fishdaddyo

Slippery

2009-02-12T19:07:00.001-08:00

It was icy yesterday, and I experienced my first incident on my bike commute to work. I had just come down a short hill into a parking lot and swerved to avoid some metal plates that I assumed would be slippery. Trouble is, the pavement next to the plates was also slippery and I went down in an instant. My right hand hit first, then my hip. The hip seemed the worst, but I got back on the bike and continued to work (I was almost there). When I took a shower, I saw there was a small scrape on the hip, but not larger than two large bandaids. But, over the course of the day my right hand got more stiff and puffy. My range of motion went from normal to extremely limited by about 2 PM. My doc was out, but my good friend and chiropractor Gentry McGrath got me in and sent me out for x-rays. Above you can see the result - a small fracture of the triquetrum indicated by the red arrow. I'll find out more from a hand orthopedist on Monday.

Guess I'll be a runner for the rest of February...got in 4.5 miles today after work. Didn't bother the wrist at all, so that seems like a good sign.

January's done, so Spring is here?

2009-01-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

I officially have ditched the beard. And, the temperatures keep hitting nearly or in the 50's, so I am announcing that Spring is finally here. And, I've got a PhD in Geophysics, so that means I can control the planet.

January Totals
As predicted, riding down, and running up (way up)

Bicycle (mostly the cross bike)
Distance = 300.2 miles (wow, that's like one decent week's worth back when I was a roadie)
Time = 17:42:00

Running
Distance = 49.5 miles
Time = 6:52:00

This running distance and time is nearly 1/3 of my entire last season's running totals. And it is only the end of January!

H.R. 4040 sucks!

2009-01-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

Some of you may be aware of the current legislation to deal with harmful chemicals in toys, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 4040). For info, see the CPSC's website. There are numerous problems with the legislation, as it is written, and my primary concern is that it mean's Bree's business, Hot Tea Apparel, will need to close shop.

Here's the disappointing letter I received from my Congressman, Jay Inslee, whom I enthusiastically vote for every chance I get:

January 14, 2009

Dr. Ted Scott
6211 145th Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052

Dear Dr. Scott:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 4040). I appreciate hearing from you and apologize for the delay in my response.

I would like you to know that I understand your concerns regarding H.R. 4040. Even though it may take time to meet new standards, I hope that we agree that the safety of children's products should be a top priority. I believe that the products on America's shelves should adhere to the safest possible requirements decided upon by scientific evidence.

As you know, H.R. 4040, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote margin of 424 to 1, was signed into law on August 14, 2008. Beginning February 10, 2009, this law bans the sale of children's products containing more than 600 parts per million total lead. It also outlines certain children's products manufactured on or after February 10, 2009 that cannot be sold if they contain more than 0.1% of certain specific phthalates or if they fail to meet new mandatory standards for toys. These regulations have been adopted to protect America's children from hazardous and sometimes lethal substances.

Additionally, H.R. 4040 mandates third-party testing before many toys go on the market. It also requires the CPSC to review voluntary safety standards for toys and, when found inadequate, requires that mandatory standards be adopted. You may be pleased to know that the new safety law does not require resellers (thrift or consignment stores) to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless the reseller has verification of testing or other information to indicate the products being sold has less than the new limit. Retailers must comply with the law and have verification that the children's products they sell are in compliance of the new law. Further, please know that I have asked my staff to convey your concerns regarding implementation issues of third party testing with the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the CPSC.

Should you have any additional questions regarding the implementation of this new law, I encourage you to contact my office or visit http://www.cpsc.gov/ for the newest information. Please contact me via email, telephone, or fax, because security measures in the House cause delays in receiving postal mail. For more information on my activities in Congress, and for information on services that my office can provide, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/inslee. If you would like to subscribe to my email updates, please visit http://www.house.gov/inslee/signup.htm.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE
Member of Congress

Here's my response:
Thank you for the response, Congressman Inslee.

Actually, while I am happy that thrift stores are now given more leeway, I am not very happy with the remaining content of H.R. 4040. My wife is a small business owner - her business is creating clothing and accessories for children and adults, with the vast majority of her sales on the children's side. The input for her products are almost exclusively "upcycled" materials (previously manufactured and sold items like t-shirts, sweaters, bicycle inner tubes, Tyvek, to name a few), most of which are obtained from thrift stores or via Craigslist or Freecycle. She uses organic materials whenever possible. However, if H.R. 4040 is enacted as written (or at least as of the latest information available to the public), my wife will have to fold the children's side of her business, which effectively means the business will have to close. She cannot afford to have each and every item tested that would need to be tested.

What H.R. 4040 needs is an "out" for small businesses or those whose business falls under "crafts" created from raw, safe materials. I imagine that smart legislators, such as yourself, could come up with appropriate language that gives businesses whose gross sales fall under some specified amount (e.g. $250,000) or whose primary input capital is raw (fabric, wood) or previously sold material (the burden of testing would have fallen on the previous retailer of the item when it was NEW), a mechanism to stay in business and not require testing, or subsidize the testing to an extremely low cost.

Without changes to H.R. 4040, an enormous number of work-at-home moms and dads, children's furniture makers, publishers of children's books, etc., will be unable to continue working on what they love. In addition, small companies outside the US will be unable to market their goods in the US due to the increased cost. Case in point, Selecta Spielzug, maker of wonderful games for adults and children, has said they will no longer be able to sell in the US. Their games are constructed almost exclusively of wood, glass and paper, and already meet the standards for sale in the EU. We own several of their games, and they are family favorites. For reference, please see the post at Amazon.com about Selecta's decision:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK3CAM978F92K94

This post happens to be written by my wife.

Please reconsider H.R. 4040 as it has been written to allow for small businesses such as my wife's to continue operating. Please don't stifle the American dream of running a business for so many other work-at-home moms, dads, woodworkers and other crafters. Please ensure that the legislation serves more than just the giant corporate toy companies, especially in our current economic crisis.

Thank you,
Ted Scott

Season Totals for 2008

2009-01-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

I like riding in the rain

Finally got through compiling at the stats from last season:

Running
Distance: 163 miles
Time: 21 hrs 40 min

Bicycle
Distance: 6233 miles
Time: 354 hrs 10 min
Max speed recorded: 52 mph (downhill!)

So that's roughly 376 hours of exercise, or an average of one hour a day. So far, it is keeping the doctor away.

for 2009, I expect to add a bit more running, and decrease the riding, and add in some weight training.

Goals for the 2009 season

Upgrade to Cat 2 on the track
Become competent in the Madison event
Crash fewer times than last season
Exceed 40 mph in a sprint
Complete the Cougar Mountain Running Series
Run at least one half marathon (I'd say marathon, but I've done one before, and right now it doesn't sound like fun)
Finish a half in under 100 minutes (just under 8 min miles)
Finally learn to ride a wheelie (I know - I'm so embarassed)

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

If you haven't yet, surf on over to Bree's blog to read our year-end summary (you know, like a christmas letter, only this one is better - Winter Solstice!)

My mother is in town, after a harrowing flight from Des Moines to Chicago to Seattle. Luckily her flight was able to continue despite the crazy winter weather we've been experiencing. It has snowed every day for eight days, and the temps have stayed below normal, so it has been a lot more like Minnesota and less like Seattle. But we've been making the most of it.

I hate the trainer, so I have been mixing up my exercise between running, shoveling snow, cross-country skiing (even to work), and I rode the cyclocross bike one time last week when the roads were still smooth-covered snow. But now I miss riding, so it is a good thing the snow is disappearing. It will be replaced by much rain, no doubt.

I just finished reading Charles Wheelan's Naked Economics, which was hilarious and informative. I loved it. I hope he also wins Rahm Emanuel's US House seat!

My next post will include:

the full year riding and running totals!
what I'm reading next
some pictures from the Seattle Cyclocross series finale
some plans for next year

for now, I am heading to bed.

At what age does the awareness of mortality begin?

2008-12-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

We just returned from a wonderful, but brief trip to the Netherlands to see my dad marry his wonderful new wife, Adrienne. Emy caught a cold either in the Netherlands or shortly after we got back, and so was pretty stuffed up. Last night Emy and I were chatting while getting her tucked in for sleep. She said, "Daddy, I'm scared to fall asleep." I asked her why and she said, "I'm worried that if I can't breathe through my nose and I forget to breathe through my mouth I'll die in the night!"

Wow. She's never said anything of the kind to me so far. Does this mean her innocence is slowly disappearing? Is she going to become overly cautious? Can you really forget to breathe? What should I say?

I said, "Don't worry sweetie! Your body won't forget to breathe. You'll be breathing out your mouth just fine when your body realizes it can't get enough air through your nose. You know, like when you're running really fast, or riding your bike - have you ever noticed you start breathing though your mouth without even thinking about it?"

She said, "Oh yeah, that's true. OK, thanks Daddy!" Big hug.

Just like that. She even thanked me for providing some relief to her anxiety.

So I guess fear of death definitely starts by age six.

Good Books!

2008-11-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot, like I planned a while back. So far I've gotten through:

The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad - awesome inside look at life in Afghanistan before and right after the destruction of the Taliban's control

My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk - beatifully written, and complex mystery. I definitely get why he won the Nobel

The Fifth Child - Doris Lessing - creepy and foreboding, this book is hard to get out of your mind for days. Another obvious Nobel writer.

and I am currently reading

The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done about It - Paul Collier

I've got a few more general Economics and Global Poverty books to come from the library (Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz, Charles Wheelan), since I'm finding the subject area even more fascinating than the past few months' reading into Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development. Initially those areas seemed like a great tie into my Geophysics background, but are actually quite different and just have not grabbed me as much.

My father-in-law says I am a wonk. He claims it is a positive term.

SCC#7 Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe

2008-11-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

There was mud

The race was held at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe, about 30 minutes north of our house. The day started foggy and cool, and when I arrived at the race the fog was just beginning to burn off. The temperature quickly rose from a frigid 38 F to somewhere in the 40's. The course was held on and around a racetrack oval, and included a fair amount of pavement (actually it was probably the "requisite" amount of pavement per UCI cyclocross rules). There was a fun BMX section with a tabletop jump, and a steeply banked sweeping turn. Plenty of mud coated about 25% of the course, with another 25% on pavement, and the rest on wet sand and grass. It really had something for everyone, although the mountain bike-type would find it lacking in technical challenges.

The tabletop jump was cool. I didn't jump.

The race itself
I opted not to pre-ride, even though I was generously offered a bike to use so I wouldn't have to mud mine up, but the course looked really straightforward, so I just did a brief reconaissance before lining up for the start in the 4th row.

After the mad dash from the start was a hard right turn into an off-camber section before more pavement, and when I saw other races sprint hard only to slam on the brakes at this turn, I told myself to take it easy in the start. But, when our race actually took off, other than two guys bumping into each other, the start was so clean and smooth that I really should have taken more risk. I'm getting tired of poor starts, but in most cases it is entirely my fault, so at least it is something I can own and fix! That goal of getting up into the top 20 for a start is really my personal wall in cross this season. This weekend coming up is my last chance for a remedy!

The rest of the race went well. I ended up near the back at the start, but picked people off on all the straight sections, and in the 200 meter road of peanut butter mud that was one of the deciding factors in the race. If you had power, you could float through - but I saw a lot of riders slow down too much, or take a bad line, and get stuck, only to have to shoulder the bike and run the entire length of the pit. I was really happy with how this section went for me on every lap. I passed people every time through.

Amazingly, I got no mud in my mouth!

The only other tricky part on the course was a fast off-camber downhill left turn. There was a well-carved line, but a better line to its right proved better for me. Although the line I took was good, I was still a little too "on the brakes" through this downhill, and I think I got passed by one rider each time down it, except for the last lap. But, there was a straight section to a run-up immediately after, so I always got that place back.

In the end, I almost made it to the top 50%, getting 26th out of 43. My biggest disappointment was that after the race I realized I didn't really "leave it all on the course" and had plenty of go left in me.

I will remedy that problem, and the poor start this weekend!

WA State Cyclocross Championships

2008-11-16T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today's race was a blast. I loved the course, as it favored the power rider, but had just enough technical stuff to keep it from just being a grass criterium. To top it off, my team mate Landon won the race for the Cat 3 men, so Cucina Fresca has another state champion!

I had a really poor start - first, one of my team mates got cut off by another rider, causing him to crash. Right after swerving to avoid him, I got chopped by another rider right at a corner marker, causing me to come to a near dead stop. At this point I was on the back (except for my team mate, "Dirty" still slowly getting up).

Yep, that's how bad my start was - no one around me

But, as the race ground on, I moved my way up from the back. I was in the mid-teens with two laps to go, and continued my passing efforts to move past another group of three. A short time later, I passed one more rider at a run up - he thought I was "Dirty", actually, which makes some sort of sense, since usually Dirty would be with the guys up near the front, not me!

I still need to work on my cornering, but it is improving every week. Bree said a lot of riders went down on this turn, but I never had any trouble.

This was a section on the course where you could get a little airborne.

Which Landon did with aplomb!

In the end, I finished in 11th, out of 26. Wahoo! Top 50%!

Note Emy's similar tongue technique when finishing a cross race

So, it was a good race for me. I knocked off three of my five goals! Top 50%, a lap time less than 30 seconds off the winner (28 seconds off per lap average), and I passed aggressively throughout the race to move from the back to 11th. I couldn't be happier. OK, top-10 would have been a nice icing on the cake.

I should have some goals

2008-11-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

For the last four races of the cross season, I have a few goals:

Finish in the top 50% of at least one race (I've come very close now, but never made it)
Finish a race with an average lap time less than 30 seconds off the leaders (again, very close - I've been within 44 seconds)
Finish in the top 40 for Cat 3's (right now I am in 41st place)
Start well in at least one race, such that I am in the top 20 when we hit the dirt (this is a stretch)
Start passing people as soon as I can, not waiting for a wide spot, or a long straightaway

Geez - if I could do all of that, I would be very proud.

Mud. Plus Mud. SCC #5 Donida Farms

2008-11-05T22:01:00.001-08:00

Sunday was the 5th race of the Seattle Cyclocross series, and the weather forecast did not disappoint us - it finally was a race with true cross weather. It rained on and off, with mostly on at the start of the Cat 3 men's race. I didn't pre-ride the course this time, which probably didn't make any difference in my performance, but definitely saved me some clean-up. Those that did pre-ride came back from a single lap looking soaked and mud-caked.

The course was fun - some turns around a grassy horse training area followed by a muddy wall run-up, a quick muddy downhill, a barrier followed by a short muddy run-up, then a few 180 degree turns on an infield, three barriers, and more mud, before we did a long u-shaped trail through some woods that was completely filled with - you guessed it - mud. The mud in the woods varied from thin, just mixed plaster to peanut butter. The thin stuff was the best since you could just power through - the PB mud was usually mixed with stucks, rocks, and who knows what else under the mud. After the muddy jaunt through the woods, we were back at the start line for another lap.

remounting after the barriers in the infield

I re-confirmed that I am not particularly good at mud, yet, but I improved quite a bit after completing the first three of six laps. My last two laps were probably my fastest, and if I could just get myself to pass people more often, rather than tentatively sitting behind someone slower than I, I could really improve my placings.

It was fun, the bike survived without any mechanical issues, and I was not last, nor was I lapped (although it was closer than I would like). I finished in 47th out of 67.

Next race is out in Bremerton, and based on the weather forecast, there just might be mud.

Finally a Cyclocross Course! SCC #4 Report

2008-10-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Sunday was the 4th race in the Seattle Cyclocross series. It was held at Ft Steilacoom, the scene of my favorite cross race so far, the Rad Racing GP. And, finally, it was on an actual cyclocross course, not a mountain bike course with barriers. We didn't get to do the famed Knapp-time run-up that was in the Rad Racing GP, but there was a fine run-up with four barriers along it.

I had my usual poor start, but it wasn't from lack of desire to go fast - it was from lack of desire to crash. We were so packed in the third row that our bars were touching all along the row. I tried to edge forward a bit in anticipation of the start whistle, but so did everyone else, which only packed us in tighter. So, I paused a bit right at the start to let a small hole open, giving me a bit of a safety cushion to get rolling. I probably hit the dirt in around 40-50th place. OK, probably 50th.

From then on, I moved up. This was the first race this season where I felt like I was actually PART of the pack, rather than chasing it from behind. I moved from small group to small group, making progress on all the straight sections and the grassy infield. I would gain at least one place every time up the run-up.

The last two laps, I was trading with a guy from Pedal Mashers, and we knocked off a couple of other racers along the way, but were stuck together. He went hard on the last long downhill section and gapped me a bit, but I closed it on a gradual uphill that followed. I stayed on his wheel right up until when we hit the pavement and then began my sprint (hey, I didn't know what place it was for, but I was going to make sure I beat this guy). He chose that moment to look back and see if I was sprinting, which was his downfall. I nipped him at the line by perhaps 10 cm.

Some pics snapped by the wonderful cadre of photographers who show up at each event:

The screaming fast downhill
See? I really am ahead of people! I left all these guys behind.

The course was super fun with a series of off-camber turns

The stairs at "the ruins"

I had a blast. And, I got 36th place, which was pretty much mid-field. I was 45 seconds off the leader's lap times, and I suspect mine were slowly improving each lap. I'm very happy, especially given that I had no good training for two weeks and had been sick.

Hopefully this coming weekend will go as well or better!

Emy has the Pox!

2008-10-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Of the chicken kind, that is. Poor kiddo. She's weathering it well, but going through the worst of it today, I think. Most of her bad ones are on her head, which is good (doesn't rub on fabric all the time) and bad (really hard not to scratch, and to lie down).

Just looking at the sores makes my skin itch in sympathy!

Luckily, we already carved her cat-o-lantern:

She'll be over it soon. Looks like it is progressing quickly, without any of the nasty upper-respiratory side effects.

DNF?

2008-10-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

So, I am finally feeling almost all well. We headed to the cyclocross race today, again at South Sea Tac, which I am very glad to say, is the last time we race there this season. We got there with plenty of time, so I got signed in, and got a bib number for Emy to do the kids race.

After watching for a bit, I did a pre-ride of the course with Landon and Ryan. Jeff had warned me that the course was really "all mountain bike" this time, which really made me unhappy. There had been plenty of consternation on the SeattleCyclocross.com forums about using SeaTac yet again, and people who echoed my thinking that every race there is a mountain bike course, with a run up and some barriers. Cyclocross, according to the UCI really isn't about singletrack, and neither am I. But, as I said before, you gotta ride what the course dishes out to you. During the pre-ride, I couldn't hold on to Ryan and Landon even when I tried, which didn't bode well for the race - they are both strong dirt riders.

I got to cheer on Emy in the kids race this time, which is always fun. She raced it a bit like Dad this time, coming in near the back (OK, at the back), but unlike my racing, she wasn't riding hard. She loved it, and Bree and I got it on video, so I guess we're perfect parents.

I rode the trainer by the car for 20 minutes, and then after downing some last water, I rode to the start line. I got a decent position, one row back from the top 16 or so, who get called up based on their series placing. I have several team mates in that group - go Cucina! We sprinted from the gun, and I was immediately struck from the right by one guy, then from the left by another guy, both of whom almost went down. Thanks to riding the track, I am like a wall. But, all this jostling put me darn near the back, which sucked, since I was actually HOPING to get near the front this time. The first lap was uneventful, at least 80% singletrack, and I got stuck behind two crashes, knocking me even further back in the field. Why is it always the guy right in front of me that crashes? The guy behind me always gets to ride around me, while I have to extricate myself from the due laying on the ground, flopping around like a fish.

On the second lap, I was making up a ton of ground in the paved sections, the "thighmaster" run up, and the wide infield section. I even passed some guys in the deep sand section early in the lap. But then, I overcooked a corner, right before a steep downhill, and had to stand there while nine riders went by, before I could insert myself in the stream again. I was pedalling furiously to rejoin the group of five I had caught in the sand, flying through the start/finish area past the announcers stand when distaster struck. Some complete idiot spectator was crossing the course, looking the exact wrong direction (he was looking to same direction I was, which meant he was not looking at me!) at the moment he popped out from behind the caution tape, directly in my path. There was nothing I could do - I plowed into him at full speed, hit him, and landed hard on my left hip. Nothing hurt at the time. I swore at him quite loudly (sorry Bilko - you didn't need to hear that), picked up the bike and ran, since the barriers were just ahead. I ran over them, jumped back on the bike, and pedalled about 30 feet before I knew something was wrong. My crank was sticking partway through the pedal stroke, and there was a loud grinding noise. I moved off the trail, blood still boiling, only to discover to my complete dismay that my chainring was bent, and my chainguard, to the point that it was not ridable.

It hit me that my race was over, two laps in, and rght when I was starting to feel better! I KNEW I was going to move up through the field today, as I was riding surprisingly fast, despite not much quality training and riding for the past 10 days. Keeping my anger in check was a monumental effort.

Since I don't have a spare bike (and was quite far from the pit anyway), I slowly walked back the way I had come and off the course. Sinc all my friends were racing, or cheering, there wasn't anyone nearby to share my pain, or hear me whine. I walked over to where I saw the guy I had hit. I asked him if he was the one I just collided with, and he said he was. I asked if he was alright, and he said yes. He asked how I was doing. I said I would be fine, but that my crank was trashed. He sort-of said he was sorry (he was not particularly apologetic, which didn't help my anger much) and that he walked in front of me because he was confused which direction the traffic was going on the course (which was lame - it was obvious). Anyway, I walked on back to my stuff and changed into regular clothes.

Since I had no idea where Emy and Bree were on the course, taking video and cheering, I was trying to figure out what to do next - look for them, or pack up the car. I opted for car, sinwould be easier to look for them unburdened, and thought they might even be at the car, or would look there if they didn't see me on the course.

Luckily, I saw them right away and told Bree about the misfortune. It sounded like they weren't having much fun either, since Emy was just moping around (although she swears she was having fun). We packed up the car. Emy was excited, though, as she'd gotten an awesome grab bag full of Vanderkitten swag from Tela, who is on Vanderkitten, and also teaches the kids track classes at Marymoor. Emy looks so cute! Thanks, Tela!!!

When we got home, I assesed the bike, and discovered things were worse. One of the spider arms on the crank was also bent, slightly. I managed to use a crescent wrench to bend everything back into some sort of alignment, since the last thing I was to do is buy another crankset, with six cross races remaining in the season for me. Hopefully it will last me the rest of the season!

On the plus side, my back is doing better. It still doesn't like me sitting in an office chair for long, and Bree had to make the trip to IKEA to get us a new, much firmer mattress last week, but I think I will mend eventually.

While sick, I read

2008-10-15T10:39:00.001-07:00

So, I've been moping around, not riding my bike, which is very hard. Yesterday I tried to get Bree to go for an easy ride with me, only to change my mind and fall asleep on the couch.

I've been reading. Right now I am in Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul, which is very good. I just finished the second book in Sharon Kay Penman's medieval mystery series, The Queen's Man. Now, I am trying to follow my usual plan of reading a couple of books by recent Nobel winners, when it is award season. This plan led me to Naipul's A Bend in the River and Saramago's Blindness a few years back, which is still one of my favorite books. I'm still on the fence as to if I will see the movie. So, I started Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul, but memoirs often fail to grab me, and was true for this one. I'm going to try reading Snow, or maybe My Name is Red. Unfortunately, this year's winner Le Clezio has few works in Engish, but I will start with The Wandering Star and wait for a translation of Desert. I'm going to add Lessing's The Golden Notebook and The Fifth Child to my library list too. Bree is reading the Oates books I checked out, The Tattooed Girl and The Gravedigger's Daughter. No, Oates hasn't won the prize, but has often been mentioned as a potential winner, so maybe I can get ahead of the game.

That ought to carry me for a while. I'll keep reading all of Penman's works in the meantime. I love historical fiction, particularly of medieval times.

How do you stop a rhinovirus from...? Seattle Cyclocross #2, S SeaTac

2008-10-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

I'm down for the count with a nasty cold. I started feeling it last weekend, on Saturday, but in infinite wisdom, I still raced on Sunday at the second race of the Seattle Cyclocross series. I had already paid, and I consoled myself with the idea that I would just drop out if I felt too sick to continue.

Check out the hot new skinsuit
- just for the cross racers on Cucina Fresca

I'm not very talented at giving up, so I soldiered on through the race, weak and slightly addled in the head. At the start line I thought "maybe I won't be TOO slow?", but as soon as the race began, and I "sprinted" while everyone else actually sprinted, I knew my hopes for a decent finish were dashed. It sucked, since I finally feel like I am getting the handle of the racing, although SeaTac is never going to be my best course. Maybe if I spend a lot of time riding singletrack I could improve, but really I am much better at the "actual" cyclocross courses, as in, ones that meet the rules for what a course is supposed to consist of - minimal singletrack, mostly 5m wide sections of grass and dirt, lots of tight turns, and some good running sections. Some of the courses later this season, like Steilacoom (where the Rad Racing GP was held) will fit that criteria - the first race of the series at Evergreen High School did meet the rules as far as I know. It is just an excuse, though - you gotta deal with whatever the course throws at you.

As to the race, I did fine, considering. Didn't get lapped, and didn't come in last. My lap times were about one minute slower that the winner, my team mate Chip, which actually mirrors all of my performances at SeaTac so far this season. I enjoyed the huge sand pit, and managed to ride it for three of the five laps (but man was my heart pounding harder than it should have been).

Here's a few pictures taken by Bree, who was able to enjoy spectating without having to also be a mom (Emy stayed with Bree's parents for the night and had a great time):

The start led to a run up, downhill, then runup,
and since I was not near the front,
it was faster to just keep running in-between the hills

See? I was actually ahead of a few riders!

Bree said she saw some not so great barrier technique during the race,
probably owing to there being three barriers.
But, she said I had no such trouble.

Ah, the finish line. I managed to sprint past the pink (Vanilla Speedvagen!) singlespeeder just before we got to the line. Of course, we aren't in the "same race" so it does not matter. But it helped my pride a little bit.

Research Paper on Cycling and How Some Countries Have Made It Irresistible

2008-10-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf

Here's the Abstract
This paper shows how the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient, and practical way to get around their cities. The analysis relies on national aggregate data as well as case studies of large and small cities in each country. The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily traveled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighborhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling. In addition to their many pro-bike policies and programs, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany make driving expensive as well as inconvenient in central cities through a host of taxes and restrictions on car ownership, use, and parking. Moreover, strict land use policies foster compact, mixed-use developments that generate shorter and thus more bikeable trips. It is the coordinated implementation of this multifaceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies that best explains the success of these three countries in promoting cycling. For comparison, the paper portrays the marginal status of cycling in the UK and USA, where only about one percent of trips are by bike.

It's worth a read - not too long. No wonder Bree, Emy and I feel so at home in the Netherlands! I don't even want to imagine the amount of $$$ it would take to transform cities in the USA to make cycling a more viable and safe mode to dominate transportation (let your kids ride helmetless?), and the current economic crisis isn't going to help policymakers open the government pocketbooks. However, it must be done - all the rhetoric about reducing the need for foreign oil and clean energy simply underlines the need. I, for one, would be happy to forgo the car in favor of bike, bus and train, if it were actually feasible to get everywhere you need to go with few to no transfers, and easy access to safe, bicycle only routes. Someday.

Ouch, My Back!

2008-10-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

For the past three weeks, I've been waking up a few times a night, with a painful mid and lower back. It's actually mostly fine during the day, but as soon as I lay prone for a couple of hours, it gets stiff as a board and sore.

