Vermont. It was pretty much bottom of the barrel miserable on day two but day one and me placing IN THE POINTS means...
I HAVE POINTS
meaning all these big races?
I HAVE POINTS AND GET TO START IN FRONT OF EVERYONE WHO DOESN'T HAVE POINTS.
Points are hard to come buy, esp when the field is 60-80 deep. Points go down to 25th place. Sure VT was a small field but it wasn't a scrub field and I had a good race, and out sprinting Mukunda for 23rd place got me THREE POINTS!!!!!
After day two of gloucester there were only 28 riders in the field of 70 who had points. Day 1 fewer and I got a 3rd row start! Day two I was back in 4th row. No big deal.
BUT A HUGE DEAL FOR ME. I got a point or two last year at Sterling. And no, i didn't get points this weekend, but starting the race with points in a field this big, makes a difference.
True, true. Cronoman always says you wind up where you belong at the end of the race. The difference of being farther forward is undeniable. Less chance to get caught up in someone else's bad luck, bad choice, or bad line. And with the odd chance your legs are feeling not terrible, you may actually be benefited by the start position.
Day two was certainly better for me and I was 90 seconds or so out of a point. That's pretty much an eternity but compared to past track record? I guess last year i had a couple good races too. But they were muddy and I like mud and if this weekend were muddy, who knows what might have happened.
Anyway. Points are pretty damn sweet. And it feels pretty cool to get your name called up, when the rest of everyone behind gets called up by numbers.
Add to it I didn't realize we were getting called up with Verge points until we were at the start grid, very cool surprise.
Get to the race?
I suppose.
Back up, i got beat up, some knots taken out of the legs and the back loosened up a bit on Friday.
AND, AND I managed to sleep WELL most all of the week. Probably because i was so dead from the previous week.
Dragging ASS all week.
now? just a bit tired but no where near walking dead level of last week.
Got some secret training in on tuesday last week too. May try some again this week. We'll see.
So G-ster.
Dry. Hot. Hard packed. Like always. The only good grass on the whole fucking course was where we chewed the field up last year. Everything else was a fucking disaster, soooo many big rocks in all the racing lines in some sections.
But it was classic Gloucester. Like legit classic stuff. Some slight changes but all the major elements were in play and Saturday was going to be fast. Very fast. I was worried. honestly. Scared more like it.
No new elements, no Half Moon beach, no steep walled of a run up, no flyover. But there were a dozen sets of stairs it seemed on Saturday and SO MUCH PEDALING.
Pre-ride laps were not terrible. Found some good lines I was able to exploit during the race. Got all the proper warm up and flow and hit my well rehearsed check list right on the money.
Saw tons of people, totally didn't see others, some said hi but i couldn't place a name with a face (sorry, if I don't say your name right away i'm having a total brain vapor lock or i just can't put the face with the internet name/relationship).
And got lined up... and then it really started...
and will have to be continued later
heddwch
G
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
The big one
Is tomorrow.
Now normally sure i should write something about how big it is, how amazing the experience has been racing there over the years. How i've gone from a front row start to last row to mid pack to who knows this year (aka not caring, just accepting) is a story itself.
A better story is what Paully B has gone through over the last year. But thats one not yet to be told i suppose, maybe not by me.
My story should be about how i've tried to recover from last week this week. Gone to efforts... to well... try and regain what was lost with no sleep and no riding.
We are here and tonight is now. I still have to shower and shave. It is getting late i suppose, but at least it isn't terribly far away and the race not too early.
Twitter is what it is... sometimes you get gems that stand out. Tonight a friend wrote some good stuff
Now normally sure i should write something about how big it is, how amazing the experience has been racing there over the years. How i've gone from a front row start to last row to mid pack to who knows this year (aka not caring, just accepting) is a story itself.
A better story is what Paully B has gone through over the last year. But thats one not yet to be told i suppose, maybe not by me.
My story should be about how i've tried to recover from last week this week. Gone to efforts... to well... try and regain what was lost with no sleep and no riding.
We are here and tonight is now. I still have to shower and shave. It is getting late i suppose, but at least it isn't terribly far away and the race not too early.
Twitter is what it is... sometimes you get gems that stand out. Tonight a friend wrote some good stuff
Twas the night before @gpgloucester and all through the land
All the cxers were waiting for Ted King to try and ride the sand
Their tubulars glued to their rims with great care
In hopes that their trips to the pit would be rare
The cat 3s lay awake all night in their beds
While visions of a start-line pileup danced in their heads
Tire pressure was discussed at great length and in detail
Because of the turns they all hoped to rail
We checked the weather every day hoping for a flood
Because everyone but @boudreau_paul was hoping for mud
The beer garden was filled with rollicking fans
Less than 3 feet from the course, UCI be damned
I hope that you have a good race and Gloucester treats you well
Because otherwise your @crossresults points are going straight to hell
Monday, September 23, 2013
sorry 'bout it
the whole lack of posting lately,
i wrote a tremendous and long post on the airplane flying back to Vegas
about the adventures of Jerry, Rob and GeWilli and all those we hung out with that made it an awesome mid-week weekend.
but the phone ate it, or deleted it and
have been going non-stop since then.
and i think the flow and the content have dissipated a bit, i can try and find time but there isn't any.
I am going to take a few minutes and ignore a handful of problems, and write.
i wrote a tremendous and long post on the airplane flying back to Vegas
about the adventures of Jerry, Rob and GeWilli and all those we hung out with that made it an awesome mid-week weekend.
but the phone ate it, or deleted it and
have been going non-stop since then.
and i think the flow and the content have dissipated a bit, i can try and find time but there isn't any.
I am going to take a few minutes and ignore a handful of problems, and write.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Better GMCX report
I'm sure you've read it... But with the sort odd chance maybe you haven't. This is fuckn hilarious.
http://untilthesnowends.blogspot.com/2013/09/green-mountain-cyclocross-race-reports.html
That six to go card for him was my 4 to go. Oh shit. And his 80% was me seeing the junior leader coming and me hoping he was coming in to finish. Then when I got to the line... Before Peter did, I still had two to go. Meaning #1 I'm getting to ride one lap less, but all the kids are going to spend the next lap riding through me. But hey. I wasn't anywhere near bring lapped by the leaders in my race.
Unlike colon thank you autocorrect... I mean Colin, I had no legs. I knew it on the warm up. Well no legs compared to the day before. Not feeling exceptionally slow but I have crashed more on that day two course than most any other race. Those turns are in my head. Maybe I'll figure them out someday.
Problem is the day before sort of set expectations. And with Hubbell, David, Czerula, Boivin, and chaboom in the race pressure. Aaron and Gary were racing on fresh legs. Not good sign for me.
Whitey showed up too.
The start was actually really good for me but that was it. Everyone flowed around me there after that on the swoopy stuff. Head was just not in it. Hit the nut punch stairs and my legs felt like lead.
ON THE FIRST LAP.
And the short laps and the high speed turning just sort of got to me in a bad way and I tried. But could not manage to much.
Despite that total breakdown I kind of did what I normally do there. I sucked. Took me most of a scary tired drive home to come to terms with it, and get over the immediate feeling of being bummed.
Temporal blindness. Loss of perspective. Much better now.
ALSO I AM GOING TO VEGAS!!!!!!!!
writing this on my phone on the airport even. Marginally slower and less maybe but not as bad as I expected.
Heddwch
G
2013 [ENGVT] GREEN mountain cyclocross weekend
I started writing this yesterday. Got as far as writing the title. And then i of course had to change it just now.
It kicked my butt after a long week with pretty normal stress before the first road trip. It is always something.
But i managed to link two nights of good sleep together. Felt good. Guess I'm going to need it since I leave to get on a plane here pretty shortly for Cross Vegas. No. I am not bringing a bike. I am not racing. I may be pitting I may be helping but I'm not racing. I'm headed out for a bit of a vacation. Doubt it will be very restful but it will be a break that doesn't involve worrying about getting everything right for a race.
I'll save that worry for friday trying to get ready for White Park, that or i will just attempt to change the front brake pads and forget about pedaling.
SO HOW DID THE WEEKEND GO?
