Very productive coughing right now. Some asshole bacteria/virus has taken up residency in my airways and I'm doing my best to get em out one cough at a time.
Gloucester day 1 in the books. IIRC Day 1 is always a high power watt fest. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
NO MORE STRESS
Fuck it.
Lets just have some fun.
Biggest race in the country this weekend. No some hipster tractor pull with cones in oregon might draw more absolute numbers, and there are a few old fast dudes who can crack the top ten at Nationals that won't be there, but in essence... this is the best, fastest, most talented, field on one of the most polished, professional, organized Venues in the country.
The production value is through the roof. This shit is going to be fucking awesome.
Esp if it is going to be a bit muddy.
Oh and White Park. First off - got a 30 min late start. No problem, should still get there before the 9am race to get on course before my 10am race. Nope. They were re-surfacing 93 there at the 101 split and traffic was stopped. 20-30 min delay as we all crawled through, piled into one lane, and i got there with 45min before the race. Oh well. Signed up for two.
I raced the 35+ first, had a decent start, but lost buckets of seconds at the barriers, first Carl asked Politely if he could come by on the left. Every time he does that all I want to do is stuff him in the tape. But usually I'll sort of try not to cut him off... too much, esp if I know it ain't working well, but if I'm not off the game too much, no, you don't FUCKING ASK TO GO PAST SOMEONE YOU ARE RACING, unless you're lapping them. Then that's okay. Then Doug and Matt came through. And Nick and I made a nice sandwich, two CyclcrossRacing.com dudes in our formal black and whites with three Alpine dudes between.
It was all I could do to keep going. The legs felt fine pedaling, but the getting off was agonizing. But I finished.
And since I had registered for the single speed race, well, lets get it on.
Executive decision made, i was racing in the orange suit for the single speed. The team sponsor probably didn't like it so much but man it was a hit with the spectators and photographers. I got more coverage wearing the suit than ever in the formal black and whites.
But I was also in excruciating pain. I couldn't walk without dragging my right leg with the hip. I could pedal fine, walk? Not so much. David Stacey came to the rescue, or not really dave but he got Peg to help asses and figure out how to make the pain slightly more bearable for the second race.
I got some Kinesio tape (had to stick it on the hair - sure - the one place i needed to tape up, no shave zone - yeah - it hurt taking it off), and i rubbed some extra strength store brand ben-gay stuff in it and all over my leg, and back and hip and everything (managed to fortunately avoid getting any on my balls). I ate a pile of pastries, drank some energy drink, had a Beer of the Gods, or maybe more than one, and lined up. I was fired up GeWilli. It was going to suck. But fun. Gearing? Dunno, it was one gear harder than I ever used in the geared race on the hill, probably could have gone down another gear even.
Lined up in the back. Blasted to the top 5-10 at the start, took up a ton of space, voodoo guy tried to muscle into my line, i might be skinny but I don't move so much if you ride into the side of me usually, and then lost a pile of time at the barriers. Baker was right there, I owned that little hill after the barriers, and then after the tree. So much fun. Made up all the time I lost on the barriers there the first few times through. If I hadn't had to slow down so much maybe i'd have cracked a place or two higher in the results.
Either way, it was fun. The whole just pedal harder, or spin faster, or fuck it - just coast, NO BRAKES, all that shit. Fun.
Then a couple guys back a bit made a comment as we were passing on a hairpin or something, 'lets get the guy in the orange suit!'
Motivation there man. A dude with a pulled groin, who can't walk, wearing a big [baggy] orange jumpsuit in the heat of the afternoon sun is kicking your ass, in only his second single speed race ever (first one was Nationals at Bend - way under geared, 100 meters short of making it on the lead lap). I was only 8th and there was Todd Pre, just up there in front, dangling, of course he could see me and if that isn't motivating you to ride hAHdAH what is?! One of those two that made a comment got on my wheel there for the last lap. But. I managed to go just hard enough, in the spots where you could pass that he couldn't. And I raced it to the end there, hit the twisties before the finish and unloaded the power, PEDAL THROUGH THE CORNAHS! And won that mini-race w/in the race. Could have done with a bigger gear, but hey. 8th was good enough to get some token "merchandise" prize.
Was great hanging out with everyone, chatting, talking, trivial to serious stuff. It was good. Always good.
Long ass drive home but hey - the old rusty race wagon went from the house to GMCX, and home, then driving everyone around all week in it, and then up to Concord, NH and home on one taken of B100. 100% biodiesel made by the guys at Newport Biodiesel from locally collected recycled cooking oil. Pretty f'n cool if you ask me. esp since B100 is about 40-70 (huge range in Diesel prices locally) cents cheaper per gallon.
Got a new GP harness in it this week, and put some different injectors in too. Total different story - what a mess (the injectors that is, the GP harness was very quick and easy) - might get into it if I can't sleep on Saturday night after the race.
40% and 60% add up to 100% right? no not quite. but if the 40%/60% chance of rain means it is raining the 40% of the day before/during our race, that'd be cool.
We'll see.
Just remember "stop thinking and go get that guy" that heckle works, unless there isnt' a guy to get, then the heckle is dumb and I start thinking about how dumb it is and i slow down even more. makes sense? yeah i didn't think so.
heddwch
G
Lets just have some fun.
Biggest race in the country this weekend. No some hipster tractor pull with cones in oregon might draw more absolute numbers, and there are a few old fast dudes who can crack the top ten at Nationals that won't be there, but in essence... this is the best, fastest, most talented, field on one of the most polished, professional, organized Venues in the country.
The production value is through the roof. This shit is going to be fucking awesome.
Esp if it is going to be a bit muddy.
Oh and White Park. First off - got a 30 min late start. No problem, should still get there before the 9am race to get on course before my 10am race. Nope. They were re-surfacing 93 there at the 101 split and traffic was stopped. 20-30 min delay as we all crawled through, piled into one lane, and i got there with 45min before the race. Oh well. Signed up for two.
I raced the 35+ first, had a decent start, but lost buckets of seconds at the barriers, first Carl asked Politely if he could come by on the left. Every time he does that all I want to do is stuff him in the tape. But usually I'll sort of try not to cut him off... too much, esp if I know it ain't working well, but if I'm not off the game too much, no, you don't FUCKING ASK TO GO PAST SOMEONE YOU ARE RACING, unless you're lapping them. Then that's okay. Then Doug and Matt came through. And Nick and I made a nice sandwich, two CyclcrossRacing.com dudes in our formal black and whites with three Alpine dudes between.
It was all I could do to keep going. The legs felt fine pedaling, but the getting off was agonizing. But I finished.