As it turns out, I did something to my back, specifically the spinal erectors and quadratus lumborum, likely from poor bike fit on the cross bike (saddle was too high and saddle was tipped down in front), poor posture working at a computer all day long, and just straining some core muscles too much, too fast. I'm sure I didn't help things much by my crash on Labor Day in my first cross race. It was quite a whack. My crash earlier in the season on the track may have precipitated my current state, as well. Everything labeled in this picture is where it hurts:

That said, I found a great chiropractor, Gentry McGrath, who also happens to race cyclocross, so not only is he speaking my language, but he's very motivated to see me recover so I can race healthy.

For the past week, he's been adjusting my well out-of-whack spine and working out those muscles. He told me he was sorry to tell me that at age 34 I am showing signs of arthritis, but since my x-rays are virtually unchanged since the first time Bree and I saw a chiropractor in 2001, I'm neither surprised, nor overly concerned. Not yet, anyway!

I'll see if I can get a picture of the x-ray so I can post it - my back really is kinda nuts...

So, for the past week I've been really ramping up on the core exercises, something I have gotten out of the habit of doing (other than abs) since I was ending my rock climber days a year ago in the spring. It's amazing how much better my back feels just by doing these exercises. Hopefully I will be waking up pain free by the end of next week. This morning was the best in days, and I actually slept soundly until 5 AM, versus waking every two hour or so, and needing to stretch out and attempt to find a position that doesn't immediately lock me up.

I went to the cross workout on Wednesday, and while I was sore and tight afterward, even before my back was injured I would have been sore and tight after two hours of cross practice at Marymoor. Riding there is like having your back pounded by a jackhammer, as the grass is so potholed and uneven.

I've got the go-ahead from Gentry to race on Sunday, so I am stoked. I've been taking this week pretty light on training, so I will either suck (more), or be really fresh.

I went for a run yesterday and it reminded me how much I like running. I gotta get back into the habit of running at least twice a week - good for cross, and good for a change of sport after a long, long season on the bike.

Seattle Cyclocross #1 - Evergreen HS

2008-09-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

What a super-fun course for the opening of the Seattle cross series. It was grassy, with lots of twists and turns, some sand, and a just-right run up. The weather was a decidedly un-cross-like sunny, in the low 70's. I managed to pre-ride the bulk of the course thrice, which definitely helped me during the actual race. I also discovered it was right next to a disc golf course I've played twice with my work team mates.

Before my race, though, Emy got to do a kids race:

Unlike me in my race, she lined up at the back

But, she still had a great time, and managed to pass a few. She was a bit weirded out by a girl who crashed in the first turn around the dirt running track (the venue for the kids race - no barriers this time), and took a while to get her gumption back. As long as she's having fun, we're happy!

My race went pretty well - I lined up in the 2nd row, as Jeff thought we were to go off at 1:10. Turns out it was actually the posted 1:20, so we sat and baked in the sun for twenty minutes before the race finally began. But, as Jeff said, "At least you're in the 2nd row."

I did manage to clip in right away and took off with a decent sprint, but I was a bit wary of the riders who wering all over the place on the dirt track (and a small crash I avoided) before we hit the grass. It was a short couple turns before the sandy run up, and I took the right hand side, where the ground was firmer. I regained about ten places on the run up, since it was that much better ground. The rest of the course was pretty straightforward, except for a sandy hard left that would be my nemesis for laps 3, 5 and 6 (last lap). I crashed on each of those laps in the sand, losing places each time. I regained all those places and more during the rest of the course, and by the last lap I was sitting in 32nd position.

My goal was to finish in the top 50%. But that sandy corner shot my goal. I dropped my chain and the nine riders I had worked so hard to pass earlier in the lap cruised by me as I got the chain back on.

I rolled in, a bit dejected, in 42nd place. There were 61 starters. I was pretty pissed, but it's hard to stay mad when Emy meets me with a smile at the finish, telling me I did a great job. My lap times were closer to the leaders, less than 40 seconds off per lap, but the laps were faster and shorter, so I still have a ways to go.

Here are a few pictures:

Early in the course. You can see the run-up in the background.
Yes, all those guys are in front of me...
However, I caught and passed everyone in the picture who is not running...
until I crashed, and they passed me

This side was definitely best...and the run-up
was nothing compared to one in the Rad Racing GP

a fun part of the course, shortly after the sand-pit corner

about to start another lap, just after the finish line, later in the race

My team mate Jeff, who took 2nd,
doing some nice synchronized dismounting with the eventual winner

I love this picture of the spot just before the barriers.
If you look closely, you'll see that only my front tire is touching the ground.
Both feet are airborne, as is the rear tire. I'm floating!

Poor Chip had yet another mechanical issue - this time a rolled rear tire.
But, he managed to get to the pit, swap wheels, and still passed me later in the race.

My family are the best super-fans!

I'm so purturbed by the chain coming off (3rd time this season, over the course of five events) that I just ordered up a single ring setup from Excel sports (Cyclocrossworld.com says they are out-of-stock).

I also discovered that I've been riding with too-narrow handlebars (no wonder breathing seems a bit tougher, and my back and neck are unhappy), so I ordered up some new bars as well.

No race for the next weekend for me, and it is a "rest week", so it should be a good time to tinker with the bike and get it set up for more racing.

Starcrossed and Rad Racing GP - Twice the Fun!

2008-09-23T19:07:00.000-07:00

Before I had done a single cross race this season I signed up for this double race weekend. The two events are the "biggest" cyclocross races in the Seattle area for the season, and I didn't know any better how hard two cross races would be, much less even a single race!

Starcrossed 2008 - Saturday
Saturday was Starcrossed. The Cat 3's raced at 6 PM, which means we still have some daylight, versus the elite women's and men's events that followed. Bree and Emy dropped me off at 3 PM, so I could get in a couple of warm up laps on the course the see what it was like. It was not raining at this point, and was only slightly muddy - mostly just wet grass. This would change over the course of the warm up... I was running my Racing Ralph tires, and dropped them down to a very squishy 36 psi. I didn't bother to put spare wheels in the pit, since I figured a flat was both unlikely, and might actually be welcome.

I had registered first for the field, and so my "random" number worked out to bib #200, which meant a front row call-up. If I were a much better cross rider, I would have been super stoked at the chance for the "hole shot" (being the first rider off the start as we enter the dirt section), but I was mostly trying to figure out how I could go fast, but still not become a bottleneck. Oh, and it was raining, everyone was shivering, and teeth were chattering.

Look at me in the front row - only 81 more riders to go

I was so relieved when the gun went off. Within about 30 seconds, I was no longer aware of the cold and wet.

The mayhem at the beginning.
I am looking at a rider who just crashed, off screen to the left and trying to figure out how I can pass by.
I lost like 10 to 12 places in the next three seconds!

About halfway through the first lap, I was somewhere around the 50th position. It was not long before I was joined by my race companion for the next 45 minutes:

Sam, a.k.a. Sammy, the speedo guy and I had an ongoing battle for position the rest of the race

I maintained somewhere in the 50's-60's for the rest of the race. My only goal was to not get lapped. I figured having a goal of not crashing would prove fruitless. Amazingly, I only went down once in a downhill corner at slow speed. But, it whacked my left brake/shift lever so much that instead of pointing forward, it was pointing to the right. I had to pound it with my right fist (while riding on an off-camber mud section) to get it back to about 45 degrees from straight ahead. It stayed in this position for the rest of the race (like 30 more minutes), which made using the front brake somewhat awkward.

Here's some more shots during the race taken by Bree and other kind spectators:

Yeah, it was wet. Riders who tried to use the
track banking often slid right back down and crashed

Coming up to the log barrier run-up The rider in pink to the left is negotiating the turn where I would soon crash

The logs were kinda fun, actually

There was plenty of noise at the infield barriers

My teammate Chip is the first rider in the group of three -
he placed an awesome 7th! This was a pretty muddy turn, but I was amazed at how
well you could actually carve in the muck. I didn't get brave enough to really power
through the turns until the last lap, but now I know.

I passed my speedo friend with 1.5 laps to go, right before the barriers

Then Sam slipped on an off-camber section near corner four of the velodrome and I stomped past him. I held this positi just in front of him until about 50 meters to go when he took the last 180 degree corner much better than I did and slipped past me to beat me by 10 meters at the end. I think his cape gave him super-hero powers.

Bree and Emy found me after I hosed off my bike and myself, and got really freaking cold. They were also freezing, so I chanegd clothes and dropped them off at home to go back and watch the elite men race at 8 PM. Those guys had a torn up course, but at least it stopped raining for them. I had to extricate my contacts before I could drive back, along with a teaspoon full of sand and grit in my eyes. They were still bright red the next morning.

I managed to get 65th out of 83 starters. Thirteen riders dropped out, which actually is surprisingly low, given the conditions. One my my teammates, our president Travis, pulled his deraileur cable on the first lap, and had to chase from half a lap down after he got it repaired. He had the dubious honor of being the last recorded finisher.

After I got home, I started to wonder why I signed up to race the next day! I hoped that a night of sleep would provide some recovery. Bree and Emy were going to come along to watch, cheer, and so Emy could be in the kids cross race!

Rad Racing GP 2008 - Sunday
Amazingly, as we drove to Tacoma at 9 AM, the sky was overcast, with occasional glimpses of sun. And, when we arrived at Ft Steilacoom for the Rad Racing GP, we were all surprised to find the ground dry and the temps pleasant.

I pre-rode the course as soon as we got there, and didn't even add air to the tires, so they were probably below 36 psi. The course was super fun - fast, not super technical, with an eternal run-up (80 meters up a loose sand/rock hill), a section of stairs, and some barriers. Mostly it was wide open grass and sweping corners. On my pre-ride I realized I might actually be able to do well (for me) on this course. I pumped the tires back up to 36 psi and headed to the start line after a 20 min stint on the trainer to keep the legs fired up.

I again had an early registration position, which put me on the front, yet again. I was actually excited about it, though. Unfortunately, I didn't get my right foot in very quickly, and lost a lot of position in the starting sprint. But, for the rest of the race I was "with people" as opposed to being mostly on my own, or with one other rider.

Chip was again riding very well near the front,
but would have an untimely chain breakage on the last lap

About mid-way through the race, I started to move up from small group to small group.
Eventually I found my teammate Landon (who is much better on dirt),
and worked hard to stay nearby

With one lap to go. The rider just to my left is Andrew Yee,
one of the creators of Cyclocross Magazine,
a sponsor of the two races, and a fine magazine and online site.
Landon is just behind us in the next group, and would catch up during the lap.

I continued to push throughout the last lap, and managed a fine 33rd place out of 48. The placing wasn't spectacular, by any means, but still it was my best result in terms of how close I was to the leaders. On this kind of course, I think I am capable of a top 20 finish, with a bit more practice at the barriers and other "transitions".

Emy's First Cross Race!
Unfortunately, the kids race started 15 minutes after my race, so I saw none of it. But, right after my finish, Emy was bursting to tell me all about it. We rode the kids course for a couple of laps, while she replayed the event for me in detail.

I had told her earlier that I didn't think she would have any barriers, and that the course would be very short. Well, I was wrong on the first count - they had a barrier, and a little wrong on the second count - they had two laps of a short, twisty course in a nearby field:

The start of the 6-7 year olds.
Mostly girls.
Mostly streamers.
Mostly pink.
Emy is in the back: pink bike, streamers, black tires

Like Daddy, Emy eschewed the hole shot

On the first lap, she was mid-pack
(OK, there are a few ahead of her to the left)

Just after clearing the barrier on the first lap
One of the Rad Racing junior riders (left side, wearing red/black) was the "pacer"

You can see Emy's triumphant last lap in this video
Note the smooth dismount before the log and fast remount after
I'm such a proud Dad!

Emy smiles after winning her first cross race.
Emy wins a lot more races than I do.

We all agreed it was a great day for the family. I think even Bree was thinking cross might not be so bad after all, as long as the races are on days like Sunday.

Monday was a rest day - next race is on Sunday the 28th, the first race of the Seattle Cyclocross Series. It should be a good one for me again - flat, fast, grassy.

Copper Cross - Two Cross Races Under My Belt

2008-09-15T20:33:00.001-07:00

While I still need lots of practice,
it is still so much fun to ride on the dirt again.
My last Mountain Bike race was in 1997.

I had a great time at Copper Cross on Sunday. The weather was a very un-cross-like 80-degrees, and South SeaTac Park was dry and dusty.

My goals this time were simple. Do better than last time (in terms of placing), and don't crash at all. I pre-rode the course three times, each time getting a better feel for it. There was significantly more single track riding than Labor Day Cyclocross, and the lap was quite a bit longer. It wasn't really much harder, but the length, the sand, and a couple more run-ups than the last race would take their toll. I have to accept that I really don't ride well on sand. I need to work on it, but there aren't a lot of nearby areas to practice. I'll have to hunt for some.

Anyway, the race was off, and I did my usual relaxed sprint since I knew I should NOT be the first person to the dirt. Really I do this out of kindness to the other riders, since I would definitely be a bottleneck on the singletrack. Of course, maybe that should be our team strategy - let a couple of my teammates go in front of me, and cover their wheels. When we hit the dirt, I can do my usual flailing around and almost crashing, slowing down the rest of the pack!

Thankfully, there are some great photos from the race (thanks, Joe Martin!), so you all can see me in a cross race. Here are all of them with captions:

Me and team mate Dave Stanton.
This was some of the last few minutes when I could see the leaders...

Did I say it was dusty? One of the sandy corners and then the next run-up

Heading up the run-up. Yes, I am smiling.
There was a guy with a dollar bill sticking out of his butt,
offering it to anyone who rode the hill.

Taking the first of the barriers in the infield.

rounding the corner not long after the barriers
I gotta learn to drop my inside foot so I can corner faster

This guy passed me on the last lap.
You can see how he made up some time on me (no fair - he's on a mountain bike)

pedal hard out of the turns

final lap, last 100 meters or so,
I am neck and neck with Matt Beers (fellow Cat 3 track racer)
who is riding a single-speed cross bike
(no shifting, so he's stuck with whatever he's got in front and back)

You can see he has the edge on me being inside on the turn, but...

My running speed helps me make up the distance
by the time we hit the first barrier of two

Unfortunately, there were two turns left, and he got the inside on both of them, just beating me at the line. It didn't really matter, since we weren't in the same race (he was in the singlespeed category, and I was in the Cat 3 men).

Total race length was 4 laps, and I averaged just under 12 minutes per lap. The winner, Jeff, from my team, averaged closer to 10:30 per lap! I'm sure glad to have such talented team mates from whom I can learn a ton. My team mates finished with 5 of the top 10 in the Cat 3 race, plus we had the top Women's Cat 4 (on a singlespeed!), top Men's Cat 4, and top Master's Cat 1/2 35+ year old.

I met my goals - I never crashed, despite many close calls in the sand, and I finished a significantly better 15th out of 25 racers.

My next race is Starcrossed, which has NO singletrack, and is all grass plus some pavement. I'd like to think the course will suit me better, but we'll see. At least it is on and around the Marymoor Velodrome, so I will be intimately familiar with the surroundings! Then, for some crazy reason, I will be doing the follow up race, the RAD Racing GP, the next day. It's going to be a fun and tough weekend!

Friday Night Racing at Marymoor (9-12-2008) - the Last Night of the Season

2008-09-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

It was a lackluster evening for me. I was fighting off a cold Emy picked up, and while it wasn't hitting me full force, it was taking a bit of wind out of my sails. But, it was a fun last night of the season, with a fine gathering and free beer afterward. There was a memorial in corner 2 for the death of Ryan Triplett, the spouse of one of the regular, high-caliber women racers, Jen Triplett, who often races in my field. It was sobering. Ryan died while rock climbing, which is why the subject and fate are very near and dear to mine and Bree's hearts. Our climbing circles did not include Ryan, but his and ours certainly overlapped as I found out later.

Here's what I sent out to the team:
Tonight was a tough one. There was the memorial to Ryan Triplett in corner 2. There were a million pink tents surrounding the velodrome area, with bouncy 80's music for a cancer awareness festival/walk-a-thon. And there were just five of us Cucina riders between the 1,2's, 3's and women's 1,2,3's. My report will also be a bit short so I can get to bed.

In the 1,2's, Chris and Mark were laying it all down. Chris had a fire under him this evening, and was racing with great intensity all night. Mark nicknamed him the Hulk, and I am thinking it will stick. Don't make Chris angry, folks - oh wait, please do, because then he rides even faster! Chris also provided some quality entertainment by trying to take the 2-lap heat from the front when my enormous push ended up sitting him about 8 bike lengths out. He drove it hard, and was just caught with about 250 to go. But it was fun!

In the final 1,2's scratch race, Chris made the front group of his predicted field split, and Mark bridged, but claimed a mental block such that he retreated back to the second group. Confidence, my friend - you belonged up there! Chris was super-animated, and found Kenny's wheel late in the game, with a nice final placing in 7th.

In the 3's, we had Niels, Jerry and me. Our first race was a 10 lap point a lap, which was gung ho from the get go. I was waiting for the final lap, since the points go three deep, and I was not feeling super spry. Niels took a lap in the middle of the race, and Jerry and I both managed to place in the final sprint, with Jerry scoring 2nd and me in 3rd, which put Jerry in 3rd for the race (money for Jerry!) and me in 5th.

Next race was 2-lap heats, and while the three of us gave it our all, I think it is fair to say it is not our favorite event. Unfortunately, Broadmark got two guys in the final, and we were getting nervous for the team placing.

Final race was a 20 lap scratch race. Niels got in an early break, which was later reeled in by a flying pack. There were several break attempt throughout the race - I tried to be part of a couple, but nothing would stick. I missed out a sprint for a prime, just nipped at the line, and then with three laps to go I found my break. A small group was chasing Craig Etheridge (of single-speed cross fame), and I hopped on. But, for some nutty reason, the group sat up with one to go, which left me, and Niels on my wheel, trapped in the sprinters lane. Luckily Jerry managed to be part of the sprint - he thought maybe he got 6th.

Combine this with Broadmark winning the women's omnium, and I am sad to report that our run at the top is likely over. We'll be a close second, which is still an amazing result for our growing track squad, and one we should all be proud of. Congratulations to all of us - we've made it a wonderful and fun track season. I get comments about how "Those Cucina Fresca riders all look like they're having more fun than the rest", and I think that's true.

That's all for this season. Looking forward to next year!

Turns out we actually ended up in a close third, not second, which is still an awesome result for a team that until this year barely fielded three riders at the track with any regularity. We've got plans to grow the track team even more and put us in the top tier of track clubs in the NW. Now that many of us have upgraded, we need to start building from the base (Cat 4 Men and Women) to keep the pyramid strong.

I am now the Cucina Fresca team's representative to the Marymoor Velodrome Association board, which should be very interesting. I hope I can learn a lot and contribute.

Rollers aren't so hard

2008-09-08T20:27:00.001-07:00

My friend and team mate, Mark, let me try out his rollers. I received plenty of advice on how to get started:

use a really easy gear (I was running a 49x16, or about 83 gear inches)
put yourself in a door jam so you can bounce from side to side, using the walls
look ahead not down
start by using a bench to step on
don't panic

So, here I am getting on

Here I am getting rolling

Proof that I am not just leaning against the wall

Can you tell I am having fun?

OK, now I need to get us a set of rollers. It wasn't too difficult to learn, except for the first 3 minutes or so when I thought I was going to kill myself. I put in a total of 8 minutes at a steady tempo, once I got rolling, which wasn't much time, but I could see that it wasn't going to be too hard after a little more practice. It is definitely a more interesting way to ride indoors than on a fixed trainer that holds the rear wheel.

Some helpful things I noticed:

don't be too close to the wall - you end up bouncing off of it too much, since your elbows stick out past your handlebars
start with one pedal down so that the first clip doesn't send you off the side
look at a spot about a meter in front of the wheel and steer ever so slightly to keep it in the same spot
don't panic!

Thanks, Mark! I feel like more of a trackie now.

Friday Night Racing at Marymoor

2008-09-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

Emy had her last Kiddie Kilo of the season, and was looking primed to be fast, with full cupcake team regalia. She started 2nd from the back of her field of seven 6-to-7 year olds, and jumped hard right from the word go! By turn one she was in 2nd place, and by the back stretch she was out front, and extended her lead all the way to the end. When she crossed the finish, the next closest rider, her recent-friend Annika (daughter of Ed Amdahl of Starbucks) had not yet entered turn four, for a clear victory, with Annika taking an awesome 2nd. Bree and I were super happy for our little Bean, since she was pretty disappointed in her Pee Wee graduation race. Hopefully there will be a new picture on WheelsInFocus soon.

I was a little worried about my night as I had done Madison training both Tuesday and Thursday nights, and it was quite the workout. But, without further ado...

Here's what I emailed the team for my race report:

We had another fabulous night of racing by the left-turning tomatoes!

Our Cat 3 squad was represented by Jerry, John, Niels, Ted and Travis, with Chris and Mark in the Cat 1,2's. Mark was looking at a heck of a night for his first foray into the 1,2's field including a Miss n' Out, and a Madison! More on that later.

First up for the 3's was a 10-lap snowball, which historically has been a good one for Cucina. Tonight was no exception. Travis got off in a break, solo, scoring some points, later joined by others, and then absorbed. But with a good stack of points, he just needed the 9 point and 10 point laps to go to riders who weren't a threat to him. Niels rose to the challenge and took the 9 point lap in a tight sprint, with the 10 point lap going to Simpson of Recycled. This gave Travis the big money for the first race of the night and also put Niels in 3rd place.

Next up was the 1,2's 12-lap scratch. With two prime laps splitting the field, it was awesome to see both Chris and Mark working together int he chase group trying to close the gap to the break late in the race. I'm sure Chris is happy to have company.

Next race for the 3's was a Miss n' Out, pulling down to 3 riders remaining. I had some demons to exorcise after last week, where I was the the crazy guy who surged from the back lap after lap. This time I worked hard to not be so close to the back, and for the most part it worked. I think Jerry was the first to get yanked, followed by John, surprisingly next was Travis, then Niels. I had found my wheel behind Selinski, who was sitting at the front, high on the track, which made the surge a relatively easy move from the 2nd row to the front each time. We were whittled down to four riders, and then I was just able to commit to one more surge to make the final three. We cruised our free lap, and I was happy they let me sit on the back. My plan was to sit on Vinson, knowing Selinski was tired from all his time at the front, and it worked, but I missed the win by a tire in the sprint (gotta learn to throw the bike). Still it felt good to be on the board. So now we had Travis with a 1st, me with a 2nd, and Niels with a 3rd.

The 1,2's had a Miss n' Out as well, with a fairly large field. I was just hoping our man Mark would make us proud and get past the first lap, which he did easily, getting pulled (just barely) as the 4th rider out. Chris was out next, looking plenty knackered - poor guy is feeling the pain of being a new teacher, with early rising, and didn't have much left in the tank. I hope you got home and went to sleep, Chris! At least Mark got plenty of rest before the Madison (good plan, Mark!)

Last race for the 3's was a 6x5 points race, which got shortened to a 5x5. With Travis, Niels and I sitting well for omnium, the plan was to take it all with a break that would hopefully include the three of us, and maybe one more rider. John and Jerry were to go for the first sprint to help keep it hot. We wanted to pull the same trick that Jason and I tried last week - take it easy for the first sprint, and then hit em right after the sprint - this time with a break of at least three. I managed to find Niels's wheel at the right moment, but the field was still moving pretty quickly after the first sprint, and Travis was still down low in the pack. Still, I moved up and went hard, hoping we could still salvage the plan at least in part. I only got away for a short bit, with a couple others, and then we were absorbed, and then Travis went hard with Vinson. The pack started sitting up, and Niels was near the front, so I bridged and the three of us came in for the next sprint - I got 2 points, and I think Vinson just beat Travis (but I'm not sure). Later, there were other loose break attempts, but nothing really stuck. I tried again to get a break going, but didn't get anywhere (other than airtime by Bilko). Selinski got a couple of points in some other sprints, and at this point I heard the points were really spread out - Bilko said TEN riders had points with one sprint to go. I was not terribly surprised as we were going at a fast clip the whole time. I was sure happy when Hyun took a flyer with 3 laps to go and I was able to jump on his wheel. I looked back and we had a solid gap, so I just sat on for 300 meters and he never pulled up track. With 1.5 laps to go, when I saw he was tiring, I went as hard as I could around him, hoping I could survive to the finish, or at least give Travis or Niels an armchair ride on someone else's wheel as they tried to chase. I was pretty cross-eyed by the end, but just managed to hold off the pack and win the last sprint.

Last race of the night was the 6x8 Madison, which, for those who haven't seen it, is the pinnacle of track racing. It's a points race, where each rider tag-teams with one other rider, making exchanges on every lap - one rider is "in the race", going full gas, while the other is "on relief" resting and riding high on the track, as slowly as possible until the "in the race" rider gets back around to them, where they tag off. This tag is typically a sling-throw that requires skill, bike handling, and timing. Mark teamed up with Jim (?) Flinn of Old Town and unfortunately had to take off the tomato (if only Jason could have made it tonight for his 2's debut). Holy moly that race was fast. It took Mark and Jim a couple of exchanges to get some kinks worked out, but they were solidly in 5th or 6th, trading leads with a Broadmark team. While they were out of the points sprints, they still kept it rolling and gave it their all to try and bridge the gap. As the race wore on, there were some seriously tired faces out there. Mark was looking pretty wasted, but we were sure proud to see him out there in this tricky event, looking like he belonged. Mark, I KNOW you'll sleep well tonight! Nice job.

Final results for the 3's put me in 3rd for omnium with two 2nd places (somehow Selinski had one more point that I did in the 5x5) and Travis in 4th. Hopefully that will yield enough points for us to close the gap to 1st place Broadmark in the team rankings, but if not, we should be within a point or two with two more nights of racing remaining. Between Mark, Jerry, John, Rebecca and maybe Travis on Wednesday in the Master's and Women's fields, and the Friday gang of 3's and 1,2's, I think we can do it!

Mama Bug Scores a Point!

2008-09-05T23:16:00.000-07:00

Bree raced the track on Wednesday, her second big race night in the Cat 4 women's field and came away with a night of serious improvement, with an even tougher field than her first Wednesday. She gradually improved from 8th in the first race, t0 7th in the second race, and then 6th in the final race with a serious, grit-her-teeth sprint, which netted her very first point for the season. She's now tied for 26th place!

Way to go, Bug. Emy and I are so proud of you.

Labor Day Cyclocross! No pain no gain?

2008-09-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

The race was a ton of fun. I had a great time. The course consisted of a loop of ~50% singletrack in the woods, a steep run-up (that was rideable - I managed it twice, but other times got stymied by riders walking it or falling over), a barrier section after a short off camber turn, some paved sections, a 30 meter long sandpit (my first time on sand) and a forced short run-up. It was all pretty much dry.

I had two goals - to not get lapped and to not be last. I accomplished both goals! I was 22nd out of 24 (and the two guys I beat are both racers at the velodrome that I know), and I was not in danger of getting lapped. Partly that was owing to the long course. Each lap was on the order of nine minutes, and my finish was about five minutes slower than the winner. We did four laps. I was within sight of the top 20 placings on every lap until the last lap. Why? Well, I had a colossal crash on the last lap. There was a hard right turn over a little bump with a deep sandy pothole on the other side of the bump. So, since it was the last lap, I tried to take it a bit quicker than the previous three laps. After going over the bump, you had to either choose the left side of the pothole, where you had a narrow strip of loose dirt, or the right side of the pothole, where you had a bunch of tree roots. On the first three laps, I went left and stayed outside the pothole. But on the last lap, at higher speed, I overcompensated my turn and actually ended up running right into the pothole. I flipped over the handlebars and face planted in the sand/dirt. I came up sputtering sand and had to spit out a full mouthful as well as remove my helmet and shake out my ears. It took a while, maybe about a minute, to clear the sand enough to keep riding, and to get back on the bike and make sure every thing was working (me and the bike). Then it took a little while to get back up to speed. I was very happy to see my team mate Jason smiling at the finish line about five minutes later.