Saturday was off the hook awesome. Was fun. Had legs. Felt good on that course, the climbs were hard but didn't destroy me this year. The fast parts I wasn't as slow on as normal and I think i had most of the lines figured out. Good start, measured and relaxed. Held out in the zone with lots of people for a while. Second or third lap i slowed down for a second i guess but then felt stronger as the race kind of went on. Nick crashed big time right in front of snoop and it was pretty comical. took himself out going up hill on one of the zippers. He crashed clean off the course.
Come around past the pits after the barriers there was a big mud bog. Pre-riding i new the middle was dicey with a big wide deep rut, and the left was a conga line of 5-10 guys. Inside baby. I railed over to the inside and powered up and passed everyone who took the outside boggy line and then PVD tried to impale himself on a stake and held em up even more. Or he did that on lap two or something. Anyway, that section was my money maker. Gave me enough room to survive my shitty driving through the swoops over to the finish 'straight'. Usually Day one is a shit show due to legs or just being out of shape. or something. Saturday was my best ever result there and I got points. LEGIT POINTS!!!!
And the whole PVB battle. He kept me pushing it. F'n Nick killed it racing his ass off, no crash and he might have been able to give Curtis a run for the top billing on the team in that race.
Of course there was Mckittrick. Actually rode with him and Snoop for a long time then I slowed down or something stupid for a lap, and he got away, only for me to catch back up to him after an unfortunate bike change. AND THEN I PASSED HIM ON THE HILL? WHAT? And he passed me back somewhere else BUT THEN I PASSED HIM AGAIN AND SAID SEEE YA. As i heckled him saying "Dude if you don't stay on my wheel and beat me you will NEVER hear the end of it from everyone else." Sure enough. He wasn't able to. But man he made it tough. I was looking for that last finishing straight battle, as I'm pretty sure he was on my heels hitting that mud bog turn where I kept passing people and PVB tried to impale himself.
Last time through there, there was one guy leading through. took my line and then totally yardsaled across the course forcing me over to the muck that forced lots of people off the bike. TORQUE FTW. I managed to not run dude over or his bike and He sort of effectively gave me JUST enough of a gap to get through the swoopy stuff i sucked at before the finishing stretch.
So i get there. There's a light colored kit dude on my wheel. And he starts to sprint just when I thought he might, i was expecting Mckittrick, but it was a smaller dude. OH SHIT THAT'S Mukunda. Uh oh. GeWilli lit up the fuel map and matched his initial acceleration and then pulled a touch a way and Mukunda conceded but I pedaled my ass off and unloaded everything for good measure. And scored a verge point. And had a good race on a course i have NEVER EVER done well at.
Sure could have been better but man I'm super happy with it given the time of year and all that.
Sunday? well sunday... lets leave that for another time and focus on the awesomeness that was Saturday.
Right now I gotta get in the car and head over to the airport for a flight out to VEGAS. Me. Going to Vegas. Well it ain't Disney, and there's a big ass Cross Race tomorrow. And Interbike. Hoping to get into the show at least for a few.
But yeah G-ride and GeWilli gonna be lighting that shit up. What could go wrong?
updates may be happening, we'll see. going purely computer in the pocket, no keyboard. traveling light. Like holy shit am i bringing enough stuff? And of course i managed to be a total fucking moron and early in the day remembered i needed to check in for the flight and then got working on trying to switch a fucking broken "new" switch in to replace a broken old one and it not working frustrating taking apart putting back together no resolution.... kind of took me off the game and well I will be last on the SWA flight. But it is just me. lets see what sort of luck i have with seating.
Time to shove off and head over and sit around and wait for the flight to leave.
heddwch
G
It kicked my butt after a long week with pretty normal stress before the first road trip. It is always something.
But i managed to link two nights of good sleep together. Felt good. Guess I'm going to need it since I leave to get on a plane here pretty shortly for Cross Vegas. No. I am not bringing a bike. I am not racing. I may be pitting I may be helping but I'm not racing. I'm headed out for a bit of a vacation. Doubt it will be very restful but it will be a break that doesn't involve worrying about getting everything right for a race.
I'll save that worry for friday trying to get ready for White Park, that or i will just attempt to change the front brake pads and forget about pedaling.
SO HOW DID THE WEEKEND GO?
Saturday was off the hook awesome. Was fun. Had legs. Felt good on that course, the climbs were hard but didn't destroy me this year. The fast parts I wasn't as slow on as normal and I think i had most of the lines figured out. Good start, measured and relaxed. Held out in the zone with lots of people for a while. Second or third lap i slowed down for a second i guess but then felt stronger as the race kind of went on. Nick crashed big time right in front of snoop and it was pretty comical. took himself out going up hill on one of the zippers. He crashed clean off the course.
Come around past the pits after the barriers there was a big mud bog. Pre-riding i new the middle was dicey with a big wide deep rut, and the left was a conga line of 5-10 guys. Inside baby. I railed over to the inside and powered up and passed everyone who took the outside boggy line and then PVD tried to impale himself on a stake and held em up even more. Or he did that on lap two or something. Anyway, that section was my money maker. Gave me enough room to survive my shitty driving through the swoops over to the finish 'straight'. Usually Day one is a shit show due to legs or just being out of shape. or something. Saturday was my best ever result there and I got points. LEGIT POINTS!!!!
And the whole PVB battle. He kept me pushing it. F'n Nick killed it racing his ass off, no crash and he might have been able to give Curtis a run for the top billing on the team in that race.
Of course there was Mckittrick. Actually rode with him and Snoop for a long time then I slowed down or something stupid for a lap, and he got away, only for me to catch back up to him after an unfortunate bike change. AND THEN I PASSED HIM ON THE HILL? WHAT? And he passed me back somewhere else BUT THEN I PASSED HIM AGAIN AND SAID SEEE YA. As i heckled him saying "Dude if you don't stay on my wheel and beat me you will NEVER hear the end of it from everyone else." Sure enough. He wasn't able to. But man he made it tough. I was looking for that last finishing straight battle, as I'm pretty sure he was on my heels hitting that mud bog turn where I kept passing people and PVB tried to impale himself.
Last time through there, there was one guy leading through. took my line and then totally yardsaled across the course forcing me over to the muck that forced lots of people off the bike. TORQUE FTW. I managed to not run dude over or his bike and He sort of effectively gave me JUST enough of a gap to get through the swoopy stuff i sucked at before the finishing stretch.
So i get there. There's a light colored kit dude on my wheel. And he starts to sprint just when I thought he might, i was expecting Mckittrick, but it was a smaller dude. OH SHIT THAT'S Mukunda. Uh oh. GeWilli lit up the fuel map and matched his initial acceleration and then pulled a touch a way and Mukunda conceded but I pedaled my ass off and unloaded everything for good measure. And scored a verge point. And had a good race on a course i have NEVER EVER done well at.
Sure could have been better but man I'm super happy with it given the time of year and all that.
Sunday? well sunday... lets leave that for another time and focus on the awesomeness that was Saturday.
Right now I gotta get in the car and head over to the airport for a flight out to VEGAS. Me. Going to Vegas. Well it ain't Disney, and there's a big ass Cross Race tomorrow. And Interbike. Hoping to get into the show at least for a few.
But yeah G-ride and GeWilli gonna be lighting that shit up. What could go wrong?
updates may be happening, we'll see. going purely computer in the pocket, no keyboard. traveling light. Like holy shit am i bringing enough stuff? And of course i managed to be a total fucking moron and early in the day remembered i needed to check in for the flight and then got working on trying to switch a fucking broken "new" switch in to replace a broken old one and it not working frustrating taking apart putting back together no resolution.... kind of took me off the game and well I will be last on the SWA flight. But it is just me. lets see what sort of luck i have with seating.
Time to shove off and head over and sit around and wait for the flight to leave.
heddwch
G
Friday, September 13, 2013
what happened to this week?
Boom gone.
what to show for it?
no sleep (yeah back on the no sleep cycle again)
no training
I did finally get around to washing the bike last night. But washing bikes in the dark with poor lighting and nothing but a hose and a rag sometimes doesn't produce the best results.