And since I had registered for the single speed race, well, lets get it on.
Executive decision made, i was racing in the orange suit for the single speed. The team sponsor probably didn't like it so much but man it was a hit with the spectators and photographers. I got more coverage wearing the suit than ever in the formal black and whites.
But I was also in excruciating pain. I couldn't walk without dragging my right leg with the hip. I could pedal fine, walk? Not so much. David Stacey came to the rescue, or not really dave but he got Peg to help asses and figure out how to make the pain slightly more bearable for the second race.
I got some Kinesio tape (had to stick it on the hair - sure - the one place i needed to tape up, no shave zone - yeah - it hurt taking it off), and i rubbed some extra strength store brand ben-gay stuff in it and all over my leg, and back and hip and everything (managed to fortunately avoid getting any on my balls). I ate a pile of pastries, drank some energy drink, had a Beer of the Gods, or maybe more than one, and lined up. I was fired up GeWilli. It was going to suck. But fun. Gearing? Dunno, it was one gear harder than I ever used in the geared race on the hill, probably could have gone down another gear even.
Lined up in the back. Blasted to the top 5-10 at the start, took up a ton of space, voodoo guy tried to muscle into my line, i might be skinny but I don't move so much if you ride into the side of me usually, and then lost a pile of time at the barriers. Baker was right there, I owned that little hill after the barriers, and then after the tree. So much fun. Made up all the time I lost on the barriers there the first few times through. If I hadn't had to slow down so much maybe i'd have cracked a place or two higher in the results.
Either way, it was fun. The whole just pedal harder, or spin faster, or fuck it - just coast, NO BRAKES, all that shit. Fun.
Then a couple guys back a bit made a comment as we were passing on a hairpin or something, 'lets get the guy in the orange suit!'
Motivation there man. A dude with a pulled groin, who can't walk, wearing a big [baggy] orange jumpsuit in the heat of the afternoon sun is kicking your ass, in only his second single speed race ever (first one was Nationals at Bend - way under geared, 100 meters short of making it on the lead lap). I was only 8th and there was Todd Pre, just up there in front, dangling, of course he could see me and if that isn't motivating you to ride hAHdAH what is?! One of those two that made a comment got on my wheel there for the last lap. But. I managed to go just hard enough, in the spots where you could pass that he couldn't. And I raced it to the end there, hit the twisties before the finish and unloaded the power, PEDAL THROUGH THE CORNAHS! And won that mini-race w/in the race. Could have done with a bigger gear, but hey. 8th was good enough to get some token "merchandise" prize.
Was great hanging out with everyone, chatting, talking, trivial to serious stuff. It was good. Always good.
Long ass drive home but hey - the old rusty race wagon went from the house to GMCX, and home, then driving everyone around all week in it, and then up to Concord, NH and home on one taken of B100. 100% biodiesel made by the guys at Newport Biodiesel from locally collected recycled cooking oil. Pretty f'n cool if you ask me. esp since B100 is about 40-70 (huge range in Diesel prices locally) cents cheaper per gallon.
Got a new GP harness in it this week, and put some different injectors in too. Total different story - what a mess (the injectors that is, the GP harness was very quick and easy) - might get into it if I can't sleep on Saturday night after the race.
40% and 60% add up to 100% right? no not quite. but if the 40%/60% chance of rain means it is raining the 40% of the day before/during our race, that'd be cool.
We'll see.
Just remember "stop thinking and go get that guy" that heckle works, unless there isnt' a guy to get, then the heckle is dumb and I start thinking about how dumb it is and i slow down even more. makes sense? yeah i didn't think so.
heddwch
G
one of those things I wished i'd written
But i didn't. I think my ability to write anything that would get even a touch of circulation is seriously lacking. This is a poop fest of old dude craziness here.
But Ryan wrote something about heckling. Chances are you've seen the link already, if not? Go read it here.
I like the heckles. Not such a fan of "you're going great!" "you look good" esp when there are three guys behind me on the lead lap and i'm feeling like shit and my form has gone out the window.
Creativity is good. Throwing stuff? Bad. And in general, if you know the person, you have something to draw on to heckle them with some creativity.
Ryan hit all the main rules though. I do like knowing there is someone right up there when I'm feeling good. WHen I'm feeling like shit, having someone yell that i'm gonna get lapped if i don't start racing is actually pretty damn helpful.
Mostly? Just tell me to turn off the brain and PEDAL HAHDAH.
Jens says "shut up legs"
GeWilli needs to say "Shut up brain" and "stay positive" although negative heckling seems to push me in a positive racing direction where as positive heckling pushes me in the bad racing over thinking self doubt direction - not making any sense am i?
GeWilli's brain is broken, legs are strong.
There's a scary chance that I'll have to walk the barriers again tomorrow... could blow the whole season right there.
Throat is sore, trying to balance stresses and stuff may have pushed me over the edge, that or it has taken a long time for me to wear down and catch what the rest of the family did.
Raining there today - chance of showers this weekend, passing rain, will the course be dry? or wet?
Will the massacre be muddy?
Who will survive?
we will find out soon enough
g
But Ryan wrote something about heckling. Chances are you've seen the link already, if not? Go read it here.
I like the heckles. Not such a fan of "you're going great!" "you look good" esp when there are three guys behind me on the lead lap and i'm feeling like shit and my form has gone out the window.
Creativity is good. Throwing stuff? Bad. And in general, if you know the person, you have something to draw on to heckle them with some creativity.
Ryan hit all the main rules though. I do like knowing there is someone right up there when I'm feeling good. WHen I'm feeling like shit, having someone yell that i'm gonna get lapped if i don't start racing is actually pretty damn helpful.
Mostly? Just tell me to turn off the brain and PEDAL HAHDAH.
Jens says "shut up legs"
GeWilli needs to say "Shut up brain" and "stay positive" although negative heckling seems to push me in a positive racing direction where as positive heckling pushes me in the bad racing over thinking self doubt direction - not making any sense am i?
GeWilli's brain is broken, legs are strong.
There's a scary chance that I'll have to walk the barriers again tomorrow... could blow the whole season right there.
Throat is sore, trying to balance stresses and stuff may have pushed me over the edge, that or it has taken a long time for me to wear down and catch what the rest of the family did.
Raining there today - chance of showers this weekend, passing rain, will the course be dry? or wet?
Will the massacre be muddy?
Who will survive?
we will find out soon enough
g
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Holy week started
Without me. Looks like everyone had a damn good time racing their ass off last night.
Gloucester coming up.
still not 100% confident in the leg.
no chance to write the White Park Race Report.
i know it is more or less expected that I turn up the loud volume, bomb the shit out of this place with enthusiastic bullshit writing. not feeling it right now.
focusing on the builder ball images that are going up.
