Give a nerd a little money and he'll bury himself in stuff.

I'm a cycling nerd...nay, enthusiast.

To that end, I've finally built this 1994 Serotta Coors Light Colorado Concept titanium bike. It's not to-spec; I've gone with a Campagnolo Athena 11-speed group and modern wheels for a contemporary functionality. It is a replica bike, I think, so I'm not as interested in piecing together a pile of new-old-stock components and prefer, instead, to make it a rider. Cockpit is Nitto, wheels are Velo Orange with White Industries hubs. 

It's an interesting example of the changing tide of bike construction during the early 1990s. Titanium frame with variable tube shapes (the Colorado Concept seat tube, for instance, flares from 26mm to 36mm at the bottom bracket), and a composite fork, albeit with an alloy steerer. It wasn't long before the carbon bike, already a contender in the major tours, became the everyday bike for most riders in World Tour teams as well as for daily riders across the world.

More photos and information to come, as I take it on its maiden trip in its new shoes.

Where's the website? Due to some issues with the hosting and authentication services, OldFartCycling.org's content has disappeared! But not to worry, it was archived and comparatively safe, here on my local drive. With the switch from WordPress to Joomla!, the blog will reappear as I move the old posts over in the coming weeks. It's a bit of work, but I'm excited to work in the new content management system and to take on a new challenge...video!

I will be posting training and informational videos, here and on YouTube. My intentions are to educate and inspire other middle-aged athletes and to provide a voice for those of us who might not fit the traditional view of competitive endurance athletes.

On the cycling front, things have been busy since February. I began training in earnest, with the spectre of my 50th birthday looming, and the realization that, if I want to race bicycles again, I have to do it now. While I don't have a lot of family support, I am blessed to have a small group of friends who sincerely love cycling and who support me through invitations to ride and a willingness to listen to my excited stories of small goals and accomplishments.

I am now a Level 3 USAC Cycling Coach! I have been encouraged to put my one superpower...my ability to research and collate...to good use. There are selfish reasons, of course; the more I learn, the more you inspire me, the more I am motivated to pursue my own goals. It's a win-win!

Current weight: 211 pounds last week, right at 96 kilos. I've been bouncing between 211 and 214 for the past couple of weeks, a plateau that I've been expecting since starting at 236 pounds in February. This weight also corresponds to my low in 2018. It's time to ratchet up the training stress.

Current FTP: 227 Watts. While I am due to test in the next week, this is an estimate derived from WKO. It feels about right, putting me at around 2.36 Watts/Kg

I considered my current fitness--or LACK of it--for some time as I began base training in February. 235 pounds and an FTP of 185 Watts wasn't something to be proud of, and the past two or three years of hard training only lasted for 12 weeks at a time before I was burnt out and distracted. In February, the North Florida cycling season was already upon me, and there was no way to consider doing anything serious during the Spring. So, I didn't. I PLANNED to not do anything serious for the entirety of 2019. Sure, there may be some rides here and there, but there are no "A" races (just SAYING that sounds funny), no "B" races, nothing with a desired goal. This year will be one, big cycle of base and build.

Entering week 16, I feel different about training. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I feel like training is becoming a part of me, as though it's making me something different than what I've been for the past 30 years that I've been riding.