But goal was to clean and lube the chain and put the SRAM cassette on the Zipps. One race and i had to improvise a chain whip to get the shimano cassette off. I'm not a fan of the alloy freehub bodies.
The SRAM cassettes do have more spline teeth so hopefully that will make a difference. But that's done at least.
Both chains are clean and since today was a drive in day, well they are staying clean even in the rain.
Except driving in i went light today. nothing to pack for lunch so I was just going to grab something.
Looks like I'm grabbing coffee too... left the coffee making stuff (the ground up beans) at home. After a night of little to no sleep, just lots of tossing and turning and all that, no coffee isn't good.
But i did get at least the grinding side of the rear brakes on the car replaced.
Of course it wasn't simple. Should have been. the actually brake pad replacing was simple.
But yeah the wheel was stuck. Drove around for a while with the bolts loose and the one i needed to do came loose. second and third trip had no success at knocking the driver's side one loose. Guess I go at that later, after vermont or something. Or find a bigger hammer.
Not packed for this weekend... food beer bikes kit... that's it.
the solo drive is going to suck something fierce at least on the way home on Sunday. But I know the way at least. just have to remember to grab the EZpass thing.
at least it is a somewhat slow morning here so far. busted scope is going on day 4 of service engineer making problems worse. nothing like the very last one in the territory and a scope from what? 1989? Probably assembled in 1990, but design is solid mid-late 80s. It was working. Now it isn't. But it did take out an super overpriced pressure switch on the facility air compressor. I gotta get that changed, some what complex to get it on, may mean removal of the pump from the tank to get the switch on and then all the wiring and stuff. not. this. morning.
The legs are going to be interesting this weekend. Heavy course sounds good, but i bet it drains super well. Only maybe thing we can hope for on the course (if they did actually get rain) is that it won't be dusty.
heddwch
g
what to show for it?
no sleep (yeah back on the no sleep cycle again)
no training
I did finally get around to washing the bike last night. But washing bikes in the dark with poor lighting and nothing but a hose and a rag sometimes doesn't produce the best results.
But goal was to clean and lube the chain and put the SRAM cassette on the Zipps. One race and i had to improvise a chain whip to get the shimano cassette off. I'm not a fan of the alloy freehub bodies.
The SRAM cassettes do have more spline teeth so hopefully that will make a difference. But that's done at least.
Both chains are clean and since today was a drive in day, well they are staying clean even in the rain.
Except driving in i went light today. nothing to pack for lunch so I was just going to grab something.
Looks like I'm grabbing coffee too... left the coffee making stuff (the ground up beans) at home. After a night of little to no sleep, just lots of tossing and turning and all that, no coffee isn't good.
But i did get at least the grinding side of the rear brakes on the car replaced.
Of course it wasn't simple. Should have been. the actually brake pad replacing was simple.
But yeah the wheel was stuck. Drove around for a while with the bolts loose and the one i needed to do came loose. second and third trip had no success at knocking the driver's side one loose. Guess I go at that later, after vermont or something. Or find a bigger hammer.
Not packed for this weekend... food beer bikes kit... that's it.
the solo drive is going to suck something fierce at least on the way home on Sunday. But I know the way at least. just have to remember to grab the EZpass thing.
at least it is a somewhat slow morning here so far. busted scope is going on day 4 of service engineer making problems worse. nothing like the very last one in the territory and a scope from what? 1989? Probably assembled in 1990, but design is solid mid-late 80s. It was working. Now it isn't. But it did take out an super overpriced pressure switch on the facility air compressor. I gotta get that changed, some what complex to get it on, may mean removal of the pump from the tank to get the switch on and then all the wiring and stuff. not. this. morning.
The legs are going to be interesting this weekend. Heavy course sounds good, but i bet it drains super well. Only maybe thing we can hope for on the course (if they did actually get rain) is that it won't be dusty.
heddwch
g
Monday, September 09, 2013
bike racing!!!!! OMG F'N BIKE RACING
I went.
I raced.
I had fun.
photo credit for this shot goes to Ginelle Czerula (this is single speed race, longer shadows and empty parking lot).
Either everyone else slowed down as much as I did from the end of the season (at maybe an arguable peak of my fitness) or i've not lost as much as I normally do.
And I raced TWO races and managed to only blow up half-way through the second, which is a feat itself. Cronoman always picks up on when i go thermonuclear. It happened in the singlespeed race. But still held on and one dumb mental error (opening up the inside of a turn while trying to block the rider behind) in the last almost time to finish section cost me two spots, but then if i had legs i'd have been much closer to the podium than I was.
http://www.crossresults.com/race/3233
That's the race..
I raced.
I had fun.
Either everyone else slowed down as much as I did from the end of the season (at maybe an arguable peak of my fitness) or i've not lost as much as I normally do.
And I raced TWO races and managed to only blow up half-way through the second, which is a feat itself. Cronoman always picks up on when i go thermonuclear. It happened in the singlespeed race. But still held on and one dumb mental error (opening up the inside of a turn while trying to block the rider behind) in the last almost time to finish section cost me two spots, but then if i had legs i'd have been much closer to the podium than I was.
http://www.crossresults.com/race/3233
That's the race..
Thursday, September 05, 2013
crossresults stuff
Kind of have had the good fortune that Colin's web site was here to document my return to cyclocross... Sure my first race was back in '97 which seems like not that long ago or compared to some of the old cranky masters to be like i'm still wet behind the ears in this sport.
and 125 races (minus a few mechanical DNFs or unreported races or something) since '06 when i got back to racing after the relocation to the east coast, they are all there.
I can go over and see a nice very slow progression in points.
But I can also see that I start the year slower and now recall that, oh boy, kiss these nice crossresults points goodbye until i get fast if i get fast this year.
The new Course performance feature is pretty cool. Looks like a tweak or two since their debut because I've improved a bit more in the wet and the hard conditions. And consistently suck at Green Mountain, the one with most hills. So yeah. Hill not good for me. SHOCKING.
But gimme some water? Oh yeah. Love me some wet slop. Probably due in part to trailer hauling torque and riding the white blue as a commuter with a rear wheel assembly (all but the QR) weighing 2.42kg
Course Performances
yeah... straight from the kind code monkey, or one of his minions.
This all brought on by the coming Quad Cross and thoughts of what race to enter. 1/2/3? or maybe the 40+ and Singlespeed... only single speed... the Singlespeed option only is a nice one but the double race is a better kick in the fitness nuts to start the season off with, however a full 60 minutes (or until i get pulled) racing the 1/2/3 is probably the best of both, in that it will be faster up front and more motivating (fear) to go batshitcrazy till i blow up. But the 1/2/3 means no singlespeed, but then no singlespeed means i don't have to think about trying to get shit together for it decide on gear and then i can just heckle the hell out of Jerry and the rest of the one gear gang.
And then there are the crossresults points.
Damn points.
I do not care about them but they are there. Can't but look at them. Sort of like... ah hell you pick your own colorful analogy.
Good think I have loads of time to ponder said question. Also I feel rather nice that I haven't needed to register for the big races, my fields are not empty but they aren't closed or full.
That and I have to race the Quad... too much of a system shock rolling into the grass of the slopes of Catamount w/o a race under the belt.
CXy time is here. Legs? Pfft, we'll see. Could be a disaster. But damn even the worst shit show results can be tons of fun.
heddwch
G
and 125 races (minus a few mechanical DNFs or unreported races or something) since '06 when i got back to racing after the relocation to the east coast, they are all there.
I can go over and see a nice very slow progression in points.
But I can also see that I start the year slower and now recall that, oh boy, kiss these nice crossresults points goodbye until i get fast if i get fast this year.
The new Course performance feature is pretty cool. Looks like a tweak or two since their debut because I've improved a bit more in the wet and the hard conditions. And consistently suck at Green Mountain, the one with most hills. So yeah. Hill not good for me. SHOCKING.
