safe and fill out worksheets.

Many districts want to improve their test scores since the public often judges us on those scores. So does our district want to improve test scores by expecting less thinking? Filling out worksheets does not require any thinking.

We have so much to do to help kids learn literacy skills that they will need to be well-rounded citizens in the future. They need to read authentic texts, write authentic responses, the kind of activities that we as adults do on a daily basis.

Today, I was crabby, tired of all the fighting we have to do in order to really teach kids.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the district requirements. Maybe we'll have a day where we buzz through them, and then move on to the really important, meaningful texts that develop kids' minds.

There are some glimmers of hope: my superintendent asked me to provide the book What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know to him, my principal and the assistant principal.

We can only hope. The kids need to learn how to think. And that doesn't happen with worksheets.

Get out of the way

2009-02-05T20:16:00.003-06:00

Maybe I'm just cranky today.

It sure seems that when you get a bunch of adults who are in the education world in a room, they tend to lose sight of what our job is: We teach kids.

It's the kids who matter. What do we need to do to help them? To help them learn, think, read, write, do math.

Adults, who are sometimes well-meaning, tend to screw that up and forget about our business. We are not a business. Well, maybe we are, but our clients are short, young, impetuous, curious, wound up.

Adults talk too much about teaching and don't just sit down next to a kid on the ground and find out what they're thinking, what they need. They impose lots of rules on kids instead of asking them what they are curious about, what questions they have about life.

I went to a reading conference today, and many people were talking about inquiry, questions, getting kids out of their desks asking questions, looking for answers.

Maybe I'm still a 14-year-old in mind and heart. If you're not going to help me support my kids, help me teach them, work with me to make them as strong a person as they can be mentally and emotionally, then please leave me alone. Thank you.

Our Super Bowl

2009-02-01T18:46:00.002-06:00

The cyclocross world's Super Bowl took place this morning when Niels Albert, a 22-year-old Belgian, took off in the first lap of the elite men's championship and rode away from the field.

It was a stunning display of power and strength from Albert, who just two months ago, was lying in the hospital with a ruptured spleen.

Mike Heenan graciously offered the big screen at Crankdaddy's for the My Wife Inc family to watch the race. He cooked extra tasty ginger waffles with blueberries. The waffles helped me ski harder and longer than usual out at Lapham today! Thanks Mike.

All I could think about was how many times Albert jumped out of the saddle and how much of a time trial his ride was. Training for cross requires a lot of strength, tactical practice, and a million jumps. Bring it on!

I don't care much - actually at all - who wins the super bowl. I can watch the ads tomorrow.

I'd much rather have temps in the 50s and some good friends to go ride all afternoon. What's the groundhog going to say?

New Favorite Teaching Book

2009-02-01T18:35:00.003-06:00

Esteemed colleague and good friend John Marzion introduced me to a book he read for his master's class: Star Teachers of Children in Poverty by Martin Haberman.

Last summer, I plowed through a book What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know by Trudi Knowles and Dave F. Brown. In it, the authors distill many years of research into how adolescents learn, much of it gleaned from brain research. The book instantly became a favorite because it crystallized so much of my thinking about how we should be teaching kids. How most traditional middle schools organize teaching is not the way to prepare kids.

In Star Teachers, and I've only read one chapter, Haberman, a UW-Milwaukee professor, talks about how star teachers operate. For instance, in chapter 1, star teachers:
- don't hammer kids with mistakes. They find out how to reach the kid with work that is meaningful and important to the child.
- realize that a safe and productive learning environment is the most important factor in reducing classroom discipline issues.
- homework should be meaningful, exploratory, available for all students, and should be shared, not checked off in a gradebook.
- look for effort and grade that, not ability.
- use some kind of project-based learning.
- realize that their biggest task is to turn kids on to learning, to become independent learners.

I can't wait to read the rest of this.