I will probably have a run of limited prints for sale 12x18ish size mounted to take home at the end of the Ball, if there's the demand I can always have more printed and shipped/delivered somewhere in NECX.
opening for the two images in the Edible Nanoscape collection will be happening in November, the 1st or 15th i think. I'll have details when that is fully official and I have the post card in hand.
It is bad. This year i can't seem to get into a structured training routine at all. Not even close to anything resembling an interval, long or short. I haven't even had the trailer out with rocks in almost a month, maybe just three weeks, i dunno, long ago enough that I have no clue when it was.
oh well, season just started right? I have time, sort of, not really. Oh well. it is what is is, nothing more.
heddwch
G
Gloucester coming up.
still not 100% confident in the leg.
no chance to write the White Park Race Report.
i know it is more or less expected that I turn up the loud volume, bomb the shit out of this place with enthusiastic bullshit writing. not feeling it right now.
focusing on the builder ball images that are going up.
I will probably have a run of limited prints for sale 12x18ish size mounted to take home at the end of the Ball, if there's the demand I can always have more printed and shipped/delivered somewhere in NECX.
opening for the two images in the Edible Nanoscape collection will be happening in November, the 1st or 15th i think. I'll have details when that is fully official and I have the post card in hand.
It is bad. This year i can't seem to get into a structured training routine at all. Not even close to anything resembling an interval, long or short. I haven't even had the trailer out with rocks in almost a month, maybe just three weeks, i dunno, long ago enough that I have no clue when it was.
oh well, season just started right? I have time, sort of, not really. Oh well. it is what is is, nothing more.
heddwch
G
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
digging through looking for stuff
George Carlin's new rules posted up here way back in 2007:
So good, SO GOOD! Still
New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates dot com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.
New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout?
New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.
New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're a retard. When you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. When you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.
New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.
New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water.
New Rule: Stop f***ing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.
New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," Oooh, you're a huge asshole.
New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, selecting 'Debit,' entering my PIN, pressing 'Enter,' verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing 'Enter' again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.
New Rule: Girls, just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.
New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."
New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two.
New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.
New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.
So good, SO GOOD! Still
By George Carlin:
New Rule: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for classmates dot com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 25 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.
New Rule: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, it cost less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout?
New Rule: Stop saying that teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.
New Rule: If you need to shave and you still collect baseball cards, you're a retard. When you're a kid, the cards are keepsakes of your idols. When you're a grown man, they're pictures of men.
New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.
New Rule: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water.
New Rule: Stop f***ing with old people. Target is introducing a redesigned pill bottle that's square, with a bigger label. And the top is now the bottom. And by the time grandpa figures out how to open it, his ass will be in the morgue. Congratulations, Target, you just solved the Social Security crisis.
New Rule: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," Oooh, you're a huge asshole.
New Rule: I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, selecting 'Debit,' entering my PIN, pressing 'Enter,' verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want cash back, and pressing 'Enter' again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy.
New Rule: Girls, just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. It's right above the crack of your ass. And it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You're just high.
New Rule: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."
New Rule: I don't need a bigger mega M&M. If I'm extra hungry for M&Ms, I'll go nuts and eat two.
New Rule: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is that the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.
New Rule: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Who will survive?
The lengths we go through... just to try and survive the Stage Fort Park Massacre every year.
This is no ordinary race. This is no ordinary course.
This is legend in the making. Year in, year out. The best in the world show up. Rainbow stripes and all. National Champions in the race, some have many former national champions. All are fast.
The slow races are packed full. You have a bad start, get stuck in the back, get caught behind a crash and kiss your hopes of a good finish good bye.
This is no sissy course. This race demands everything of you. But it can give back so much more.
The massacre at Stage Fort Park. It will be. Bodies may get broken. Bikes destroyed. Souls crushed and points accumulated.
How much faster can you go up that hill. Do you unload everything in hopes of recovering? or do you save a bit.
Which line do you take in traffic, how to you keep moving forward without blowing up unless you're the strongest and can ride away from everyone?
The stage fort park race... it is legendary. If you need instructions how to get there, you're not a local NECX racer. We don't need directions. We can drive there by heart, with our eyes closed.
Tent row. Expo center. Beer tent. The big fucking rock. The pits. The bike wash.
Where will we find you? You know where to find me. look for the tall guy in the orange jumpsuit.
See you there.
heddwch
G
This is no ordinary race. This is no ordinary course.
This is legend in the making. Year in, year out. The best in the world show up. Rainbow stripes and all. National Champions in the race, some have many former national champions. All are fast.
The slow races are packed full. You have a bad start, get stuck in the back, get caught behind a crash and kiss your hopes of a good finish good bye.
This is no sissy course. This race demands everything of you. But it can give back so much more.
The massacre at Stage Fort Park. It will be. Bodies may get broken. Bikes destroyed. Souls crushed and points accumulated.
How much faster can you go up that hill. Do you unload everything in hopes of recovering? or do you save a bit.
Which line do you take in traffic, how to you keep moving forward without blowing up unless you're the strongest and can ride away from everyone?
The stage fort park race... it is legendary. If you need instructions how to get there, you're not a local NECX racer. We don't need directions. We can drive there by heart, with our eyes closed.
Tent row. Expo center. Beer tent. The big fucking rock. The pits. The bike wash.
Where will we find you? You know where to find me. look for the tall guy in the orange jumpsuit.
See you there.
heddwch
G
2012 GMCX Day 2 (video)
So here it is. I guess I only lost a few spots with my tokyo drift.
Mentally checked out though i guess. or something.
at least the camera isn't all me
Mentally checked out though i guess. or something.
at least the camera isn't all me
longest 5 minutes ever
Waiting for the coffee pot to brew. Damn drip thing takes longest when you need it the most.
Such a wreck, such a wreck. Pull/re-aggravated the groin (probably should have done some running i guess, oops) last night helping to coach soccer practice. Haven't ridden the bike all week except for a random trip to the remote facility (very short). Finally on the bike.
not feeling terrible but man... i could feel better. So tired. But hey, that's the same song and dance i've been going around and around for years. Life. It is what you chose, you have to live with the choices, and they are often well worth it, and honestly bike racing isn't top priority. It feels like it is some times, I'd love it to be but it can't be at the moment. I know, two days in a row of complaining how wrecked I am.
oh
coffee is done.
watch this
New one for me there is the nail gun... i like it. But i try not to break the bottle removing the cap. Hard to drink it that way.
i'm gonna drink coffee.
