Good Friday/Looks like I'm getting publicity up here too....

Warning This is a long one. Also Graphic Image below.





"Father forgive them, they know not what they do......"


I believe those words are from Luke's Gospel but I'm not really sure. Sorry for the graphic image but since today is Good Friday I though it was appropriate to show the reason why most of us got the day off from work or classes. For those of you that are Western Chrisitains ( shout outs to my peeps in the Eastern Orthodox faiths who are just going into Lent.)Today was the day the party essentially ended. JC the hippie carpenter of Nazareth just got killed in the most dreadful fashion. (Crucifixion was considered so horrifying that Roman Citizens could not be subjected to it under Roman law.) I could go into theories of who's really to blame (The Romans or the High Priests although I think Pontius Pilate is the real bad guy in the story....at least from the research I've done on him...and after all if I'm Caphias the high priest I'm not going to want my butt nailed to a cross, so I'm going to crack down on any dissidents even if they are peaceful and if they been pissing me off for the last 3 years it's an added bonus.Caphias and the high priests condemning Christ could be the one of several examples of a religious group trying to CTA (cover their ass)with the government.) I could go into the whole Judas thing, Possessed, ignorant, wanting to rebel rouse take your pick although I don't really think that he knew they were going to Crucify the guy, he proceeded to hang himself after the fact....needless to say alot of things happended to get to the gory spectacle above, and it holds alot of truth to Today's society. Are we any less selfish or violent then we were 2000 years ago? Are we really in a better situation? Was the crucifixion just one of another spectacles in a sad history of human violence, when innocent blood was shed because of irrational hatred, greed or a trival show of political strength? Do we continue to witness several smaller scale crucifixions as people are enslaved in sweat shops, slaughtered like cattle in Dufour, kept from life saving drugs and treatments because of corporate greed, repressed when they demonstrate for human and civil rights, emotionally and physically destroyed fighting in senseless war, struggle to make ends meet because some CEO somewhere might make less than a $300 million bonus or might have to reduce the company profit margin to do the right thing.
Do we continue to drive nails into the hands and feet of humanity, when courrpted servants of God desecrate a sacred office by harming innocent children, when we care too much over the "fluff" in religious doctrine and forget the main message to "love one another" without qualifiers, without terms, without conditions. Do we scourge humanity when we argue a gay person should be deprived civil rights yet claim to value seperation of church and state and equality for all, or condemn women who get abortions yet we expect everyone to follow some 1950's esque status quo and provide no saftey net for single parents, when 200 years ago we oursleves were fleeing religious and civil persecution, yet now feel that we can persecute others?
Is indeed The crucified Christ not only a symbol of God's love and selfless compassion, or human suffering in one man
but for the AIDS patient, the single mother, the Palestinian Arab, The Israeli Jew, The Sweatshop worker, the Tibetian Monk, The Burmese civilian, the victim of genocide and/or domestic violence, the harassed altar boy, the Lab researcher searching tirelessly for a cure fo Cancer, ALS, AIDS, and the other ills of humanity, The innocent man on death row, the Iraqi civilian, the US soldier, The reformer, the peace keeper, the homosexual, the orphan, the widow, indeed all of us......

On a lighter note:

This morning I noticed my picture once again on the Front page of the Waterbury Paper, this time in my whole Eucharistic Minister garb ( well it was during the whole washing of the feet thing, no caption and I was the dude taking all the dirty towels.)...that aside , nothing really on tap. Tomorrow is a busy day for me. I'm in the branch until 12:30 then out to Woodbury for a ride with Speed Racer, then Mass at 8Pm at the Shrine, then home to help clean up and hide little plastic eggs filled with cavity giving treats, for my siblings. Then Sunday dinner with the fam and trying desperately to do the work I procrastinated doing all week. have started job searching for positions on the West Coast, because Ideally I'd like to move out there after graduation. My Parents have mixed feelings on this. While they have stated that "hey do what you have to do" I believe that is their secret intention that I get a real estate license, become part of the family conglomerate, and live at home until I marry a nice local girl and move next door. While I admire the plans for a family commune, I feel that Connecticut is not the place I want to live out the rest of my life....granted I know I would be missed if I moved....regardless it is at least a year before I have to start worrying about that.

Sorry if this seems to be an ADD-esque distraction, I started typing this before the deep reflection posted above so if this seems trival in comparision I aplolgize deeply.

The World famous overglorified Altar Boy.

R.D.

I

Holy Thursday......

