Une Année à Se Sappeler

A year to remember which is the English translation. Not sure if the French say that or if its even its Francaise grammar proper(accent on the e), but this is my online message to the world so...

Well, I am closing out 2007 with a blog. A lot has happened this year, smiles, tears, fears, and many laughs. The eve of the New Year is always bombarded with new year prognastications and new year vows. Why do we put so much emphasis on this day to change our lives? Why don't we start making changes in our lives today, rather than talking about doing them tomorrow or the next day or the next week or the next month. Maybe it was Mark Twain that said "don't do tomorrow, what you can do today." Or perhaps it was some other literary figure or philosopher, but I like to think its a little bit of my own. Now a little digression..

On July 26, 2007 at approximately 4:30pm, I truck struck me and my friend from behind. We were both knocked unconsciously off of our velos and into a grassy and poisin ivy infested ditch, some 5m from the road. By all statistics and all evidence of my injuries, I should not be writing this blog or even considering a return to riding. But by a divine miracle, I received a contract extension and from the moment that I awoke stuggling to breathe in that poison ivy to this moment of blogging at la casa de parents in Tennessee I have had a renewed passion for life and for doing what makes you happy and brings good to the world. Will 2008 be any different? Yes, and its starting out rather quickly and full of adventure.

After several years of contemplation and all the desire to take my training and cycling to the next level, I have decided to take my chances and pursue my dream of going pro(or atleast racing at my highest potential). At the end of January, I am moving from the foggy Golden Gate to feet of the Rockies, Boulder. I have not been very good about relaying my news to everyone. It will be sad to leave so many great people I have met in CA but I'm confident they will be happy for me and hopefully understand eventually. Since my decision to move, I have had a resurgence in life. SF has been great to me, but life needs new challenges and experiences. You will have to keep posted on Bomb This Hill to get the play by play of my new life in the 90sq mi surrounded by reality(ie boulder).

Now that I have let the cat out of the bag, I'm going to go a little generic but with a twist.

Top 5 List of 2007 b/c a top10 list is too cliche and gets cumbersome =) I am going to use * so as to not rank any one in particular.
*Learning and Experiencing the Meaning of Family
*Getting Hit by a Truck and Surviving
*Going to Europe and Racing my Bike Without Knowing Any Flemish or French =)
*My Blog...Its awakened by inner writer and allowed me to share my thoughts with the world
*Creating Culinary Nirvana for My Family During this Holiday Season and During My Sister's Wedding Day!

Things to Avoid in 2008
*Westchester Medical Center
*Poison Ivy
*Negative and Nonpassionate People
*Auto Traffic Jams(see new 2008 adventure news)
*Blogging lapses

Well, I will close out 2007 to the World with a short note...

In the words of Mark Twain, "In Twenty Years, you will look back and be more dissappointed in the things you didn't do than the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I know this isn't a Mark Twain fan site but I think its pretty good. My office mate Nettie hung it up on our door so its an everyday reminder for me. What can you do in 2008? I don't know but don't let the things that could happen drive your decisions but let the things that COULD HAPPEN drive them.

One last side note, my sister questioned my homemade turkey chili cooking tonight b/c I had no recipes. Well, I went for things I thought would go well and didn't think about total disaster but about total culinary envy from Megan. And I was right because it was the bomb chili of 2007!

Best Wishes, Good Food, Great Riding, and Great Memories to you all in 2008

Ciao, Adios, Bonne Journne!
Matthew

Cooking and Riding

Last week, I had my cooking lesson with Chef Kerry. It was pretty awesome. We cooked up 3 different dishes: chicken tikka masala, red thai curry, and arriabbiata sauce. He helped me out with my knife skills which were pretty good already but a few tips never hurt. I came away feeling super confident in my new abilities. I must say that the thai curry is the absolute bomb. I could go battle to battle with any thai eatery here in the city. I added my own twist too it and produced a wonderful, butternut squash curry for the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department holiday party on Friday night. Last year I produced a pumpkin curry which was well received and highly requested again. I was hesitant about recreating the same dish. I like to be new, adventurous and keep my audience expecting something new and flavorful. Its also more challenging. This latest project was good for me to make because I could put my new skills to the test with a new ingredient. Based upon the reception of my dish(which was the only one that got completely finished), it was amazing. It was likened to this: "last year, your pumpkin curry was good but pales in comparison to this." I like to think that last year was 6th grade and this year is a complex, graduate level job. I'm pretty stoked about my new work. Everyone wanted to know how I did it and wondered why I was till on the market, ie not in a relationship....I just laughed.

