Interview with Thom P. - part deux

Of your training, what do you feel is the most valuable part?
Just the love of riding my bike. It's all about the ratio of suffering to fun. I don't use heart rate monitors or power meters at all, never have. I work off a half-assed version of a Joe Friel training plan with some stuff from Cycle-Smart thrown in. One day I ride up hills on the road bike, the next day I do an offroad TT on the mountain bike, and I pretty much never do flat ground intervals of any kind on the road, I hate those. Honestly though, the five days a week mandatory commute to work - that keeps me in line all season long. I'm on the bike six or seven days a week, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stay me from my stupid ride to work.

Any pre-race/pre – ride rituals or superstitions?
I think it's more like metal checklists for me. If someone really paid attention to what I do before a race, they'd likely see me go through the same motions every time; patting my jersey pockets checking to make sure I have all my racing accouterments, tightening my shoes a few clicks, checking my quick releases. I guess I have a thing about not eating inside a three hour window before a race as well.


Back to the crime thing . . . . ever been arrested?
Um, yes actually, it was a long time ago and it's a long story. It was crazy driving related but not drunk driving related. I've chilled out since then, at least behind the wheel of a car, behind the handlebars of a bike...that's a different story.

What’s with your blog title – Big Bikes?
It comes from the title of a Kyuss song. I love me some Fuzzy-Stoner-Rock, gets me pumped for the racing.

Why do you blog?
I use to be a keeper of journals, I suppose it started out as that, then grew more into a way to entertain others by making fun of myself. It's also the only thing resembling a training log I have. I often go back to posts from the prior season looking for clues as to why I was sucking or rocking the shit at a given time.


You’re a bike mechanic – how long have you been doing that? How much longer do you want to do it? What other aspirations do you have?
A long time. Maybe twelve or so years. As far as aspirations go, I 'd like to get published as a writer and kind of work my way up the ladder of publications. Don't know how much longer I'm going to do the mechanic thing...working in the bike industry on the east coast of The U.S., you work as hard as an Alaskan crab fisherman (with less potential for death) and get paid like a Wallmart cashier. I do have an exit strategy...

Waist high shorts or bibs?
Bibs and baggies, I don't like the way my gut hangs over shorts.

Whitie-tighties or boxers?
Boxers and boxer briefs.

Are you a Celtics, Sox, Pats, or Bruins fan? In what order?
None of the above. I'm not a mainstream sports guy. I'm pretty much as close to being gay as you can be, minus the sex part. I seriously hate Baseball and Football, it's just a bunch of fat guys standing around, being stressed out, and waiting for something to happen. Hockey and Basketball I can get with, the constant action and athleticism appeals more to me. I have a lot of respect for those guys, I'll actually go to Celtics game any chance I get. The only time I ever went to a Red Sox game was when I was a kid and I was grounded. My options were to sit in the house or go to the game, I ended up wishing I stayed in the house, staring at the wall. You get less lite beer dumped down your back doing that. Yup, I follow Cycling and MMA. Svein Tuft is my hero, a cyclist who trains in MMA in the offseason. If Wolverine from The X-Men rode a bike, he'd be Svein Tuft.

Many of my readers are from Canada, but most are from the States. Maybe some of the readers can identify with you . . . . you’ve been to The True North Strong & Free before – what’s the coolest thing about Canada that you liked? Thing that puzzled you the most?
I've really only spent time in Quebec, and most of that in Montreal. I love that city. If you give me the choice between New York and Montreal, I'll choose Montreal every time. I'm always baffled by the topography between the U.S./Canada border and Montreal, it's like green hills, green hills, BAM! Who the hell dropped a piece of Nebraska right here? It goes all dead flat and farmland as far as you can see. That other weird thing is that it's all farms and small, quiet villages punctuated by sketchy strip clubs advertising nude "Danseuses". I picture some old, Quebecois farmer going (English translator on!) "Ya honey, I'm gonna head down to the store for some milk, be back in a couple hours, and hey, you got change for a twenty? What? Who said anything about nude danseuses? Where the hell am I going to find a nude danseuse club around here? Oh, you mean that place, next to Jean Claude's grain silo...right".

I'd like to thank Thom for agreeing to be interviewed. Personally, I had the time of my life, and hoped that you've enjoyed it too. Visit his blog if you enjoyed getting into his brain . . . even if you didn't enjoy the trip and you feel a little dirty, visit anyway cause he agreed to send me $1 American (that's like $5.72 Cdn) for every linked visitor. Whoot!