...And looking to you his heavenly father he took the bread into his sacred hands blessed it broke the bread and gave it to his Apostles saying "Take this all of you and eat it This is my Body which will be given up for you.."..( New Order of Mass Eurcharistic Prayer I (aka the Roman Missal Eurcharistic Prayer))

Ok sorry for the religious overtones but this weekend for Western Sect Christians is the equivalent of the Jewish High Holy Days. Tonight was Holy Thursday also know as the Mass of the Last Supper. For Catholics this night is big because we celebrate the first night that JC quite literally said "Eat Me." ( man I'm going to have to explain that one in confession on Saturday.) In essence Catholics believe that when Jesus said this bread is my Body and this Wine is my Blood he meant it literally ( probably one of the only things we take literally.)and so by consuming Holy Communion we are bringing God into our body and hopefully letting his/her goodness motivate us. ( For some of us this ends at the parking lot, when 10 people cut us off, trying to get out.) The rituals this weekend tend to biggies. Tonight it began with the Washing of the feet, The Priest, repersenting the big man, strips off his fancy top layer (Chausable) and washed the feet of 12 parish memebers, symbolizing what JC did to his apostles at the last supper claiming that like him they would have to lower themselves to serve and help Humanity. Holy Communion, I explained, but after Communion instead of taking the un-eaten hosts to the Tabernacle (Storage area) on the old altar ( Up until 1970 Catholic Masses were said in Latin with the Priest's back to the crowd so older churches tend to have these huge Marble Altars against the back wall. Usually ornately decorated with Latin inscriptions.) We proces to a repsitory or temporary storage area, symbolizing JC's agony in the Garden and the fact that he is going to quite literally be taken away from us to go through the whole Good Friday thing. As this is being done the Altar is stripped bare and the Sanctuary light ( a red candle kept lit 363 days of the year to remind us God/JC is with us.) is extinguished, quite literally it is one of the most amazing and saddest nights in the year, because as the story goes we know that tomorrow this pretty cool, peaceful guy is going to die a humilating and painful death. ...alright Bob-o being a CCD teacher.... over.

Before part taking in the above ritual I managed to get down to the Y and turn out about 3000 yards...I felt pretty good. considering Yesterday I had a pretty crappy day and got cussed out by one of my customers and pretty much told that I was going to wreck our business in town...needless to say to express my frustation I posted a rather obsenity laced post which I deleted after about 10 min. after I cooled down so any one wondering why there is a comment bar with no post there it is.

Easter is almost upon us so you won't have to worry about me being a "religious wacko" I am not trying to convert anyone to Catholicism! ( A person's personal relationship with God* is between them and God*or whatever they believe in (the force, God, flying Spaghetti Monster.) ) Just figure I would share some of the stuff that I'm doing this weekend.

Pax con tibi ( Peace be with you.)

R.D.

The Freeze/Thaw your Beans 50 miler.

Where: Mitchell School, Woodbury CT
When: Saturday March 22,2008 1:30PM
The route: Going up CT 47/ 109 to Lake Waramaug, followed by 2 to 3 loops of the Lake then heading back to Woodbury Aprox. 48 miles to 56 miles.
What to bring: Climbing legs, gu, Sports drink, water, your own tools and spare parts, ( Sadly I don't own a SAG wagon.) Tights and gloves maybe required ( High Temp forecasted as being 45F)
Rain plan: Wear a rain coat. If it's really bad then we'll drive to the lake or substitute with a 7-13 mi run.
Directions: leave a comment or email me @ BobbyDoogs@hotmail.com

The only thing is I need to finish this ride before 5:30PM because I have to serve Mass at 8:00PM in Waterbury ( I'm a Eucharistic minister and I need to be at St. Anne's at 7PM to get ready for the Vigil all are welcome to attend.) Also as with any training ride with me I am not liable if you do something crazy and get hurt, If you try to sue me this was a loosely organized training ride, ie RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK besides all I own are 2 bikes and a computer, so you won't get much. (ok Covered my Arse.)

Hope to see some people out there.
R.D.

My Co-workers could be hating me in June/July

There is one thing that really pisses me off about racing in New England, Every race director seems to think that everyone has Saturdays off. Now for most white collar professions this is true..but I work as a corporate minon in retail, which means those 3 hours on Saturday morning are the busiest of the week. So far the fact that most races tend to Start at 7:00am instead of a more work friendly time of, say 2:00PM has forced me to put two big ones on the chopping block.

The Health Net Olympic.

Why it's important: CT Club Championship.

Why it's on the block: I'm taking the two Saturdays before it off. The first weekend in June is Eagleman and the following week is the Griskus Olympic.

Most Probable Course of Action: Cut it from the schedule. My co-workers will be well weary of my race schedule by then and it will give my legs a rest from the beating they will be taking earlier in the month.

The Patriot Triathlon (Formerly the Patriot Half.)

Why its important: This race was my First Half Iron Last year. Also this is the New England Blogger Reunion I need to make this race!

Why it's on the block: It is on a Saturday this year not a Sunday like it was last year. Also it is on 4th of July weekend, I don't know if my boss will let me off this weekend. Afterall everybody and their brother will be asking for it off....and everybody and their brother will be hitting the branch on Saturday for cash due to the fact the that we are closed Friday the 4th.

Gameplan: Crawl into Bob's office on bent knees,and beg for this weekend off. Thinking of bringing in bottle of Bushmills and Jameson for good measure. RI I don't have to worry, its close and on Sunday so I can travel to it. So I'll take my Vacation the week after RI to get myself to Placid. If I can't do this one I will have some really Angry New England bloggers to contend with.

Well all those realizations aside, I got in a 4 mile run today. The legs don't feel that bad and I wasn't as winded as I thought I'd be after 2 weeks rest. Tonight I'm debating a pool swim to help rid myself of some Corned Beef Residue but its a play by ear.