I wish I had a photo of me at the finish since I must have been quite a mess. My head was caked with sand and sweat, and my right ear was still a bit full, along with a sore lower lip (my mouth was open when I face planted into the sand). When I got back to the team tent, Jason offered to spray me off with a water bottle, which helped (and pointed out just how much sand was caked on me).

I was happy to see that while my lap time was slow compared to the winner (and my teammates who got 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and two in the teens, before my placing) by almost a minute a lap, my lap time would have gotten me top 10 in the cat 4's. So, I didn't feel like the decision to stick with my road category and race cat 3's in cross was incorrect. Sure, it would be more fun to be in contention, but I would rather claw my way up in the 3's.

My left side ribs are a bit bruised, my left knee is sore, I have a gash on my right lower back, the lip feels a bit swollen (man, my mouth has taken a beating this season), and my neck is a bit stiff, but nothing's too bad :-) I'm glad I don't have another race today! It seems my old mountain biking skills are quite a bit rusty. The rest of the race was solid - I had no trouble with barriers, dismounting/remounting, rode the sand pit twice out of four attempts, and cruised the run-ups when the hills were too steep. So, my "cross" skills were fine, but my dirt skills need improvement.

But like I said, it was fun! The next cross race on my schedule is at the same venue, although the course will be different. My goals are to not crash, and to ride more smoothly. Plus, I might try to use my sprint to get a better position off the starting line - I took it easy this first race, knowing I would be a bottleneck at the first dirt section. I'd like to be within a minute per lap of the winning time too rather than just outside it.

Tonight is track training and madison practice. Hopefully I am able. Bree races tomorrow, if she's up for it.

Holy Moly, Friday Night Racing at Marymoor!

2008-08-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

picture from Wheels In Focus -
that's me in last week's successful solo break in the Win N Out

Here's what I sent out to the team:
That was one hell of a night! Despite fairly low turnout, and frigid temps, we still had a sufficient field of 21 in the 3's, and the 1,2's field looked like around a dozen. Even the women's field had about 10 riders, and would have had more, but a couple raced in the men's 3's instead.

The first race for the Cat 3's was a 10 lap scratch, that was somewhat uneventful, but Jason managed to get 2nd and I got 5th. John took home a swank $30 prime and almost held his solo break to the finish, only to get caught in the homestretch. So far, John has netted better results in the 3s than in many of his 4's races, so John, I guess you just needed to upgrade!

The 1,2's also had a scratch race. I recall seeing Chris do well, but maybe he can remind us of his placing.

Next up for the 1,2's and the 3's was the Keirin. There were three heats for the 3's. Mark was the lone tomato in the first heat, and got a bit stuck out in the wind, but still managed to get 3rd and make it to the consolation round. Second heat had Jason and John, and this time it was John who was stuck up in the wind, but he soldiered on, and it sounds like it helped Jason get a good launch so that he made it to the finals. Third heat was me and Jerry. Jerry was the poor soul in the wind, with me on his wheel. Luckily, I knew Jerry can impersonate a motorcycle pretty easily, and he paced the two of us up until the bike pulled off. The riders behind surged forward around us, and I caught on, making it into the consolation final.

Chris had a solid Keirin heat, taking third, and so onto consolation for him as well.

Speaking of consolation round, Mark and I were a nice team of two, and when Mark accelerated shortly after the motor pulled off, I grabbed his wheel and rode it to the finish, where we took 7th and 8th overall. Our finish, thanks to Mark's sweet jump, put us over two bike lengths ahead of any chasers.

Jason managed a nice 2nd in the Keirin finals, putting him in good stead for the omnium so far.

I didn't catch Chris's consolation finish position, but I'm sure it was awesome, since I gave him a strong throw. Or maybe it was my throw that put him high on the track, looking for a wheel to grab :-)

Last races of the night were 6x5 for 3's and 8x5 for 1,2's. I asked J-dub if he'd like to try and lap the field, and he was game, so our plan was to attack right after the first sprint. Conveniently, Mark went on a flier and took the first sprint for 5 points, and then it was our turn. We were kinda hoping someone would join us, but when we attacked, it ended up just the two of us. We traded one lap pulls, with Jason getting the 5 points, me 3 points, and at this point we had about 100 m gap. Jason was doing a fine job ripping my legs off, and at least to me it became clear he might be better off solo and I could go back and block. So, on the lap before the 3rd points sprint, I told him to keep rolling it and slowly fell back. I still had enough gap to get the 3 points, so now we had Jason with 10, me with 6, Mark with 5. Bilko was going on and on about how awesome we Cucina Fresca riders are! I went to the back for a couple of laps, and then went back to the front to relieve Jerry who was doing some great blocking. The field let me sit up there for 3.5 laps before the next sprint (at one point I was "pulling" at 19.5 mph - fools!). I didn't have anything left for much of a sprint, but luckily Mark was still firing and got some more points. Jason was continuing to make solid progress and Bilko began to talk about him lapping the field! I was hoping it would happen, but at this point it was not necessary since he had the race sewn up on points. Still, Bilko talks about $50 for a rider who laps the field, so it's worth trying, for sure. The most active non-CF rider was Jen Triplett, so I was trying to watch for her to steal a few more points and help ensure Mark's 2nd place. He didn't need me though... On the 2nd to last lap, where Jason was so close that they rung the bell for him while we were passing the start/finish, the pace heated up a bit. I waited until turn 4 and then attempted to take off solo, but there was nothing doing. I was passed by about 5 riders just before the finish. But, in the end, Jason easily won (and got in a fine interval workout), Mark got 2nd, and I got 5th.

Final race of the night was a joy to watch. Chris was firing on all cylinders, and managed to score points in several sprints, as well as being part of the key breakaway. We sure love watching Chris try and out sprint Kenny! He was up there flying until the very last lap, when the elastic broke, but I'm sure he knows that was one of his best races at the track this season.

I only know the final omnium for the 3's down to 6th - Jason topped the list, Mark got 3rd, and I got 6th (amazing that two 5th places got me 6th for the night). Jason probably can eek out one more night in the 3's before he'll be obligated to upgrade. Mark is also darn close to the magic 25 points. I'm sure Chris will appreciate their presence next year.

Final note - there's a Madison clinic next Thursday. It costs $40, and will be taught by the very experienced Adrian Hegyvary. I signed up, as did Jerry. However, upon discussion with Kenny, there will be an alternative (and free) Madison clinic Tuesday night that Jason, Chris (maybe) and I will attend. I may then skip out on the Thursday class to save the legs for Friday night racing. Jerry and John, I hope you can make it to one of those nights. Next year they plan to have Madison nights for the 3's as well as the 1,2's, so we gotta learn sometime.

That's all for tonight. See some of you on Monday for the cross season opener!

Also from Wheels In Focus - Here's Emy from last week
in her Pee Wee Pedalers Graduation race.

How do I pass these kids? They are all over the place!

Friday Night Racing! Emy's Graduation!

2008-08-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Friday was a good night, and my first racing after a forced rest week off. Emy had her Pee Wee Pedalers graduation. She looked awesome, but was not happy with her not winning - of course, the reason she didn't win was due to safety - she was unwilling to try and pass riders in front of her who were weaving all over the place. I tried to stress to her that it is better to ride safe, than to try and win and have a bad crash. I don't know if it helped. But, as is wonderful with kids, she's over it now! And, she's planning on being on team Vanderkitten, just like Tela Crane, the instructor for the youth classes at Marymoor.

Here's what I sent out to the team about the racing:

It's so nice to have grown our team as much as we have this season. Even though the Cat 3's were split (something like 32-33 Cat 3's showed up, some of whom were the stronger women and a contingent from Canada), we still had two Cucina 3's in the A group (Niels and Jason) and four in the B group (freshly-minted John, recently minted-Jerry, Mark and me). Poor Jason and Niels had the sandbagging Ryan Miller in their group, and ours was pretty much a mixed bag. Chris Hill was representing the elite Cucina's, as usual.

First race for the 3's was a 12-lap Win n' Out, which is usually run with the 1st place winner taking the 9th lap, 2nd on the 10th, etc, until the 4th-whatever on the last lap. However, tonight they went crazy and made the 4th place finisher the winner of the 3rd lap, 3rd place on the 6th lap, etc. to 1st place on the 12th lap, with the 2nd place rider on the 12th lap being 5th place and down. It was confusing the first time they explained it, but I guess it works. It was weird to strategize, as one could simply be content to get 4th and go for it on the 3rd lap. Jerry and I both agreed that we weren't interested in 4th, but maybe 3rd would be OK? We would see...

In the A group, J-dub did a fine job biding his time, but a little too long, in the end, as Ryan Miller took the 1st place win. In the B group, with the advantage of numbers, when John chased the 4th place attack, he ended up out in front, and Jerry and I (mostly Jerry) managed to do some solid blocking to keep John out there long enough to score 3rd in his first race in the Cat 3's! Big bonus - he takes home cash for the first time this season, right John? Jerry and I were both being patient - Mark had an unfortunate mechanical with his new Pista Concept (go Celeste!) and was not in the race. When there was a sprint attack for the 2nd place lap, and the attackers sat up about 4-5 bike lengths off the front, I made the split decision to go long for the win. I did my best not to overcook the jump, knowing there were still 2.5 laps to go, and luckily managed a decent kilo to take the win.

Chris's 1,2's group had a 12 lap tempo that was just insanely fast. It splintered all over the place, and he looked plenty knackered at the finish. It reminded me how glad I am not to be a 2 yet :-)

Next race for the 3's was a Miss n' Out, which is one of my favorite events, Niels's too. Jason had some revenge to take after having been pulled prematurely a week ago. In the A's, both of our speedy Cucinas made the final 5, with Jason taking the win (whew!) and Niels hot on his wheel. It was pretty sweet to watch the two of them flying past a similar duo down in the sprinter's lane. Of note in their group was that Ryan Miller was the first rider pulled, meaning J-dub was looking darn good for omnium.

In the B group, Mark was the first to feel the yank, getting stuck a bit down low. Earlier, he had attacked on the first lap, which made the overall pace of the miss n out the fastest I've been in. Jerry was riding well up near the front, and I was riding stupid near the back. Every lap I had to surge to the front, not get pulled, and then was too tired to commit to making it all the way to the front, so I would return to the back and repeat. My wife was losing her mind watching me do this stunt over and over! Jerry was out with about 8 riders left, and John made it to the final 6 before getting pulled. Somehow my surging kept me alive to the final five, but I knew I was not going to have a sprint. I was pretty happy to manage 4th (and lucky, given my foolish positioning during the race). I can still hear voices from the infield yelling "over the top, Ted, over the top!"

So, in my group, I was now barely in 1st for omnium, as was Jason.

Chris had a Miss n Out as well, and made it to about halfway through the group, give or take, which seemed pretty decent from where I was sitting. I think he said it was crazy fast.

Last race for the 3's was a 30-lap scratch race. Short story for the A's was that Jason took it cleanly, with a hella sprint at the end. I believe he won the A's omnium with no trouble, and I think Niels said he was 5th in the omnium.

B group 30-lap scratch was pretty laid back, actually, at least for the first 10 laps or so. I had promised myself I would wait for the end, since chasing the omnium seemed like the best strategy, rather than trying for a breakaway that might or might not work. But, I broke my promise, as usual, on about 17 laps to go and got in a break with a women from Canada and Nick Brown. The two of them would pull at 25 mph, and I would pull at 28.5 mph, and so I knew it just wasn't going to work. We were caught, so i resigned myself to trying to wait. With about 5 to go, I was near Mark and politely asked him if he would go with 2 laps to go, knowing if I could hold his wheel it would be a stellar lead out. Unfortunately, as he pulled us both up toward the front with 3 to go, he moved left in front of the 2nd line of riders, forgetting I was on his wheel, and leaving me in the wind. I tried to hang out, hoping things would work out anyway, but there was a surge from up track, and when I tried to move forward and attack as well (which concidentally would have put me back on Mark's wheel), a Canadian lad thought the 20 cm in front of my wheel was actually a bike length and nearly took me out. I yelled profusely, which made him move up track, only to try it again. Since this forced me to slow down, I was suddenly behind the surge, and totally out of position right as the bell was ringing. I tried to find space, but there was none, and while I started moving up the outside in turn four I was still screwed. Oh well - at least I don't have any new road rash. Mark did manage to place 5th in the final sprint, so it wasn't a complete loss for the Cucinas in Group B. I think Jerry was inside the top 10.

Last race of the night was a 50-lap scratch for the 1,2's. Chris initally was looking in trouble after getting blown trying to chase a solo move by Jamie Stangland, but then later got in a sweet break that was convincingly chasing a break with Kenny, Grant, and Stangland. Unfortunately, his break companions did not seem as motivated as he was, and later he pulled himself, possibly more out of frustration than tiredness (only Chris can tell us for sure).

So, Cucina did well. No idea what my final omnium placing was, but probably 4th or 5th, so hopefully with that plus Jason & Niels, we still boost ourselves over, or at least closer to Broadmark in the team's ranking. Jason has to be careful - he enjoyed winning $50 for the final race, plus his $20 for the 2nd race - don't want to become a Cat 2 too quickly :-) But then, I hear it is a trend for him to move from Cat 5 to Cat 2 in a season...

Until next week. See some of you at Wednesday's Sprint Mania! Oh also, sounds like there will be a Madison clinic on the 4th (Thursday). Mark and I are in, Jason sounds interested, and hopefully Chris too. They are going to have at least one more madison night for the 1,2's this season, and next year there should be several for the 3's, if we can get enough skilled riders.

Updated the Results List and added Cross Races

2008-08-17T20:55:00.000-07:00

My results are up to date now at the right...

I've got twelve cross races planned on the schedule. Should be fun!

Cross Fun, July Totals, Recent Cat 3 Track Racing

2008-08-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

Cross Fun
I love my cross bike. I'm really pleased with the Redline Conquest Pro, and it took about 10 seconds to get used to SRAM Rival shifting (double-tap) via a single shift lever on each brake lever versus Shimano's two per side. I like it better already, and I presume I will change over the road bike during the offseason (the road bike's parts are nearing their end of life anyway).

My first cross ride was with a team mate I didn't previously know, but Brad raced cross last year, so he's more expert than I! We did a nice 1.5 hour trail ride, and practiced a few dismounts (he showed me the step-through dismount, which was way easier than I thought it would be), remounts (I'm still slow) and hopped over a contruction pipe a few times for practice. I was definitely loving riding on dirt again after about 7 years away from trail riding of any kind.

Thursday some of my team mates are running a cross practice workout. I hope to start refining my technique and practice the step behind dismount a bit more, as well as carrying the bike properly.

The first cross race of the season is Labor Day. I'll update the race listings and results on the right side of the blog soon.

July Totals
My crash earlier in the month derailed my training and racing a bit this month, but it all ended up with reasonable numbers. I didn't manage to get in the 40 km test for July, so I'll have to make sure I get one in soon for August.

Bike
Distance: 548.9 miles
Time: 30:17:00
Longest Ride: 48.4 miles, 2:55:00 (Zoo Hill repeats)

Run
Time: 1:01:00
Distance: 8 miles

Going to be stepping up the running now that 'cross season is imminent. Today I did a trail run with 8 hill sprints. It was hard, but felt good.

Recent Cat 3 Track Racing
I'm finally scoring some points and placing regularly. It's good to feel like I am progressing toward cat 2, probably not this season, but hopefully early next year.

On Aug 1st, I won the first race, a points race, by winning the 3 points on the last lap, tying with my team mate Travis on points, but since I finished higher on the last lap I get 1st and he gets 2nd. In the second race, which was a scratch race, I got off in a break of four total, three sprinters, and me. I accidentally dropped them by pulling too hard, and eventually slowed up until they caught me, since I wasn't planning on going solo for the remaining 7 laps. Once we were together, my team mate Travis, whco was having a great night, attacked the pack and bridged across to our break, nearly a full half-lap ahead of the pack. When I saw him getting close, I dropped off the back a couple fo bike lengths and pulled him to the group. This also conveniently placed him on my wheel, which was perfect since he's a great sprinter. In fact, it worked like a charm since I was on the front for the last lap, and led him out where he took a convincing sprint win. And, since I stayed in contact with the break, I got 5th. The last race was a 6x5 progressive points race, which means there is a sprint every 5 laps, and the points you get for winning the lap increase and go deeper in placing. The first lap is just worth 1 point to the winner, but the last lap is worth 9 points to the winner and goes 9-7-5-4-3-2-1 points with finishing order. Early on in the race, Travis joined "the break" which not only stayed away, but they lapped the field. This hardly ever happens at Marymoor since our track is 400 meters long, but is more common on 250 meter and 200 meter tracks. Anyway, each of the four members of the break get an extra 20 points for lapping the field, which was helped along by some great blocking by my team mate Niels and some from me. Our job was slowing the pack when we could, by getting to the front and riding easy, then hopping on the wheel of anyone who tries to attack. They give up when they realize we aren't going to help, and after a while, lapping the field was a foregone conclusion. What's great is that once they lap the field, the sprints are re-set, which means there was one sprint left, the last one, and the winner would get 9 points. A few riders attacked (many were getting tired, since 30 laps is long for a cat 3 track race), and I sat on, then sprinted around the last leading rider (a cat 1 woman who is super strong) to get the 9 points. This put me in 5th place, beind the breakaway riders. And, it means I got 3rd for the night. Plus, I finally won some $.

On August 8th, we just had Niels and me in he Cat 3's for my team, and we had some many cat 3's that they split us into two groups! Naturally, we were in different groups, which means no team work. I managed to get 2nd in the first race, a 12 lap snowball, by taking the 8 and 10 point laps, again winning some $! The next race was a keirin heat of 7 riders - this is the race where we are paced up to speed for 4.5 laps by drafting a motorcycle, reaching 30 mph before the motor pulls off. Then, it's 1.5 laps to the finish. Our group slowed up in turn 4, and so I attacked with everything I had. I didn't win the heat, but since I finished 3rd, it meant I would be in the finals! My best keirin result this season. The next race was a 20 lap scratch rac, and though I tried four times to get a break to work, even with two laps to go, it all came to naught, and I got something like 8th place. In retrospect, since I had done well in the first two races, I probably should have played it conservative, but I was feeling spunky. Oh well. Then we finally got to the keirin final. It was pretty stacked by the Broadmark team, since they had three of their top three cat 3 sprinters in it, and they all drew positions 1-2-3 behind the bike, which made things even easier for them, and harder for people to get around. In the end, I managed to get 6th out of 7, and was feeling pretty beat, but hey, it was a decent result, and put me in 5th overall for the night.

I am now over 1/4 of the way to having enough points to upgrade to Cat 2. And two of the stronger riders in the cat 3's who have been beating me just upgraded, which should make things a little easier. Even better, three more Cucina Fresca riders just upgraded - Jason, Jerry and John. Hmm, I guess there's something to a name starting with J!

Tomorrow night Bree makes her big debut in the Wednesday night women's field. I'll try to get some pictures. I'm taking this week off so I can get in some sort of mental and physical break before the next 3 month of cyclocross racing.

Now it is a family affair

2008-07-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

Bree did her first racing in eight years! She looked awesome, and was able to stay with the other fit racer women (and a couple of men) in her group at Monday night beginner racing. Emy and I were so proud to see her out there mixing it up.

Here she is in the warm up paceline - red jersey, second from right

Here she is getting lectured on how the race went
and how to improve, by Phil, the local top official.
She was told she "looked like she knew what she was doing", which she does!

FSA Grand Prix was huge, and the 'Cross Bike is on its way

2008-07-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

I had a blast at the FSA Grand Prix, our biggest national-level track event at Marymoor of the season. One of my major motivators for upgrading to a Cat 3 this season on the track was just so I could participate. And then, the organizers were kind enough to include separate Cat 3 racing on Friday night, so I wasn't forced to "just hang in there" with the Cat 1,2's, although, I was looking forward to the challenge. Friday morning I did the 4 km pursuit. This is a time trial event, where typically you are started on the opposite side of the track from another rider, and you "chase" each other (pusuit) in addition to trying to get a fast time for 4 km, which is 10 laps at Marymoor. Unfortunately for me, I was in the first heat. Doubly unfortunate, my pursuit-ee pointed out he was registered for the Master's 3k pursuit, not the 4k. Since ti was just about start time, they said I would be going by myself. Ugh! There goes my carrot!

I got to the start block after a couple of times around the warm up circle. They had announced earlier that we were to get a demo of the electronic beeping gizmo so we knew when to start. I was held for the start, ready to go, but relaxed as the beeper starting counting down "beep...beep...beep...beep...Bong!" I didn't move, and the holder didn't let go, but the shocked look on the official's face, as he said "That's your start!" was priceless. I started pedaling at full gusto, about 5 seconds late, yelling, "You said we would get a demo!!!" I made it through turn one, and then they fired the gun twice to tell me the race was over. So, I had to return to the start for another go. Not a false start for me, but now my legs were feeling a bit of lactic acid after the burst. Anyway, I got a clean start, and was grunting it as best I could (but not full gas, since I still had ten laps to go)

(I think my arms look pumped)

I managed to keep the tempo pretty even for the full ten laps. First lap was at around 28 mph with the middle eight around 27.5 and the final back up to 28 mph.

(Daddy needs a fancy pointy helmet, says Emy)

My time was 1 second under my goal of 5:30, with a 5:29. My time actually stuck on top of the leader board through the next heat, with two other Cat 3's, but was shortly thereafter dropped and dropped. Ultimately, I was in 3rd from last, with the fastest time of 4:47 set by last year's collegiate national champion in the pursuit. He would have gotten a lap and a half past me if we had been in a heat together. Clearly I have some work to do!

Friday night I was still feeling tired from the pursuit, even though it was a paltry ten laps, but had a great time in the events.

In the first race, a 10 lap scratch race, my teammate Mark was sacrificing himself with an attack with two laps to go, me on his wheel. The hope was to launch me for a solo bridge to a lone breakaway, whom I would pass, and take the win. All this was moot, though, with a heinous crash in the middle fo the pack that took out three riders. In the end they were OK, and able to get off the track under their own power. My scars throbbed in sympathy when I heard the all-too-familiar sound of bikes hitting bikes and flesh hitting the track. Now comes the crazy part. The officials decided to start us "where we left off" which meant the solo rider was to start with 5 seconds advantage, with the pack following. We were supposed to do a neutral lap, maintaining this gap, until we got back around to the start line, where the race would continue with two laps to go. Well, the solo rider had been dying out there, slowing down considerably, but with the ten minute break of the crash, he was fresh, and was able to stay away easily. Many of us were bummed by the result, but we couldn't fault the winner.

The second race was an unknown distance race, which ended up at 7 laps. I was moving up rapidly on the 6th lap, only to be cut off by some young man who was riding dangerously, cutting people off, and generally freaking us out. It was a bummer, since I think I could have done well, but I ended up with nothing. Neither did Mr Cut-us-off, either, of course, since he sucked. Annoying!

The last race was to be a 5x5 points race, but given that it was already 10:45 PM, they shortened it to 4x5. The race was over in a flash, and while I was active, I didn't manage to score any points. Note to self - if the field size is around 30 riders, it is really hard to make up the full distance from the back of the pack to the front during a sprint. This tactic normally works when the field is around 20, but I would keep making it up to about 5-10th position, outside the points.

But, hey, I didn't go down, and I had fun. I got home at 12:02 AM, completely spent. I had planned on the 1 km time trial (2.5 laps, a.k.a. the "Kilo") the next day, but was just too tired to even consider it. Too bad too, the lap times I was pulling in training, about 1:15, would have netted me a decent placing (not in the money, but just outside it).

Cross Bike is Coming!
I ordered a 2009 Redline Conquest Pro last week. It should be here and built by sometime next week. I can't wait!

Recovered

2008-07-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

I am back! I had to work hard to restrain myself over the past couple of weeks and not race. I skipped a Wednesday night, Friday night, and the Redmond Derby Days criterium in order to let my head and skin recover. I'm not completely healed, mind you, with still a bit of jaw discomfort, and my teeth are slowly coming back to normal, plus some of my road rash was pretty deep. But, I managed two hard training rides on the weekend without any symptoms that I was overdoing it, so I showed up for Master's racing on Wednesday, and tonight I will race with the cat 3's, two weeks after the crash.

Speaking of those training rides, they were real kickers. The Climb4Cancer Time Trial up Zoo Hill is in a couple of weeks (register if you haven't yet - it's only 2 miles!), and I want to trounce my time last year, 14:17. So, I rode to the base of Zoo Hill (starts near the Cougar Mountain Zoo) and did three repeats of Zoo Hill -> Lakemont Blvd -> Newport -> Zoo Hill. My first time up was 14:20, with two full water bottles, etc, and I was keeping the heart rate at 160 or less, so that bodes well for the TT. The next two repeats were 15:15 and 15:49. I then finished the ride with a loop around Lake Sammamish. That was last Saturday. On Sunday, since I was missing the Derby Days crit, I did a two hour sprint ride. I did a warm up, and then two sets of 10x15 second sprints. Each sprint exceeded 32 mph, which I owe to the track racing - the first set was even into a headwind! I really felt strong the whole weekend.

I took is off on Monday, and then did an easy 20 miles on Tuesday, with two short sprints. Wednesday night was the big return to the track. I got in a break in the 10 lap scratch race with a woman who has joined the Master's field a couple of times this season. We worked really well together, and only just got passed by about 6 riders in the final straight. I really thought we were going to stick it out to the end. But, it was a great effort.

Then, in the chariot race (one lap from a held start, in heats of 4-6 riders), which I have always thought was not my event (see an earlier post), I was sprinting with the top two guys in my heat, just not able to come around them. I didn't feel so bad, since one of the guys was Woody Cox, a former Master's World Champion, who excels at this kind of thing (plus each of his thighs equals both of mine together), and was happy I was right along side him in the sprint! Getting third put me in the consolation heat, where I still did well (for me) and narrowly missed another 3rd place (which would have been 9th overall in the chariot races).

my teammate Mark took this shot before the points race
- can you tell I am happy to be racing again?

The last race was a 6x5 points race, and shortly after the first sprint (where I got 3 points) I found myself in a break of three, chasing the aforementioned Woody and Mike Burdo who were a break further up the track. My break of three included my companion from the scratch race, plus another strong rider from the Benaroya Research team - I think they are all cat 2 or better riders on the road. We worked really well and stayed away from the pack for the rest of the race. The Benaroya guy (Pat Gray) was ripping our legs off every time he was at the front of the break, and had no trouble out-sprinting me for points on each sprint lap, but I was really enjoying myself being "on the rivet" for the remaining ~23 laps. Eventually Woody dropped back, and joined our break. Of course, he outsprinted me for the finish, but still, it was a great effort and shows my sprinting legs are still improving.

Tonight I am going to try new gearing. Up until now I have been using a 50x15 (50 teeth on the front chainring, and 15 on the rear cog), which amounts to 90 gear inches. I'm going to step it up to 49x14 for tonight and see how it goes. That pushes it to around 95 gear inches. For the layperson, this means it will be harder to pedal at a given speed, but assuming I am strong enough, it will mean I can ultimately hit a higher top speed before my legs are spinning out of control.

Overall, our team is doing super well - we've got three more additions to the regular track racers, including two of our top road riders (Travis and Jason), which means all of our road cat 2's are racing the track. I think we are going to be able to top the team standings by the end of the season!

Ouch. Friday Night Track Racing (7/4/2008)

2008-07-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

I was doing well! Really well. Bree and Emy got to cheer for me, and got some of the nearby crowd cheering for me too. Emy had fun in the Kiddie Kilo:

I'm ready Bilko! I'm ready!