Day 2 video is up now. will post it soon. Write up maybe as well. or not. Day two was typical suckitude. Head not in it for a few laps because I got in the oooo i'm riding around alone mode complacency. AKA not racing. But still managed to stay on lead lap (barely) despite just rolling around feeling like poop on the bike.
Coffee... mmm
Such a wreck, such a wreck. Pull/re-aggravated the groin (probably should have done some running i guess, oops) last night helping to coach soccer practice. Haven't ridden the bike all week except for a random trip to the remote facility (very short). Finally on the bike.
not feeling terrible but man... i could feel better. So tired. But hey, that's the same song and dance i've been going around and around for years. Life. It is what you chose, you have to live with the choices, and they are often well worth it, and honestly bike racing isn't top priority. It feels like it is some times, I'd love it to be but it can't be at the moment. I know, two days in a row of complaining how wrecked I am.
oh
coffee is done.
watch this
New one for me there is the nail gun... i like it. But i try not to break the bottle removing the cap. Hard to drink it that way.
i'm gonna drink coffee.
Day 2 video is up now. will post it soon. Write up maybe as well. or not. Day two was typical suckitude. Head not in it for a few laps because I got in the oooo i'm riding around alone mode complacency. AKA not racing. But still managed to stay on lead lap (barely) despite just rolling around feeling like poop on the bike.
Coffee... mmm
Thursday, September 20, 2012
the antithesis of last week
Last week was pretty much completely a perfect week.
This week? I haven't commuted by bike ONCE. NOT ONCE. I did get out for just about an hour on Monday for a light spin. Tuesday I did ride down to the remote facility but that barely makes 3 miles round trip. Yesterday? Nope. Today? Again maybe a trip or two to the remote facility. tomorrow? Maybe. MAYBE i can ride in. maybe.
Saw a quick preview of the Day 2 video. looks good. Mostly because it isn't my camera.
still not caught up on sleep from last weekend, and I didn't even stay up to watch cross vegas.
so wrecked.
so planning on getting my ass kicked at Nick's race. Y'all should consider going. Was a great course last year, sounds like he's made some sweet improvements. I'll probably still find some way to be slower than my potential but hey, i'm GeWilli... what the hell would happen if i actually started to race well? Would be boring.
heddwch
G
This week? I haven't commuted by bike ONCE. NOT ONCE. I did get out for just about an hour on Monday for a light spin. Tuesday I did ride down to the remote facility but that barely makes 3 miles round trip. Yesterday? Nope. Today? Again maybe a trip or two to the remote facility. tomorrow? Maybe. MAYBE i can ride in. maybe.
Saw a quick preview of the Day 2 video. looks good. Mostly because it isn't my camera.
still not caught up on sleep from last weekend, and I didn't even stay up to watch cross vegas.
so wrecked.
so planning on getting my ass kicked at Nick's race. Y'all should consider going. Was a great course last year, sounds like he's made some sweet improvements. I'll probably still find some way to be slower than my potential but hey, i'm GeWilli... what the hell would happen if i actually started to race well? Would be boring.
heddwch
G
2012 GMCX day 1 video
Nick put a bit of time in the editing studio to bring you the first video in the production series for the 2012 season
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
2012 GMCX... saturday's race
Okay so I should probably take a minute here during lunch to try and bang out at least one race, no? Probably not but I'm going to give it a shot anyway.
My memory is fading and I'm probably forgetting everything anyway. When the video is ready I'm sure there will be some corrections.
My memory is fading and I'm probably forgetting everything anyway. When the video is ready I'm sure there will be some corrections.
2012 GMCX: attempt #1
Vermont, Catamount... the real wake up call at the start of the season.
A predictor of the rest of the year sometimes.
The Catch 22 race, go and get destroyed, stay home and miss the insane intensity and pain and suffering.
Granted you can actually get out of the Catch 22 by racing and training in the summer. Last year went better with the TTs leading up to it.
But yeah I didn't.
A predictor of the rest of the year sometimes.
The Catch 22 race, go and get destroyed, stay home and miss the insane intensity and pain and suffering.
Granted you can actually get out of the Catch 22 by racing and training in the summer. Last year went better with the TTs leading up to it.
But yeah I didn't.
Monday, September 17, 2012
*slam*
hit the wall about 10 minutes ago
It is hard work staying on the lead lap, trying to stay with little guys like Jerry.
very sobering looking at the past results. oof, i have rarely gone well. The points this year probably got a bit tweaked with all the juniors, but hey - they all pretty much beat me, I deserve what I got. It ain't about the points. Have to remember that.
Matt Wilson and I battled back in 2010... he got the short straw and gapped me enough that I got lapped as he crossed the line. He had to keep going around... Last year might actually not have sucked so much, i dunno, i was a bit more prepared, TTs went later, more focused stuff even though it all went to shit at the end of august.
but man - the intensity of the racing. The Catch 22 nature of GMCX. Go w/o form and you get pummelled, stay home and you don't benefit from the pummeling. Yes, of course, the third option, show up WITH form and fitness.
Someday. Maybe.
now i'm just ready for bed...
It is hard work staying on the lead lap, trying to stay with little guys like Jerry.
very sobering looking at the past results. oof, i have rarely gone well. The points this year probably got a bit tweaked with all the juniors, but hey - they all pretty much beat me, I deserve what I got. It ain't about the points. Have to remember that.
Matt Wilson and I battled back in 2010... he got the short straw and gapped me enough that I got lapped as he crossed the line. He had to keep going around... Last year might actually not have sucked so much, i dunno, i was a bit more prepared, TTs went later, more focused stuff even though it all went to shit at the end of august.
but man - the intensity of the racing. The Catch 22 nature of GMCX. Go w/o form and you get pummelled, stay home and you don't benefit from the pummeling. Yes, of course, the third option, show up WITH form and fitness.
Someday. Maybe.
now i'm just ready for bed...
Well that happened...
Green Mountain Cyclocross. aka Catamount.
BRUTAL
Totally un-rested going into it, suspect fitness... what could go wrong?
Well not much I guess. Day 1 I had decent legs, Day 2, not so much. BUT. Looking back I'm pretty much on par or better than in the past at that place.
Catamount is tough. A test of fitness.
I was pretty drained and bummed on the 4+ hr drive home, not much better last night, again another night of poor/marginal sleep. Got to the picture factory to find most of the microscopes having issues, all but one are resolved at the moment, but got them stable and went for a recovery ride.
Despite the horrible getting there part, Once at Roger Williams Park, I tooled around for a bit, that place is awesome. It is cyclocross for me.
