Cioppino is an Italian stew made of several kinds of fish and shellfish mixed with fresh tomatoes and a wine sauce. It is typically served over pasta or with a hearty baguette. A friend of mine once told me (as is confirmed by dictionary.com…take it or leave it) that the word cioppino originates from the North Beach district of San Francisco, in which Italian fisherman would shout for their friends to “chip in” whatever was left of the catch of the day to make dinner for the rest of the lot.

For some reason, over the course of my days as of late, my training reminds me of a cioppino stew that has simmered for hours and, by September, might be ready for dinner. So many different things are tossed into the mix and let to cook in hopes of producing….a fast wheelchair racer. Two days ago, I thought I might try push rims with a ¼ inch stand-off instead of no stand-off (a small change which makes the push rim sit farther off the side of the wheel. Sure! Give it a shot! Cioppino! Yesterday, I thought I’d try raising my seat about a ½ inch to get more power in my stroke. Heck yeah, it should work. Why not! Cioppino! Today I ordered special racing tires off of BicycleTiresDirect.com. Heck yeah! Cioppino! Today I did some hill repeats and then went back out in the afternoon to do three sets of microintervals. Cioppino man, cioppino! Toss it in.

You take care of the machine by eating well, sleeping well, stretching, sports massage. You hone the equipment with incessant tinkering, trying new things to see if you get an extra ½ mile an hour in your top end speed, just waiting for that sweet spot to settle in. You meticulously plan the training regime to maximize the body’s anaerobic and aerobic systems in request that the machine perform when needed. You toss it all together, and viola, you have an athlete ready to perform in Beijing.

Anybody got a baguette?