This Friday, I am going to a dinner party at the house of my good friend and awesome office mate, Nettie. Her mom and aunt are coming into town and have requested the pumpkin curry. They loved it last year and we corresponded via email for recipes etc. Well they are in for something off this hook this week.

My family will also be experiencing my new found culinary skills next week when I go back for the holidays. Still working on the Christmas Eve menu but it should be off the hook.

Yesterday did a good 5hr 15min training ride. Rode out to Pt. Reyes Station then to the coast and down Hwy 1. Cool 132km. Wasn't feeling super good but I kept telling myself that I need to get the kms in. Felt good on the last major climb from the beach to mt. tam. Once the road got steady uphill, I got into my rhythm and just keep turning the cranks. Last weekend's training in north Sonoma County was up and down and hard to get a rhythm. I did my first big training test on Saturday, a 30min max effort. My avg wattage was 297w. I did the test on the climb from Mill Valley to Mt Tam. Lots of power dropoff on the flats which was a big reason for the lower number. Just couldn't keep up the watts on the flats, something I will have to work on. It should improve as I get more training. After beating myself up about the low numbers, I averaged 370 last May, I went and looked at the numbers from last year at this point. Now last year I was 77kg, I'm 72kg now. Last year at this week, I was 317w which makes me at or better in pw-to-kg now vs last year. I wasn't feeling the greatest on Saturday. Legs still tired from the strength workout on Thursday. When I completed my test on Saturday, I realized that I traveled the same distance on the course as last year but avg fewer watts. I think this is a good indication of things to come. Now, I have a long way to go to contest TDF climbs but I'm on the up and up. I also need to keep in perspective that I got nearly killed by a truck this summer and lost a lot of high end fitness when I was off the bike for nearly 8 weeks and I really haven't done any super intensive blocks of training yet.

While I was out riding this weekend, I noticed that I'm trying to be a little more professional on the bike. While I use to chase down everything that tried to pass me, I'm reminding myself that to be professional, one needs to act professional in training and focus on the current needs of your training. So, with that, this is my proclamation about my future plans...drum roll please...

I want to be a professional rider. Do I have what it takes? Yes. Is it going to be wicked hard? Yes! Emotionally and physically demanding? YES! What happens if it doesn't happen? No worries, atleast I tried because its only failure if you don't try. With that I have made some really important steps into reaching this goal which have been emotionally taxing. I will outlay these plans over the next week. It might be a shocker to many of you, but just understand that what I am doing has been on my mind for several years now and with the events of the last year, I can't afford to not try.

chow,
Matthew

Shout out to 525 Lake Point Drive

Lots of things going on in my world these days which is the reason I have been so lax on the blogging despite the pleas from my brother michael and sister megan. These two have been commenting all week on my hack blogging. Well, I have good reason, I had blogging block, similar to writers block but for those who write to the www masses.

Okay, so lots of things going on. I can't elaborate on everything right now but there are some big changes going on in my life. To tease my readers, I will just say that its better to do what you need today rather than putting it off till tomorrow.

On an easier note, I am taking my first cooking lesson with Chef Kerry tomorrow. You can check out his website, www.chefkerry.com. He is going to give me some knife skill lessons and my first lessons on sauce-making. We are suppose to do a Italian puttanesca and a Thai red curry. Both should be delicious but will also provide some solid framework for other sauce making. I have a big meal planned for my family on Christmas Eve, one that will require us to pass the food around. You might think this to be trivial but we have not had a big, pass the food around meal at our house before. I think it will be beautiful and we can finally satisfy Megan's Hollywood dinner dream lol lol More importantly, it will be a great time for everyone to gather together. Lauren and my new brother-in-law, Alex will be coming up. So it will be the beginning of a new book for the Barrowclough's. To those that will be attending the festive event, we will be holding nothing back, full courses, antipasta, soup, salad, pasta, entree, and desert along with lots of wine =)

My cold is on the way out which is good for the training. I was up in Sonoma County this past weekend doing some riding with the team. I made my butternut squash risotto which was pretty tasty and enjoyed by all. Riding was good, lots of quiet roads and incredibly steep pitches. My accelerations on the hills is like nothing i have experienced before. Result of hard training and some weight loss, at 72kg now versus 75kg last year. I have been a little a laxer on the diet the last two weeks b/c I have been sick. Still just watching my calories. the fall back is that I get crazy cold now but it will be worth it come race time when I am flying up the hills. Last night the CMA sailing team members commented on how thin I was as did the cycling team this weekend. I like hearing it just like the models do hahaha.