And I had fun in the cat 3's too. I got 7th in the 10-lap scratch race, and then in the 2-lap heat I actually managed a 2nd place, which meant I would get to compete in the 5th-8th place final for the 2-lap races. Except for some surprising bumping (mostly on my part, trying to move around the two guys in front of me to sprint) with Brian who started sprinting behind me and happened to be even with me as we were both trying to pass - I was happy with my result. I managed 2nd in the final, which meant 6th place in the 2-lap race.

Then, in the 5x5 points race, I sat in for the first sprint, and attacked two laps after the first sprint, and stayed away solo for 2.5 laps to get the 5 points for 1st in that sprint. I saved enough energy to make sure I could just rejoin the group when they caught me (not long after the line). We were then rolling around, racing, and I sat out another sprint, biding my time, when my teammate Mark attacked! I was just thinking I should move near the front to block when I felt movement at my right side, and saw the guy in front of me start to crash. A split second later, I too went head over heels, and all was dark while I heard the officials fire the gun three times and yell that the race was neutralized.

The next thing I recall was Bree walking me to my chair in the infield, despite my protests that I was "fine!" And then I have about 15 minutes missing from my life forever. Apparently people were asking me how I was doing, but I said, "I don't know what you are talking about!" Luckily, I had the onsite medic checking me out, and Bree defending my mental state to the well-wishers ("He's got a concussion.") When I came to, it was dark outside, and the 1,2's were doing their final race. The medic was checking my pupils, and shortly thereafter some paramedics arrived and asked more questions. They were satisfied that I was mentally back to my self, and Emy challenged me to recall all the names of her classmates (luckily I was interrupted by someone else after I started struggling with names following Ruby and Hannah). Bree got us all loaded up, and we drove home.

I didn't sleep too well that night, partly because I think my brain didn't want me to go sub/un-conscious. I'm doing a lot better, but here's some gory photos for your pleasure (or, don't look, if it's not your pleasure):

There is a lot of road rash under there

My face bore the brunt of the impact,
after my helmet and sunglasses absorbed the worst of it

both elbows are pretty awful

the loss of skin between the knuckles actually hurts the worst

my chin has a strange pattern, even after two days

face all cleaned up after a day has passed - it doesn't look that bad!

as of today, a black eye is brewing

There's more, but most of it is upper body. I've got a good chunk of skin missing from my right hip, but this pic isn't work safe.

I'm taking a day or two off work to try and heal up - I'm not nice to look at, and I hurt all over.

But don't worry - I should be ready to race again by this coming Friday night! I just need some new handlebar tape, and a new helmet.

June 2008 totals, Friday night track racing

2008-06-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Friday night, 6/27/2008
The previous Wednesday I had discovered my saddle had slipped backward about 6 mm. The trouble is, I have no idea when it happened. It could have been a month ago, and I will never know! Those who know me know that I am OCD about my bike position, so I was freaked, to say the least. I slid it back to the marks on the rails, but, of course, everything felt "wrong" now that I was hypersensitized to every sensation. After my warm up and the first race on Friday, a scratch race, where I managed 7th in the final sprint (out of 27 riders), I became convinced my right cleat must have moved too. Luckily, my teammate Jerry had a screwdriver in his car, and he was kindly willing to go grab it for me.

The next race was my first attempt at the Keirin, which is an odd race that is quite the gambling rage in Japan. A motorcycle paces the group for 4.5 laps, pulls off the track, and then the sprint is on. We draw straws for position, and I drew the spot behind the motorbike. Bree had warned me that this bike tended to stink, since she had practiced Keirin racing the night before at women's training night (that's right, Bree has a shiny new track bike, and is planning to give racing a shot). All I knew was that I was supposed to draft it for the 4.5 laps, and then I didn't really have a clue what happened next (or what the rules are). After the bike pulled off, I pulled up track, thinking "I am not going to pull them for the next 600 m", and another rider (Cooper Lang - very strong) attacked. I sat on the chaser, but was passed for the finish and came in 4th in my heat. Only the top two advanced to the final, so now I had a lot of sitting around to do while the other races went on.

I messed with my cleat, and discovered it had not, in fact, slipped. So, I just had to assume my bike was back in my preferred position, even though everything felt weird.

The final race was a 5x5 points race. I attempted a solo attack with 500 m to go, but got nipped in the last turn by a group of ~6. I barely caught back on, and was pretty winded from doing 500 meters at about 34 mph. Two sprints later, there was a break fo two off the front, and I attacked solo from turn 2 and got the 2 points remaining in that sprint. I just barely hung in the pack for the rest of the race. My two teammates in the race, Niels and Mark, both managed to get some points too, so overall it was a good race for Team Cucina Fresca! We also had a great crew of teammates hanging out, giving us some love from the sidelines. It sure is nice to be on such a friendly and supportive bike team.

I took it pretty easy on training since Friday, so hopefully I will be good and fresh for Wednesday night racing with the Masters group. Bree should be there too! My mother is in town and can sit with Emy and watch while Bree and I compete. It will be the first time Bree and I have both been in a racing event since May 2000. Wow.

June 2008 totals

bike
Distance: 543.9 miles
Time: 30:34:00
Longest Ride: 38.7 miles (2:05)
Rest days: 5

run
Distance: 7 miles
Time: 0:51:00
Longest run: 4 miles
(took two weeks off of running, just to see how it would go)

I'm planning on the 40 km TT test this coming weekend. I expect it will be roughly the same as last time, since I have not been doing much threshold training. In fact. most of my "training" is racing on the track these days. With two nights of racing, I do only one other structured training ride a week (intervals, hills or sprints, usually) - the rest of my rides are easy spinning (17-18 mph, 1-2 hours, <130 bpm HR max) with one rest day a week. I'm definitely not in shape for road races, but I should be fine in the summer crits. I'll need to switch over to some more threshold intervals of 10-20 minutes before cross season (in less than two month now!).

Husband discovers wife's "therapist" is actually a male phlebotomist

2008-06-22T22:23:00.001-07:00

Cat 3 is faster, but luckily, so am I

2008-06-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

I raced in the Master's races on Wednesday night, which contains all riders 35+, and consists of many cat 3, 2 and 1 riders. It was the hardest night I've done on the track this season, but I managed to do well in two of the three events and took 7th in the omnium out of 19 riders!

Here's the report I sent to the team on Friday night's racing:
If you haven't been checking http://velodrome.org/cms/node/85, you might not know that the Pasta team is holding down 2nd place overall for the season so far. And based on the continuing success of our track riders, I don't see how we can go anywhere but up!

Friday night had the best spectator turnout so far this year, owing in part to the first Kiddie Kilo night that was not cancelled due to rain. Some of you may know hat Team Cucina Fresca member John Klupar, our representative on the MVA board, is now running the Kiddie Kilo, as part of his ongoing duties to ramp up and grow the Junior Program at the track. He's done a fantastic job taking a disorganized and directionless program and given it some new hope for real development. Give him a hand if you're able. The kids (especially the girls!) are the future for our track.

On to the racing:

The 4's had both a Tempo race (sprint every lap, two places deep for points) and a 4x5 Points race (four sprints, one every five laps for points, 4 places deep). The Tomatoes were represented by John Klupar and Jerry Shafer, both of whom were active and scoring points. I believe Jerry had his best night ever, scoring on at least two of the points race sprints. He was grinning the whole night!

The 3's had a 10 lap Snowball (progressively increasing points, 1 place deep, sprint every lap), a Miss n' Out (pulling down to 5 riders, one rider out per lap, then two laps to the finish), and a 25-lap scratch race (essentially a crit on the track). The number of Cat 3's Cucinas grew by one this week with the arrival of Niels to the ranks. This makes four of us in total, with a field size usually in the upper teens, which means we are able to "be a team". In the Snowball, Mark snuck away for a point, was reeled back, then I attacked on the 5 point lap and took it solo, pulled up (should have kept going), and attempted to block for Niels, who was stuck in no-man's land between the field and a break of three for a few more laps, before it all came together for a field sprint on the 10 point lap.

Chris Hill put in his second appearance this season in the 1,2's, despite being recorded as "Chris Cunningham" on at least two occasions other than the ones in which he actually appeared (but hey, Cucina Fresca got the points). He got this all straightened out, and was out there duking it in the field that was missing both Kenny Williams and Grant Boursaw. I didn't get to see much of Chris's first two races, but in the points race he scored on multiple occasions, despite still running his 50x15 (will someone give Chris a 51?).

The start of the Miss n' Out - finally, heat and sun!
(that's me, just left of center, in the red/white/black with a tomato)

In the 3's Miss n Out, my plan was to not get dropped on the first lap. Amazingly, I met this goal, as did Niels, as we made the final selection of five riders. I stayed on the front for the remaining two laps, hoping Niels was the sound on my wheel, and while he did get an excellent 4th, a sneaky Gibb Clark of Garage was actually enjoying my draft, and later sprinted by me. Still, this gave Niels his first omnium points in the 3's, and I now had two 5th place placings from the first two races.

And then there were five...

Our last race in the 3's was a 25 lap scratch race. Somewhere around lap 10, after a prime on the 1st lap, and another prime had gone by, Niels got away with a guy from Recycled and a guy from HB. Brian and I moved near the front and added to the blocking being done by Recycled Cycles. A few laps later, when Niel's breakaway had almost a half-lap, the Recycled guy popped, and now the blockers became the chasers, for about two laps. They gave up, which allowed Brian and I to patrol the front, sitting on and slowing down. At one point, the break of two was nearly lapping us, and despite another prime, the field never got closer than a half-lap. The sprint began to wind up in the field, and I was sitting in 4th position, ready to pounce for 3rd place when my chain bounced off! Initially my reaction was that of the roadie and I tried pedaling a bit (as if my derailleur was going to recover my chain - except for the distinct lack of a derailleur). Frustrated, I coasted from 200 meters out to the finish and went from hero to 10th. All was not lost, as our intrepid Niels sat on his companion for the final lap and took the sprint for 1st place! As Mark was saying, he'll "probably do much better when he gets over his first race jitters!" Niels enjoyed his envelope of cash, I whined about my chain to whomever would listen, and overall we totally rocked for the night. My wife, Bree, reminded me that I should just be happy my wheel didn't lock up at 35 mph for what could have been a horrendous crash. OK, honey, I get it...

J-Dub's taking the track class tomorrow, and Travis starts his Monday night track hazing period next week. Soon we will be well over 10 riders strong at the track and if all goes as it has been, we'll occupy that #1 team spot by the end of the season!

Emy finally gets her Kiddie Kilo Night!

Emy in the Kiddie Kilo - not afraid to ride on the banking!

After having been rained out the last time, this was the first running of the Kiddie Kilo (one lap around the track for the sub 8 year olds, dived into age groups, and by number of wheels (2, 3 or 4). Emy was riding with my boss Bruce's daughter Alex, who recently took off the training wheels, and had a great time. She is especially proud of her pink "Cupcake" cycling jersey she picked out with Bree at REI earlier in the day. I'll try to get a picture posted tomorrow. Bruce's son Chase was in the Kilo too, as was another coworker's (Chris's) son and daughter. Bilko, the announcer, was pretty excitedly cheering on Jasper Gallagher as he cleanly took the >2 wheel category, an ear-to-ear grin beaming on his face. Future track star there, for sure!

OK, I probably won't win the Chariot Race

2008-06-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

But I couldn't help including some stomps in my training regimen for the weekend. I felt so embarrassed by my standing start sprinting ability on Friday that I had to do something to improve in this area. So, today I did a two hour tempo ride (yesterday was a two hour hill interval ride) in some glorious sunshine and HEAT (finally). I spent the first hour at tempo running a HR of ~140-150 with a fairly high cadence. Then after I turned about to head home, I switched to the 53x14 and coasted until I was below 3 mph before I grunted out a sprint to 32+ mph. I rested two minutes between each of six of these. My knees definitely can tell I was putting out, but it felt good. Hopefully I can squeeze these in every week or two weeks to build up a little more explosive power.

OK, so now I know! Cat 3 is faster.

2008-06-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Below is my report I sent out to my team. I can say that upgrading to Cat 3 on the track is nothing like upgrading to Cat 3 on the road. When I upgraded on the road I hardly noticed a difference, except that races got longer. On the track, there is a clear difference in speed, ability, and speed. Plus the guys around me have a lot more hardware, as in, the cost of the bikes around me in the field has gone up considerably!

On to the report:

Since my last report I've upgraded to Cat 3, so I will have a little
less I can report on the 4's racing. But, Friday night was a great
night of tomato power!

Jerry, John and Niels represented us in the 4's, all of them getting
invited to the "big show". They had a tempo race (points every lap,
two places deep, 2 pts, 1 pt). This is one of those races that a lot
of people don't enjoy, since the racing is fast and furious from the
get go. But my friends, if you didn't see it, you would be amazed by
our tomato trio - they were scoring points left and right! Niels took
the lion's share, and came away with 2nd place.

The Cat 3's began with a 12 lap scratch race. This being my first 3's
race, I didn't know what to expect, other than a sneaky suspicion it
would be faster than the 4's. But, everyone's been talking about how
fast the 4's field is this year, so I had an inkling it wouldn't be
too different. I could not be more wrong! We hit it from the
beginning, and strung out single file at high speed about every other
lap, then a brief respite, followed by more hammering. I got gapped
when the final 200 m sprint began, but I saw Mark up there among the
group. Brian and I strolled in to the finish. I checked my computer
afterward - the fastest sprint I'd seen in the 4's races was 35.6
mph. In the 3's scratch race, we hit 33.2 mph, and it was not a
sprint - just cruising along single file.

The 3's had Chariot heats next, which is a one lap, all out sprint in
a group of 3-5 riders, from a held start. I didn't expect to do too
well in this race, as "explosion" is not one of my talents. Mark, on
the other hand, excels at this kind of endeavor, and handily took to
the front of his group, and held it all the way to the line! It was a
thing of beauty. Both Brian and I, um, let our groups beat us. I'm
sure we were saving ourselves for the points race later, right
Brian?

Next up, the 4's had the ever popular 4x4, and Niels had high hopes.
This is definitely his best event, and he showed it once again by
cleanly taking two sprints, and a couple of 2nds (right, Niels?).
John and Jerry also looked great out there - Jerry is definitely
starting to adapt to the track with a number of "cheeky" moves that
will no doubt pay off soon. I was pretty sure John got 2nd or 3rd in
one of the sprints (and he thought so too), but a protest after the
race came to naught. Niels won this race, and so he was assured of
taking the omnium for cat 4's.

Niels has now earned enough to joined Mark, Brian and I in the 3's!

While Brian and I got cold and stiff, Mark was in the finals of the
Chariot - he blasted away from the line again, this time accepting a
bit of a draft, and he took and amazing 2nd, beating Hyun Lee into 3rd
by a small margin, and only half a wheel off of 1st place. We were
screaming our lungs out for the entire finishing stretch.

Last up for the 3's, while John was already enjoying the beer garden,
was the 5x5 progressive points race. This is run just like the points
race, with a sprint every 5 laps for points, but the value and depth
of the points increases with each sprint lap. I had joked to Brian
that I was hoping for 1 point, as this was the only race in which I
might be competitive in the 3's, but when I didn't attack for the 1st
sprint (1 point, 1 place deep), he took a flyer and scored the point.
I was sitting in second wheel of the pack, doing my best blocking
imitation, in case Brian wanted more pain, but he eased up and we
assimilated him. The next sprint went by without me noticing much,
other than trying to stay near the front, and then Ryan Miller
attacked, and I jumped on his wheel. He didn't seem to be fully
committed, so I past him in the finishing straight and encouraged him
to actually make his move stick. We did two half-lap rotations before
we were joined by 2 other riders, and I was thinking "Yes, four
riders, and the sprint will soon be 4 places deep! I'm going to get
points!" However, within short order we were joined by 3 other
riders, one of which happened to be Mark. I was leading the break
coming down the backstretch, and when I saw a flying tomato, I eased
up just a bit (he didn't really need the help) and Mark took the
points. They break wasn't super interested in chasing, and I sure
wasn't in good shape, as they all blew by me snatching up the
remaining points. But we stayed together, absorbed Mark, and then
were caught the lap before the last sprint. By then I was spent, but
I saw Mark again up in the lead pack for the final sprint.

So, results for the night - I know I need to get faster. Niels rocks
and will be joining me soon. Mark is flying, and took 4th for the
omnium, earning him some cool, hard $.

I hear Mr President will soon be joining us in the 3's after a little
time in the 4's, right Travis? And, rumor has it J-Dub is taking the
track class next weekend. We are going to have so much fun this
season!

Headline I just thought of

2008-06-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

Coworkers getting really tired of Jeff always talking about "Constant Comment" tea

Cat 3 I be

2008-06-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

From Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three."

I earned the upgrade on Wednesday (see below post). It's official - now I am a cat 3 on the road, track, and cyclocross. I expect to get schooled for a while, as the 3's race appears to be much more tactical, and definitely a bit faster. I'm excited about tonight's racing, as I get to do two events I've never done before, the Chariot Race, and the Progressive Points race.

The Chariot race is from a held start (someone holds your seat while you clip in to the pedals, and then without pushing, lets you go at the gun for a one lap sprint against anywhere from 2-7 other riders. The race is done in heats, with a final. I suspect this will not be one of my top events, as I just am not that explosive of a sprinter.

The Progressive Points race is very similar to a Points race, with a sprint every X number of laps (in tonight's case it is a 5x5 race, which means there is a sprint every 5 laps), only the points get bigger and go deeper at each sprint. So in the first sprint, the 1st rider gets 1 point and everyone else gets nothing. By the 3rd sprint, the 1st placed rider gets 3 points, 2nd gets 2, and 3rd gets 1 point. I'm hoping to get at least one point, since in the cat 4's the points races were my best event barring the snowball, which has its own element of progressive point increases (see this post for a description of the snowball).

As before in the 4's, I will have teammates. I'll be helping Mark and Brian as much as I can - I am the "new guy" after all.

Wednesday (6/11/2008) Track Racing Report

2008-06-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Here's what I sent out to the team:

Last night was very frustrating. The intention was for me to get my 1 point needed to upgrade, and then work for John to get his 4, or at least some of them. In the unknown distance, we were definitely going to score a top placing for John, as I was driving a fast leadout with him on my wheel, and only two slower riders we were about to pass, only to get stymied by the guy (one of the slower riders) who took 1st for the omnium with some dangerous riding! He pulled up track out of the sprinters lane right as we were attacking on the backstretch in the final lap. Luckily, John and I went in opposite directions to go around him, or we might have had some squashed tomatoes. I was able to continue my sprint well enough to get 3rd, as I was lucky enough to get around the guy to the inside, but it brought John pretty high up the track, and out of the draft. Jeff also managed to get a 4th (?) in this race, which shows if we can get him to keep showing up (there will be plenty of time for dirt during cross season, Jeff!), we'll have yet another strong tomato!

Then, in the miss n' out, John and I were destined to be in the final 3. However, when Jerry got pulled (nice job making it to the final 6, by the way, Jerry!), and they called number "445" there was some confusion as to whether they said "445" (Jerry) or "405" (John). Mr Brun (#1 for Omnium in our group, same guy who almost took us out in race #1) told John that the announcer said "405", so John started pulling onto the apron and slowing, as I was frantically saying "No! No! They pulled Jerry! You're still in!" Unfortunately, this meant John was stuck down in the sprinters lane, with no chance of getting unblocked before the finish line, where he got pulled. I managed 2nd in a very tight sprint, beat by the ever-green Bill Walker.

In the 4x4 points race, we wanted to take advantage of the 4 tomatoes in group B (John, me, new arrival Jeff Anderson, and Jerry) with a dramatic 4-man team Cucina breakaway. Alas, when riders went hard from the 1st lap (that never happens in the points race!), our plan to attack the 2nd lap went awry, and while Jeff gave it a go to get us away on the first lap, and just after the 1st sprint, it just wasn't happening. I'm not sure if it was just the high pace (we didn't let up for pretty much the whole 16 laps), or an actual collective brain in the field that kept an eye on the 4 tomatoes (they had to assume we would do something), but all our attempts at glory failed. It was pretty much a sprint-for-all where I managed a few minor placings.

Niels was the sole tomoato in the group A, and as you can see, he did just fine on his own. He was up against two of the stronger 4's (Kroll and Cole) and got solid top 3's in each of the 3 events. Kroll will be upgrading, so your life just got a little bit easier, Niels :-)

May Totals, and 40 km TT test

2008-06-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

It's been wet and cold. I see that according to the National Weather Service we had a record cold maximum temperature today:

... Record low maximum temperature tied at Seattle-Tacoma Airport...

a record low maximum of 55 degrees was recorded at Seattle-Tacoma
Airport today. This ties the old record of 55 set in 2002 and 1950.

Bree was supposed to have her "intro to track racing" class today, but it was canceled. She should get her chance tomorrow if the weather improves. It's June! I want sun!

Wednesday was some good track racing. 28 Cat 4's showed up despite threatening weather, so they split us into two groups to keep the field size "manageable" and safer. Here's an edited version of the email I sent to the team:

***********************
It was a great night of racing by the team. Niels and Jerry were in the Cat 4 Group B, and John, Ernie and I were in the Cat 4 Group A.

In the 8 lap scratch races, the field pretty much hung together in my group, and while there were some heated attempts to lift the pace (including by John), it came down to a field sprint, in which I got beat by Ross Spero, yet again, and another guy from Recycled whose thighs are as big as my torso. But, I was happy with 3rd. Niels scored a nice 2nd in Group B, again in a field sprint. There was some fast dude from "Brazen Dropouts", Ryan Gist, who appeared to be the Ross Spero of Group B.

In the 200 m flying TT, many of us were looking to John and Mark for advice, since none of us had ever done it. The general strategy is to wind it up for the first lap, head high on the banking in turn 1, and then fly down the banking of turn 2 toward the 200 m line, sprinting to the finish. I definitely need to work on the timing in this event. I did as described above, but continued to accelerate through the final 200 m, and felt like I had much more to give. Next time I will try and hit max speed right when I cross the 200 m mark and hold it to the finish. I may have had a decent time, but I'm sure I could have done better (I suspect we all felt this way). Seems like gearing is a big question too. John had the biggest gearing (94 inches?), and I was running 90 inches. More to learn about this particular event. My time was 13.8 seconds, which means 52.3 km/h, or about 32.9 mph. I know I can beat that.

We all froze while we waited for all the groups to do the 200 m TT. I was shivering, with teeth chattering, even though I was under a blanket and wearing a sweater!

The final 4x4 points race - Niels and Jerry will have to comment on theirs. I only know that Niels did a good job and scored some points. In our group we had a solo flyer from Wines take off from the gun (or maybe it was the 2nd lap) and hold it through the first sprint. With 1.5 laps to go to the next sprint, I took off in pursuit, and barely held on for the 5 points after passing the previous breakaway at about 150 m to go. I sat up, and then a lap later John Caprica (sp?) took off. Many of us in the field figured he wouldn't last. But he was joined by some guy wearing a PEZ Cycling jersey, and I am sad to say they outwitted us and took the remaining top-2 placings in the last two sprints. I did manage to collect one more point in the last sprint, which put me in a tie with my nemesis.

Thankfully, Ross will now upgrade!
*******************

I should follow him shortly. By my calculations, I have 19 upgrade points, and I need 20. That makes last Friday getting rained out an extra bummer. I want to move up - it's so close! I am having so much fun at the track. I'm surrounded by a great group of teammates and competitors every race night, and it is just a blast.

May Totals
The totals are lower since I was off the bike for 10 days...

Bicycle
Time: 25:50:00
Distance: 461.6 miles
Longest Ride: 48.9 miles, 3:00:00 (hill repeats on Zoo Hill)
Rest days: 11 (some of the vacation days were running days)

Running
Time: 2:25:00
Distance: 18.0 miles
Longest Run: 5.0 miles

40 km TT test for May (OK, early June)
My previous best time from April has fallen yet again. I was skeptical that I would have it in me today for two reasons - yesterday I did a hill run, and I haven't really been doing long intervals since track season started. Even so, after 2.5 miles of warm up, I hit West Lake Sammamish with hopes of at least equaling April's time of 1:07:00. By the time I was looping around the south end of the lake, I was running a good time, but not better than 1:07:00. However, the east side of the lake is much less undulating, and the shoulder is a lot smoother. When I made it to Marymoor, I was slowed down by heavy traffic. It's a bit sketchy passing cars on the right side of the speedbumps, but I wanted to get an accurate time! I hit the 24.8 mile (40 km) mark at 1:05:11, a substantial improvement over last month. Also interesting is a comparison my winning time for the Cat 5 men in the Minnesota State TT, in 1999. The course was pancake flat, and my time was 1:05:25. It's both comforting and sad that my time is better, but not by much over the same distance 9 years ago. As Bree told me, though, you really can't compare the two races since the terrain is so different.

Next time I do the test I will instead attempt to beat an hour, rather than limit my HR to sub 160 bpm. I think it is totally possible, and would be a good benchmark in my training.

Track Racing, since we got back from Europe

2008-06-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Some of the characters in the stories that follow
Image courtesy of Amara Boursaw, WheelsInFocus.com

I've written a couple of email recaps for my teammates, and rather than re-write them for the blog, I will post them below, in chronological order:

Wednesday, 5/28/2008
What a fun night of racing. The rain held off, and the 4's field was
20 strong. By strong, I mean they were all strong. Niels and I asked
Mark if anyone was getting dropped off the field during the 2nd race,
and he said that no, we were all together. Pretty remarkable, since
it was one of the fastest, if not the fastest night so far this
season. I recorded a max speed of 35.6 in one of the sprints in the
4x4, and I didn't even win that sprint, so we were moving! I felt
generally pretty solid, but some of the "snap" is missing from my legs
after 10 days across the pond with no riding. I'm hoping to be back
to full strength next week.

Cucina Fresca is definitely garnering attention at the track. The
announcers can't help but point out the presence of the tomato, and in
last night's case, we had three racers in the cat 4's: Niels, Jerry
and me.

The first race of the night was an 8 lap snowball. I love the
snowball, but as the first race of the night, it proved to be a rude
awakening. A guy from Wines went for the usual glory hunt on lap 1,
but he actually managed to stay away for 4 laps, giving him 10
points. Niels and I planned on going on the 5 point lap, and Niels
followed through with the plan with aplomb, only I wasn't on his wheel
at the right time! I got stuck in no-mans land between Niels and the
pack, and so I dropped back rather than give the field a jumping off
point to catch Niels. He flew the coop and scored the 5 and 6 point
laps before he was caught. I was intending to go at that point, but
"allowed" myself to get boxed in with a momentary mental lapse (two
guys in the field seemed intent on boxing me in for each of the three
races - some guy from Greggs, and Alden from HB (who was helping Ross
Spero - that guy can sprint)). This worked out well for Niels,
though, so I was not too upset. Niels ended up with 2nd in the race,
as another guy got the last two laps. Not bad for Niels debut on the
track for the season! He was also a bit surprised by how winded you
get when off the front for a couple of laps :-)

The second race was the win n' out, which is my least favorite race.
For those who don't know, the bell rings with 4 laps to go. If you
win the next lap, you win the race, with the next lap's winner getting
2nd, on down. The last lap is for 4th thru however deep they go. The
race was pretty piano until 5 laps to go and then it picked up. Both
Niels and I were no where near the front for the win, but Niels had a
well times sprint and took 2nd. I tried for third, didn't get it, and
then just got nipped for 4th. But I was happy to get "something" this
time. After the race, Jerry commented on how quickly the races get
going, and how quickly they are over. I'm sure this is mostly true
for the 4's, since the races are so short, but it's definitely a theme
to the track - if you make one small mistake when the field is heating
up, chances are you are out of it since the race is over in the blink
of an eye.