When we moved back in 2005, I found out nationals were going to be here. I was out of the loop. Completely. I was poised and ready to head down and spectate on Friday but the weather rolled in and rumor spread of them cancelling races. So I didn't make it until the weekend.
It was there at nationals, it all came back, the few years off the bike, away from Cyclocross came flooding back. I had no clue what I was about to get into here.
Short story made longer than need be, riding around that place has good juju for me. Last year was pretty close to the most suffering and pain i've experienced on a bike. But still. There is something pretty awesome about that place...
It put into perspective the whole GMCX event. Last weekend is awesome if you're coming off a summer of racing, good fitness and all that. If not? It is a death march of a race. Relentless hills, and if you can't recover quickly day two is always more of a shit show. Sometimes the legs come around, but not really.
Jerry said those who complained about day 2 probably were not going slow on day 1. Maybe i emptied the tank on day 1, no question actually.
It was empty.
The drive home brutal.
I'm sore everywhere but not in the debilitating way of the past. Now more of a, yeah I raced cyclocross this weekend. Got run over by a dumptruck.
There is rumor of some video production elements coming from our attempt as a team to race around.
I will do more full write up later, maybe. Now I want to take a nap.
But no rest for the wicked or the weary.
heddwch
G
BTW - photocredit me i suppose off of NickCz's ion camera
BRUTAL
Totally un-rested going into it, suspect fitness... what could go wrong?
Well not much I guess. Day 1 I had decent legs, Day 2, not so much. BUT. Looking back I'm pretty much on par or better than in the past at that place.
Catamount is tough. A test of fitness.
I was pretty drained and bummed on the 4+ hr drive home, not much better last night, again another night of poor/marginal sleep. Got to the picture factory to find most of the microscopes having issues, all but one are resolved at the moment, but got them stable and went for a recovery ride.
Despite the horrible getting there part, Once at Roger Williams Park, I tooled around for a bit, that place is awesome. It is cyclocross for me.
When we moved back in 2005, I found out nationals were going to be here. I was out of the loop. Completely. I was poised and ready to head down and spectate on Friday but the weather rolled in and rumor spread of them cancelling races. So I didn't make it until the weekend.
It was there at nationals, it all came back, the few years off the bike, away from Cyclocross came flooding back. I had no clue what I was about to get into here.
Short story made longer than need be, riding around that place has good juju for me. Last year was pretty close to the most suffering and pain i've experienced on a bike. But still. There is something pretty awesome about that place...
It put into perspective the whole GMCX event. Last weekend is awesome if you're coming off a summer of racing, good fitness and all that. If not? It is a death march of a race. Relentless hills, and if you can't recover quickly day two is always more of a shit show. Sometimes the legs come around, but not really.
Jerry said those who complained about day 2 probably were not going slow on day 1. Maybe i emptied the tank on day 1, no question actually.
It was empty.
The drive home brutal.
I'm sore everywhere but not in the debilitating way of the past. Now more of a, yeah I raced cyclocross this weekend. Got run over by a dumptruck.
There is rumor of some video production elements coming from our attempt as a team to race around.
I will do more full write up later, maybe. Now I want to take a nap.
But no rest for the wicked or the weary.
heddwch
G
BTW - photocredit me i suppose off of NickCz's ion camera
Friday, September 14, 2012
a wrinkle in the points
Boom just like that my points got 10% better. But I'm sure everyone elses did too. Yup, funny that, all the [not so] Old Masters just got way f'n lower points. All of them.
Copied from the web page:
In case you hadn't started checking and actually reading stuff there (but then you're here so you probably read the whole internet everyday anyway).
Impact me? no, I'm aware of the points and the impact of DNF'n but the two times I did last year i was defeated by the course mentally and running the excessive distance to the pits in either case on either on the last lap was enough to have me climb over the tape and shuffle broken back to the car.
But I like the solution, and the problem was there. Hope it works as intended. And DAMN we race in a FAST f'n region. At least based on points in my race. oof
heddwch
G
Copied from the web page:
The New Deal 9/13/12
The email has shown that the people demand a new points list, which means the season has started for real!
Fear not, my inbox, for it has been done!
What the people didn't know, of course, is that some "minor" changes to how the points list works were being made. The system had gotten more and more complicated over the last six years (oh wow, we're getting OLD), and more importantly, was starting to cause straight-up SHENANIGANS in the world. As in, people were dropping out of races to save their crossresults.com points. And while we like (no, love) that you're making mid-race decisions based on our website, we don't like the idea that we're encouraging anyone to quit. Dudes, it's just bike racing! Get a pit wheel and roll on! Your Monday will be so much FULLER, if you race onward in mediocrity instead of pulling ole' drop-out-and-hope-they-don't-list-DNFs.
MEDIOCRITY! EMBRACE IT!
So with that in mind, the NEW points list only considers your top 5 results out of your last 10 races for any ranking/prediction purposes. Which means you can RIDE SLOW AND DRINK BEERS a full 50% of the time without affecting your points. Yeah baby!
(We still have a hidden value stored that is your "old" points, and we do some backend stuff with that, but shhhhhh, I'm trying to keep this simple)
So, if there is any fresh wackness with your points, you should definitely let us know. Stale wackness we probably already know about.
In case you hadn't started checking and actually reading stuff there (but then you're here so you probably read the whole internet everyday anyway).
Impact me? no, I'm aware of the points and the impact of DNF'n but the two times I did last year i was defeated by the course mentally and running the excessive distance to the pits in either case on either on the last lap was enough to have me climb over the tape and shuffle broken back to the car.
But I like the solution, and the problem was there. Hope it works as intended. And DAMN we race in a FAST f'n region. At least based on points in my race. oof
heddwch
G
Thursday, September 13, 2012
tubular stretching tip
Sure - everyone has their own "special way" and Stu has his way and other have their way and what not.
But here's something I haven't seen. Hadn't encountered. Call it something invented. Or at least came up on my own in my own little bubble. I'm sure someone has done it before.
One alternative to my tip would be to have a pair of tubular rims totally free from any glue. I don't have that.
Anyway... So I got some new tubulars for the race wheels. Got them on tonight, should be all set for this weekend's double headed up in Vermont (as back up i have a car full of crazy clinchers with tubes and one set w/o tubes)
I was told that these tubulars really needed to be stretched to make it possible to put on. But i only got the tubulars on Tuesday. Getting the base tape well saturated with glue and stretching them at the same time presented a challenge. Tuesday night I got them on some old rims (still covered with glue). No big deal, glue has been dry and hard for a long time.
Once I got the first coat on the base tape, I wanted to get them back on the rim stretching. But I didn't want to reactivate the old glue and stick them to the rim.