But gimme some water? Oh yeah. Love me some wet slop. Probably due in part to trailer hauling torque and riding the white blue as a commuter with a rear wheel assembly (all but the QR) weighing 2.42kg
Course Performances
 | HEY DO YOU LIKE MATH? I HOPE YOU LIKE MATH. So what we do is, we take all your results. Ever. Then we use some nonlinear regression to create a best-fit curve for your career's trajectory, based on the points scored in each race. The we look at each race result and see where it fell relative to that curve. This tells us if you had a "good" or a "bad" race relative to your normal performance. Then, we look to see how much the various course conditions (Technical, Hilly, Accelerate-y, Wet) correlate to you having good or bad results. Technically we do this by computing the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient between the two datasets. Lastly, we multiply the correlation coefficient ("R") by 20 so that we aren't showing you some boring number that is mostly decimals. In the vast hierarchy of things that are made up around here, this might be the most made-up thing. But it's still interesting. |
This all brought on by the coming Quad Cross and thoughts of what race to enter. 1/2/3? or maybe the 40+ and Singlespeed... only single speed... the Singlespeed option only is a nice one but the double race is a better kick in the fitness nuts to start the season off with, however a full 60 minutes (or until i get pulled) racing the 1/2/3 is probably the best of both, in that it will be faster up front and more motivating (fear) to go batshitcrazy till i blow up. But the 1/2/3 means no singlespeed, but then no singlespeed means i don't have to think about trying to get shit together for it decide on gear and then i can just heckle the hell out of Jerry and the rest of the one gear gang.
And then there are the crossresults points.
Damn points.
I do not care about them but they are there. Can't but look at them. Sort of like... ah hell you pick your own colorful analogy.
Good think I have loads of time to ponder said question. Also I feel rather nice that I haven't needed to register for the big races, my fields are not empty but they aren't closed or full.
That and I have to race the Quad... too much of a system shock rolling into the grass of the slopes of Catamount w/o a race under the belt.
CXy time is here. Legs? Pfft, we'll see. Could be a disaster. But damn even the worst shit show results can be tons of fun.
heddwch
G
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
words? Meh
Links?
yeah
http://sc-velo.com/2013/09/03/step-off-sucka/
there go read that
aka the reason why step through was there... also it is dumb.
super dumb.
but that's because
i'm Walter
and yeah...
anyway, probably true. I'm rarely wrong (but hell occasionally am) i'm an over thinking critical observer that tends to point out when shit is wrong and I guess people don't like that sometimes and yes...
I'm an asshole.
no surprise this song
probably should just be my theme song without an asterix
I try not to be but it was casually pointed out that generally there is almost no objection by anyone or by very few at least when i self describe that way. Honestly it kind of hurts because I am kind of soft and squishy and stuff inside but yeah, i see where it is coming from.
so switch to not asshole is Ezra. The anti-one. He is so the anti-asshole they took his out completely.
catch up
http://www.teachingcancertocry.com/
bidding ended on his assless and UTA bikes but catch the video and the story so far if you've missed it.
Got a nice ride in on Friday. Had coffee in boston, rode to the top of blue hill and home. then headed to farm...
not much riding outside of that though. Legs are going to be fresh maybe for Sunday, fast though? who knows.
i'll try and get back to writing more regularly sorry about the infrequent postings my friends...
heddwch
G
yeah
http://sc-velo.com/2013/09/03/step-off-sucka/
there go read that
aka the reason why step through was there... also it is dumb.
super dumb.
but that's because
i'm Walter
and yeah...
anyway, probably true. I'm rarely wrong (but hell occasionally am) i'm an over thinking critical observer that tends to point out when shit is wrong and I guess people don't like that sometimes and yes...
I'm an asshole.
no surprise this song
probably should just be my theme song without an asterix
I try not to be but it was casually pointed out that generally there is almost no objection by anyone or by very few at least when i self describe that way. Honestly it kind of hurts because I am kind of soft and squishy and stuff inside but yeah, i see where it is coming from.
so switch to not asshole is Ezra. The anti-one. He is so the anti-asshole they took his out completely.
catch up
http://www.teachingcancertocry.com/
bidding ended on his assless and UTA bikes but catch the video and the story so far if you've missed it.
Got a nice ride in on Friday. Had coffee in boston, rode to the top of blue hill and home. then headed to farm...
not much riding outside of that though. Legs are going to be fresh maybe for Sunday, fast though? who knows.
i'll try and get back to writing more regularly sorry about the infrequent postings my friends...
heddwch
G
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Lunchtime Film and some thoughts...
Absolutely fantastic
Brussels Express from Sander Vandenbroucke on Vimeo.
"We are all traffic."
we are... indeed. Has it changed much? I don't know but I am actually surprised how much more American the city acts than say the standard perception I have of European cities.
I'm not a messenger, i don't ride, no have ever owned a fixed gear city bike. But as a cyclists who's experience urban riding w/o any cycling infrastructure I can relate.
I think it was Joel Gwadz who first labeled the city riding as like constantly being in the matrix. Once you start to see the code suddenly it makes sense. You can spot the stuff out of sequence usually early enough.
Sometimes though once you leave the city you blink and the matrix is gone and you miss something, luckily instinct and good fortune have been with me and made a difference.
I rode the bike in this morning. It was absolutely pouring when I got in the shower to clean up before the ride in, but by the time I had put the shoes on, my cycling cap and my helmet it was a steady drizzle.
And warm.
It was peaceful. It was a ride in after a couple pretty shitty nights sleep that I decided was going to be an easy one. I've put the old sigma with HRM on the white blue, to monitor and reign in and avoid medium rides on the commute.
Every time i stick a leg over the saddle right now has to have meaning and purpose. The season starts too soon to be lackadaisical.
This mornings ride was just me. And the bike path.
There wasn't anyone else. Not a soul did I encounter once I turned onto the path in my neighborhood.
And maybe for the first time almost ever, both parking lots for the bike path up off of the parkway were completely empty. Not a car. not even the usual delivery drivers drinking coffee, or the morning crowd to watch the day unfold from the seat of their car looking over the city.
It was steady, and warm. Each seam in the pavement on the path would jostle a shower of water drops off my arms and the bike. The rain was light enough that my legs just had a consistent beaded load of drops, no sheeting just small drops of water as I propelled myself in, in the rain.
I found a new high, low speed though. 15 mph with 80 beats per minute heart rate, on the flats, on the heavy commuter wheels and bike. Was nice to note. Still was a slow commute but it was a bit focus and the rain is always magic I think.
Colin added a new metric to Crossresults.com one showing where you do better/worse. I'm significantly better when it is wet than anything else. Bring on the rain.
I can't deny it, the cool dampness, the better heat loss and the change in traction/torque dynamics are things that just make me feel good. The rain itself. That brief time I had a power meter, the rain would always give me a handful of watts, usually at least 20, sometimes more for a given RPE. Was it really changing things? Maybe, maybe only in my head. But my head, my mental framework is often my biggest limiter. I'm not slow, and I can be steady for a while, and I can be faster than most when I am challenged, but I can also find myself too easily and too early pulling the plug and saving something. Like last wed when Dave Kellogg and Becca showed up for the ride. Pine they just sort of took off after I had done a couple monster pulls. And I might have had something but I didn't feel like i did. it was an odd moment where the lungs were the limiter and not the legs. Up rocky hill a bit later, and after I dug deep to catch them and then pull a good bit down homestead my legs died and had nothing, were on fire, but the lungs were all set. Hillside? I had caught back up and more or less set tempo all the way to the base of hillside and I expected Dave and Becca to ride away from me. Dave took the pace down a notch and i was able to match it as we started that first section. And then gain a touch of ground and hold speed even. Then we hit the final little up down before the last steep pitch and Dave stood up and also slowed down over the crest but fatman here (me) held my same speed and then went for it attacking on the downhill and dug super deep to put a big gap in on the tiny legend of a man. And then out of fear of being caught just as I was literally fading I found another gear and emptied absolutely everything and held on for the win. I was luggage up Rocky hill the steep way. Mentally more than anything I think.
It is and probably will always be my challenge, this mental side of the game. Physically I think I've made some huge improvements over the years, esp in understanding what it takes to get fast, and get faster than I am, but also balancing what I know could be done with what I can do.
So it is mornings like this morning. Drizzling, riding slowly, super easily. That I almost love the most.