So, so far we've got Niels with two 2nd places, but Niels and Jerry,
being the good souls, asked me what I wanted from them for the last
race, the 4x4 points race. We agreed that a lead out for the first
sprint would be a good start, and man, we did a nice lead out. Niels
took me up to about 100 m to go, and I had a good sprint, but Mr Ross
Spero was on my wheel and nipped me for the 5 points. The second
sprint lap we weren't particularly organized, but Niels and I both got
some minor points. I was out for the 3rd sprint, and I don't actually
know if Niels got anything, and then Jerry took to the front, with
Niels on his wheel, and we were all duking it for the last sprint.
Niels and I both got something (I think you got the 1 point, right
Niels?), and Jerry was just out of the points.

Final for the night - wow - the field was so deep last night. The
winner for the night had 8 omnium points. This is in stark contrast
to the pre-season Fridays where I won the omnium with 15 points, and
got 2nd with 14 points on another night. Last night, the top rider
had 8, Niels had 7 (2nd place!), and then it pretty much went one
point or fewer between rider placings. I got 9th with 3 points. The
Cat 4's have a really strong field this season. Did I say that
already?

I got my invite email to race on Fridays. I'm trying to recover!
John, I assume you got an invite. Niels, did you get one based on
your performance last night? Did you get the email from Hyun that you
now have 5 upgrade points? 15 more to go! John is really close to
cat 3 with 16 points, and I have 12. Hopefully we will soon be
swelling the 3's with tomatoes, as some new cat 4 tomatoes come
online. I think Dave will be in the 4's soon, Jerry is going strongly
now, and even Mr Z-Dog intends to make some appearances. I hear that
Travis and J-Dub are taking the track class, but unless they feel like
doing the time in the 4's, they will be able to debut in the 3's.

Friday, 5/30/2008

Bree and Emy joined me in the infield for the first time.
Emy may need a little practice keeping calm and out of the way,
but in general it was a good experience.
It lets both of them be more "a part of the action"

In this shot I am thinking, "Nah, those cat 3's aren't so fast."
John, behind me, is thinking, "Man, I can't wait until they open the beer garden!"

I am starting to run out of superlatives! Friday was the largest
number of CF riders so far this season at the track. We had Brian and
Mark in the cat 3's, John, Niels and me in the 4's, and our lone "duke
it out with Kenny" cat 1/2 rider, making his first appearance at this
level, sporting a smaller tomato, with a puny 50x15, "It's not the
gear", Chris Hill. The critical mass at the track makes for some
great camaraderie; it's so much fun.

I can really only detail the 4's race, but I will begin with some
highlights I observed from the other categories:

In the 2 lap cat 3 heats, Brian P had an awesome performance - he was
sitting in 4th (last in his heat) coming into turn 3, and was on the
"right wheel". He pulled out a sweet sprint right at the line to move
on to the final. I know he was pleased - those two lap heats were
speedy, so to come in 1st in your heat looked tough.

Watching the cat 3 scratch race, while pontificating from the beer
garden, John, Niels and I were quietly chiding Mark for sitting at the
back, lap after lap, ignoring every breakaway, the epitome of
patience. He sure shut us up - right at the bell he blasted from mid-
pack (he had silently moved up in the 2nd to last lap) to an immediate
5 bike length gap, which he held all the way to the finish (the full
400 m). A couple of riders were closing, but he gutted out an amazing
finishing sprint. Also, since this was the feature race (last race of
the night) for the cat 3's, his winning performance netted Mark the
omnium! That's two omniums so far this season for Mark. I'm thinking
Chris will soon have some company in the 1/2's.

In the 1/2's 6x5 points race, again in full pundit mode in the beer
garden, we cat 4's watched Mr Hill hang on to Kenny's wheel for dear
life for the final sprint. He was definitely in the right place, and
even though he claims "it's not the gear", I think a few more gear
inches would have helped him cling to the cash register a bit longer.
Chris looked strong out there in his debut with the big boys, (but he
needs a skinsuit with a bigger tomato).

OK, to the 4's. Friday night racing for the cat 4's has switched to a
"by invitation only" mode, but thanks to John and my pre-season
performances, and Niels incredible Wednesday this week, we had three
CF invitees! With a field size of 17, this meant we could play the
team card in each of our two races. However, it also means that the
cream of the 4's comprises the field.

The 10 lap, point-a-lap: (I don't think anyone actually likes this
race)
Each lap there is a sprint for 1 point, kinda like how they used to
run Derby Days at the turn of the millenium. Final lap goes three
places deep, 3, 2 and 1 point. I had told Niels and John I would
attack from the gun, and I did, but this was not a surprise tactic,
and they don't give me much leeway these days anyway. I pulled the
field around for most of the first lap and crossed the line in 2nd
place. Then, Ross Spero of Hagens Berman attacked, and got the next
three laps solo before we caught up with him. In the sprint for the
6th lap, both Niels and I were duking it out with one other guy. I
was actually on Niels' wheel coming out of turn four, but I wasn't
sure Niels was going to get it, and unfortunately (fortunately?)
nipped Niels at the line to put myself on the scoreboard. A couple of
other riders took the next two laps, and then Spero went off again for
the 9th lap. John hammered it at the front, and I had his wheel,
which pulled me around nicely to turn 3 where I moved ahead and passed
Mr Spero in the final straight to get the 3 points on the last lap.
(Note: we didn't actually know the last lap went three deep until we
saw the final results, so for a long time we thought I had two
points). I owe Niels a beer, for sure.

The 20 lap scratch race: (a crit at the track)
There was a rumor we would have a prime during the race, and so Niels
was patrolling the front like a hawk, patiently waiting for the bell
to ring. Sure enough, right as we were all getting complacent, just
trying to hold a good position high on the track (to allow for the
ability to accelerate past riders), the bell was rung. The pace
heated up, but I was holding back focused on the finish. Niels was in
the hunt, I think, but Spero again flew past us all to take the $20.
John and I were both laughing inside, "Yeah, you go ahead and get that
prime - now you won't win the finish!" With a little more than 1.5
laps to go, John lit up like a candle and I got his wheel, with Niels
on my wheel. I could hear Bilko say something about "three Cucina
Frescas..." but I missed what he said. Little did we know that all
three of us were off the front with a few bike length gap! A dream
situation, had we only been aware of it. I didn't know Niels was on
my wheel, either, since I was just trying to stay glued to the Klupar
fire engine. John started to fade a bit with about 250 m to go and I
was urging him to pull up, but he rightly stayed in the sprinters lane
(track rules). Just as I was thinking I should pull around him, a
white and blue missile blasted past us - Spero again! I took off in
pursuit, but there was no catching that guy. I got 2nd, and Niels was
right behind me in 3rd. John gets the hero award for giving us a 600
meter lead out, full gas. (to top it off, he bought me a beer after
the race - now I owe him two beers!)

We were a bit embarrassed to get schooled by this "one guy". I have
since learned that he's a cat 1 on the road. We don't feel so bad
now. And, he barely beat us in either race. At least we are giving
him some good competition!

In the end, I got 2nd for the omnium behind guess who, and Niels got
4th. This now puts John and I one more good omnium result away from
cat 3. We are going to work for Niels for at least another night so
he can catch up with a few more upgrade points. Soon the three of us
will join Brian and Mark.

P.S. Doesn't track racing sound fun? Why not sign up for a track
class: http://velodrome.org/cms/node/21

P.P.S. Derek, disregard all the discussion of drinking beer.
Milkshakes are fine too.

Euro Trip and a Training Break

2008-05-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Netherlands has Windmills

We just got back Thursday from a wonderful vacation in the Netherlands and the UK. The Netherlands was our first time visiting with my father and his committed life partner, not quite married, but with some legal status, girlfriend. We arrived at Amsterdam (Schipol) airport after a long flight, and were all quite tired, but it was 7:40 AM Netherlands time, so I attempted to stay awake until a more normal bedtime. Bree and Emy both napped, and they probably made the right call. Anyway, I either caught a virus, or was experiencing intense allergic reaction to something in the Dutch air. The malady stuck with me for the entire 10 days of our trip, unfortunately.

We had a nice couple of days in Gouda (pronounced HHHowda) adjusting to the time change, dipping in the North Sea, eating pastries, and marveling at how everyone rides their bike to/from work, to/from school, to/from town, and just about everywhere else. It makes me so envious that the infrastructure provides for bike travel as a first-class mode of transport, in some cases to the exclusion of drivers. Amazing! We then took a short weekend trip to visit our good friends the Knopfs, who have relocated to Marlow, UK, somewhere west of London/Windsor area.

I am hooked on euro style cappucinos

Emy reunited with her friend Molly, and they had a grand ol time for the next couple of days. Emy had her first two sleepovers, the first night, and the second night. The two of them did so well together, despite being only children and having to share all space and time for 2.5 days. We traipsed around the town, and made a super-fun trip to Legoland (dads plus girls), which is an amusement park plus lego mania. It was great - Emy and Molly were roller coaster crazy, and with it being a weekday, they got in lots of runs. Both Molly and Emy got their "drivers license" on a ride at the park. I had to encourage Emy to lie about her age (yes, I know!!!) and say she was six so she could do it. She passed and now has a license. Unfortunately, she learned to drive on the left side of the road! While Aaron and I had the girls, Bree and Jenny went in to London to see Westminster Abbey. You can read about it on Bree's blog.

Legoland taught Emy to pilot a boat and drive a car

We said goodbye to England under rainy skies in Windsor, and headed back to the Netherlands on a short British Airways flight (one hour flight, and they still give you food - BA is awesome).

We spent the next 5 days doing fun stuff in Gouda, a trip to Efteling, which is the Dutch version of a Disneyworld, but far superior in style and substance (and a distinct lack of humans in constume). Emy again took in the rides like a kid at an amusement park. She was very egalitarian - some rides with me, some with Bree, some with Grandpa Burt, and some with all of us. It was a long and fun day.

Emy Loves, Loves, Loves the Pirate Ship

The next day was a day trip to Amsterdam, with the explicit goal of not trying to "do everything" in one day. We had a nice boat tour as introduction, and then walked around the central area of the city, Madam Toussou's Wax Museum, and the famous Rijksmuseum, where we took in some Rembrandt, Vermeer, and others. Luckily the museum is under renovation, so we really could see all they had on display in a short hour. We had a great Indian dinner at my dad's favorite place in Amsterdam, and then took the train back to Gouda. The trains are also awesome. Why do we suck in the USA? Bikes and trains are perfect, and yet, we have essentially neither as an easy and encouraged mode of transport - we need some serious urban planning, and some tax revenue being spent, I say!

I really don't see it, but some say there is a resemblance

Bree rides with Lance

Did I mention there are bikes everywhere - Amsterdam has parking lots

Emy did SO MUCH WALKING on this trip, and handled it well.
Sometimes you just need a piggyback ride, though.

The following day was the flight back to Seattle, which went well, except for an hour on the runway to "cool the brakes".

We can't wait to return to both countries, this time with separate trips for each. We didn't get to see Windsor castle, which was high on my list, as the Queen was presiding over a royal Tattoo! No, the Queen was getting a barbed wire around her arm, or a celtic knot on her left butt cheek - apparently a Tattoo is some sort of military party/event. So, of the five days the castle is closed per year, one of them fell on our planned visit to the castle.

Training Break
So, I used the vacation as an excuse for a mid-season break. Yeah, I commuted by bike a few times in Gouda, but that doesn't really count. I got in three good runs on the trip to make sure I didn't completely atrophy, and they were all nice.

When we returned on Thursday, I went for a one hour ride, but between jet lag, and being completely exhausted, it was like riding drunk. It's a good thing it was 7 PM and there was no one on the trail. I was probably all over the place. Strangely enough, I still averaged a fast pace, so the exhaustion was really in my head.

I took the next day off and tried to sleep. Luckily, with the jet lag, I have no trouble getting up early to watch the Giro d' Italia streamed on the internet at 6 AM.

We Have a Winner, and April Totals

2008-05-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Friday night was the first track racing of the season. I was pretty relaxed, as I wasn't expecting much other than to be better than last year. I had ridden the new track bike on Thursday to make sure my position was good, and that the bike was functional, but was dismayed to discover that the 15 tooth cog it came with was awful. The chain would skip, bounce, and sometimes feel like it was going to lock up on me (not a good prospect with a fixed gear!). Luckily (sort of), another teammate was having similar issues with the same new bike, and when our friend John set him up with a nice Phil Wood cog, the true problem was discovered.

I cut my ride at the velodrome short and made a stop at our sponsor, Sammamish Valley Cycle. They had two 15 tooth cogs, so I scored one, and my team mate with the same problem got the other. Here is my new ride, with the road bike above and behind:
I don't have a lot of track bike experience to compare to, but the Fuji is awesome compared to any other track bike I have ridden. I pedal, and it goes.

Back to Friday night
We had three races slated - a 10 lap scratch race (10 laps, first one across the finish line wins), a 10 lap snowball (progressively increasing points, 1 pt to the winner of the first lap, 10 points for the last lap, winner is the one with most accumulated points), and a 4x4 points race (sprint every 4 laps, 4 places deep for points, winner is the one with the most accumulated points).

In the scratch race, the most basic of track races, I broke away on lap 4 and held it for a couple of
laps, after which my teammate John took off. He didn't quite realize that he had a good gap, and didn't continue the move for long (which I think he regrets - he was looking great, especially for a guy recovering from a broken elbow). I managed to sneak in for 3rd in the sprint. Those initial scratch races are hard - I always feel like I am "still warming up", and our first lap after a neutral lap was at around 28 mph. Still getting 3rd was my best result in a track event since 2000!

In the snowball, John and I had discussed making a move for the 6 point lap, and trying to keep it going as long as possible, trading off for the 6, 7 , 8, 9, and 10 points on the remaining laps. He, however, wasgetting mixed up in some of the earlier sprints (and managed to take one of them), while I bided my time in the pack. I attacked solo just after the sprint for the 5 point lap, and managed to get a solid gap by maintaining 34 mph for about a lap and a half. From then on, I just put my head down, kept the heart rate at 178 bpm and churned. I managed to get the 6, 7, and 8 point laps, and while the pack was closing on me, I eeked out the 9 point lap as well - mathematically, I could not be beat. I discretely pumped my right fist as I crossed the line, and after that I just pulled up track to watch. This was the first track race I'd won since 2000, so I was basking a little bit :-)

In the 4x4, both John and I tried to get involved in the sprints, with no long solo breakaways this time. I got the first sprint (5 points) by just keeping the pace at the front fast enough that no one came around me, and was out of the second sprint, recuperating. Then both John and I were in a break of four for the 3rd sprint, and I got 5 points, with John getting 3 (which means we went 1-2 in that sprint), and then I hung in there in the pack, but was pretty tired for the last sprint, and so looked John.

In the end, I had a 3rd, 1st, and 2nd, so I took the omnium by a substantial margin, which
sure feels good compared to last season. John also slotted into 9th for the night, which again is pretty darn good for a guy who can't even pull up on the bars for a sprint.

It feels great to win!

April Totals
April numbers are a bit lower than March, which is by design, since I am focusing on being solid on the track. That means I do more sprints and shorter length intervals, and less long steady riding. Each ride is more intense, on average, so there just aren't as many hours in, since I also increase the number of rest days to accommodate the intensity. Oh, I also bumped up the running miles in order to be fit for a soccer match:

April Total Training Log

Bicycle
Time: 33:34:00
Distance: 604.7 miles
Longest Ride: 50.0 miles, 2:47:00
Rest days: 7

Running
Time: 3:15:00
Distance: 21.0 miles
Longest Run: 9.0 miles

April/May 40 km TT test
Today, even though my legs were pretty tired from Friday, I decided to notch up another 40 km TT test on the loop around Lake Sammamish. If you recall, my best time so far was 1:08:00. Today, even though the TT ended with an uncharacteristic north headwind, I managed 1:07:00! I would have gone even faster, but I didn't decide I was doing the TT test until I was 5 miles in, and felt good enough to give it a shot. Might have been able to post a time under 1:05:00...

Point of all this is that I am going well right now. I have one more Friday night of track racing before we take a 10-day holiday in The Netherlands to visit my dad and London to visit our friends. I'll be bringing the running shoes, but it will be good to take a bit of a break.

Bike mech in training, and the Green Valley TT

2008-04-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Emy and I swapped out my old, rather crusty and rotten bottom bracket for a new one. I had to buy some new bike tools (wahoo!) and even a long-handled 1/2" socket mechanics wrench, so we would have enough leverage. My old BB had been in there for roughly 7000 miles, through the entire winter, and all other training since I started riding last June. It was definitely due!

Here's Emy and I using the BFC and LFC (that's Big F-n Crescent and Little F-n Crescent) to get the crankarms off. They were well attached, but our combined power was sufficient:
We were both sporting our aprons from Hot Tea Apparel to keep off the grease. When it came time to remove the very stuck bottom bracket, Emy held on to the frame with all her might while I yarded on the 1/2" socket. We both squealed with delight when it finally came loose!

The instructions for the new BB said there might be some friction for th first ride or two. I rode on Friday, and if my ride in to work was any indication, I was experiencing much MORE friction with the dead BB! I was really looking forward to the TT the following day.

The Green Valley TT
I barely made it to the race on my preferred schedule. I rolled in and parked about 55 minutes before my start time, nervous that I would not be able to register, pin on my number to my skinsuit, and warm up in time. The registration process took a little longer as the staff running the race were really stoked by my wallet from, you guessed it, Hot Tea Apparel. Being the good husband, I indulged them a bit in how cool the wallet is. I gotta find a way to market this to the bike racing community...

I did manage about 30 minutes of warm up - 15 minutes of spinning, 5 minutes at 160 bpm, 5 easy, 1 hard minute, and then 4 really easy. I was sweating like crazy! I had my knee warmers pulled on over my shorts, intending to remove them before the start. But, in my craziness of getting to the start line and throwing the trainer in the back of the car, I forgot. I didn't notice until about 30 seconds after starting that my right knee warmer was falling down by my ankle! Ugh! I hastily pulled it up with one hand and stuffed it under the leg cuffs of the skin suit, and then did the same for the left leg. This process cost me at least 15-20 seconds in my final time, I am sure. Anyway, I learned my lesson from the Icebreaker TT on the same course, and went out a bit easy, knowing I would have a slight uphill and headwind on the way back from the turnaround. My teammate Cole, who was supposed to start one minute ahead of me, was a no-show, which meant I had no "carrot" to chase. I did well to the cone, and after the turnaround was able to keep it about 0.5 mph slower than on the way out. I got passed by my teammate who started one minute behind me, but after letting him get the required 100 feet ahead of me to avoid getting flagged for drafting, I was able to stay even with him for the last 3 miles to the finish.

My goal had been to beat 30 minutes, and I handily beat that with a time of 27:56. I was pretty happy with this time, although upon reflectiong, I suspect I could have gone harder. When my teammate Niels passed me, it was hard to elevate my pace, but not really unbearable. I guess I am still learning what my limits are.

Here's me, in a picture from teammate Derek's mom (Beki):
(I'm a little out of focus, but overall I am happy with how my position looks using the shorter and lower stem.)

I'm starting to yearn for a disc wheel and a fancy TT helmet!

This Friday is the first night of pre-season track racing at Marymoor. I'm so excited! I picked up silver bar tape to match the silver saddle on the new Fuji Track Pro and dialed in the position as best I can without riding it. I'll post a picture tomorrow. It's time for bed.

New Addition - My 2008 Race Schedule + Results

2008-04-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

I added my planned race schedule, plus results so far, to the right side of the blog. The 2008-2009 Cyclocross Calendar isn't posted, so I can't add anything other than that I KNOW there will be a cross race on Labor Day. If cross starts a bit earlier, then I will need to slide my two week break up in order to make sure I have at least a week of riding in before the first cross race.

My legs are finally recovering from the soccer game a week ago. I think that, unfortunately, this means I am out for extra-curricular soccer as cross training. I know my body would adapt after a few games, but since we only play once or twice a month, I think my body wouldn't ever really get to the point where I could have "fresh legs" for bike racing on the same week as soccer.

Yesterday was an abbreviated interval ride, with two 5 min intervals at 155-160 bpm with 5 min rest between. This week is supposed to be a "rest week" in that I should only put in 6-8 hours of training. Since I will ride tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday (my training week runs Monday - Sunday), today is an off day. However, next week is the first track race of the season. I will need to move my rest day from Thursdays to Wednesday for the first two weeks of track racing in May. I like to have my rest day two days before a targetted race day in order to let the legs recover, but also to use the day before the race to get in an easy spin and check for "good sensations" as the Euro pros say...

I'm biting my nails waiting for a new bottom bracket to arrive for the road bike in time for Saturday's Green Valley TT. My BB is so shot - you can grab the crankarms and rock the whole spindle + cranks back and forth with an audible clunk - the bearings are toast. Hopefully the lower friction in the new BB will be an added boost to my TT speed. I'm also going to pick up a shortened stem with less rise to see if I can bring the bars a bit closer and lower - should be more aero.

How will the stem make me more aero? If you look at the picture below, thecloser I can get the hands/arms to the front wheel, and the further below the "hump" in the mid-back I can get my shoulders, the better, as it will lower my frontal area, thus reducing drag. From the picture, it looks like there's still some space between my thighs and my torso, so I should be able to go down a bit without giving myself intestinal distress from banging the abdomen with my legs.

(yes, it is a crappy pic, but it is a still screenshot from a YouTube video from the Icebreaker TT, so cut me some slack)

Contest Winner for Onion-esqe Headlines

2008-04-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

OK, there were nto an enormous number of entries, but among the 5 entries in the "Interview for the Onion" post, I, chief judge and referee, choose the entry from Crazy Moss Lady:

"Bush Admits Iraq Invasion Was a Typo; He Meant Iran."

For the rest of the entrants, don't feel badly, there were a lot of qualified candidates, yada-yada. Crazy Moss Lady is celebrating her birthday today - Happy Birthday! You win!!!

Time for a new contest, later this week. I'll lead off with a few headlines to get the juices flowing...(in the next post)

Racing Plans
This weekend I have the Green Valley TT (PDF). 12 miles on the same course as the Icebreaker TT. The goal is to be under 30 min, ideally closer to 28 minutes. I'm stoked, but the legs are tired from recent training, so we'll see. I've got a few days, and today is a day off. I played soccer for 90 minutes on last Thursday and the legs haven't been strong since. I got in a nice 50 miler on Sunday, but yesterday I felt trashed.

And, April is almost over and I haven't done the 40k test for this month. The TT might have to do double duty, since it is roughly 20k in length.

An Action Shot

2008-04-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Beki, mother of my teammate Derek (local junior racer with a lot of promise) was taking pics at the race, and here's a decent one of me on the semi-chicane around the water tower:

(click the image for maximum size)
That's me on the red bike, roughly center of the picture.

Still no results posted, so I cannot confirm my solid pack finish as yet!

Volunteer Park Criterium and Summertime

2008-04-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a record high and glorious sunny weather for the Volunteer Park Criterium. I had intentions of scoring a top-10 placing in this event, and was pretty well primed for it all race long. But, my crit skills are rusty. I spent way too much time working to the front, losing my position, and then working back to the front. But, I was "in there" the whole race, which appeared to have a significant amount of attrition by the end. It was a great time, even if I didn't manage a good result. I did have Bree and Emy providing an incredible cheering section. I looked forward to their yells on every lap.

As you can see below, post race, the sun was out, and the short-sleeve skinsuit was all that was required. Sorry, Bree didn't manage to get any action shots, so all I can offer is my backside.

At least I know my fitness is there for the start of track season - just three weeks away! The track bike has a too-long stem and a too-deep and too-reachy handlebar, so I sold some ice climbing gear to fund a new bar and stem. Once I get em, I will post a picture of the new steed.

Despite the great weather on the weekend, it looks like we're back to rain. Oh well, at least it is 50's and rain, instead of 30's or 40's and rain.

I promise I'll post some more "The Onion" articles this week - apparently they were well received. Actually, I think Bree and my mother in law have goaded me into creating a new blog, tentatively titled "The Shallot", or maybe "The Tuber", or possibly "The Scallion". Definitely not "The Leek"!

I will also announce the winner of my favorite comment on the Onion-eske headlines post.

Thunder, Lightning and March Totals

2008-04-01T18:20:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had an amazing run. I left the house at 4:00 PM and it was 53 F with a light wind. I could see some dark clouds on the way, but they looked to be a way off (I guessed 20 minutes away). As I loped along the trail to the north, I could feel that the tailwind was getting a bit stronger. I took a turn off the trail in order to do a short hill on dirt (I'm trying to work in some hills every week now), and on the way down I noticed the dark clouds were a lot closer. When I got back to the paved trail, which is in a valley and has no trees to block the wind, I was hit with a strong headwind. My hands immediately got cold - I had left the house properly dressed for 50+ degrees with a t-shirt and shorts - now the temp felt at least 10 degrees colder, and the wind was intense. However, in running, as in riding, I love the challenge of a headwind (I know, I'm sick in the head), and almost always attempt to match the pace I would run/ride if there were no wind. Yesterday was no exception, but it was harder than usual, and within a couple of minutes I started getting pounded by hail and sleet. I gritted my teeth, knowing that I only had to suffer through it for 10 minutes or fewer (especially if I ran faster). Just at the point when I turned off the trail for the final two blocks to our place my hands went numb and my cheeks were burning from the wind. After I got inside, we were all shocked to hear the boom of thunder - that never happens around here, unlike in Minnesota. I'm sure there was lightning, but we never saw it. The temperature, 25 minutes after I left the house, was now 40.9 F. I was expecting it to read below freezing!

Today was the opposite - foggy and cold in the morning, and then sunny, 50 F and awesome in the afternoon. I got in a great 35 mile spin after work.

March Total Training Log

Bicycle
Time: 40:02:00
Distance: 733.4 miles
Longest Ride: 58.0 miles, 2:30:00 (Market Street RR plus warm up and cool down)
Rest days: 4

Running
Time: 1:35:00
Distance: 16.5 miles
Longest Run: 3.0 miles, with hill repeats

Three Month Total (Jan 1 - Mar 31, 2008)
Time: 113:23:00
Distance: 2000.2 miles

No Race for Me Today

2008-03-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

I had already mentally bailed on the North Shore road race I'd been training for specifically, so when I awoke this morning to blue skies out our bedroom window I was quite shocked and saddened. However, once I looked out the other side of the house I saw the blue patch was an anomaly. I booted up the internet, and breathed a sigh of relief that the forecast had actually gotten worse. It was too late for me to leave and make it to the start, anyway. I even already had an email from Tim and Blake on my team that included this picture:
They turned around as well. It sounds like a few others braved on and made it to registration, but the race was not to be.

So, after Emy's piano lessons and grocery shopping, I headed out for a training ride that I hoped would be nearly as hard as the race, albeit shorter in length. Unfortunately, after 14 miles of some great high cadence hill climbing, I got a flat (if you're riding on the Eastside, avoid Avondale - the bike lane is paved with broken glass right now). Since the flat used up my spare tube, and somehow ended up requiring a frustrating 10 minutes to repair (don't ask - OK, I was sweating like a pig in the hot sun and could not get the tire on the rim - quite a change from the morning weather), I opted to ride to the Sammamish Trail and do some short duration intervals - it's now time to focus on the track season. I got in a nice series of 2/1/2/1/2/1 minutes each with equal rest intervals, spinning at 120 or higher cadence, and a long 20 minute zone 3 interval at a cadence of 110 on the way back home. I felt super strong the whole ride - it's really a bummer that I didn't get to race today, since it was my only targetted road race of the season before track season begins in May.