So I ran two layers of heavy clear packing tape over the old rim, poked a hole for the valve. Worked perfectly. I had a choice of two rims, one a Campy Victory Crono and a pair for Grammo alloy cx tubular rims (front is out of commission - destroyed in a crash). The Grammo was a much tighter fit. Tighter fit = more stretch. And that's a good thing.
So glue - stretch, glue mount. The packing tape didn't stick to the rim at all, glue soaked right into the base tape. Was aweseom. They went on brutally easily. I had someone say it took popeye arms to get these Clement PDX tubulars on. Nope. Easiest Tires I've mounted yet. (I've glue piles of Challenge, some FMB, and Schawlbe).
Pretty damn straight, super clean, no belgian tape. just a bunch of glue and a secret that i learned from Peanut.
Ready to roll (well, not quite, i still have to switch the brake pads on the Black Blue and a couple other minor bits, not to mention load the car). Now I really hope the forecast for Saturday solidifies into rain! Lets see how these work on wet grass!!!
Heddwch
G
But here's something I haven't seen. Hadn't encountered. Call it something invented. Or at least came up on my own in my own little bubble. I'm sure someone has done it before.
One alternative to my tip would be to have a pair of tubular rims totally free from any glue. I don't have that.
Anyway... So I got some new tubulars for the race wheels. Got them on tonight, should be all set for this weekend's double headed up in Vermont (as back up i have a car full of crazy clinchers with tubes and one set w/o tubes)
I was told that these tubulars really needed to be stretched to make it possible to put on. But i only got the tubulars on Tuesday. Getting the base tape well saturated with glue and stretching them at the same time presented a challenge. Tuesday night I got them on some old rims (still covered with glue). No big deal, glue has been dry and hard for a long time.
Once I got the first coat on the base tape, I wanted to get them back on the rim stretching. But I didn't want to reactivate the old glue and stick them to the rim.
So I ran two layers of heavy clear packing tape over the old rim, poked a hole for the valve. Worked perfectly. I had a choice of two rims, one a Campy Victory Crono and a pair for Grammo alloy cx tubular rims (front is out of commission - destroyed in a crash). The Grammo was a much tighter fit. Tighter fit = more stretch. And that's a good thing.
So glue - stretch, glue mount. The packing tape didn't stick to the rim at all, glue soaked right into the base tape. Was aweseom. They went on brutally easily. I had someone say it took popeye arms to get these Clement PDX tubulars on. Nope. Easiest Tires I've mounted yet. (I've glue piles of Challenge, some FMB, and Schawlbe).
Pretty damn straight, super clean, no belgian tape. just a bunch of glue and a secret that i learned from Peanut.
Ready to roll (well, not quite, i still have to switch the brake pads on the Black Blue and a couple other minor bits, not to mention load the car). Now I really hope the forecast for Saturday solidifies into rain! Lets see how these work on wet grass!!!
Heddwch
G
A stroll on the bike
I was down at our remote picture factory location this morning. And since I was heading back up during lunch time I took a slow roll through the waterfront boardwalk thing in Providence. It is tidal but inside the Hurricane barriers, and pretty shallow at low tide.
early season prep
does it ever end?
quad cross was a good starting point but the wheel situation was a bit wonky. So it wasn't a true prep.
now? I have until tomorrow night to get my shit together for the start of the BIG races. Twitter rumor is that Willichowski did something like 385watts for 30 min and weighs 155 pounds right now. I'm sure Roger isn't far off, and where does that leave me? Desperately trying to stay on the lead lap i'm guessing.
Which i'm totally cool with. Maybe one of these days i'll get smaht and race category instead. But probably not.
quad cross was a good starting point but the wheel situation was a bit wonky. So it wasn't a true prep.
now? I have until tomorrow night to get my shit together for the start of the BIG races. Twitter rumor is that Willichowski did something like 385watts for 30 min and weighs 155 pounds right now. I'm sure Roger isn't far off, and where does that leave me? Desperately trying to stay on the lead lap i'm guessing.
Which i'm totally cool with. Maybe one of these days i'll get smaht and race category instead. But probably not.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Time to take it apart
The trailer that is. I managed to put two pair of wheels in there. But it was kind of not idea. Need to move the seat bars around. Looks like I can't easily just remove them, BUT, possibly the support can be flipped upside down putting the seat bar down at the floor level for both the two bottom supports. Remove the whole seat fabric and gain a ton of space. Should be able to easily put wheels with tires on in there then.
All I need to do now is rig a for mount bike tray to it and I can get where i need to go to say local races w/o the rusty race wagon. local races as in Providence. Oooo. Maybe the NBX race too.
All I need to do now is rig a for mount bike tray to it and I can get where i need to go to say local races w/o the rusty race wagon. local races as in Providence. Oooo. Maybe the NBX race too.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Quad Cross 2012
So leading up to the race and the morning of I pretty much bombed twitter, got a bit insane. Oh well... got it out of my system for a while. On to the race report of sorts... after the fold
Sunday, September 09, 2012
underway
i raced, wasn't last.
didn't feel terrible
success.
the drama surrounding it? certainly enough to take away anything gained from the race though.
writing, maybe tomorrow.
we'll see what the gods allow
didn't feel terrible
success.
the drama surrounding it? certainly enough to take away anything gained from the race though.
writing, maybe tomorrow.
we'll see what the gods allow
Saturday, September 08, 2012
it is time...
Season starts tomorrow. Going in totally unprepared (physically) but how can you not have fun in a Cyclocross race. Heading to Quad Cross early to hang out with my NECX family! Been a long time since we've all hung out. https://www.bikereg.com/Net/17078
Knee has healed up well (thanks in part to early ice and Traumeel), still a little sore and tender but shouldn't slow me down.
Somehow i'm supposed to be able to sleep?
WAY too excited for sleep
BIKE RACING!!!!!!!!!!
Commuter bike is even a passable PIT BIKE #OMG #WTF #FORREAL?
Even racing on clinchers WITH TUBES isn't bumming me out in the least!
still kind of need to try and get some i suppose.
Knee has healed up well (thanks in part to early ice and Traumeel), still a little sore and tender but shouldn't slow me down.
Somehow i'm supposed to be able to sleep?
WAY too excited for sleep
BIKE RACING!!!!!!!!!!
Commuter bike is even a passable PIT BIKE #OMG #WTF #FORREAL?
Even racing on clinchers WITH TUBES isn't bumming me out in the least!
still kind of need to try and get some i suppose.
Friday, September 07, 2012
pondering
prompted by this:
"I am a photographer. I make people immortal... What's your superpower?"
