Okay people it’s crunch time for holiday shopping! There’s no longer any time to go to the mall and find a gift that doesn’t look like it has been mauled by a crazed grizzly bear. Now it’s time to look for the gift you can download and send to a lucky recipient. Yeah it reeks of desperation, but the other option is a quick run to the local quicky mart for presents of beef jerky and unfiltered Pall Malls. You make the call.

Now is traditionally the base building period in your training, but soon enough you’re going to have to amp up the intensity. However Mother Nature can ruin the best made plans and indoor training may be the only option. One method of training that will get your fitness ninja sword sharp is The Sufferfest series of downloadable training videos. There are five videos to select from and each is its own layer of Dante’s Hell. I trained with these videos last year when I couldn’t get outside and had a strong start of the season. These training videos work, so drop the ten spot and download some suffering. You’ll thank me in February and so will the person you gift it to.

I own an iPhone, iPod and an iMac but I still harbor a grudge against Apple and their Big Brother like attitude. I may have bought into the Apple hype ( and no…I’m not going to trade in my iPod for a Zune. I’m not that pissed.) but I don’t need to feed the Cupertino machine. So when I need music I go to Amazon.com to buy my tunes. Often there’s one-day deals that are ridiculous and you can pass around the music like an infection of bed bugs. Today, the new King of Leon album was on sale for $3.99! In the past and much to the consternation of Adam Myerson, I bought The Very Best of Prince album for $5! Sign up on Amazon’s e-mail list and enjoy the musical goodness that will be flowing between your ears. And if you’re interested in what is truly Prince’s best work contact Adam.

Don’t miss the special discount today for MP3 gifts: $2 off MP3 Special

If your gift receiver has a Kindle you’re in luck! There are numerous cycling related books available in the Amazon.com library. However a book I really enjoyed was “Game of Shadows” by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams. The parallels to what is occurring now in cycling is eerily familiar. It also explains how the grand jury procedures worked when questioning the baseball players. Looking for a lighter read? There’s always Dan Brown of The Da Vinci Code fame. While Brown isn’t a favorite with the critics his newest book, “The Lost Symbol” had me tapping the forward button on my Kindle late into the night.

There are a few cycling blogs that can be downloaded on the Kindle as well. One of my favorites is the Cyclocosm blog. True unfiltered posts about the cycling world are hard to find and he nails it. A local buddy of mine also has his blog up on Kindle – Low Cadence. I’m a fan of the local happenings so I always take a gander. Plus he’s funny and I’m easily amused.

There you go. With less than 24 hours before St Nick slides down your chimney, you’ve got some suggestions on how to avoid getting a lump of coal in your stocking next year.