Six Year Old's Suit Fails in 9th Circuit Nail-biter

2008-03-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

"We are absolutely devastated. We've put all our time and resources into this case for the last 17 months", said Bill Suesalot, father of Clarise Suesalot. Clarise initiated a lawsuit against SuperKidsPartyPlace after she was manhandled and forcefully ejected from the premises on her fifth birthday for violating rule #4 at the self-proclaimed "best birthday place ever". "Her initial case was rightfully denied on technical grounds", felt law Professor Lyman Paperchase of UCLA, "but the appeal looked to have serious merit." Not surpisingly, SuperKidsPartyPlace was well represented by a team of aggressive attourneys. "Come on, rule #4 has been in place for several years", declared Willy Camembert the mid-morning shift manager, who was called as a witness, "we just can't let the kids bring their own food! Pizza and root beer is what we serve. What kid doesn't like pizza and root beer? I mean, a kiwifruit? No kid chooses a kiwifruit over pizza and root beer. How do I feel? Vindicatated, man, totally vindicatated!" Chief Judge Roberta Robertson, who has held the highest post in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals since the Reagan era said, "This was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. But a rule is a rule, and there simply is no legal precedent in place to further the appeal of Ms. Suesalot." Clarise gave a public statement after the decision on the steps of the San Francisco courthouse. "Well, we tried. Last week we settled for $1.4 million in the civil suit, which Daddy says should be enough to pay for law school for me someday. I'm glad we made 'em pay for the hurt shoulder and skinned knee I got from the door monitor. That guy won't be hurting any more kids." Court insiders and Prof. Paperchase had predicted the case might go all the way to the US Supreme Court. A similar case in Omaha may now prove more difficult for Bobby Chikenchit, who, along with three of his friends, is suing Marty McFly's, a popular fast food restaurant based loosely on the character from Back to the Future, for enforcing an age restriction on the "grab a toy on your way out" toy well. The four boys are all several years older than the maximum allowed age at McFly's, but they felt the restriction was unjust. We reached Bobby for comment on Clarise's case and he said, "That's tough for Clarise, but my lawyers and I still think we have a better legal standing. We'll know soon enough. Our case comes up in May."

Interview for The Onion

2008-03-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't actually interview the be a part of the pillar of journalism that is The Onion. However, while listening to the episode of This American Life, Tough Room, in which the world inside the editorial room of The Onion is exposed, I was inspired. For the past few days, I have been dreaming up Onion-ish headlines. Here's a few - mind you, these are draft headlines and could probably use some massaging:

Area Man Seen Dressing to the Left
Local Watch Repairman Dies at Exactly 11:57 PM
Area Woman has Proof Elvis Potato is a Fraud
Police Crackdown on Violence at Camp for Blind
Local Priest Pushes Abstinence at Nursing Homes
Area Farmer Cries "The Shit Just Grows by Itself!"
Area Botanist Found Naked with Venus Fly Trap
Rare Disease Upgraded to Uncommon
Latest iPod Killer Actually Kills iPods
McCain: "Global Warming is no Worse than KKK"
4-H Hazing Really Getting out of Hand

Go ahead, give me a few of your ideas. I'll post my favorites.

Training for a Hilly Race

2008-03-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

So, next weekend's race is a hilly circuit race up in Bellingham, the North Shore CR. Since I haven't really been doing any specific hill training, other than just including some on my regular rides, I got in two hill rides this past week. The first one included repeats of Winery Hill and Hollywood Hill with a backpack loaded with weight - about 10 lbs of random stuff including a big ziploc full of walnuts courtesy of my boss. On my second repeat I got a bit spooked when a car slowed down next to me (I was thinking about slamming on my brakes to dodge the 7-Eleven Big Gulp projectile I imagined was headed my way), but when I looked it was just my pal and teammate Z smiling and yelling "Go Cucina Fresca!"

I did these repeats with easy spinning on the flats, and then brought the heart rate up to 160 bpm on the climbs. Here's the profile (Winery is on the left, Hollywood on the right) - I went back and forth like a marble between the two peaks:

That was Thursday's hill ride, and even with the loaded backpack it wasn't too hard.

So, I needed to step it up for the next hill ride. The North Shore race for cat 3's is 7 laps of an 8 mile course with a total elevation gain of 4080' over the 56 miles. I needed to invent a course that would be similar in distance and elevation, ideally with more elevation gain and less rest in between climbs in order to tax the system greater than expected in the race. I used Bikely, my favorite course plotting mashup, and plotted up what repeats of "Zoo Hill" (SE 54th St. - Cougar Mtn Zoo in Bellevue) with a descent on Lakemont Ave would yield. Lo and behold, it is roughly 7 miles:

with plenty of elevation per lap:

In fact, each lap of my course has roughly double the gain of each lap in the North Shore race.

Saturday, I rode to the course as a warm up, with the intention of 4 repeats, and a goal of sub 15 min ascents of Zoo Hill on each lap. This time is based on the 14:17 I managed in the Cougar Mtn TT race last August, where I was not nearly in as great of shape (I'd only starting riding again in late May), and had no water bottles or extra stuff. Still, I felt it was an attainable goal, since I am definitely in better shape now!

My first climb up took 13:43, assuming I recalled the exact finish line point, and each lap was under 15 minutes without too much difficulty. Also, the descent only provided about 6-8 minutes of rest in between repeats of the climb. The second lap felt even faster, but I didn't check my time. I varied my gearing - the first lap I shifted more, and stood up more, while on the second lap I stayed seated in the 39x25 and spun for all but the short 20% gradient on one switchback. I kept the same heart rate limit of ~160 bpm, although I topped that on a couple of the switchbacks, and was usually in the 150's. After the fourth lap, I was not wasted, but definitely hungry (one Clif bar definitely was not enough), so I stopped at the Starbucks on Lakemont. Fueled up by a double espresso and an apple fritter, I headed through Issaquah and took East Lk Sammamish back home with the most fantastic tailwind.

Stats for the ride:
Distance: 54.2 miles
Time: 3:14:00 (door to door)
Elevation Gain: ~5000 ft, with 4800 ft on the hill repeats, according to Bikely.

I'm pleased overall with the ride. I'll have to include this in my training repertoire, and I am definitely looking forward to this year's Cougar Mtn TT. Maybe I can improve my time by a minute or more over last year!

Market Street Road Race

2008-03-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

I had a great time at the road race today. Here's the email report I sent to my team, plus a picture (warning - exposed skin):

********************************************************
With ominous and brisk weather a select few stalwart cat 3's of Cucina Fresca, many of whom wanted to join the Master's race, headed out for a romp of 6 laps of the famous course. OK, I had never ridden it, but others had, and someone else referred to it as "classic". I apologize for not knowing everyone's name, or last name in some cases. I was joined by Don, Mike (Hart, I had to ask when he said his name was Mike), Brian (?), Rob, and one other rider approximately the same size as Don. The only real "plan" we had in place was - let's hope nothing happens until at least the halfway point, after which if there's a break, at least one of us will try to get in it. We had no designated leader, per se. Heck, this was my first road race in 5.3 years, so I wasn't going to start beating my chest!

After the neutral rollout of a couple of miles, we past the start/finish and rolled around the course for a first lap average of around 27+ mph. Some kids were anxious. I just remember grinning and thinking about how much I missed this action - I yelled, "Now we're racing!" which elicited a few sarcastic laughs. We returned to the hill up to the start/finish, and a small group splintered off. I was too far back to really identify anyone in the break other than a Carter/Subaru - we can pick on them for the red, but you can't miss it, even when it is way up the road. I was wishing we had a bigger tomato on the back...

I ignored this group, since there was a lot of racing left. Thankfully the pace let up a bit, but for some reason people were now starting to freak about the pot holes. Let me tell you - there were a lot of pot holes. Combine that with a lot of "I don't want to ride over a pot hole", and the inevitable happened. The dude in front of me slowed suddenly, and then swerved right into my front wheel. I went down quickly, along with a couple of others right behind me, but jumped up just as quickly, and managed to rejoin the group thanks to a bit of adrenaline. I stayed near the back for the next lap to lick my wounds. I asked the guy behind me if my shorts were ripped, but he said they were just dirty. My left cheek sure hurt, though.

I saw Rob who was missing his bottles - he lost them when he hit a pot hole. I only had one bottle, so there wasn't much I could do, and he soldiered on. I was about to mention that Paolo Bettini goes for 5 hour rides with no water or food as training, but I'm not sure it would have helped.

A couple of laps went by without incident, and we mostly just cruised while 5 or 6 Wines guys were at the front. I was asking around if they were blocking, since we weren't exactly flying, or if they'd missed the break, but no one around me knew. I also asked our guys if they knew if we had anyone in the break, but Mike said he was up near the front when the group went off, and he was pretty sure we weren't in it. It did seem like were pulling them back, and a rider from the break would drop off every so often. We passed the 3 to go lap card, the halfway point, and I started trying to work closer to the front. We caught the break on this lap, and another small break went off, but they got caught too. There was another crash near the back of the field, but none of us were in it. The next time through the start/finish, they rang the bell, which elicted much confusion - everyone knew we were supposed to have another lap. But we didn't argue.

I moved to the front, as I saw Brian Venable (a.k.a. Venny) was getting itchy, and he's one of the few strong 3's I know of (not on Cucina Fresca, of course). He went, with two others, and I bridged. We were joined by a couple more, but despite my urging, we didn't get organized fast enough, and the pack was right there. Another guy went from First Rate, and I was on this wheel, but again, we didn't get anywhere. Some guy with Sega on his shorts went for a solo flyer, which lasted for a long time, and Venny bridged. But, we caught them after about a mile. Then there was another much bigger crash - some guy in front of Don swerved and bumped his wheel, he managed to stay upright, but I hit his rear wheel hard and just barely stayed up. Somewhere behind us the chain reaction sounded pretty big, but we were full on in flight for the finish now. We rounded the hard turn, went up the final hill at a pace brisk enough to shell a lot of riders - Don, Don sized guy, and I moved up the right side right near the edge, and we were in the top 20-30 coming up the false flat to the finish. I got stuck behind a couple of riders who were "going backwards" and lost contact with the top 10. I think all told we had three in the top 20, but none of us cracked the top 10.

I had an average of just over 24 mph including the neutral, so we were somewhere in the vicinity of 25 mph for the actual 45 miles of spontaneously shortened racing, thanks to the missing lap. The initial field size was somewhere around 50-60, I think.

I think some guy from Wines must have won - there were a group of them in front of my car afterward. I asked them if they had a guy in the early break, or if they were chasing. They all laughed and one of them said, "We were chasing our asses off - that's pretty sad that it wasn't fast enough for you to be able to tell the difference!"

It was fun, except for the crashes. I'm sitting on my right cheek only right now, but I'll heal. Dr Emy got me all patched up.

********************************************************

Here's the aftermath of the crash. There's a bit more higher up, but you never know, someone might be reading this at work...

Update: I was wrong about Cucina Fresca not making the top 10 - "Don sized guy" is Bill Zimmerman, and he was 9th. Don was 13th, and I got 18th. And, the field size was 80 riders! Not bad for my re-entry to the peloton! Results here (Excel spreadsheet)

Emy Totally Gets It

2008-03-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

I asked Emy if she wanted to watch a bike race and she enthusiastically said "sure", so I hooked up cycling.tv to the big screen and we watched the finale of Saturday's Paris-Nice stage. The stage of Tirreno-Adriatico was now on, and Emy got so excited that she ran upstairs, and when she came down she said she was "dressed for bike racing", including her "helmet" (which rather than her actual helmet was a floppy sun hat). She asked if she could ride the trainer - "That thing you and Mama ride your bikes on while you're watching." We said yes, she could, but it wouldn't have any resistance.

Here she is, riding the trainer - my super cool daughter:

A Few Millimeters Makes a Difference, and the 40 km TT Test for March

2008-03-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

I noticed that after the two time trial races I was inordinately tired in the quadriceps and not so tired in the hamstrings, which runs pretty counter to what most racers report, and to what is ideal. So I decided to make a position change. I first moved my right cleat backward 2mm (foot forward 2mm relative to the pedal) since I'd been feeling a bit too "on my toes" with the right foot - I switched over to Speedplay pedals AND got new shoes last Summer, and have been tweaking the cleat position ever since. And, I moved my saddle back from a setback of 5.4 cm (distance between the front of the saddle and a plumb line running through the center of the bottom bracket) to 6.0 cm, and lowered the saddle by a couple of mm. This should, in theory, emphasize the hamstrings, glutes, and calf muscles more than the previous "high and forward" position. The difference is shocking, in a very good way. I'm not sure I could have used this position last year, but since I have been diligently stretching every day, and can now get my knuckles on the floor doing the classic "touch your toes" stretch, it isn't a problem. And geez - I am so much faster, and I am not nearly as tired in the legs after a hard ride. Mind you, my position before was acceptable, and maybe even "correct" for the velodrome, but the improvment in my speed, power, and comfort is amazing.

Case in point - the 40 km TT test for March
In last month's 40 km TT test, I managed to keep my HR at an average of 150-155 bpm for the 40 km loop around Lake Sammamish from our place, and completed 40 km in 1:13:00. Friday this last week I did a "race simulation" training ride, as I wasn't going to be in a race this weekend (I had planned on one today, but between a sick daughter and a sick cat, it just wasn't in my mind) - after a ride in the morning before work, and a warm up after work, I did two 15 mile loops with two long hills, one gradual, and one steep at a zone 3-4 HR of 150-168 with only some recovery on the downhills. For both loops, I managed to maintain 26-30 mph on the flats, and I climbed the gradual (5-7%) hill between 17-20 mph - these numbers alone indicated my new position was an improvement. In fact, on the flat sections, I was averging better than in either the Icebreaker or the Frostbite TT (oh, if only I had known to change my position sooner!) for over half the length of either TT, with no aero equipment.

Saturday I did an easier ride with one long hill, with a high cadence, and today it was time for the fitness test for March.

I dressed lightly, with arm warmers and leg warmers, knowing I was bound to get warm on the short hills - plus it was in the 50's with only a mild South wind. I did the same easier first 10 minutes as last month's test, and then wound it up to whatever speed was comfortable with a heart rate of 150-155 bpm. Today the speed at 150 bpm was 2-3 mph faster than last month, and even after 20 of the 24.8 miles I knew I was going to blow away my old time.

I completed the 24.8 miles (40 km) in exactly 1:08:00, five minutes faster than last month! So, the training is working, and the position has improved. It's also very nice knowing that if I allowed my HR to rise closer to race levels, I could break an hour for 40 km, solo.

The next race is this coming Sunday - the Market Street Road Race (PDF file). I can't wait!

Overall averages for February
I had planned on getting closer to 12-15 hours per week, but realized the only way this was going to happen was if I cut out running one day a week. I cut out the running for two weeks, but after the advice of a teammate who is wholeheartedly into cyclocross, I have added it back in. This means I will probably only manage 10-12 hours a week on the bike, but that's fine, especially if my primary goals are at the velodrome and in the fall. The numbers are lower than last month, but hey, February only has 29 days this year!

Bicycle
Time: 33:21:00
Distance: 596.9 miles
Longest Ride: 68.9 miles, 3:59:00 (while sick)
Rest days: 7, including illness

Running
Time: 1:01:00
Distance: 7.5 miles
Longest Run: 2.5 miles

Icebreaker or heartbreaker

2008-03-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday was the Icebreaker TT, run by our team. As far as I could tell, the race organization was flawless, and I'm not just saying that because it was my team running the show.

So, I worked desperately to correct my mistakes from the Frostbite TT a week ago:

I pinned number on the night before, by stuffing a pillow in the skinsuit (sort of looks like a decapitated quadriplegic cyclist)

I managed to get in enough warm up - I spun easy for 16 minutes, brought the HR up to 155 for 5 minutes, back to an easy spin for 5 minutes, and then a 2 minute hard effort in the big ring to a HR of 165 before a final 5 minutes of super easy spin. I was sweating, and my heart was quickly responding to the changes in effort, so I knew it was a decent warm up.

The course was fun - I've never been on the Green Valley Rd, even though my team has done training rides that included it in the past.

Here's me suffering in to the finish. A teammate described my helmet cover as though I look like an English butler with a Bowler. I'm not sure that is a compliment.

However, all didn't go as well as it could've. I went out perhaps a bit too hard to the cone at 5 miles, and when I turned around and discovered a slight head wind plus a slight uphill grade, my speed plummeted from 28 to 23 mph. I managed to keep it above 23 mph for the way back to the finish, but never exceeded 24.5 mph except in the last 200 m. Oh well. I wasn't last this time, so that's an improvement! My goal was to finish under 24 minutes for the 10 mile course, but I blew that by 30 seconds.

In the scheme of things, I have to remember that I only started riding the bike again last May after a many year hiatus in which I did little or no riding, and only some running. So, the top-10 finishing Cat 3 rider in me is still working its way to the surface. Hopefully I will be back to my old self, or close, by the end of this season - in time for Cyclocross!

My teammates are all wonderful people. I forgot how nice it is to hang out after a race and just gab, complain, and dream big for the upcoming race season. I sure picked a good group to join.

The night before I was prepping the bike, and thanks to my talented wife Bree and Hot Tea Apparel (which is Bree) I have an awesome apron to wear while getting greasy and dirty with the bikes:

Today I got in 15 miles on the bike and a 20 minute 2.5 mile run. It was wet. But, the rest of the week looks sunny and dry! My next race isn't for two weeks, and it's a road race, so I'll have to adjust the training a bit.

This weekend it is time for another 40 km test TT around Lake Sammamish. I'm betting I will be faster.

The First Race of the Season

2008-02-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I did the Frostbite TT up in Everett. There are three things I did wrong that I will need to correct for the Icebreaker TT this coming weekend:

I was in a mad rush to get all ready in time for my start time, and ended up with only 10 minutes of spinning on the trainer, plus 2 minutes of zone 3 before I had to head to the start "house"
I waited until the last second to pin my number on my skinsuit, which contributed to #1 above
I didn't pre-ride the course, which proved to be a major flaw (see below)

Here's why those things were not good:

I really need a longer warm up - I didn't really feel good until I was already 10 minutes into the course, which was "only" a 9 mile out-and-back. I knew this was going to happen, but it still sucks. To correct this, I will show up with at least 30 extra minutes compared to last weekend. Since I haven't done any road races in like 4 years, I just don't have my routine down like I used to (plus, back in the day, both Bree and I were racing, so we could help each other get ready)
It took me like 5-10 minutes to get the number pinned on, and changed into my skinsuit from my jeans and team jersey I wore on the drive. I already have my number for this coming weekend's race, so I can pin it on the night before. I will still probably change at the event.
I didn't pre-ride the course, so I didn't know the location of the turnaround. This coming weekend I will definitely try to get in a pre-ride as part of my warm up, unless the weather is bad, and then I will just trust my teammates (who will be setting up the course) to make a clear turnaround.

The main reason #3 was a major flaw had nothing to do with me, really - for the first 40-50 riders, the race organizers failed to put a cone in the road indicating the turnaround! There was also no official standing at the turnaround, so anyone with questionable ethics could have cut the course. Additionally, an oxygen-deprived rider might not think to look back before turning (assuming they knew where to turn), with potentially disastrous consequences, since the course was open to traffic (although traffic was very light). An official and a crew member to stop traffic are really necessary, in my opinion.

Here's the blow-by-blow:

I did my abbreviated warm-up (struggling into the skinsuit in the back seat may count as a couple minutes of warm up too - but I wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor, so I don't know what zone I was in!), threw the trainer in the trunk, and walk-run through the gravel parking lot to the road. Then I rode at a steady but brisk pace to the start house, saw I had three minutes, so I did a sprint and turned back to the line. The holder held my saddle, and the official counted down from 10 seconds. I had a good start, although I should have been in one easier gear. I very quickly passed the rider who had gone before me, and eventually caught the rider 1 minute in front of me. Then I was alone for a while before I passed one more rider. At about 8 minutes in, I was starting to warm up a little bit, and my heart rate was leveling off at 171-173 bpm. Not long after, I was passed by Dustin Van Wyck, the cat 3 who started 30 seconds behind me. He was flying, but I worked hard to hold him at about 50 meters. Since he and I are in the same category, I couldn't afford to let him get too much time on me, and I hoped I might be able to pass him right back after the turnaround. He and I kept going, and at one point I sort of noticed a few orange cones on the right side of the road, but I didn't think much of it. After rounding a bend to the right, I see Dustin coming toward me, waving his arm in a circle indicating it was time to turn around. I thought "what?" and then shortly thereafter I came to an intersection with a stoplight. Oh no! There was definitely not supposed to be an intersection on the course! So, angered and frustrated, I turned around. For the first minute or so, I didn't go very hard, thinking my race was already over, but as I saw more riders coming toward me, I yelled to them, "There's no cone! Turn around now!" With that, I started pedalling in earnest. Dustin must have been feeling similarly, since I noticed the gap was not as large. I shifted a gear and picked up the pace. On the way out I had been averaging around 24.5-25 mph, but I quickly brought it up to 26.5 and occasionally 27 mph ont he way back. At around 15 minutes into the race, I finally felt warmed up and smooth, and saw I was pulling Dustin back somewhat. I was also passing quite a number of riders (OK, like 3) I was hoping Dustin had gone out too hard, but by the finish I was sure he had at least a minute on me. I sprinted the last 200 meters, and felt like my face was covered with snot and drool, but luckily you can't tell in this picture taken by the spouse of a team member:
I have absolutely no memory of this car just to my left.

Unfortunately, the end results put me at dead last (first time I have ever been last in a race - boo hoo), but I did get in a measured (by the race director) extra 0.44 miles. So if I use my overall average, which works out to 25.2 mph, I would have done the 9 mile course in 21:26, which is still near the bottom, but feels a bit better. And, without the disappointment of the missing turnaround, and a better warm up, I'm sure I can do better this coming weekend.

The results have already been posted, so I expect they won't change (I did email the director at the suggestion of a teammate asking for some fuzzy math to adjust my finish time). At least I can't get a worse placing!

Plus, this coming weekend's course is 10 miles, so I've only got another half mile to worry about! I'm hoping I can do a time more like what is posted for last weekend's course (22:29). I should also have a new, mroe aero front wheel I got on eBay by then. I was offered a disc by our generous president, but I declined. Since I can't afford one this season, I certainly don't want to fall in love with the performance of a disc wheel. Maybe next year.

Living Under a Rock?

2008-02-18T21:20:00.000-08:00

So, Bree and I got out to a movie tonight thanks to Grandma Jane providing some babysitting. We opted for "There Will Be Blood" since it has gotten good reviews, and Bree said, "Yeah, we should see it." So, we headed over to Redmond Town Center, enjoying some of the wonderful sunshine and 58 F temp. We saw the price of movies has gone up a bit since the last time we hit a theatre. I'm pretty sure I paid around $7.50 for a movie last summer, but somehow while I was living under a rock the price went up to $9.50 (unless you are a senior, and then you only have to pay $7.50). $19 for the two of us seems a bit ridiculous given that we pay just under that for a month of Netflix. I can bet it will be another year before we go to the movie theatre again, so I expect it will be more like $12 a person by then! Sheesh! Anyway, I guess we resigned to hopefully get our money's worth.

The movie is excellent. I can't say I liked any of the characters, but I never once looked at my watch, and was always anxious for what would come next. Daniel Day-Lewis was incredible. I will never be able to imagine anyone else when I picture an oil-tycoon. You should go see it, but be prepared for some shocking scenes. Bree and I particularly enjoyed the dynamic relationship between money and religion, particularly the mild form of religious extremism portrayed in the film (OK, charlatan-style early 20th century evangelical religion in particular).

I guess the experience was worth $19, but we won't make a habit of it.

I had some great training on the weekend, as well as a great birthday celebation for Bree in Tacoma with the Norlanders, my mother, and us. I watched the coverage of the Tour of California on Versus, which sucked (an hour of human-interest crap, and an hour of highly-edited coverage of the prologue - why does Versus think those of us watching the race don't want to see people actually ride their bikes? Instead they show us riders leaving the start house, and then crossing the finish line. Lame!).

All Better - Training Resumes

2008-02-15T14:28:00.000-08:00

I've finally beaten the cold out of my system. I did manage to start riding again on Wednesday last week, and did the A-team ride on Saturday. The ride went well, despite a total of 5 flats (five different riders, myself included). I was really "limited" on the ride by my heart rate. Any time I got up to about 160 bpm, the legs would scream and not really allow me to go any harder. I was actually quite fine with my body being self-limiting, as my mind is not as good at this and would have no doubt sent me backward in wellness. So, on the hills I would be slow, and on the flats I would be fine.

On Sunday I went for my first ever ride with my Zune (gift from work - no, I didn't buy one!) and it was awful. The ride was great, but riding with an audio device is annoying to say the least. I'm sure I just need new headphones, since the main problem was them falling out, and me constantly needing to adjust after I twisted my head to check at intersections. I'm going to try it again today for my post-work ride, but with a headband to hold the thingies in the ears.

I did two intervals rides this week targetting different goals. On Tuesday I did five 1 minute intervals on the flats at a high cadence (90-100) at 160 bpm and then five 3 min intervals on a 5% gradient hill, again at ~160 bpm (midpoint of zone 3). Wednesday I had a fun field trip with Emy's class to a children's film festival, and got in a 20 min run in the afternoon. Yesterday I did a 15 min TT simulation interval at a low cadence (40-50 rpm) and ~160 bpm, then a 15 min rest, followed by another 10 min interval of the same, but finishing with the 53x13 and a cadence of 30-40 rpm. Since the first TT of the year is a week from Sunday, yesterday was probably the last chance to get in some power TT training. Today will be an easy spin, and tomorrow will be a long ride. Our team is doing team photos, but it's not at a good time with the busy weekend we have coming up (Grandma Jane is coming to town tomorrow, and Sunday we are heading to Tacoma to visit Bree's parents), so I have to skip the photos in order to get in my long ride.

After some back and forth with BikeTiresDirect, I got my new aerobars for the TT. I'll try to take a picture of the bike decked out. I don't have the $$$ for a disc wheel, or even an aero front wheel, at least for this upcoming TT. However, Bree made me a sweet helmet cover that should reduce drag for my head. I'm scanning eBay daily for any good wheel deals, but the aerobars might be as aero as I get for now.

Superheroes and Giant Tomatoes

2008-02-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

I am still recovering from being sick, but since I felt at least 80%, I went in to work today after two days off. Yesterday I was feeling on the mend so I went for a 20 min run. It didn't kill me. Today I rode in to work, and then got in an easy spin after work. It would have been super easy, except for the high winds that wanted me to pedal harder. It was an exercise of will to keep myself in check.

I promised a picture of the new kit:
Hopefully I will have some action shots soon!

Epidemic Presenteeism in the Workplace

2008-02-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

My mother in law informed me of the term presenteeism (I may have invented a spelling for it, though) - people who are sick, but go to work since "there's so much work to do and they have to be there!" I have fallen victim to this presenteeism twice in the last two months, and so I implore the workers of the world - do not go to work if you are sick! I'm guessing there's plenty of impetus for a research study here:

What is the cost to the corporation for losing one sick employee for a day vs. the cost of that person working and spreading their illness to other workers?

Actually, I'm pretty confident we don't need a study to indicate that the cost of the single sick employee staying home is far lower than the cost of several sick employees staying home! And, if said employees go to work, infecting others there's no benefit - plus, I don't know about you, but I'm not too productive at work when I am sick. The most I can usually manage is responding to email.

No, putting a sign on your door that you are "sick" doesn't cut it, unless you absolutely, positively promise to never leave your office, and you cover your air vent.