So we have amazing records that can always be extracted from hard copy latent prints. What happens if there is some big digital apocalypse? Are there any records to reconstruct the last 20 years?
Film, an indellible capture of the image, simple and not reliant of technology to project an image or visualize it, unlike a digital file.
No more legacy of books. They cease to become objects and thus lose the potential for immortality no? No book lasts forever, but if you start with 100,000 copies, one is bound to get lucky enough to be stored just perfectly. Thus preserving the record. How long do books last on the Kindle. When the Amazon server farms turn off, where do the books go?
Are we destined to be a bunch of cortical stacks that interface with new sleeves?
that certainly beats the current option of permanent deletion with our dirt nap.
shit i think about.
"I am a photographer. I make people immortal... What's your superpower?"
So we have amazing records that can always be extracted from hard copy latent prints. What happens if there is some big digital apocalypse? Are there any records to reconstruct the last 20 years?
Film, an indellible capture of the image, simple and not reliant of technology to project an image or visualize it, unlike a digital file.
No more legacy of books. They cease to become objects and thus lose the potential for immortality no? No book lasts forever, but if you start with 100,000 copies, one is bound to get lucky enough to be stored just perfectly. Thus preserving the record. How long do books last on the Kindle. When the Amazon server farms turn off, where do the books go?
Are we destined to be a bunch of cortical stacks that interface with new sleeves?
that certainly beats the current option of permanent deletion with our dirt nap.
shit i think about.
Confounding start to the day
Woke up, still tired, even though I slept well. I guess that's a start. Maybe can get more sleep soon. Would be nice.
Got everyone together, then headed out to ride laps with Derdowski on the GWHPCX course (GeWilli Haines Park Cyclocross). Got about 20 min of laps in, the new drivetrain on the black blue was working well. B-adjust screw needed about 2 turns in and I need to install a tension adjuster for the front Der but other than that, was nice. Functional. And that CX70 front der? Fucking awesome.
Got everyone together, then headed out to ride laps with Derdowski on the GWHPCX course (GeWilli Haines Park Cyclocross). Got about 20 min of laps in, the new drivetrain on the black blue was working well. B-adjust screw needed about 2 turns in and I need to install a tension adjuster for the front Der but other than that, was nice. Functional. And that CX70 front der? Fucking awesome.
East Bay Bike Path repair status
on the way home last night there was a bit of evidence of work.
not what I would have done but man I hope it works. We'll see. Hopefully they'll let the fill settle a bit before plopping some asphalt on there. Repairs to the path like that always suck. They can never match the interface very well. But better that than a big f'n hole.
heddwch
G
not what I would have done but man I hope it works. We'll see. Hopefully they'll let the fill settle a bit before plopping some asphalt on there. Repairs to the path like that always suck. They can never match the interface very well. But better that than a big f'n hole.
heddwch
G
Thursday, September 06, 2012
A bit wet yesterday
The bike path has had a bit of a problem.
Seems all of the water runs off the neighborhood streets and right down on the the bike path and rolls down until it can get off and head to the streams and what not.
One problem started developing a while ago. It started to undercut and wash away the side of the path.
Once the 'shoulder' was gone, the path actually started to disappear.
First a pile of gravel and dirt was dumped there. Next rain it was gone and the whole was bigger.
Then they put big rocks and more dirt. Ooops rain washed them away too.
Then they put pressure treated 4x4 with a drain cut out and everything. Looked wicked fancy. rain destroyed it.
More stuff. More attempts to fix.
Meanwhile the bike path just kept getting eaten away, bit by bit, crumbling asphalt into the hole.
yesterday morning was great. It was dumping buckets and the rain run off was flowing.
So i stopped. I was already soaking wet. Pulled out the waterproof camera and shot a few videos. This is the best:
Also a few stills.
yes that's the big white beast and my shitbox trailer.
Last night on the way home there were two big water filled plastic jersey barriers making a big V on either side of the sink hole.
This morning on the way in, Steve Church was talking to a tractor operator and I followed a dump truck that had just deposited a load, up the rest of the path.
The problem is pretty obvious to me. But then I grew up playing in streams and rivers alone, curiously seeing what happens when you divert or channel the water. It will go where it goes. We'll see if my solution ever happens.
I'm curious what they have accomplished today.
heddwch
G
Seems all of the water runs off the neighborhood streets and right down on the the bike path and rolls down until it can get off and head to the streams and what not.
One problem started developing a while ago. It started to undercut and wash away the side of the path.
Once the 'shoulder' was gone, the path actually started to disappear.
First a pile of gravel and dirt was dumped there. Next rain it was gone and the whole was bigger.
Then they put big rocks and more dirt. Ooops rain washed them away too.
Then they put pressure treated 4x4 with a drain cut out and everything. Looked wicked fancy. rain destroyed it.
More stuff. More attempts to fix.
Meanwhile the bike path just kept getting eaten away, bit by bit, crumbling asphalt into the hole.
yesterday morning was great. It was dumping buckets and the rain run off was flowing.
So i stopped. I was already soaking wet. Pulled out the waterproof camera and shot a few videos. This is the best:
Also a few stills.
Last night on the way home there were two big water filled plastic jersey barriers making a big V on either side of the sink hole.
This morning on the way in, Steve Church was talking to a tractor operator and I followed a dump truck that had just deposited a load, up the rest of the path.
The problem is pretty obvious to me. But then I grew up playing in streams and rivers alone, curiously seeing what happens when you divert or channel the water. It will go where it goes. We'll see if my solution ever happens.
I'm curious what they have accomplished today.
heddwch
G
Glue vs Tape
Yes, plenty of mechanics prefer tape and glue. Some guys I even had a pile of respect for. But I don't get it.
don't open the fold - really - don't - this is my way of avoiding a flame war
don't open the fold - really - don't - this is my way of avoiding a flame war
Wednesday, September 05, 2012
firetruck
it is still dumping buckets
used up all the wiggle room
this is going to be 'fun'
Just gotta 'jump in'
used up all the wiggle room
this is going to be 'fun'
Just gotta 'jump in'
spoiled
by how few days of rain i've had to commute in lately.
today was going to be car but, well nope, i had the schedule all wrong. Bicycle.
Might as well haul the trailer w/o rocks so at the least my bag stays dry (one nice thing about the trailer, even full of holes it still affords the contents pretty decent protection from the weather. Backpack on my back is not as waterproof as the old timbuk2 bag (which messes up my back apparently - who know), with rain this hard the bag gets totally soaked through.
I'm looking out the window now, at red level precipitation on the radar. Rain is coming straight down, the sound of it on the roof is drowning out the silence.
