Team Kona cyclocrosser Barry Wicks reports on some of his off-the-bike pursuits.
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VeloNews.com publishes a diary from Kona pro cyclocross racer Barry Wicks every other Wednesday. Wicks' column alternates with one by Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale's Jeremy Powers
Cyclocross season for me brings about a time in my life when I can get off the bike for a few more hours during the week than the rest of the season, and I have found exciting ways in which to occupy those newfound free hours with activities that I hope will make me stronger, faster and maybe even a bit more in tune with the world in which I live. Below is a brief description of some of those activities and what they do for/to me.
Bodypump is an activity that involves me and half a dozen or so stay at home, lipstick wearing hockey moms sweating it out to the greatest electronic hits of 1987. The most embarrassing part being that the aforementioned hockey moms kick my scrawny bike racer ass when the going gets tough. Eventually I graduated from lifting only the weight bar to putting a few weights onto it, but it still doesn’t feel great. After the first week of classes I could barely raise my arms over my head and my abs were so sore I had to confine myself to my room, so as to not encounter anything of humor or I would be doubled over from the pain of laughing. I finally have moved passed the crippling introduction and can occasionally complete an entire track in sync with everyone else if I concentrate really hard, but it is still a great exercise in humility.
Winery work. I should really give Mike Rowe from dirty jobs a call and invite him to come hang out with me at the Pelican Ranch. Some of the best tasks involve manually shoveling many tons of grapes into the press, wrestling barrels into their slots, crushing and pressing the various varieties and of course, high pressure hose sterilization. I emerge covered from head to toe in sticky sweet juice with ants and bees my newly acquired best friends and hands stained so badly that I get sympathetic looks from bums as I try and hand them my spare change. Being the youngest and most strapping of a three-man work force places me in the position of default when difficult tasks arise. That said, I usually leave there more worn out than if I had just completed a three-hour interval session. Getting sweet wine hook ups makes it all worthwhile though, and it is hard to complain about the glamorous work of a wine maker.
Travel. A big portion of the bigger UCI events seem to occur on the right hand side of the country, and being a Left Coast dweller I end up spending a whole lot of time surfing the skies in a tin tube of excitement. Racking up the frequent flyer miles is nice, but a lot of times while I twiddle my thumbs at 37,000 feet I wonder what sort of useful contribution I could be making to society if I wasn’t trapped on the time-wasting travel machines. I have a few strategies I have developed over the years to make the hours spent in the air a little more enjoyable and maybe a little bit easier. The number one thing I do to make the journey exciting is to get a pat down by the TSA at every airport I visit. The bike chain bracelet I have strapped to my am never lets me down, so I have become a de facto analyst of the effectiveness of various TSA groups across the world. After assuming the position I grade each screener on a factor of 1-10 and compile my data into a mental reminder of which airports to be nervous in.
Another strategy I have developed to increase my in-flight enjoyment is my patented survival pack. This includes the following items, which I have carefully selected over time and find the most useful. 1. Noise cancellation headphones. These allow me to listen to my iPod at a reasonable level and I can emerge from the plane with slightly less ringing in my ears. They also do a good job drowning out screaming babies, annoying business men and allow me to be as calm as possible in the tightly cramped quarters. 2. Reading material. I find nothing makes the airplane hours go by quite as good as political writings, so I pack the latest issue of The New Yorker in my bag, along with various books my politico parents have recommended to me. The final piece of the puzzle though, comes in the form of effective sleeping aids, which allow me to tune it all out and get in a few hours of distorted sleep while the air miles rack up.
As you can see, the cyclocross season for me is an exciting time, filled with many new activities and pleasures as I burn my way around the country and into shape as I prepare for the big races of the year and try to enjoy myself along the way. So if you see me out here tasting some wine, pumping some iron, or sitting next to you on that transcontinental flight, say hi, bring some good tunes and please don’t steal my armrests … I’m a big guy in a little seat.
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