So, I'm home sick today. For all I know I will be sick tomorrow too. Normally, I would still train while a little bit sick, so hopefully that means I only miss today's session (running).

For posterity, here's a recap of January 2008's training:

Bicycle
Time: 40:00:00 (exactly - that's crazy)
Distance: 669.9 miles (1080 km for my one non-US visitor)
Longest Ride: 61.7 miles (99.5 km), 3:58:00 (the hill ride below)
Rest: 4 days of nothing

Running
Time: 90 min.
Distance: 11 miles
Longest Run: 3.5 miles, 30 min.

For February, I plan to get the weekly average closer to 12-15 hours per week, and get that longest ride to at least 80 miles. We got the new uniforms too, but I'm too tired and lazy today to model them...soon, I promise.

Training Actually Works

2008-02-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

Friday was a rest day, which meant Saturday needed to be somewhat hard. This last week was my lower volume (fewer miles/time) week in a four week cycle - three weeks of progressively increasing volume and perhaps an increase in intensity, followed by a week of lower volume, but similar intensity. So, yesterday I skipped the team ride to catch my niece's birthday party (she's one), and then headed out around 2 PM. The plan was to execute a "test" I've been considering. The ride from our place, around Lake Sammamish, and back works out to almost exactly 40 km of rolling terrain with no big hills. So, I wanted to see if I could average over 20 mph door to door. A secondary goal was to keep my average HR around 150, assuming this jived with goal #1. I used the first 10 minutes or so as a warm up, ignoring goal #1, but at the 10 min mark, I stomped it up to whatever speed worked out to 150 bpm on the heart rate monitor. Surprisingly, after a short time I reached 154 bpm, and was covering a flat section at 23+ mph. This seemed like a good sign. I rocked the whole loop, keeping my exuberance in check on the hills (didn't let the HR get over 160), and by the 20 mile mark I was still under an hour of riding! The last 5 miles are flat, so it was no trouble at all meeting both goals. I passed the house turnoff at a time of 1:13:00, which actually makes for a reasonably good 40 km time trial over rolling terrain with no aero equipment. I spun easily on the Sammamish Trail for an additional 5 mile cool down, and even with it, when I got to the garage I still had an overall average of 20.04 mph. Needless to say, I was very pleased. This is certainly the fastest I ever ridden this route, and amazingly I finished with plenty in the tank. I think the early season training is working out famously.

Sunday (today) I wanted to invent a ride that I would offer up as an A-team ride that I could lead. It's a standard loop through Redmond and Woodinville I've done many times in just under 3 hours by myself. I didn't go too hard, either, to recover a bit from Saturday's ride, but unfortunately, again due to the effect of training, the ride is too short. Distance-wise it is about 43 miles, and time-wise it took me 2.5 hours at a recovery pace (or, at least, I kept the HR in the 130's). I'll have to figure out how to amp up the distance by another 10 miles or so.

Still, I am very pleased with how well I am riding. First race of the season is in 3 weeks! The Frostbite TT. I used to be a solid time trialist back when we raced regularly in the late 90's - I'm hoping that Ted is still lurking within. The first race I did as a cat 5 was the pancake-flat 40 km Minnesota State TT, which I won in a time of 1:04:00 (I still have the t-shirt), and even beat the cat 4's who had aero equipment (I had none - just me and my bike). Back then, we were in Minnesota, and the following season we did the bi-weekly Blackdog TT series, although I always did them in the "stock bike" category, which essentially meant a standard road bike with at least 16 spokes per wheel and no aero equipment. The one time I did this course with an aero front wheel and clip-on bars, I improved my time over the 10 km course by over 1.5 minutes! I'm kinda scrambling now to get some aero stuff for the Frostbite TT - at least some aerobars. Maybe I can borrow a fast front wheel from a teammate...

I'm moving my rest day to Monday, now that the season is approaching, which means Tuesday will be the running day. Doesn't really matter since the wunderground.com forecast for this week looks like this:

any kind of training is going to suck. But, it beats snow and ice. If we were still in MN, I'd be lucky to be out on the mountain bike at this time of year...

Tomorrow night we get our new team kits. I'll be sure to post up a modeling shot of me in full Team Cucina Fresca regalia!

Blind Consumerism - Or Bike Geek

2008-02-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

My rear wheel has been squeaking and plinking on and off, and I had just been ignoring it. The wheels I have been running were the ones that came with my bike, and aside from a spare front wheel, the ones on the bike are the ones I have available. Well, yesterday, in the cold rain and sleet, the wheel decided it had had enough. The squeak became sort of a constant squeak-grind with the occasional feeling of slippage and clunking after coasting for a while (for those not in the know - wheels are supposed to spin quietly and smoothly). It's probably my fault, or, at least, the previous day's training ride was the straw that broke the camel's back. Wednesday, I did some crazy intervals suggested by Travis, our team president, and cat 2 racer, that involve grinding at a slow cadence of 40-50 rpm while maintaining a zone 3 heart rate. So, on the Sammamish River Trail, I did two sets of 12 minute intervals at a HR of 160-165 in the 53x14 with a 10 min rest in between. They were tough! It also didn't help that after I turned around to head back home, the headwind made it a struggle to keep the HR in a recovery zone! But, since the first two races of the year are time trials, these intervals should pay dividends.

Anyway, on yesterday's ride, the wheel got angry, and I resigned myself to probably needing a new wheel. Here's where the "Blind Consumerism" comes into play. I used to be a bike mechanic. I mean, I got paid to fix bikes, and I should know better, but when I brought the wheel in the Sammamish Valley Cycle (one of our team sponsors, and conveniently 3 blocks from our townhouse) I was surprised when Brian (who is on my team, and works there) said, "I think it just needs an overhaul." Grand total for this operation would be a whopping $30, including bearings. But, they said it might take a couple of days (panic - no riding?), and so I felt justified in buying some new wheel, just so I had a spare rear wheel. I shopped around with what they had, and ended up with a fine Mavic wheel with aero bladed spokes, and a reasonable price. The Bike Geek in me just couldn't help it (there were cheaper options). And don't get me wrong - the wheel is sweet and will be great for the aforementioned time trials. But, today, roughly 18 hours after I dropped off the wheel at the shop, I got a call that it was all ready to pick up. So you see, I never missed a ride due to this wheel. I feel just a little bit guilty for having purchased the new wheel - but it is so pretty! And it spins quietly and smoothly! And, thanks to the shop, so too does my old wheel - maybe it will make it another 4700 miles...

Hill = Fun

2008-01-28T11:08:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome A-team ride on Saturday. Our team prez organized a wonderful selection of some steep and/or long grade climbs in Bothell, Woodinville and Kirkland. I was pretty stoked, since riding up hills is one of my pastimes. The ride began at the Bothell Park & Ride (OK, actually at the Lyon's Den coffee shop) which is an 8 mile ride North from our place - it works out to a nice warm up. We covered a number of hills, many of which were at least 15% and some must have had sections of 20%+. I split from the group about 8 miles from the planned ending, intending to ride straight home. But, I saw that I was only 7 miles shy of getting to 60 miles and only 30 minutes shy of a four hour ride time, so I persevered to 62 miles and 3:58 before I pulled in to our home. The average speed belies the hills on the ride - on at least a couple of them I looked down and saw 5.5 mph! Just as I pulled in to the house is started to get really wet, so my timing was good (I was soaked, but only having reached that state minutes earlier).

Emy had her first piano lesson while I was riding, and from all signs, she loved it. When we suggested we try to schedule a 10 minute practice time every day, she said, "Maybe, 12 minutes?" On Sunday she must have played for at least an hour total, and with our help, she worked through the next few lessons in her workbook. It certainly brings back memories of my childhood....

Sunday I got in an easy spin to loosen the legs after the hill ride. I started out pretty sore and slow, but the intention was to take it easy, so I played it by feel. After about 20 minutes the legs loosened up and I had a nice spin. I passed through a freak wall of sleet, wind and rain that lasted just long enough to get me covered with ice pellets and quite damp, but I was prepared with the rain gear this time. Amazingly, the sun was out on the other side of the weather wall, and it stayed nice for the rest of my ride. I was actually "HOT" for the last 10 minutes.

Today is the "run day" in my weekly training plan, which is the same 3 mile flat route every Monday (at least until we get closer to cross season in a short 8 months). Good thing today is for running, since the forecasted snow actually happened on schedule. They even closed Emy's school for the day, which, now that it is nearly noon and the snow is melting, seems like a poor choice. They didn't close the school the last time it snowed/rained, and that time it stayed below freezing, which actually made for treacherous driving conditions. Oh well, they just don't know how to handle WINTER here.

Its COLD, but that means I'm a wimp

2008-01-22T19:14:00.000-08:00

I'm from Minnesota. It gets cold there in the winter (well, it used to, until Dubya created global warming). Really cold. Yesterday the temp was 23.9 F and I opted to take the bus to work. Mondays are my running day, so I didn't feel too guilty about not riding to work. But, after work there's a big letdown when I walk to the bus. Why a letdown? Because the bus is never there. Yesterday I was attempting to catch the 545 bus from the Overlake Transit Center at 4:08 PM. I left my desk at 3:56 PM, and I know it takes me 7 minutes at my usual brisk walking pace to get to the bus stop. As I waited to cross 156th Ave to get to the transit center, about 50 meters from the bus stop, I see the bus pull up and right on through. It didn't stop, because there was no one waiting, and it was MLK day, so all reasonable employers give you the day off to reflect upon the wonderful civil rights we enjoy in this country (even white males like me). I'm sure this was running through the drivers mind as he rolled through the stop at 4:03 PM and continued on. I watched helplessly, opting not to play frogger with the crazy driving of my fellow micro$ofties. I resigned myself to the 4:23 bus and sauntered slowly to the stop. It was warm (above 40 F) and sunny, and not having my bicycle, simply for the convenience of departing when I wanted, sucked. When I got home, I suited up for a run. The house was lonely, since Bree, Emy and Bree's parents went to the ocean for the day:
Despite my best efforts, I failed to find them a decent place to eat in Aberdeen, WA on the way home (Bree called me at work requesting an immediate Googling).

Today the temperature was 22.8 F out, but that wasn't going to stop me. I suited up, and added a neck warmer as a concession to the cold in addition to the same outfit I would use for riding in 40 F. When I rolled out of the garage, I was shocked at the impact of the cold on my recently shorn head. Usually I head North on the Sammamish R. Trail for at least 10 minutes before turning around and heading to work, but today my toes got cold after the first 3 minutes, so I cut it short. I guess I've adapted to the temperature here, since 20's would be a lovely high temperature in Minnespolis in January.

Of course, on the ride home it was warm and sunny (at least for January in Redmond), and I got in some great tempo riding (20 minutes at just below 160 bpm on the HR monitor), plus four "spinups" with 2 min rest in between. I love spinups. To do a spinup, you put yourself in an easy gear (39x15) and then pedal faster and faster until your cadence is so high you start bouncing. Of course, the smoother you are as a pedaler, the higher the cadence gets. I don't have a cadence measure on my bike computer, but I maxed out the 39x15 at 29 mph and had an imperceptible bounce. I'd estimate my cadence was between 150 and 180. I think that bodes well for the track season, and hopefully suggests I have my bike position close to spot on.

Tomorrow the low is supposed to be again in the 20's. And you thought it didn't get cold here! Oh wait - that's not cold!

Next Time I will Take a Picture

2008-01-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

So yesterday on my road home I experienced sleet and wind. It was not pleasant. I rode with my head down, looking at my water bottle, with the occasional glance ahead to avoid certain death. This was almost my fate flying downhill along 520 (the trail! not the freeway) when I happened to glance up and see I was about to ram a slowly moving mountain biker in the middle of the trail. I swerved, said something I wouldn't want Emy to hear, and then promptly put my head back down. When I got home, Bree was amused that I immediately switched into my running shoes and went for a 20 minute jog along the Sammamish River. The sleet switched over to snow on the run, and my wet clothes from the ride just barely kept me above hypothermic levels as I got back. I figure it was good training for cross season in the Fall. Anyone who knows me knows I was loving every minute of it.

Today I awoke to a light dusting of snow everywhere, and a temperature of 32.6F. I wasn't worried, since I had that extra 0.6F to ensure there would be no ice on my ride in. Yeah, right! The ride in was on crusty slush, which held up amazingly well, and offered a reasonable amount of traction. When I got on the trail I saw there were at least three other skinny tire riders who came before me, and so I figured if they could do it, then so could I. There were only a couple of times when I worried I would start going backwards as I made my way up the 6 to 12% gradient along 520, and at one point I was surprised to see I was going 4 mph (fast walking pace)! The ride in would have been uneventful except for the hasty minivan driver that almost took me out in a crosswalk. Unfortunately I had to dab my right foot, which loaded the right cleat with ice, and for the remaining one mile I could only balance that shoe on top of my pedals (which are Speedplays, so it is kinda like balancing your foot on a lollipop).

The ride after work was smooth as butter. Funny - there were not too many people riding today!

Withdrawal

2008-01-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

I'm going through a bit of cyclocross withdrawal. There's not as much happening, although I guess the tension is building before Sven Nys wins the world championship in two weeks. Last weekend was the national championships for most of the European countries, and most of the winners were predictable. The USA holds ours in December, but according to this, it looks like we are trying to follow the European lead and hold ours on the same January weekend. I agree with the linked blogger - it seems OK for us to be different, in the interests of allowing our country's finest the best, uninterrupted European campaign leading up to Worlds. But, if we do move it to January, I'm betting it won't be held in cities such as Kansas City, since coming from the midwest, we know that January's weather is typically even less hospitable, and perhaps "too cold for cross". Perhaps that's good for Seattle and Portland - maybe we'll host Nationals more regularly.

My withdrawal is the usual doldrums of not much happening in the professional cycling world, but thankfully, now that I have found cyclocross, the doldrums will be much shorter! It used to be that when the road world championships were over (in the Fall, after the Vuelta), there were just a couple of races left, and then I had to hold out until February of the next year. The minor lull in cross racing activity now means there's really only a two week hiatus from results, live and delayed video coverage and commentary. I guess it is OK - I can catch up on reading books (when I am done reading all the cycling blogs I follow!).

A Call for Help, and Trail Rage?

2008-01-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

So, today included a couple of firsts for me. I headed out for a planned 25 miles on the Sammamish Trail, and at around 10 miles out, there were two guys riding and chatting on the trail that I would soon need to pass. One was on a mountain bike with extremely wide handlebars, plus a mirror, and he was riding on the left side of the trail. His buddy was riding in the middle of the trail on a road bike with two empty panniers. They were chatting about which saddle the road bike guy thought was the best, blah, blah blah, and so, to play it safe and not disturb them too much (although in my head I was thinking "Couldn't you guys ride on the right side of the trail instead of the left and middle?"), I announced my pass - "On your right!" Of course, this threw road bike guy for a loop - he swerved right, and I yelled, "No! I'm on your right!" He swerves back to the middle and starts swearing and yelling at me about how you "cannot pass on the right" and "what is wrong with you", etc. I calmy say, "Well, your friend was on the left, and you were occupying the middle" (I might have used the terms "hogging the middle", oops) "so I felt the safest thing to do was pass where it was clear." He yells at me some more as I am now already about 10 meters past them, and I turn back to say, "Please relax sir, we're all fine now." He said something under his breath, but we then had to slow for a stop sign where the trail joins a road for a short stretch and he catches up to me, still yelling about something. I sprinted a bit and said, "I hope you both have a really nice day!" in as friendly a voice as I could muster. He again muttered something like, "we will after you're far away." I got to a stop light, willing it to change quickly, which it did, and turned left up Juanita Dr hill. They did not go this way, thankfully, and I was surprised to have had this incident, since I have never encoutered such vehemence on the trail. I got to the top, turned around, and started down. About 1/4 mile down the hill I hear the dreaded sound of my front wheel going flat (I earned this by bragging on yesterday's ride about how I "never" get flats these days!). I pull off Juanita and start changing the tube. During the install of the new tube (my only spare) I hear the telltale sound of air escaping again - I must have pinched the tube between the tire and rim while installing it - no surprising since it was raining on me and I was hurried. That's it - no more tubes, and tearing off duct tape from my fenders to use as a patch failed miserably. Right about then I started thinking of my own misery as it starts rain/snowing on me while I sit on someone's driveway. I did the unthinkable - I called Bree to come and pick me up. I considered hailing one of the many riders flying down Juanita, but they are all going 30-40 mph, and it's raining and snowing (did I mention that already?). Bree and Emy rescued me about 20 minutes later. I was quite the novelty in the little neighborhood where I waited - I was offered food, shelter, a bathroom, tea, and just plain "help" but I politely refused since this all happened about 5 minutes before I knew Bree would pull up. When we were on the drive home and I finished telling the story, Emy said, "Daddy, why was the man angry?" Bree and I explained to her about how some people react to surprise and embarrassment with anger and frustration, blaming their embarrassment on the others involved. She said, "Like I do sometimes?" We tiptoed here a bit and said that many people do this sometimes, but there are people out there who just can't accept blame or easily blow off incidents like I had - they just don't know how to deal with a mix of fear and shame.

All I can say is that I have no problem with how I dealt with the situation on the trail. I can only hope those guys learned some sort of lesson and at least moved to the right side of the trail. If I have to take the fall for them paying a little more attention on a Sunday afternoon ride on a crowded trail, then so be it. I just wish the next thing to happen to me wasn't a double flat in the freezing rain. Please tell me I erased all my bad Karma today?

Looks like tomorrow's forecast will be more of the same - but I have two spare tubes now!

Foul Weather Friends

2008-01-05T20:55:00.001-08:00

Yet another rainy and cold team ride today, but we had an extra bonus - high winds! Here's what it looked like on the radar when I woke up:

(image from wunderground.com)

The temps stayed below 42 F, and we all got quite shivery waiting for a flat tire fix about halfway through the 48 mile ride. But, there's really nothing better than suffering in the weather with a great group of like-minded people, all working toward a common goal - getting in shape for the racing season. First official race is Feb 24th "Frostbite TT". I'll be there, of course...

Last ride of the year 2007, and goodbye to a friend

2007-12-31T17:59:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I helped out with registration for Kringle Kross (Team Zoka's last volunteering gig before we become Cucina Fresca). It was not warm. I wore the poofy jacket, and at one point I thought I was warm, so I took it off, but within 5 minutes I needed it again. However, I was constantly aware of the liability of wearing a nylon/down jacket with a blasting propane heater about 3 feet behind me. It helped keep us warm, but there was enough melted clothing evidence presented by others working the event to keep me nervous the whole time. The race was not very well attended, which isn't too surprising, but the racers appeared to be having a good time. Christine from our team took 3rd in the women's 4's, and I believe Ian (a.k.a. DiRtY, although I might have the capitalization wrong) was top 10 in the 3's, which will be my group next year. I stuck around for about half of the elite race, but I was generally cold and worn out from hanging out since 7 AM. Plus, Bree and Emy were patiently waiting for me to come home!

This morning I woke up and made waffles, and then met a buyer for the blue bike. He rode it for about 50 feet, and said, "I'll take it!" It was the easiest craigslist sale I've ever managed. Now there is a very empty space in the garage, which makes me sad. It is always difficult to let go of a bike, since I always have such a fond psychosomatic response just by looking at a bicycle. Any bicycle, really, but with my own, it's like I can remember every ride I've ever had on it, all in a rush of both exhilaration and exhaustion. Luckily I still have a road bike. This sale in no way compared to when I sold my favorite Bianchi when we lived in St Paul and needed money. At the time, it was my only ride, but having $2500 collecting dust in the garage wasn't worth it. I really better write that post about the graduate school years of bike racing, in order to fill in the blanks between mountain bike racing and the sale of the aforementioned Bianchi. Soon!

I waited a couple of hours for the sun to provide a bit more heat, and then officially ended the week-long break from riding. Thanks to Kringle Kross, I actually made it to 8 days, which must be a record "break of my own choosing". I was hoping to get in at least 40 miles today, especially to take advantage of the sunny weather and 40+ F temps. I had a lovely 43.5 mile jaunt, with a surprising lack of wind (there are hardly ever "calm" winds here in Seattle), and even got warm enough to take off my jacket.

Tomorrow is the first ride of 2008, and the beginning of training for the season. I'll do my best to make this, the fourth time I have taken up road racing, memorable!

Farewell, blue bike - I hope you enjoy your next rider and don't miss my feet, hands, and butt cheeks too much! Don't be too jealous of my new ride...

It's so hard not to ride!

2007-12-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

So, even though I didn't have a full racing season this last year, I felt I should still take the requisite, but dreaded "time off the bike" to refresh the body and mind. Many racers make this take anywhere from two weeks to a month, but the best I can ever do is a week. Sure, I'd use my bike for commuting to work, but I also have this week off work, so it truly is no riding for me. I actually managed to do no exercise at all for three days, but it helped that we had the in-laws visiting for Christmas, and the weather has been awful. I did do something I haven't done in a while - I went for a run. I used to run regularly, and when I was a climber I ran to get some aerobic fitness, but it's been at least 6 months since I ran more than when chasing Emy on her bicycle (which these days requires a full sprint). I've been a runner enough of my life to know that the first run after a hiatus usually sucks. This time it was surprisingly different. I ran a flat 3 mile loop, mostly on gravel and dirt, and managed it in 21:36. Not a stellar 5k time, but not too bad, and my heart rate never got over 140 bpm. However, that was two days ago and my quads still hurt! It isn't awful, but I definitely used some muscles that have been getting lazy.

I'll have to keep this up, though, in order to be ready for cyclocross season next September. I may have to incorporate running into my once-a-week "rest day", or get in a lunchtime run at work. Luckily, I don't have to do anything other than maintenance of the runner in me, until maybe July, when I'll have to get in some sprints and hill-run-ups in prep for cross.

In other news, I reorganized the garage to prepare for the new bikes this season. I'll be getting a track bike, road bike, and cross bike. We already have a road bike for Bree, and a small bike for Emy, so the garage is going to be pushed to the limit. We still have to have room for the bike repair stand, workbench, and all the other "stuff that lives in the garage" - luckily Bree scored some free closet organizer parts on craigslist, and I am pleased with the results.

Along those lines, I am now selling the blue track bike that I posted about back in July 2005 (craigslist ad), in order to make room for the new bikes. I'll sell my Felt road bike too, but not until I have the new one, or I'd be bike-less! I think that would make me lose my mind.

I'm living vicariously through the guys over at EuroCross Camp. Unlikely I will ever get the chance to do what they are doing, but if there's any way I can get good enough at cross to make a trip to Europe in order to race, I will do it in a heartbeat. This morning I made Liege Waffles in order to feel more Belgian. They were awesome, probably owing to the 1/2 stick of butter per waffle! (making it even more difficult not to ride just to burn the calories).

I'll probably get in some more waffles while volunteering this weekend at Kringle Kross, which looks to be the final cross race of the season here in Seattle.

Emy and I are sad that the weather forecast keeps calling for snow, but we've had nary a flake, except for a few on Christmas that melted when they hit the ground.

Cross Tips

2007-12-22T21:58:00.000-08:00

Next year I'm gonna race cross. I've been reading up on it like mad, and it's killing me to not being racing this season, but I have neither a cross bike, nor a mountain bike. Next year!

These cross tips are funny - and I'm really enjoying the Bike Snob NYC's blog in general.

Here's some recent cross racing in Essen for you to watch:

Cold and Wet

2007-12-22T20:10:00.000-08:00

So, I was all geared up to go for a team ride today. I awoke at 7 AM, it was still dark, and I thought of the coincidence that our team ride was to be 100 miles, on the shortest day of the year. I struggled out of bed, experiencing some of those "new" creaky noises in my recently-turned 34 year-old body. I slowly chewed my euro breakfast of muesli + yogurt and downed a cup of tea. I usually awake with coffee, but I've learned that if I have coffee too close to the ride time, the bladder gets a bit too excited about 20 minutes past the last bathroom opportunity. I have yet to practice the PRO skill of pee-ing while riding, but I look forward to giving it a try this summer! I'll be sure to blog all about that... Anyway, the sun still wasn't up, but Emy was, and we checked the radar together. While it was not raining now, there was a giant blob of green/yellow/red moving our way, pretty much right on top of the planned route for the "Hard Man Hundie" (No, I did not coin this one). The porch thermometer said it was exactly 40 F, which is fine when dry, but bound to be pretty awful when wet. Still, I had to go through the motions. I got all kitted up, rain jacket (gotta love surrounding yourself in PVC!), booties, tights, wool socks, and warm gloves. I briefly thought about how my Pearl Izumi gloves are not very waterproof, but thought "Aw, I'm sure they will be dry enough!" Gave Bree and Emy a smooch, and headed down to the garage. Bree's last words were "Wow, it is really raining. Good luck!" Yes, it was raining, but I wasn't cold. I got about 7 miles north on the Sammamish River Trail and started to get cold. Both my feet and hands were soaked. As I reached the meet up area for the ride, I lowered my head and tried to stealthily and guiltily spin by, hoping that none of the people who saw my earlier email about how I was "definitely going to be there, but only do a metric 100 (100 km)". I vowed to at least ride a total of 25 miles, so I continued on the trail. I was passing quite a surprising number of runners, but I think I only saw three cyclists on the 12 miles before I turned around. I made it back to Woodinville, where there is a very nice bathroom, and used the hand drying blowers several times to attempt to dry my gloves a bit and get my fingers through the burning/tingling cycle. I felt quite bad for my teammates, who were no doubt out suffering as much as I was - but with the camraderie, I'm guessing they at least felt a little bit warmer. I called Bree to tell her I was just warming myself, and no, she didn't need to pick me up (it's only another 20 minutes). When I stepped out of the bathroom to the outdoors, my body immediately reacted by shivering uncontrollably. I realized I was borderline hypothermic, but thanks to my stubborn streak, and perhaps the last vestiges of Minnesota winter adaptation, I got on the bike and sprinted the first 3 minutes. After that I was fine all the way home - it helped that I couldn't feel my hands. Thankfully it is level the whole way back, so I didn't have to will my useless fingers to shift. When I got home, I took the necessary hot shower, and snuggled with Emy on the couch, with a perfect cup of Victor's coffee, courtesy of Bree, superMom/Wife.

Later, I read that the team shortened the ride to a metric century. Kudos to them. I'll ride again tomorrow :-)

Bicycle Racing - The Undergraduate Years

2007-12-14T09:10:00.001-08:00

OK, I realized this one was going to be "the collegiate years", but that implied I raced for the U of MN's cycling team, which I did not (I think it started up while I was a grad student). I think it also would have been too long, since I raced while an undergraduate, and as a graduate student, and the two periods were distinctly different.

The Undergraduate Years
The most distinguishing characteristic of my undergraduate years was a total conversion to mountain biking. I sold the Centurion road bike to Ryan Kuehl, the younger brother of a high school friend, Nathan Kuehl (who now lives about 5 hours away and is still racing road). I had quit North Country in favor of working for my dad (general contracting) and mom (systems administration) since the pay was better and the hours were more flexible. I enrolled at the University of Minnesota and eventually became friends with Nate Marks, who was in to mountain bikes. He had a buddy with a red Gary Fisher mountain bike that needed a new owner, so I cobbled together $400 and bought it. Thus began my introduction to riding off-road. Nate took me on trips to the local loops at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan, MN, along the Mississippi River Road in Minneapolis, and various other parks and hidden places. My first ride at Lebanon Hills began a yearly trend that lasted for several years. It was springtime, and the snow had just melted. We made a trip to Lebanon Hills, which, not surprisingly, is full of short steep hills. The total loop is short, so you do it many times, and if you're obsessive like me, you time each lap to see how they compare to the others. On the loop, there's a section of three hills in rapid succession, and at the top of the third hill, which I hammered as hard as I could, I threw up all over the trail (I was still rolling over the hill when I lost control of my digestive tract). I stopped and sat there, panting, and drinking water. Eventually, I felt better and continued riding the loop. I did four more laps, each one within 15 seconds of the previous lap. Aside from throwing up, it was the most fun I'd had in a long time (in a sport). I vowed to do this every weekend.