The bike path to myself, a commute with a good and required purpose, no stress about parking the car or moving it.
Just ride,
door to door,
in the rain.
I am traffic.
We are all traffic.
I think tonight my plan is to keep it simple, keep it solo, go home, put the knobbies on the black blue and make some turns on my course. Sprint from tree to tree, or at least make that attempt, and if nothing else get in a pile of dismount/remount to condition those muscles a bit more.
Watch that film if you haven't. It is worth the 19 min of investment.
heddwch
G
Brussels Express from Sander Vandenbroucke on Vimeo.
"We are all traffic."
we are... indeed. Has it changed much? I don't know but I am actually surprised how much more American the city acts than say the standard perception I have of European cities.
I'm not a messenger, i don't ride, no have ever owned a fixed gear city bike. But as a cyclists who's experience urban riding w/o any cycling infrastructure I can relate.
I think it was Joel Gwadz who first labeled the city riding as like constantly being in the matrix. Once you start to see the code suddenly it makes sense. You can spot the stuff out of sequence usually early enough.
Sometimes though once you leave the city you blink and the matrix is gone and you miss something, luckily instinct and good fortune have been with me and made a difference.
I rode the bike in this morning. It was absolutely pouring when I got in the shower to clean up before the ride in, but by the time I had put the shoes on, my cycling cap and my helmet it was a steady drizzle.
And warm.
It was peaceful. It was a ride in after a couple pretty shitty nights sleep that I decided was going to be an easy one. I've put the old sigma with HRM on the white blue, to monitor and reign in and avoid medium rides on the commute.
Every time i stick a leg over the saddle right now has to have meaning and purpose. The season starts too soon to be lackadaisical.
This mornings ride was just me. And the bike path.
There wasn't anyone else. Not a soul did I encounter once I turned onto the path in my neighborhood.
And maybe for the first time almost ever, both parking lots for the bike path up off of the parkway were completely empty. Not a car. not even the usual delivery drivers drinking coffee, or the morning crowd to watch the day unfold from the seat of their car looking over the city.
It was steady, and warm. Each seam in the pavement on the path would jostle a shower of water drops off my arms and the bike. The rain was light enough that my legs just had a consistent beaded load of drops, no sheeting just small drops of water as I propelled myself in, in the rain.
I found a new high, low speed though. 15 mph with 80 beats per minute heart rate, on the flats, on the heavy commuter wheels and bike. Was nice to note. Still was a slow commute but it was a bit focus and the rain is always magic I think.
Colin added a new metric to Crossresults.com one showing where you do better/worse. I'm significantly better when it is wet than anything else. Bring on the rain.
I can't deny it, the cool dampness, the better heat loss and the change in traction/torque dynamics are things that just make me feel good. The rain itself. That brief time I had a power meter, the rain would always give me a handful of watts, usually at least 20, sometimes more for a given RPE. Was it really changing things? Maybe, maybe only in my head. But my head, my mental framework is often my biggest limiter. I'm not slow, and I can be steady for a while, and I can be faster than most when I am challenged, but I can also find myself too easily and too early pulling the plug and saving something. Like last wed when Dave Kellogg and Becca showed up for the ride. Pine they just sort of took off after I had done a couple monster pulls. And I might have had something but I didn't feel like i did. it was an odd moment where the lungs were the limiter and not the legs. Up rocky hill a bit later, and after I dug deep to catch them and then pull a good bit down homestead my legs died and had nothing, were on fire, but the lungs were all set. Hillside? I had caught back up and more or less set tempo all the way to the base of hillside and I expected Dave and Becca to ride away from me. Dave took the pace down a notch and i was able to match it as we started that first section. And then gain a touch of ground and hold speed even. Then we hit the final little up down before the last steep pitch and Dave stood up and also slowed down over the crest but fatman here (me) held my same speed and then went for it attacking on the downhill and dug super deep to put a big gap in on the tiny legend of a man. And then out of fear of being caught just as I was literally fading I found another gear and emptied absolutely everything and held on for the win. I was luggage up Rocky hill the steep way. Mentally more than anything I think.
It is and probably will always be my challenge, this mental side of the game. Physically I think I've made some huge improvements over the years, esp in understanding what it takes to get fast, and get faster than I am, but also balancing what I know could be done with what I can do.
So it is mornings like this morning. Drizzling, riding slowly, super easily. That I almost love the most.
The bike path to myself, a commute with a good and required purpose, no stress about parking the car or moving it.
Just ride,
door to door,
in the rain.
I am traffic.
We are all traffic.
I think tonight my plan is to keep it simple, keep it solo, go home, put the knobbies on the black blue and make some turns on my course. Sprint from tree to tree, or at least make that attempt, and if nothing else get in a pile of dismount/remount to condition those muscles a bit more.
Watch that film if you haven't. It is worth the 19 min of investment.
heddwch
G
cross camp interview...
not sure if it will embed properly or not
http://dirtwire.tv/2013/08/cycle-smart-camp-adam-myerson-interview/
solid interview, good advert for the camp, call it propaganda but file it under knowledge accumulated
Friday, August 23, 2013
gasp... running
I've been all over the map on Running for CX.
Last couple years I've been in the "pointless" there's not enough running in cross to make it worth spending the time to run. Esp here in New England.
Myerson actually talks about it, but takes maybe a minute longer than needed to say what he said:
http://dirtwire.tv/2013/08/cycle-smart-camp-seminar-adam-myerson-on-the-unimportance-of-running/
I've run, it has helped maybe, but usually by the time december rolls around I've tapered off the running so much that Goddard Park is painful.
Last year, the year before no running. Last year i paid dearly for not running. Pulled an adductor big time at Vermont. Crippled for a few weeks, barely healed and still painful at G-ster, and White Park? well Chipper remembers white park. Disaster in some ways, brilliant in others.
Running. I'm trying it again.
three runs so far. first was short, second was shorter, third was same as second. Trying it differently. Focusing on speed, short distances and pairing the running work up with a cycling one.
Keith Kelly got me set up with some sweet New Balance shoes some 1080s and Leadville shoes.
They are awesome. Light, and so far no problems at all, not one tiny bit. I've walked around in them all day without issue and run in them without issue. Sure kind of impossible to tell only running for a mile and a half.
But I think that may be enough distance to both tell how awesome the shoes are (for my feet) and enough distance that I can get a level of conditioning and durability out of the little used muscles without taking too much time away from pedaling.
Call it a compromise. Pendulum has stopped swinging maybe.
The running I'm focusing on form, regular stride, consistent footfalls. Right now rear-mid foot striking at the sub sprint pace, and running hard enough that it is an effort and a pace I can't sustain much longer, but not feeling like i'm maxed the whole time.
So far though only one skills day on the bike (last sunday) i need a few more. I'm not rusty, still hoping on and off easily at 20+ mph, but there's a bit of the body saying hey we know what to do but we haven't done it in a while, best get on doing more of this shit before we fuck something up for you.
efforts to set up a tuesday night CX series down here on the East Bay in RI have sort of fallen a bit flat. Considering just an open bandit tuesday night here at my park. We'll see. Hoping the RISD kids can pull something off.
Looks like Dawn Patrol in the AM, maybe some bike shop wrench turning... next week is going to be crazy too. unsettled and irregular. hopefully i can salvage long standing plans for Friday. Would kind of suck if i couldn't.
Today has been mostly spent sitting with the youngest. She has been dragging her feet with the computer math summer assignment. we are almost done with the last one... only way to have gotten her to do these last four modules has been to sit at the computer with her and keep her focused and on task. Hence my opportunity to write. She's actually pretty damn smart, so few mistakes but she's just not motivated and mostly just annoyed. Doesn't want to do them. Almost done though. Almost. And we're finished with that stuff.
still piles to do but that's done.
and so am i
heddwch
G
Last couple years I've been in the "pointless" there's not enough running in cross to make it worth spending the time to run. Esp here in New England.
Myerson actually talks about it, but takes maybe a minute longer than needed to say what he said:
http://dirtwire.tv/2013/08/cycle-smart-camp-seminar-adam-myerson-on-the-unimportance-of-running/
I've run, it has helped maybe, but usually by the time december rolls around I've tapered off the running so much that Goddard Park is painful.