Until Next time

The guy contemplating the rest of his vacation time.

R.D.

Bike Pjorn on St. Patrick's Day.

Sadly I did not hit the Pub. (probably a good thing because everybody and their brother will be suffering awesome hangovers tomorrow.) Instead to prove How much of a tri geek I am I was looking up bike specs and drooling over what I will be riding in 2 years once I have more dinero in the coffers and a little more time to devote to training.

But with all this talk of Chicks buying bikes I have taken it upon myself as a bike shop rat to show my top picks for bikes: Catherine,Claire I hope this helps.

Today's Post

"Cheap" Category: ie $800-$2000

A Motobecane Le Champion. Sure its mostly aluminum,sure its a no name frame, but it's got full Ultegra and for Claire, Bjoern toasted my Specialized ass on one of these suckers without aero bars on the Nutmeg State Bike Course ( granted he was 3 min. faster and I had a 20min lead but 3 min with out aerobars speaks a lot in a tri.) For $1095 its a good buy. For more deals on decent componets check out this link

If looking for a name brand :

The Trek 2.1 WSD Women Specific Geometry, Shimano 105 which is light years above Sora. $1260 USD For more info Check the link

Giant Ocr A1 Aluminum Frame Shimano 105 and a $1500 price tag Check Out the link for more

Cervelo, I can't believe I'm committing this sin and posting this brand on my site......Tom Boonen forgive me, Lance Armstrong Forgive me, cycling diversity forgive me. In their quest to turn Road Racing and Triathlon into IROC ( for non auto racing fans IROC was a series in which some of the world's best drivers competed against one another in identical cars )if Cervelo has their way the Ironman World Championship will be a battle of 1700 P3 Carbons. Their Cheapest Road bike is going for $2000 its sexy but its a Cervelo so I sort of have to hate it just because I am a Specialized Guy.

ok now I feel dirty posting this link.

Now For the big two:

Specialized:

A Roubaix Compact might be just what the Doctor ordered $1600 full 105, Mostly an Aluminum ride but it has a fair share of Carbon.

Check out the site.

Finally the Pride of Bethel, CT the Crack and Fail...I mean Cannondale.

The Synapse Feminine Carbon 5 Full 105 AL with Carbon pieces, I'm guessing MSRP of about $1600. Man I'm almost eating my words at my above comments. Check out the site for Full Specs

These are the entry levels that I have been looking up for reference. Happy Hunting.

The Ron Jeremy of Bike Pjorn.

R.D.

Cornerstone Swim Session or I haven't been this tired since Fordham.

Today I decided to take advantage of HEAT's Cornerstone Swim sessions at the "urging" of Ken. I will have to say it was $10 well spent. During my Ironman training phase I couldn't really take advantage of this program, as my Sundays were spent trying to out ride snow storms, darkness, insane motorists, in my desperate attempts to build bike base. So Today I went for what became my longest workout since I graced Taupo, New Zealand with my bitch stomping (for an age grouper) swim speed. The workout today was simple, straight forward and ass kicking. The warm up was a nice steady 800, simple, I led it. Set 2 was 12x50's backstroke kick, anyone who knows me knows my back stroke sucks So Ken and Paul led this set. Set 3 8X200 on 3:00 odds build to max effort. For the first 2x200's I sat in third I finalyy decided to pass Paul and hung on to Ken's feet for the remainder of the set. Set 4 Ken's revenge. 4x (3x75 Sprint on :05 Rest 1:00Rest between sets.) Ken led the first one then put me out front for the rest of the set. I don't know what I was holding and I was too hypoxic to care. As commented I hadn't been that deprived of Oxygen since I was swimming for the mighty Fordham Rams back in the winter of 04. The next set was an easy 4X50's with a 100 cool down all in all about 4100 yards. I left the pool starving, intially I was going to grab a bite to eat but as I rolled down queen street in Southington it hit me. Corned Beef and Cabbage Sunday dinner....I sped home only to find out that the St. Paddy's day feast was pushed back to tomorrow, the day I'm going to be the DD for a couple of my pub hopping friends. A guiness might make its way into the system, but only really early in the night. ( because like all good aspiring bourgoisie gurus I have work the rest of the week and papers and research and all other sorts of Spring break killing intellectual crap to get out of the way. That and I want to make sure these guys get around and home safely.)
So right now as I type this I am looking at the clock, I am exhausted I have research to get done and a quarterly sales meeting bright and early tomorrow morning.

The Lord of the Fast Lane.
R.D.

This Week's Poll:
Last week's results showed most of my readers have very little faith in my ability to control my spending on bike componets...oh ye of little faith......any way I haven't thrown down on an Ultegra crank yet but my birthday is coming so Mom, Dad...if you want to really make me happy......

Any way this week's survey
Should I hire a Tri Coach?
Yes a coach or at least a coaching plan might be a wise investment, help your uber competitive nature and scourge your copetition.

No Why spend dinero on some guy telling you what to do? Save your money and keep coaching yourself , it's worked so far.

No Wait for 2009 then you can start fresh for a new season, also you might have more dinero in your pockets and more time to devote to training after you finish College.