The next weekend, Nate and I went to Lebanon Hills again, and we noticed that near the end of the loop, where there is a long downhill right turn, someone had built a jump. We rode back up the hill, and gave it a shot. Nate was far more of a trick rider than I, and he made the jump look easy. I hammered down the hill, pointed the front wheel strait at the middle of the jump, and launched. I felt like I was in the air forever, and when I landed, I even managed to control the right turn and not crash into the trees just off the trail. However, my bike felt "wrong" - I was bouncing up and down, like I had suspension in the rear (which I did not) and when I looked down, I saw that I had cracked the seat tube right at the bottom bracket, along with one seat stay. The only thing holding me together was the head tube welds, and I was slowly going up and down like a see-saw. I rode the bike to the parking lot, and Nate and I pondered what to do. Then, it hit us - there was a lifetime warranty on the frame! We had to think of a bike shop that carried Gary Fisher, and drove straight there. The guys at Freewheel Bike in Minneapolis were totally cool, and only asked me if I'd been in a race. I said no, so they said they could get it replaced no problem. One week later, I had a new, much nicer and newer model frame (I went from steel to aluminum), and with a few replacement parts, I had a significantly sweeter ride.

Racing
It was inevitable that I would try racing on my mountain bike. I'd become friends with another bike lover, Tyler Bennett, who bought a GT mountain bike after I nudged him that we should go riding. We rode the same areas as I had with Nate, and Tyler was the one who suggested we give racing a try. It was November, and there was a race on Thanksgiving weekend at a local park, so we vowed to show up as long as it wasn't snowing.

You can see that in 1996, in November, in Minnesota, the field size was tiny. I think there were a total of 12 riders in the Mens Beginner's division. I'm the second from the left, in the grey t-shirt, and Tyler is the tall one in pink (I mean, mauve) next to me. Everybody was freezing, since it was super cold. Yes, I forgot to remove the saddle bag.

The race was a short loop that involved a stream crossing, a steep hill, and some singletrack woods. You can see in the picture on the right that
the hill was a run-up, which I guess makes this my first cyclocross race too. That hill was long, steep, and slippery. The downhill was fun, although the weeds were pretty thick and had a tendency to grab your feet as you went through. I lost sight of Tyler early on - he generally would get way out in front of me, and if there were enough hills on the course, I would slowly grind my way back. I was still really a road rider, with no technical mountain bike skills, but Tyler had a knack for the singletrack. In this race, I never caught him owing to me making the wrong choice at the stream crossing. We had the option of a off-camber traversing cross of the frozen stream, or a steep down and up through the gulch. I chose the up/down every lap except the last one, and was pretty unhappy, since the off-camber was much faster, and required no dismount (or soaking wet, frozen foot). Somewhere around the middle of the race, the field was so strung out that you rarely saw anyone. Still, I had a ton of fun. Tyler won a prize, and I wasn't last.

We did a number of other races at Buck Hill, which had a weekly series, and a couple of other courses in the area. Neither of us had any podium finishes, but we consistently started placing near the top ten.

However, in addition to mountain biking, Tyler and I were getting into Rock Climbing, which was more interesting to Bree (girlfriend at the time, now wife). Within a short amount of time, I was doing much more climbing than riding. Turns out that these two sports will be trading off time from then (1997) until this day. I look back on my mountain bike racing years as a great time, combining my love of the outdoors with my love of pedaling two wheeled machines. But, I wouldn't trade the climbing years for riding years either - both have a strong hold on my heart.

Next up will be the revival of the roadie in me - beginning in 1998...

iPod or Zune?

2007-11-29T13:02:00.001-08:00

Can you make a choice, if you care about the Environment?
I was all set to get (OK, ask for) a 4GB iPod Nano, but I dared to Google "environmental impact iPod Zune". Ignoring the war of words going on between Greenpeace and Apple, it is still true that neither company has a satisfactory record on avoiding the use of toxic plastics, mercury, etc in the devices. In the case of Apple, they have announced they will clean up by 2008, while Microsoft is all the way out to 2011. You could argue that by getting one of these devices I will significantly reduce my environmental impact if I buy music through their online stores - avoiding the need for jewel cases, plastic wrap, ... Maybe I should just wait for 2008 and see what Apple does. At least they have a recycling program in place already.

Bike Fit and Lego Fun

2007-11-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

A Day Off, and fun with childhood toys
Today I took the day off to get a bike fit from Erik Moen, which included new custom insoles and a slight tweak to my right cleat. I'm a bit hypersensitive to my bike fit, and have been fiddling for what is going on seven years now since I last felt "perfect" on a bike. After the fit, I went for a 25 mile jaunt on the Burke-Gilman and so far, so good. It was a nice excuse for a day off from work at the evil empire.

I'll get to the promised next chapter in my bicycle racing history (The College Years) soon, but I've been preoccupied lately since Emy has rekindled my love for playing with Lego blocks. She and I flew to Iowa to visit my mom and the rest of the Beecher clan for Thanksgiving, and while there we played with Legos and my dad's (and now mine) slot car racing set. Amazingly, the cars and track still work quit well, even after over 40 years!

(Grandma Jane and Emy drive fast!)

Emy really loved it, but I swear I will not become a NASCAR dad. I don't even like car racing! Also while in Waterloo, Iowa, we sought and scored two good coffee shops for my mother to frequent. She's starving for good coffee since moving down from the Twin Cities, Minnesota. If you're ever in Waterloo/Cedar Falls, and need a good cup, I recommend Vibe Coffee Shop on the University of N. Iowa campus:

And, Cottonwood Canyon, which is run by a Jamaican/St Paul, MN native, who has ties learning the trade in Madison, Wisconsin from Victor of Victor's Celtic Coffee in Redmond, WA. Small world!

Anyway, when we got back home Emy immediately wanted to dig out the Lego collection (they all used to be mine, plus a few recent craigslist and thrift store supplementary purchases).

We've been playing with them each night, well past bedtime. Today I made a coffee shop/pizza bar:

I'm pretty proud of it.

Bicycle Racing - The Junior Years

2007-11-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

Let's pretend I just started this blog
Never mind that I have had this blog for quite a while - the complete lack of posts for over a year is a clean slate, in my mind. I won't erase the old posts, since I wrote em, and I felt em, but I'm making a fresh start. Odds are, you're going to have to put up with a bunch of posts about bike racing. I've found it again. Seems worth recapping my sordid past in this sport (long post).

First up - my junior years...
June 1986: during the presidential physical fitness test during the school year, I failed to complete a pullup, and also walked the last half of the half-mile. I weighed 152 lbs., which is exactly what I weigh right now, but I was 5' 2" tall, versus 5'11" today. I was a tub (as are many boys at age 12-13, but still)! Perhaps this is why my mother was willing to pony up $100 to buy a Huffy road bike (27" wheels, black and white, I think it was a Huffy "926") from one of my friends who was not so gravitationally endowed, and wanted money for basketball camp. This was a lot of money for my mother to spend out of the blue - she was a single mother, running a graphic design business out of the home. Thank you Mom! I promptly rode the bike the 4 miles to my friend Allen's house. I thought I was going to have to quit on the only small hill, after 2 miles of the trip (I didn't know I could shift gears). I made it there, and drank like a gallon of water. Man, did my ass hurt in my bermuda shorts. Allen, on the other hand, was thin, and rode his bike often with his parents, who were into touring. He had a snazzy Rayleigh technium bike made out of aluminum alloy. It was much lighter, and simply functioned a lot better than my bike, but who cares? The next day, he took me on one of his favorite rides, a 12 mile trip to Stillwater, MN for breakfast - 99 cent all you could eat french toast, if you got there by 8 AM on Sunday. We left at 7 AM, and if not for Allen's constant encouragement, and letting me draft, we never would have made it that day. Thus began a regular ride, all summer long. The freedom of riding the bike was so intoxicating, that we rode almost every day. By the end of the summer, we could leave at 7:20 and still just barely make it. We practiced rotating, just like we saw the pros do in the Tour, which we watched religiously on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Phil Liggett had hair, and Greg Lemond was our great hope, but the Tour was all about the rivalry between Hinault and Lemond. That Tour is ingrained on my memory forever, as is 1989 - but that's another story.

September 1988: Meanwhile, Mom noticed my enthusiasm for riding, and was presumably quite pleased with her now healthy and happy son. That Christmas, I received exactly the same bike as Allen rode, a blue Rayleigh technium! I had to swap out the handlebar tape in order to prevent confusion between the two bikes! I went with the fashionable neon green cork ribbon. I didn't ride much that Fall, but I joined the cross-country running team, as did Allen, and while we didn't completely suck, it was clear that my riding legs didn't exactly translate into running legs. I improved from a 30:01 5k to a 23:29 5k that season. I also joined the XC skiing team, and learned to skate ski. By the end of that season, I was the best boy on the JV team, which isn't saying much since I think we had a total of 8 boys and 4 girls, but I was starting to discover that maybe I had some ability when it comes to endurance sports.

June 1989: I was 15, and able to get a part-time job. At Tartan High School, I met Mike Plante, who was racing as a junior, and had a job at North Country Bike & Ski, about 5 miles from my house. He also had a friend who could drive, and they took me to "the shop" in Saint Paul, Grand Performance. I have had a seriously loyal relationship with this shop, but I didn't know it would happen then... What was awesome about this shop was the consignment bikes. I was entralled with the array of racing steeds, hanging all over the shop, with prices that seemed in reach. I vowed to buy one of these bikes and replace my Rayleigh, which while infinitely better than the Huffy, was not a "racing bike".

I applied to work as a mechanic/salesperson at the aforementioned North Country Bike & Ski, at the suggestion of Mike. They told me to come back the next day. I came in and hung out. They told me to come in the next day. This went on for about a week. Finally, Joe, one of the managers, took me to the back of the shop, pointed at a big cardboard box, and said, "assemble that bike in less than 30 minutes. If I can ride it, and everything works, you can have a job." He then sat on the counter, and started a stop watch. I had never been the back of a bike shop. There were strange and wicked looking tools everywhere. I'd never seen a bike stand. And, upon opening the box, I was sure I would fail. It was a Trek 820 - Mountain Bike! I'd never touched a mountain bike. In fact, I think the only ones I had seen were during the previous week loitering around the shop. But, I pulled out the partially assembled contraption, and noticed that the bike stand had a clamp that looked like it might hold on to the top tube. I put it in and clamped it down. Joe said, "Interesting." I tried not to notice. It must have been obvious I had no idea what I was doing. But, I gave it my all. I somehow figured out cantilever brakes, adjusting the pads so they didn't squeak. I adjusted the derailleurs, which were "indexed" - I had heard of this, but having only used friction shifting, I struggled a bit until I discovered the cable tension barrel adjuster. Anyway, I got the thing together, minus air in the tires, right when Joe called, "Time's up." He allowed me to fill the tires, using the compressor. I am sure I pumped them up to something like 50 psi, and was only lucky that I bumped the valve with my foot - otherwise the tube would have blown not long after. Joe took the bike out the back and disappeared. He came back, about 5 minutes later, riding a wheelie through the front door. When he got back to me, where my jaw was on the floor, he said calmly, "OK. you're hired. Come back tomorrow - you'll work 10 - 2, 3 days a week, and 10-5 on Sundays."

I was in!

I saved everything I earned. I think my Mom still has my first paycheck for about $120 dollars. Once I made it to $500, I asked my mom to drive me to Grand Performance. I was going to get a racing bike! When we got there, the shop manager Dan (who is now the owner), measured me up and announced that I needed a 54 cm frame. There were three to choose from, but only one in my price range. I bought a green and white Centurion "Ironman Dave Scott" (I had no idea who that was at the time) with Shimano 600 (Ultegra nowadays) and Look clipless pedals. I bought some Lake shoes, and since you got a discount on the bike if you joined the shop's racing team, I joined the team and got a jersey. My wife can still fit this jersey, and even wore it to her first race - again, that's another story...

On this bike, I was a menace. I trained like a fiend. I once rode 62 miles, by myself, with one water bottle and a snickers bar, in just over three hours (I would be extermely happy with this performance, even today). I still rode with Allen, but soon started leaving him in the dust (hey, we were teenage boys, best friends, but we still competed for everything). Our rides to Stillwater became crazy hill-fests, where we would do repeats of the infamous Myrtle Hill, after eating the french toast (which sometimes wanted to come up each time we reached the summit).

September, 1989: I entered a crit race in Minneapolis racing with the Juniors, and had one teammate - the previously mentioned Mike Plante. Two laps into the crit, it started sleeting on us. I laughed maniacally, and attacked the field. I nearly lapped them after being off the front for about 10 laps, and was feeling awesome, but then I got a horrible cramp in my right hamstring. I tried to pedal with only the left leg, but it was agonizing. The field caught me, and passed me. I dropped out right after they lapped me. Two laps later, Mike sprinted for 4th place. Mom took me home.

June 1990 - I entered the Iowa race weekend - it began with a street sprint. It was a one block sprint, in heats. The top two advanced to participate in the criterium later that day, followed by a road race the next day. We didn't have enough time for the whole weekend, so I was hoping to place well enough to get in the crit. I asked an adult rider on my team what gearing to use, but he rudely replied, "You figure it out." He must have thought I was in his category, which is ridiculous, since I was a junior, but maybe he couldn't tell with the helmet and sunglasses on. So I started in the big ring (52, which for all I know may have been illegal for juniors at the time) and the 14 in back. The gun went off, and the other 4 riders flew away from me. I was so overgeared, but somehow I managed to pass all but the first two by the end of the block. End of my race weekend.

However, that spring, I had met another Junior rider, Chris, whose mother became friends with my own. He and I rode together often, and he asked me if I thought I could go to a junior cycling camp in Wisconsin, run by the 7-Eleven team. I asked my mom, and she said it was way too expensive ($700 for the week, plus she'd have to drive me to Madison and pick me up a week later). I asked if I could do it, if I paid for it. She agreed, especially when Chris's mom offered to drive us there, if my Mom would pick us up a the end of the camp.

Chris and I were so excited. The camp was going to be staffed by members of the 7-Eleven team! When we arrived, we were greeted by Tom Schuler, Chris Carmichael, and a woman whose name escapes me (sorry!). The camp consisted of a ride each morning and skills clinic in the afternoon. The first day we had to do a time trial to seed us into four groups. We started alphabetically, and right when we got to the S's, the weather changed dramatically from calm and sunny to windy with thunderstorms. They started us 30 seconds apart, instead of a minute for the earlier riders, and even though I rode my heart out, the cross wind was terrible. I was sad to learn that afternoon that I was in the 3rd group, while Chris (whose last name started with G) made the second group. The 1st group was composed of much older boys, and as far as I recall, there were no girls. That evening I beat a kid in the 2nd group in a chess game that was apparently the highlight of the day - the kid I played was a complete jerk, but since he was a solid rider, people wanted to see him "put in his place" in some way other than on the bike. I still remember the cheer when I checkmated him.

Next morning we had breakfast, cafeteria style. We were told that since the Superweek series of races was going on (now called the International Cycling Classic, which is good, since "Superweek" was actually two weeks long), we could include one of the races in our camp. I didn't have enough money to enter a race, and was totally intimidated by the field sizes. The juniors field appeared to be over 50 riders, and was insanely fast. I don't remember a lot of the camp, except for three incidents. First, we did go to cheer for a couple of our camp-mates in the races. We screamed our lungs out for Neil, who attempted a solo breakaway on the first lap of a crit (Sheyboygan?) and stayed away until the bell lap. But, he scored a bunch of primes. And then there was Ian, who was 18. This guy was in the final 10 riders sprinting for the line, when the two guys in front of him touch wheels and go down. Ian has nothing to do but crash, right? No way - Ian bunny hopped both a bike and the rider laying under it, and won the race. Standing right next to me, screaming a the top of her lungs, was sixteen year old phenom Dede Demet (now Dede Barry, retired awesome racer). We all had an immense crush on her, and Neil even had the guts to ask her out that day - she declined. The final incindent that sticks out in my mind was the last training ride, which included some crazy hill repeats up to a water tower. What was amazing about this day was that I stuck on Tom Schuler's wheel for every repeat, and managed to beat him in the sprint for the top on the last repeat. He told me something along the lines of "you sure can climb hills for a midwesterner!"

September 1990: With no guidance for racing, and an increasing interest in females taking serious hold, I stopped racing. I continued to ride a lot, but did not enter any more bicycle races until I was an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota.

Time to end this post - the next chapter will be "The College Years"...

Mom, if you're reading this - do we still have any pictures of me racing as a junior? (She just found the price tag from the Centurion the other day, which brought back some serious memories)

2006-08-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

It's Official
I am now middle aged. I found a grey hair. On my arm. Not on my head. I studied it for at least 10 minutes while I waited for the bus to ascertain whether or not it is bleached-blond from the sun, or an actual, honest-to-goodness, well earned by life experience, grey hair.

Then I found another on the other arm.

Thankfully, I recently shaved my legs so as to maintain my elitist standing among the recreational cyclists on the Sammamish River Trail (a.k.a., the Burke Gilman Trail). While I was at it, I shaved my chest and back (this required help). It's amazing how much stronger you look without all that body hair covering it up. So, the lack of body hair relieves me of finding any more greys (I plucked the two arm hairs).

Is this because I am back in the corporate world?

2006-07-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

It is high time I started blogging again. I have at least one reader out there, and she is very tired of Chuck Norris facts!

Part 1: How to find yourself a service that doesn't violate your ethics.

Recently Bree and I wanted to join the world of in-the-mail movie rental. The obvious choise for us was Netflix, but my manager at work said they are right wing! He based this claim on a friend of his receiving right-wing videos just before the 2004 election, that upon contacting Netflix, was told "They are on the house." He cancelled his subscription. Now, from what I have found since then, this is an isolated incident. Why didn't we choose Blockbuster? The association with Viacom meant they were at least whacko pro-lifers at the executive level, but tonight my buddy tells me they split up long ago. So, here we are with a Netflix subscription, and I am confused about whether I can support giving them my money.

Why do I care? It is simple - if I can choose to give my money to a good enough service provider (e.g., movie rental) that supports causes I believe in, and none that I do not, then I will choose that one. But how to find out? Part Two of this blog entry will explore some basic ways to find out if you should stop going to that favorite restaurant chain (e.g. Chipotle before they split with McDonald's), or stop buying from Whole Foods (are they really the Wal-Mart of organic grocers?), etc.

I will try to post back sooner this time...thanks for your patience!

2006-01-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

This may be the funniest thing I have ever read:
http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

In other news: it is still too warm for winter.

2006-01-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

Dubya and the Weather
I blame King George for this lame Minnesota winter. In the three winters we have experienced since our return from Redmond, we have gotten either no snow with cold snaps that lasted a short time, or a bit more snow and rain with temps so warm any snow goes away in a hurry. And now, with last year being one of the warmest on record, we are looking at a super lame winter. (note: I like a cold and snowy winter - it means you can actually do winter stuff, which I like) The forecast for this coming Wednesday is in the mid 40's!

How can I blame W? Let's compare data from Minneapolis from
January 8th for the past 11 years:


Year     Actual High          Departure
1996     21 F                     +0
1997     28 F                     +7
1998     36 F                     +15
1999     10 F                     -11
2000     37 F                     +16

2001     23 F                     +2
2002     45 F                     +24 (record)
2003     54 F                     +33 (record)
2004     20 F                     -1
2005     20 F                     -1
2006     34 F                     +13

Now, you might argue that during those five years of Clinton we had some above average temps, but you'd be forgetting about El Nino (1998 was one of the warmest on record). I think that the two record days speak for themselves. 2005 was one of the warmest years on record, despite Jan 8th being normal (Nature, Dec 21, 2005) and there's no El Nino effect. More climate digging reveals that we had a number of warmest ever winter days during King George's reign, whereas other warmest days are scattered throughout the record for the last 30 years. You could also argue that the climate moves slowly, but you'd be both right and wrong, as it can respond quickly. Face it - it's his fault.

We'll be moving to Seattle in a few months, and while this year looks to be better for snow in the Cascade mountains, last year's drought could spawn more. Dubya's administration discounts global warming and eschews pro-environmental policies based on establish science, claiming they hurt the economy. I only hope there's still time to correct the disastrous pro-industry, record-emission-pumping ways of this country's republican leadership. I want my winters back.

2005-12-07T10:35:00.000-08:00

Examples of the use of the decision graph:
Snowboard: this one is easy. I haven't used it in two years, and I intend to switch to skiing. The board is hardly used, is still current in model and features. Clearly then, we go with "get rid of" and it is "worth $" "to me" and "will sell locally" as this is Minnesota. So, I listed it on craigslist.com and got multiple offers within a couple hours. The first guy was a no show repeatedly, but the next in line was happy to come over from Wisconsin and pay my asking price in cash.

Jogging Stroller: Emy wasn't happy about it, thanks to fond memories, but it never gets used. It took a bit longer on craigslist, but still sold easily.

AD&D books: yes, I did play this game up until about 6 years ago. They sat and sat on craigslist, and so, my initial suspicion that they would "sell locally" was in fact in correct. So, I should modify the decision graph to point both directions between eBay and craigslist. The lot of books sold easily on eBay.

Box of wood scraps acquired by Bree: we used some of them, but had way more than we needed. Using the graph, we follow "get rid of" - apply own judgment and determine "worth $" to "somebody else" so Bree listed it on freecycle. It hasn't budged, even those there's been some interest. I think this one will soon follow the path of "nobody wants it" - "trash it".

in other news:
I got in my first cross country skiing of the season on the Como golf course. It was wonderful. I've often thought that we lived close enough to ski to/from the loop, but this time I tried it (for the return trip). It wasn't too bad, so hopefully this can be my new winter exercise program, in addition to the indoor climbing and outdoor ice climbing.

Emy is a sledding machine! Last year she got cold pretty quickly, and also she didn't like going too fast. Well, she is now the no fear kid. She even attempted to go down a hill standing up ala snowboard style. She only made it about ten feet, but then she just sat down and rode it out. We took her to some bigger, steeper hills on the Como golf course and she loved it. She had two major wipe outs, one of which she laughed off and the other was a bit too much of a face plant to be funny. But all in all I'd say she inherited her father's braveness (or lack of good sense to be scared)

2005-11-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

Out with the old - part one

Well, one thing about moving is that it helps you prioritize what you need, and what you don't. And then, among the things you don't need, you have another division - trash and stuff that might be worth something, to somebody. I have created a little decision graph to help you go through this process yourself.

Yes, of course you could update your own personal judgement when you learn that nobody wants the bucket of rusty nails so that perhaps for the next decision you might save yourself some work.

When you get down to it, it is pretty hard to go through all the work. But, if the stuff goes in the trash you are being unenvironmental, and depriving someone the opportunity to make use of it.

In part two we'll look at some examples of using the decision graph.

2005-10-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Long time no post
I apologize to the three or four of you out there who have been anxiously awaiting a new post. But, the good news is, I have something significant to report! I had a job interview with Microsoft in Redmond, WA, my former team, and accepted a nice offer yesterday. So, after wrapping up the PhD in early summer, we will be back in Washington and start the next (restart the previous?) chapter of our life. Emy has gone from being a little sad to a little interested, so hopefully we will be doing this move at a "good" time before she gets too settled in. I hope that the separation from her friends is less traumatic than it could be. All we can hope is that Washington is an exciting enough place that her good friends and their families might be interested in visiting us! And, we can hope that Bree's brother Dustin and wife Billie might continue the talk of moving to Seattle as well. Then, if we can find jobs for the grandparents, maybe our extended family will surround us once again? You hear me?

On my trip out there for the job interview, I had a great time with our friend Jeff. Highlights included chipping a giant brushpile with a Fargo-esqe chipper for like 5 hours, and going to an authentic tavern of the redneck kind. While there, I unseated the dude who had been running the pool table and took over for a short while until I was beat by a guy I can only call viva Las Vegas. In addition to fun with Jeff, I managed to see Tower of Power at Jazz Alley in Seattle with my old manager and friend, Peter. I'm not much of a jazz aficionado, but these guys were really great. It capped off the interview day in a fantastic way.

I'll try to get back to more regular posting. Really I will :-)

2005-09-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

Broken Flowers and Outdoor Learning
It's been longer than I wanted since my last post. Therefore I will give more bang for the buck. Two posts in one!

Outdoor learning
We had a parents night at Emy's pre-school - Dodge Nature Preschool which has to be one of the most remarkable environments for a preschool ever conceived. OK, there is a classroom environment, but it is open with ample floorspace, an indoor treehouse, lots of windows, and animals - Miss Chick (a chicken), Moe Pumpkin (a guinea pig), and Rocky (painted turtle?). There is a kitchen for cooking snacks, two sinks, a bathroom, dress up clothes, a couch for reading. She will have three teachers for 16 kids. One male, two female. When they aren't inside, the play outside (~50% of the 2.75 hours for each of the two days a week) in an expansive playground, hiking the trails through the nature center, visiting the working farm (hunting for eggs in the hay, learning how to milk cows and goats, collecting maple tree syrup), walking the boardwalk across the wetlands and ponds, gardening, and learning from both their teachers and two full-time naturalists about the animals, plants and bugs all around them. The goal of the school is to teach the kids to be environmental stewards from an early age. I sure would have loved this kids of school at Emy's age. If you're curious, check out the link above.

I should add that despite all the fun in and out, when asked, so far Emy's favorite thing she discovered when she had a "meet your teachers" event was the plastic, single strap, purple and pink high heeled shoes that were two sizes two big. However, she did really want to wear them outside for a hike :-)

Special thanks to Bree's parents, who generously pay for Emy's preschool costs, without which Emy would be stuck at home!

Broken Flowers and Bill Murray in general
After Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation, Coffee & Cigarettes (short skit, but very funny - RZA & GZA from Wu Tang Clan are served at a table by Bill Murray, who is "incognito") and now Broken Flowers, I have come to the conclusion that while he may be in danger of becoming typecast, he really, really rocks at the midlife-crisis, worn out, has-been swinger guy. Gone is the total smart-ass smirk and slurred speech from Carl in caddyshack, and well, every character he's played from the beginning up until Ed Wood, in which his transformation apparently began (I haven't seen it, despite also being a big Depp fan).

So, on to Broken Flowers - this movie perhaps takes the cake for his now bread-and-butter character. I laughed and giggled through most of the film, which means I am either nearing my own midlife crisis, or that it is just plain good. The film is directed by Jim Jarmusch, which generally means it might have some slow points, and feel more like a succession of short skits, but will ultimately be quite good. Dead Man is an important exception, and now also Broken Flowers - there is a linear plot with at least two constant characters.

In this film, Bill plays Don Johnston, an "over the hill don Juan". He gets tired of the Don Juan reference, and also the plays on his name. His Nigerian neighbor buddy, Winston, played by Jeffrey Wright (of Basquiat), who lives the opposite lifestyle with a family of five kids and "the perfect wife", helps Don in a quest to find out if an anonymous letter from an old flame contains the truth - that he fathered a son 19 years earlier. The story unfolds as Don travels the country visiting old flames in search of pink paper and a typewriter, often wanting to give up the search and telling Winston he's coming home, but ultimately seeking the truth. I won't reveal the whole story, but you owe it to yourself to find out.

I'll leave you with my favorite line "Couldn't you have rented me something I might actually drive? I'm a stalker in a Taurus!"