Last year, the year before no running. Last year i paid dearly for not running. Pulled an adductor big time at Vermont. Crippled for a few weeks, barely healed and still painful at G-ster, and White Park? well Chipper remembers white park. Disaster in some ways, brilliant in others.
Running. I'm trying it again.
three runs so far. first was short, second was shorter, third was same as second. Trying it differently. Focusing on speed, short distances and pairing the running work up with a cycling one.
Keith Kelly got me set up with some sweet New Balance shoes some 1080s and Leadville shoes.
They are awesome. Light, and so far no problems at all, not one tiny bit. I've walked around in them all day without issue and run in them without issue. Sure kind of impossible to tell only running for a mile and a half.
But I think that may be enough distance to both tell how awesome the shoes are (for my feet) and enough distance that I can get a level of conditioning and durability out of the little used muscles without taking too much time away from pedaling.
Call it a compromise. Pendulum has stopped swinging maybe.
The running I'm focusing on form, regular stride, consistent footfalls. Right now rear-mid foot striking at the sub sprint pace, and running hard enough that it is an effort and a pace I can't sustain much longer, but not feeling like i'm maxed the whole time.
So far though only one skills day on the bike (last sunday) i need a few more. I'm not rusty, still hoping on and off easily at 20+ mph, but there's a bit of the body saying hey we know what to do but we haven't done it in a while, best get on doing more of this shit before we fuck something up for you.
efforts to set up a tuesday night CX series down here on the East Bay in RI have sort of fallen a bit flat. Considering just an open bandit tuesday night here at my park. We'll see. Hoping the RISD kids can pull something off.
Looks like Dawn Patrol in the AM, maybe some bike shop wrench turning... next week is going to be crazy too. unsettled and irregular. hopefully i can salvage long standing plans for Friday. Would kind of suck if i couldn't.
Today has been mostly spent sitting with the youngest. She has been dragging her feet with the computer math summer assignment. we are almost done with the last one... only way to have gotten her to do these last four modules has been to sit at the computer with her and keep her focused and on task. Hence my opportunity to write. She's actually pretty damn smart, so few mistakes but she's just not motivated and mostly just annoyed. Doesn't want to do them. Almost done though. Almost. And we're finished with that stuff.
still piles to do but that's done.
and so am i
heddwch
G
catching up
This month has been super insane. Like weird in a way. so irregular... challenged and everything. Just strange maybe. Not saying, I'm special or this is only me, but it is me and since we are just us going about this, it is what it is and heck turning inside and introspecting a bit helps keep me sort of sane. Ah who the fuck am i kidding... i'm a disaster. But I think all things considered I'm doing okay at holding it together and supporting those around me to my utmost ability.
eat to defeat
http://www.eattodefeat.org/
not a new page but one i haven't seen, i get an unsettled feeling about the foundation but I think eating to defeat cancer is pretty much the best way to do it.
Prevention... not a hey lets just eat to cure it, no, that's too late in general, and not my point of post. Eat to prevent it from happening. And no, sometimes it is out of your control.
I'll go back to the diabetes analogy. Type 1 is out of your control like a small % of cancers no matter what you do you will get it. Then you have Type II which is completely in your control based on lifestyle choices. And it would seem the majority of cancer incidents wind up in this category, preventable by eating well.
just my feeling and thoughts on the subject.
not a new page but one i haven't seen, i get an unsettled feeling about the foundation but I think eating to defeat cancer is pretty much the best way to do it.
Prevention... not a hey lets just eat to cure it, no, that's too late in general, and not my point of post. Eat to prevent it from happening. And no, sometimes it is out of your control.
I'll go back to the diabetes analogy. Type 1 is out of your control like a small % of cancers no matter what you do you will get it. Then you have Type II which is completely in your control based on lifestyle choices. And it would seem the majority of cancer incidents wind up in this category, preventable by eating well.
just my feeling and thoughts on the subject.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Cyclocross... it is, veritably, Pure Sweet Hell
"People who don't do it don't quite understand it and people who do know intrinsically and as soon as you try it you are hooked on it, once you raced cross it is hard not to"
Sunday, August 18, 2013
wheel transporting
So as part of CX prep I need to get these tubeless tires set back up again.
Tried and failed miserably with the hand pump and since i was headed into the shop, i figured lets bring them with me. Didn't want to drag the trailer, and wanted to ride the recently knobbiefied black blue (I even remember to flip and jack the stem).
Too lazy to get the toestraps out of the car (rear wheel tie downs for the rack) and i had some fat zipties laying around and a pile of green rubber bands.
I've seen old pictures of guys riding to races on training wheels carrying race wheels like this and so i figured why not!
The bike path was pretty damn busy and i was getting strange looks from freaking EVERYONE, staring at me like i had two fresh cut human heads hanging from my bars instead of a pair of wheels. So many remarks after I rode past.
Success? Indeed. I would not use rubber bands next time. I'd go with something non-stretchy so that when I stood up to pedal or hit some rough pavement the wheels wouldn't bounce perilously close to my feet or the front tire.
Now for inflating the Tubeless. They popped in after a few tries and held air perfectly. But then the front got soft.
And i went to put more air in. Shop compressor is at 125psi. Need that fast quick hit of air to get those beads to seat.
Well I must have been slightly distracted by the topic of conversation.
quick hit of air turned into a MASSIVE explosion broke the valve stem in half when the wheel went flying out of my hand, since I had my hand around the tire the bead blasting off has given me a massive bruise on the inside knuckle joint of my index, pinkie and thumb.
and the sound was so loud and right there that i literally couldn't hear anything for a few minutes. just ringing in my ears.
85 psi max... yeah... i guess 125 is too much...
they'll probably be flat tomorrow but I'll keep hitting them with air until they hold. Last year it took a couple days and then they held pressure for months and didn't burp once.
Fun day.
Tried and failed miserably with the hand pump and since i was headed into the shop, i figured lets bring them with me. Didn't want to drag the trailer, and wanted to ride the recently knobbiefied black blue (I even remember to flip and jack the stem).
Too lazy to get the toestraps out of the car (rear wheel tie downs for the rack) and i had some fat zipties laying around and a pile of green rubber bands.
I've seen old pictures of guys riding to races on training wheels carrying race wheels like this and so i figured why not!
The bike path was pretty damn busy and i was getting strange looks from freaking EVERYONE, staring at me like i had two fresh cut human heads hanging from my bars instead of a pair of wheels. So many remarks after I rode past.
Success? Indeed. I would not use rubber bands next time. I'd go with something non-stretchy so that when I stood up to pedal or hit some rough pavement the wheels wouldn't bounce perilously close to my feet or the front tire.
Now for inflating the Tubeless. They popped in after a few tries and held air perfectly. But then the front got soft.
And i went to put more air in. Shop compressor is at 125psi. Need that fast quick hit of air to get those beads to seat.
Well I must have been slightly distracted by the topic of conversation.
quick hit of air turned into a MASSIVE explosion broke the valve stem in half when the wheel went flying out of my hand, since I had my hand around the tire the bead blasting off has given me a massive bruise on the inside knuckle joint of my index, pinkie and thumb.
and the sound was so loud and right there that i literally couldn't hear anything for a few minutes. just ringing in my ears.
85 psi max... yeah... i guess 125 is too much...
they'll probably be flat tomorrow but I'll keep hitting them with air until they hold. Last year it took a couple days and then they held pressure for months and didn't burp once.
Fun day.
BikeWorks TT series wrap up
Traffic has died down here i suppose, life gets in the way sometimes. Busy, burnt out, trying to find a way to light a third spot on the double ended candle isn't working esp for such little compensation but there is an element of flexibility and i'm not traveling or living out of a suitcase to make piles of cash and not be here to cook and care for the family.
I have a pile of stuff i want to write about, feel like I need to.
Home "improvement" aka replacing busted big items.
Cyclocross is coming.
Running just enough to not get hurt this year is a goal.
Working on having a Tuesday night training race here.... and shoes and pedals and running shoes and food and lately bike shops and rants about LBS and how the market is shifting and what should happen and what looks like it is happening and all that.