Well, I will end with that. I hope to reveal more to everyone in the coming days.

Chow,
Matthew

No I'm not dead...

I know its been quite some time since my last blog, or "its been 10 days since my last blog." As the recovering blogger my say. Well, lots of updates...

1) Last Monday marked the 4month anniversary since I was run over by a truck
2) Cranksgiving was a wild success with over 1100km of training and 25000kjs over 36hrs
3) Like all flights back from my parents house, I got a cold
4) Jury Duty

Okay so on to the first topic at hand. Yep, 127 days later and I am reporting good results with my recovery. I still experience the occasional pelvic pain and strain in my left shoulder, but all-considering, I'm in pretty good shape. It will be a awhile before I muster the courage to do a pull-up. Holding off on skiing this year, a) because I want to train on the bike b)don't want to re-injure myself right now. Yesterday when i was out riding with teammate Harry, saw a helicopter landing in Sausalito. Harry says he took a chopper tour in HI, and I said, yeah I took one of those too in NY. Of course my tour wasn't very scenic unless you get off on the scenery of an inside of a chopper. I don't. Did a nice ride up to Alpine Dam then across the panoramic ridge towards Tamalpais and down to Bike-Rx before heading into SF. 4 hours. Felt good but didn't really press it because I don't want to tax the immune system too much but it was a really nice ride, super windy though. Reminded me of a similar ride last December with Harry and Co when it was raining sideways. Fortunately, no rain just lots of wind. Scott from Bike-Rx hooked me up with a replacement pair of CapoForma bibshorts. The Bike-Rx kit I bought had bad stitching in the gripper. He immediately gave me a replacement pair. These guys are just incredible. Be sure to support them and other great independent shops this season!

On to #2, Cranksgiving was super relaxing and allowed some good fitness building. Some head off to the glams of Mallorca or South Africa, yours truly, heads to East TN! 1100k and I only saw 8 other riders on the road. Kind of ridiculous but I was left with some beautiful roads and quite times by myself turning over the pedals. I think long training rides appeal to me on multiple levels. But one major reason is the time alone without distraction. I really enjoy the quite times, maybe I am introverted but its less stressful to just go out and ride by one's self sometimes. I said the same about running but runs only lasted35-90min and they included a lot of pounding which is NO BUENO! On the 25th, I did 166km, just under 6hrs, nothing to brag about but its endurance/base season right? Well, thats a pretty significant time by oneself especially on a bike. It was good though. First ride of that distance since La Vaujany. Still had some in the tank at the end so good sign for 2008.

#3, I have been experiencing very very light chest congestion for over a month now. Nothing stopping me just felt like something was down in the engine room trying to wreak havoc. Well, on the flight home from TN on Tuesday, I had a 0400 wakeup then a drive to CLT. 5.5hrs of flight time, and a kid kicking you the entire way, Priceless but always perfect remedy for a cold when people are hacking up ugly stuff. Well, I succumbed to the torture. Now I'm feeling better but blowing my nose a lot. Could be worse.

#4, Jury duty this week. I was suppose to serve my city's judicial courts in August but it was when I was in the hospital so again, NO BUENO! I was able to reschedule. I picked this week arbitrarily. Well, I woke up this morning not wanting to get out of my bed, then all the sudden I am reminded and frantically get out of bed, grab my summons and go to the web to see if I have been selected for today. Fortunately, only group 611. I have to check back again today after 4:30pm to see if group 607 is chosen. Could be a one day or a bunch of days depending on my ability to serve my judicial duty. This will be a first for me so I will keep you posted on SF Jury Duty!

Well, lots of updates. I found that I can add labels to my posts which I allow all my great readers to instantly go to a topic, ie: training, life, food, etc.

Also, my awesome coach, Shawn Heidgen, is having hip surgery today. Keep her in your thoughts.

Chow,
Matthew