To War!

100 Days

Last weeks totals
Swim: 5700 yards
Bike: 123.4 miles
Run: 19.3 miles

I haven't written in a while I guess because training hasn't really been as epic as I imagined it would be. I'm not saying that I'm not enjoying the training just that there aren't adventures every week that are worth repeating, except one that is so horrible that I won't relive it via text. The rides and runs are getting longer and longer while the swims are hovering around 5700-5800 yards a week, but I'm sure these will get longer soon enough.

The real news this week is that I believe I have inadvertently started a civil war of sorts on another blog. That blog being Fat Cyclist, a very well known and highly regarded blog to most cyclists including Lance Armstrong. Fatty, aka Eldon Nelson, is an amazing man that has spent countless hours in the fight against Cancer, a war that took his wife's life back in August. During this battle he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Lance Armstrong Foundation via his dedicated readers and many Fat Cyclist Chapters all over the nation.

Here's where I come in. I have been reading Fat Cyclist for a number of years now, mainly for the stories of epic rides that have gone wrong and the situations that Eldon has gotten himself into and somehow makes it out of in one piece. I rather enjoy Eldon's writing style and his ability to find humor in the most dire of circumstances. This gift has kept me coming back week after week, month after month and year after year. Until a few months ago that is. His confidence has turned to cockiness and his success turned to bragging.

On a much smaller scale I can relate. Writing for a music blog sometimes we get free albums as well as concert tickets. We use those opportunities to review the albums as well as the show to try and inform and help readers realize whether they will like the music or not. Eldon does the exact opposite. When presented with free items, items that I could only dream about getting in the mail, his time is spent more in a "look what I got" attitude. This attitude over the past few months has worn me out but I continued reading. Until yesterday that is.

Yesterday Fat Cyclist posted an article that nearly sent me through the roof, it's title "I Could Easily Do An Ironman". My initial reaction was probably knee jerk and I probably should have taken a few moments before commenting but I didn't. And then the flood gates opened and I had every dedicated reader coming out of the wood work with pitchforks and torches in search of my head. I even had Fatty's new girlfriend on my scent. I made mention to the fact that I believed the tone of the blog had changed of late and has taken a direction that I no longer find enjoyable and that Fatty may have gotten "to big for his britches" to which Fatty replied with a list of nonsensical explanation as to why the whole article was to be taken as satire. Explanations such as:

1. I make an outrageous assertion: that I can do an Ironman without working for it.
2. I go on to disprove that assertion for the entire post. Such as: I’m so tired by the end of the ride I need a giant meal and a good night’s sleep before doing anything else. I am only able to run half the distance, after which I am completely beat and starved again.

So you're tired and hungry after a hard workout? Aren't we all. For some reason that doesn't shout SATIRE! I might be able to see this as satire if Eldon hadn't brought up in the past that he was sure that he could complete an Ironman "without any particular training in the other disciplines." There's only so many times that a comment can be made in jest before you have to start thinking that this guy is serious.

Why am I in such an uproar about this anyway? I have a few ideas on that.

1. I have much more invested in an Ironman than 99% of Fat Cyclists readers. Therefore making such an "outrageous assertion" hits a little closer to home for me.
2. I have neglected my wife, my friends and my family in order to achieve this goal
3. I've spent countless amounts of money in coaching, bikes, equipment and nutrition. So to hear someone say that they could do it right now with no further training sets me on edge.

I had all but written off Fat Cyclist when I received an email from a friend saying that someone commented on the blog that had the same ideas that I have.

I usually subscribe to the “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” school of thought but I have to agree with some of what Patrick said. I’ve been a reader for a long time, as was my husband, and we’ve bought a lot of fat cyclist gear and made a number of contributions to LiveStrong in Susan’s name. However, the tone of the blog has changed as have the comments. There used to be a time when those commenting were either teasing Fatty and/or each other, while Fatty himself lived up to the description on the Twin Six site as an “endearingly self-deprecating” individual. Those days seem to be gone (really a $190 sweater from the guy who once mocked Assos?) and some days the comments section borders on idolatry. My husband stopped reading as a result while I have lurked quietly. I would have continued doing so but felt maybe someone should put in a word for Patrick’s perspective.
(hyperlink added for clarity)

Eureka an ally!

It was definitely not my intention to start a rift in the Fat Cyclist kiddie pool but to maybe give Eldon something to think about and possibly re-read his last few months of posts in comparison to posts from a year ago in order to see the changes that have taken place. I might keep the Fat Cyclist sticker on my car and I will probably continue to wear my Win Susan T-shirt but my days as a dedicated reader are done.