But first I think I need to get the TT report out. It is the only real racing i've done all year essentially. Yikes.
I have a pile of stuff i want to write about, feel like I need to.
Home "improvement" aka replacing busted big items.
Cyclocross is coming.
Running just enough to not get hurt this year is a goal.
Working on having a Tuesday night training race here.... and shoes and pedals and running shoes and food and lately bike shops and rants about LBS and how the market is shifting and what should happen and what looks like it is happening and all that.
But first I think I need to get the TT report out. It is the only real racing i've done all year essentially. Yikes.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Weekend saga
Owning a home is awesome.
Not really.
Sometimes yes it is nice, but i was struck driving back from my daily Home Depot trip (couple days I went twice but i've been there F, S, S, and today M), as to the curiosity of the evolution of the human dwelling.
Why these things? Why settle where they are at.
Honestly it is a pretty pedestrian question to answer. Easy enough to go through the "history" of dwellings and how they've wound up where they are now.
Still struck me as odd.
These square boxes based on dimensional cut dead trees.
Why home depot?
Well, it has been a FUN weekend.
Alluded to the water heater right?
well yeah, that has been leaking for a while. Anode rod fitting and hot water fitting. Not clear leak, no, rusty leak. Corrosion. Not good.
Water heater was out of warranty in 2008. Was installed in 2002.
Got decent life out of it i guess. I figured i'd cash in on the National Grid Rebate program to upgrade to more efficient units. But this is a short tank, they don't make efficient units in short tanks. The rebate for an on demand one had me considering it but it would be a bit longer of a job to do, would require figuring out where to run the intake and exhaust and yeah... this one might get us another 8-10 years, by that time hopefully ALL the water heaters will be super efficient and well, yeah deal with that then. Now? Change before it becomes a flooded basement.
Sort of fortuitous that the need to get this thing fell on tax free weekend in Mass. saved some money there. So that's good right? Seems silly but at least the timing was good.
The garbage disposal was toast a while back. did a $15 plastic pipe plumbing special to get the stuff working. was strongly encouraged that we need to get one back. The garbage has been stinky the drains i have to pick all the food scraps out of constantly. Easy sure twist my arm.
Water heater, garbage disposal, $40 of extra parts (that were all returned). My brother helped (okay did most all of the connection work - only room for one person to do it all), got the old one drained, removed, and the new one installed, hooked up and no leaking gas, no leaking water, and HOLY CRAP THIS WATER HEATER WORKS SO MUCH BETTER. Not surprising but still nice that there is more than just the preventing a basement flood to installing it. the little sheet says it uses a handful of therms less than the old one even.
My bro said to put the old one out in front of the house. He wagered it wouldn't be there in the morning. Well it sat there until about 2pm today. someone driving around grabbed it. Sweet. cheaper than a refuse tag from the city, and i don't have to haul it to the recycler myself. I like that.
Our Dishwasher (the automatic one, not me, because no one else really washes any dishes here) has had a sticky panel for a long time, then it recently started making a strange noised, then it just stopped draining. Last week.
I've been handwashing a hell of a lot of dishes. Remarkable. I mean usually I still have to load the dishwasher but sometimes on rare and special occasions the other inhabitants of the house actually put their stuff in the dishwasher vs leaving it on the table or stacking it in the sink for me to deal with. Now? Fuck it, Daddy can wash it. And wash I have been.
So yeah. Sunday morning after a night of getting the water heater in and then made dinner for everyone sitting around talking deep and life level shit all night (till the movie the girls were watching was over)... wife was out running the Falmouth Road Race so it was just me and the girls. They wake up late, I make everyone breakfast and the little one and I head off to Lowe's to buy the dishwasher my wife and her parents picked out. CR best buy FTW! Cash in hand (in bank as a gift, i am a very lucky man to have generous in-laws) we head in there and I'm expecting to have to order it. WHAT? IN STOCK? AWESOME! No two weeks of handwashing while waiting.
Dishwasher purchased, Head to home depot to return the pile of un-used fittings.
Headed home. Bro showed up to help carry water heater out of house and to collect his van that was left here. We evaluate what is needed to cap off supply to the old dishwasher, then haul out water heater carcass, and i head off to build a few more bikes and hang out as a change of pace.
Today? Girls up, fix em breakfast, head to home depot, why? Because yesterday when I went to install the garbage disposal, well i discovered that the bag of parts, the outlet, the wrench the seals and all that were not in there. Damn it. I need a 3/8" cap anyway. Grab stuff head home.
eventually get old dishwasher out. Was not simple. Seems the previous owners had some super fancy tile put in. But the tile was put in AFTER the dishwasher. So what that meant is well. THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THE OLD F'N DISHWASHER OUT EASILY!!! What a pain in the ass.
Got it out myself. Then installed the new garbage disposal, finally a snag free install. ONLY because i saved the old one (needed a bit or two off of it).
Then hauled the old water filled washer out myself (only spilled a pint or so of water on my foot and the floor in the process) and proceeded to try and figure out how i was going to get an extra centimeter of clearance under the counter to get the new dishwasher in. That took a bit of time. Got it in. But guess what.
The old water connection sits inside the electrical connection box. Can't hook it up.
SERIOUSLY?
Must now take it back out. Sweat off the elbow and the coupling, sweat on a cap. T-into the hot water line from the sink, install a valve and then put the thing back, and hook it up. I don't have a torch, or a pipe cutter, or the fittings.
So yeah. Very little bike riding lately. Lots of house work.
Car still needs some work. Fence is still falling down. BUT DAMNIT I CAN GRIND FOOD SCRAPS DOWN THE DRAIN AND HAVE HOT WATER AND well maybe tomorrow i can stop hand washing dishes.
Yeah for vacation time. Cause this has been F'n AWESOME AND SO RELAXING.
Beer:30
I am looking forward to what 49 decibels sounds like. that old washer was F'n LOUD.
Oh. right.
scratch beer:30
time to wash dishes so i can cook dinner so everyone can dirty the dishes so i can wash them again.
At least the food will be made from scratch with love... because there is no other way to make food.
Not from a fucking box or a package or powder.
heddwch
G
Not really.
Sometimes yes it is nice, but i was struck driving back from my daily Home Depot trip (couple days I went twice but i've been there F, S, S, and today M), as to the curiosity of the evolution of the human dwelling.
Why these things? Why settle where they are at.
Honestly it is a pretty pedestrian question to answer. Easy enough to go through the "history" of dwellings and how they've wound up where they are now.
Still struck me as odd.
These square boxes based on dimensional cut dead trees.
Why home depot?
Well, it has been a FUN weekend.
Alluded to the water heater right?
well yeah, that has been leaking for a while. Anode rod fitting and hot water fitting. Not clear leak, no, rusty leak. Corrosion. Not good.
Water heater was out of warranty in 2008. Was installed in 2002.
Got decent life out of it i guess. I figured i'd cash in on the National Grid Rebate program to upgrade to more efficient units. But this is a short tank, they don't make efficient units in short tanks. The rebate for an on demand one had me considering it but it would be a bit longer of a job to do, would require figuring out where to run the intake and exhaust and yeah... this one might get us another 8-10 years, by that time hopefully ALL the water heaters will be super efficient and well, yeah deal with that then. Now? Change before it becomes a flooded basement.
Sort of fortuitous that the need to get this thing fell on tax free weekend in Mass. saved some money there. So that's good right? Seems silly but at least the timing was good.
The garbage disposal was toast a while back. did a $15 plastic pipe plumbing special to get the stuff working. was strongly encouraged that we need to get one back. The garbage has been stinky the drains i have to pick all the food scraps out of constantly. Easy sure twist my arm.
Water heater, garbage disposal, $40 of extra parts (that were all returned). My brother helped (okay did most all of the connection work - only room for one person to do it all), got the old one drained, removed, and the new one installed, hooked up and no leaking gas, no leaking water, and HOLY CRAP THIS WATER HEATER WORKS SO MUCH BETTER. Not surprising but still nice that there is more than just the preventing a basement flood to installing it. the little sheet says it uses a handful of therms less than the old one even.