Coach Crusty

2009-01-29T21:01:00.003-06:00

Coach Crusty must be seriously worried about Old Man Chili crushing his skinny self next fall in the cross races. His training program for the Old Man is brutal. Today was and hour and a half in the gym with special attention to cleans, and then another hour on the bike, with a 45 minute tempo interval.

Seriously, the Old Man is not complaining. He loves it. Coach Crusty is pushing him way beyond limits he traditionally has in January. After today, Old Man's legs are noodles, and his next step is his bed and a long sleep.

And he's not riding his bike for the next three days! Just rest and ski and lift. The Old Man's waiting for spring.

But when Old Man Chili catches Coach Crusty in a young dude's race this fall, he's going to push Coach off the course into a mud pit and then laugh for a long, long time...

Two Experiments

2009-01-28T17:43:00.004-06:00

So we're trying an experiment this quarter. Actually two. I'm nervous as hell.

The first is my colleague and good friend John Marzion's action research for his master's program. He is going to work with kids to teach them how to learn, how to study, how to navigate information in textbooks, how to prepare for tests, how to stay organized, even how to eat and sleep in order to be more successful at school.

I'll post those results as they come in, but I'm thrilled he's looking into what we already suspect is the way to go for adolescents. What would happen if we taught them what they actually need to know?

The second experiment is in my classroom. I'm allowing kids to explore what interests them in whatever genre they want to use. In other words, kids could film their attempts at learning new snowboarding tricks while providing a blow-by-blow account of their efforts. Another kid could create a blog and write about their views of local, national, and world issues. Others could create online scrapbooks, documentaries, presentations, as well as traditional memoirs, poetry, and fiction.

Adolescents tend to plan huge and perform small. Their dreams are huge, but when it comes down to it, they sometimes are challenged in pulling it all together.

Plus, when we do this at school, our very, very slow internet connections will cause serious problems if we can even get access to computers in the first place.

Finally, in the first couple of days of this experiment, some kids are lost. I am unable to find the time to meet with every kid to help them plan out their ideas. We'll have to spend time at lunch and after school to work out the bugs. Other kids, not used to being given control - although we've been working as a workshop all year - are squandering their time and disrupting others.

So the potential is there for some serious chaos. I revel in slightly controlled chaos in which kids are creating and displaying their boundless energy and knowledge. Technology issues, especially ones that should be easy to fix, drive me crazy.

I'll stay calm and collected. Yeah, right!

I'll post updates, photos, links, and maybe even video of the kids' creations.

Why Do We Teach This Way - Part 2

2009-01-28T17:34:00.004-06:00

In a short inservice at school today, we watched a very-well video put together by college students at Kansas State University. Essentially, the video argued that college students are multi-tasking high-level users of technology. Most of their learning is done on-line and little in actual classrooms that involve lectures and chalkboards. Yet lectures and chalkboards remain the primary way college students learn.

My kids in 7th grade are just six years away from higher education.

And that frightens me because in the middle school, educators are doing virtually nothing to change the ways students learn.

Students in elementary and middle school need to learn skills. Sure, there needs to be content, but they need to learn how to learn, how to tell truth from fiction, how to form opinions, how to learn how to do something new, how to find information, how to use the information they just found.

Yet they also need to learn how to work with others, how to negotiate, how to resolve conflicts, how to interact with others.

They need to learn how to become, at the risk of sounding all new-agey, who they can become.

Yet we teach them grammar, we read from textbooks, we learn integers. We split up our middle school day into eight periods, regulated by a bell.

We know how adolescents learn - at least we know a lot more than we did last year or 10 years ago.

Once again, why aren't we meeting their needs? Why aren't we restructuring how kids learn - not how we teach, but how kids learn?

My new cross racing team

2009-01-18T21:03:00.005-06:00

Even though I don't have a wife, this is my new team! A bunch of guys who race cyclocross. Here are our jerseys for this year. Seriously. He-man designed them. All I can say is that we better be damn fast wearing these...