Of course it is a long narrow band covering the length of my commute, moving in such a way as to stay over the commute zone as long as possible. And yes, instead of getting ready and just heading out in it right now, I'm finishing my coffee and writing about it.
It isn't that I don't like riding in the rain, but there is always a reluctance to start. Sort of like that initial pause contemplating getting into a cold swimming pool. I could have put fenders on instead of writing but the first install is a bit fidgety and i have a selfish one on for now, at least i won't have a stream of sandy water running down my crack. That's enough.
WOAH
This little center is about as close to purple as you can get and still be red on the radar! Reduced visibility, overloaded gutters, localized street flooding, backyard swimming pool!
LOTS OF RAIN COMING DOWN!
how about that. live blogging of a micro-storm.
and i just zoomed out on the radar, this little trace of weather is one long string of rain. (not going to stop any time soon). And there are a bunch of them. Cambridge is about to get nailed too.
Yesterday I managed to dance between the rain drops. On the way in i only got caught by a bit of drizzle once i hit the city, and the way home? Dry except for the wet roads.
Payback today I guess.
No being lame.
No searching for parking only to have to walk 4-5 blocks in the rain.
Just going to put on some plastic clothes (plain old cycling gear, a kit, whatever, plastic - but not PVC rain shell, those are dumb).
Also, did you know that calling someone a moron who is really an idiot is a compliment?
heddwch
G
today was going to be car but, well nope, i had the schedule all wrong. Bicycle.
Might as well haul the trailer w/o rocks so at the least my bag stays dry (one nice thing about the trailer, even full of holes it still affords the contents pretty decent protection from the weather. Backpack on my back is not as waterproof as the old timbuk2 bag (which messes up my back apparently - who know), with rain this hard the bag gets totally soaked through.
I'm looking out the window now, at red level precipitation on the radar. Rain is coming straight down, the sound of it on the roof is drowning out the silence.
Of course it is a long narrow band covering the length of my commute, moving in such a way as to stay over the commute zone as long as possible. And yes, instead of getting ready and just heading out in it right now, I'm finishing my coffee and writing about it.
It isn't that I don't like riding in the rain, but there is always a reluctance to start. Sort of like that initial pause contemplating getting into a cold swimming pool. I could have put fenders on instead of writing but the first install is a bit fidgety and i have a selfish one on for now, at least i won't have a stream of sandy water running down my crack. That's enough.
WOAH
This little center is about as close to purple as you can get and still be red on the radar! Reduced visibility, overloaded gutters, localized street flooding, backyard swimming pool!
LOTS OF RAIN COMING DOWN!
how about that. live blogging of a micro-storm.
and i just zoomed out on the radar, this little trace of weather is one long string of rain. (not going to stop any time soon). And there are a bunch of them. Cambridge is about to get nailed too.
Yesterday I managed to dance between the rain drops. On the way in i only got caught by a bit of drizzle once i hit the city, and the way home? Dry except for the wet roads.
Payback today I guess.
No being lame.
No searching for parking only to have to walk 4-5 blocks in the rain.
Just going to put on some plastic clothes (plain old cycling gear, a kit, whatever, plastic - but not PVC rain shell, those are dumb).
Also, did you know that calling someone a moron who is really an idiot is a compliment?
heddwch
G
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
rocks...for brains
Me hauling the hoopty kid trailer full of rocks again.
Now if there was just a tractor pull division in CX that would be awesome.
Granted I think the work load is pretty close, my back feels like I raced after that effort to haul it in. The extra hills with the bridge detour route means two things. one, not riding like a pokey ass dipshit after crossing the washington bridge (I get to work sooner) and two MORE HILLS. Good or bad. Also more speed sections. But trailer.
I forgot what it was like to drag it loaded. Been a while. So much slacking in the trying to get fast department.
Today, Thursday, dragging trailer. Tomorrow (kid chauffeuring) and friday? who knows at this point. Saturday and then RACE? WHAT? Shit I'm so screwed. Oh well. Still no matter my condition i'm pretty stoked to race, been a long time.
Can't wait.
Long day today, in transition now, one more sip of coffee... and into the phone booth.
heddwch
G
Now if there was just a tractor pull division in CX that would be awesome.
Granted I think the work load is pretty close, my back feels like I raced after that effort to haul it in. The extra hills with the bridge detour route means two things. one, not riding like a pokey ass dipshit after crossing the washington bridge (I get to work sooner) and two MORE HILLS. Good or bad. Also more speed sections. But trailer.
I forgot what it was like to drag it loaded. Been a while. So much slacking in the trying to get fast department.
Today, Thursday, dragging trailer. Tomorrow (kid chauffeuring) and friday? who knows at this point. Saturday and then RACE? WHAT? Shit I'm so screwed. Oh well. Still no matter my condition i'm pretty stoked to race, been a long time.
Can't wait.
Long day today, in transition now, one more sip of coffee... and into the phone booth.
heddwch
G
Monday, September 03, 2012
The 30th ride... in words
Yes, at points on the ride, more or less after we left Firefly, or maybe it was already happening on Blue Hills after leading through from Cambridge to the end of River Road and when we hooked up with 138, i was indeed riding like a "pokey ass noob."
Tuesday and Wednesday are my long days. Generally full day at the picture factory with the microscopes followed up with a good 3-4 hrs working with an apron on at the bike shop. Tuesday isn't bad with Cameron there acting as a salesman. But Wednesday it has just been Paul and me from 5-6pm until close. No big deal. But this last week I was speaking about my picture factory at an all day event in Bristol, and i rode down there and back to the city and back home, before following up Wed with nearly the same schedule.
Wednesday I kind of started off messing up totally from the get go.
Tuesday and Wednesday are my long days. Generally full day at the picture factory with the microscopes followed up with a good 3-4 hrs working with an apron on at the bike shop. Tuesday isn't bad with Cameron there acting as a salesman. But Wednesday it has just been Paul and me from 5-6pm until close. No big deal. But this last week I was speaking about my picture factory at an all day event in Bristol, and i rode down there and back to the city and back home, before following up Wed with nearly the same schedule.
Wednesday I kind of started off messing up totally from the get go.
cue typical GeWilli overthinking
Finally got around to airing up and inspecting the race wheels (Schwalbe Racing Ralph Tubulars glued up to some carbon wheels).
And the base tape is totally separated from the tire in a handful of places. The tires were glued on extremely well though, that's a plus. I guess.
Racing on the 9th. Overthinking options.
And the base tape is totally separated from the tire in a handful of places. The tires were glued on extremely well though, that's a plus. I guess.
Racing on the 9th. Overthinking options.
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