My bro said to put the old one out in front of the house. He wagered it wouldn't be there in the morning. Well it sat there until about 2pm today. someone driving around grabbed it. Sweet. cheaper than a refuse tag from the city, and i don't have to haul it to the recycler myself. I like that.
Our Dishwasher (the automatic one, not me, because no one else really washes any dishes here) has had a sticky panel for a long time, then it recently started making a strange noised, then it just stopped draining. Last week.
I've been handwashing a hell of a lot of dishes. Remarkable. I mean usually I still have to load the dishwasher but sometimes on rare and special occasions the other inhabitants of the house actually put their stuff in the dishwasher vs leaving it on the table or stacking it in the sink for me to deal with. Now? Fuck it, Daddy can wash it. And wash I have been.
So yeah. Sunday morning after a night of getting the water heater in and then made dinner for everyone sitting around talking deep and life level shit all night (till the movie the girls were watching was over)... wife was out running the Falmouth Road Race so it was just me and the girls. They wake up late, I make everyone breakfast and the little one and I head off to Lowe's to buy the dishwasher my wife and her parents picked out. CR best buy FTW! Cash in hand (in bank as a gift, i am a very lucky man to have generous in-laws) we head in there and I'm expecting to have to order it. WHAT? IN STOCK? AWESOME! No two weeks of handwashing while waiting.
Dishwasher purchased, Head to home depot to return the pile of un-used fittings.
Headed home. Bro showed up to help carry water heater out of house and to collect his van that was left here. We evaluate what is needed to cap off supply to the old dishwasher, then haul out water heater carcass, and i head off to build a few more bikes and hang out as a change of pace.
Today? Girls up, fix em breakfast, head to home depot, why? Because yesterday when I went to install the garbage disposal, well i discovered that the bag of parts, the outlet, the wrench the seals and all that were not in there. Damn it. I need a 3/8" cap anyway. Grab stuff head home.
eventually get old dishwasher out. Was not simple. Seems the previous owners had some super fancy tile put in. But the tile was put in AFTER the dishwasher. So what that meant is well. THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THE OLD F'N DISHWASHER OUT EASILY!!! What a pain in the ass.
Got it out myself. Then installed the new garbage disposal, finally a snag free install. ONLY because i saved the old one (needed a bit or two off of it).
Then hauled the old water filled washer out myself (only spilled a pint or so of water on my foot and the floor in the process) and proceeded to try and figure out how i was going to get an extra centimeter of clearance under the counter to get the new dishwasher in. That took a bit of time. Got it in. But guess what.
The old water connection sits inside the electrical connection box. Can't hook it up.
SERIOUSLY?
Must now take it back out. Sweat off the elbow and the coupling, sweat on a cap. T-into the hot water line from the sink, install a valve and then put the thing back, and hook it up. I don't have a torch, or a pipe cutter, or the fittings.
So yeah. Very little bike riding lately. Lots of house work.
Car still needs some work. Fence is still falling down. BUT DAMNIT I CAN GRIND FOOD SCRAPS DOWN THE DRAIN AND HAVE HOT WATER AND well maybe tomorrow i can stop hand washing dishes.
Yeah for vacation time. Cause this has been F'n AWESOME AND SO RELAXING.
Beer:30
I am looking forward to what 49 decibels sounds like. that old washer was F'n LOUD.
Oh. right.
scratch beer:30
time to wash dishes so i can cook dinner so everyone can dirty the dishes so i can wash them again.
At least the food will be made from scratch with love... because there is no other way to make food.
Not from a fucking box or a package or powder.
heddwch
G
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Out of phase
So, pr at TT this week. Sailing, Maine, violin playing....
Was hoping to hit dawn patrol this morning. But a friend had a dead TDI, can't say no to help. Spread the karma. But of course I woke up early enough to make the ride. Like awake laying there unable to sleep. Finally dog says breakfast time. Coffee, catching up on reading a bit then head out to help.
Grab the injector bleeding/fuel pump priming stuff and drive up to pick up JR and we head over to the dealer where it was towed yesterday.
Work was scheduled to be done on Monday. He needed the car today.
Car was not where it was. He heads in. Comes out 5-10 min later. They fixed it this morning.
Okay. No smelling like diesel today I guess.
Not enough time to go home and get the bike and ride in to the shop. Seems silly to drove the extra 10 miles to be home for 15 minutes with everyone asleep.
Dive up to the shop, DL the blogger ap and swipe out a post.
I'd get coffee but I have coffee to make at the shop and can wait till Paul gets here at 9, besides I'm both to cheap and broke to feel I can justify it. Rather buy beer.
This afternoon/evening looks like I'm going to be replacing a water heater. Dishwasher soon too.
Now it is time to build bikes....
Heddwch,
G
Thursday, August 01, 2013
PR night
Tonight was pretty insane.
Not normal prep. No burrito. Food was questionable, sleep was not quite right.
2:50p-6:10p driving. Just a short little drive to Logan and back (to the TT).
So many questions about if it was going to happen... get there, stand around in street clothes. Bob shows up and yup it is on.
Super fast change, only flashed a few people i think, no one permanently blinded.
Forgot to turn on Strava. Forgot to suck down a gelly carbo squishy pack.
It was cool drizzling at the start, 30 second intervals. Starting behind Becca, Dave Potter is 30 second behind me and he usually beats me by more than that...
MOTIVATED.
Also very curious as to how i would race without any sort of warm up at all. NO WARM UP.
Turns out. Seeing Becca super early, wow motivating, I can see someone. Totally blew up early. caught her and Richard at the same time well before the corn crib and then blew sky high. Becca passed me back, i passed her back, she passed me back before Reynolds and held a few second gap until Peck, after the hill i finally caught her and I could feel Potter coming, I saw him with a decent gap on the turn to reynolds.
Wound up hitting the turn onto 118, knowing Potter was on my wheel and NO F'N WAY HE WAS COMING AROUND ME.
Boom, unload everything. Unload it like 2009 at NoHo sprint finish unload. Heart Rate was off the charts for the normal TT, cool weather maybe? Motivated? coffee at 5:30? Max over 180, haven't seen that in a few years. avg for the race was 171, a good 5 beats over normal.
http://racesplitter.com/races/AE510D958
results.
There.
No strava because while i had my phone in my pocket I totally forgot to turn on the strava thing. oops.
insane night. felt amazing. lungs are burning. still.
Thanks to Bob for coming out and making it happen. One more single TT next week then we have the two man race.
Not normal prep. No burrito. Food was questionable, sleep was not quite right.
2:50p-6:10p driving. Just a short little drive to Logan and back (to the TT).
So many questions about if it was going to happen... get there, stand around in street clothes. Bob shows up and yup it is on.
Super fast change, only flashed a few people i think, no one permanently blinded.
Forgot to turn on Strava. Forgot to suck down a gelly carbo squishy pack.
It was cool drizzling at the start, 30 second intervals. Starting behind Becca, Dave Potter is 30 second behind me and he usually beats me by more than that...
MOTIVATED.
Also very curious as to how i would race without any sort of warm up at all. NO WARM UP.
Turns out. Seeing Becca super early, wow motivating, I can see someone. Totally blew up early. caught her and Richard at the same time well before the corn crib and then blew sky high. Becca passed me back, i passed her back, she passed me back before Reynolds and held a few second gap until Peck, after the hill i finally caught her and I could feel Potter coming, I saw him with a decent gap on the turn to reynolds.
Wound up hitting the turn onto 118, knowing Potter was on my wheel and NO F'N WAY HE WAS COMING AROUND ME.
Boom, unload everything. Unload it like 2009 at NoHo sprint finish unload. Heart Rate was off the charts for the normal TT, cool weather maybe? Motivated? coffee at 5:30? Max over 180, haven't seen that in a few years. avg for the race was 171, a good 5 beats over normal.
http://racesplitter.com/races/AE510D958
results.
There.
No strava because while i had my phone in my pocket I totally forgot to turn on the strava thing. oops.
insane night. felt amazing. lungs are burning. still.
Thanks to Bob for coming out and making it happen. One more single TT next week then we have the two man race.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
