Sterling... day 2 2012

I shouldn't really push this off too much longer.  I have a moment where I am just waiting, so instead of cleaning my desk, or taking a nap (kidding) I'm going to try and get this one out for real.

Race reports...  three or more days later sometimes can be tough.  Esp with every year closer to the 45+ age group.

Saturday was a success.  Unexpected and pretty awesome.  

Sunday? Sunday was going to be cold.  Forecast temps were supposed to get into the mid twenties (°F) at the race course.  The Rusty Race Wagon still had B50 in it and was kind of grumpy warming up Saturday morning and well on the way home I got a call, had to pick up some oil for the mini-van (5W-20 has a bit high volatility), then I grabbed a six pack to celebrate the verge points with, and put a few gallons of dead dinosaurs in the tank.  Yes, BioD is great, but Fatty Acid Methyl esters made from recycled waste veggie oil tend to Gel at much higher temps than the dead dinosaur stuff.  So now my car smells like a diesel instead of a hamburger grill.  Popped some fuel in there and hit the house.  Made some food, and ate, and ate, and ate.  Kind of realized that I got done with the race on Saturday, eventually found LVG and AK and then went to work and when their race was over and pit bikes back to car I really hadn't eaten much. Uh Oh. Heck I didn't even have a sip of beer before getting home.

Never a good thing to go into day two with a caloric deficiency.  Heck I even went for the insulin over expression sugar bomb of a bowl of cereal with milk just before going to bed to help kick start the glycogen storage.  Yes, there are times and places for a tasty bowl of cereal, it is just dumb to break your fast with it in the morning.  After you get down with a work out/race and you have another one planned for the next day, it is a good idea.  If your bodyfat is down in the single digits and you're running low on the fuel supply, a bowl before bed (brush your teeth after) isn't a bad idea either.

Anyway.

Sidetrack (hell i have so many different tracks on this blog... )

Calm morning ride in

No rain, no wind... glassy. Peaceful, but cold. So relieved that there was no precipitation falling and that the winds were not a hinderance.

Legs felt good yesterday, got a few intense efforts in on the way home, this morning i just kind of puttered in. Probably too fast to call it true recovery, but close enough.  Still felt good on the bike.

Was a nice morning ride in.

Lots to think about over the weekend though.  It has been a tough week in NECX.  But Cait was doing well enough to show up all bundled to hang with her big extended family.  My bikes will be sporting her motto that Brad and co over at Geekhouse put together to show her support.

video highlights from yesterday

Teammate John (his kid Tom was racing with us) made this video of yesterday's 35+/U19 race.

2012 Bay State Cyclocross - Day One from Greyghost815 on Vimeo.

it was a good day

all the way around... on the bike and what not.

Today i raced two very good friends. And i beat them. Wasn't easy, and they were not having bad days...

Today I raced my bike, I had fun, I died a thousand deaths on the course, but hung on.  Brant was killing us when Wade wasn't. Huge thanks to Larocque for getting me and Brant through the scrubs and argy bargy. Watts=good.

This image captures today for me. Last two laps, I lead our group after i tail-gunned for 4 laps. Honestly for 4 laps I was hanging on for dear life.  Some dumb reason I went to the front.  It worked out and we rode through a group of 4 and I rode into my first Verge Points ever.  EVER! 5 of them to be exact.

Brant pointed it out as we were checking the results.

The rest of the day was spent scrambling to try and get Arley's bike going, hoping for a fix tomorrow.  But man.  It was good.

Soups came through with this shot.  Ol'TIMMEEEEEEE was parked with his camper on the corner.  Soups snapped this shot.  THIS was my race. These guys, Wade, Brant, today was bike racing at the best.  For me. The deer hunter rode off at a million miles an hour.  Piles of dudes DNF'd. And I managed to snag 5 vergre points, and beat everyone in my group.

Today was good.  Tomorrow is supposed to be cold. Oh boy.

Photo:

I should really write this up more, and I might. Suffice it to say, yes, Jeffrey B, take it as a positive race report. It was a f'n awesome day.

heddwch,
G

couple of photos

Thanksgiving is

tomorrow...

Sterling is this weekend, forecast down here is calling for rain, up there not so much. We can hope no? Gonna not be warm on Sunday. Either way it will be sterling and there's not so many scrubs showing up in the Elite field. Me and the juniors.

Ice Weasels is currently one spot shy of being filled in the single speed event.  85 people.  Hell if Colin's predictions of 10 no shows is right that's still one HUGE ASS field of singlespeeders.  Gonna get interesting, between handups and all that esp once lapped traffic plays into the mix.

Should be off the hook fun though, Ice Weasels always is.


Thanksgiving time

Nothing like adding to the legions of people lining up to spend money under the vague pretense of saving money, nothing is cheaper (almost) on Black Friday.  And really, camping out in front of a Walfart today?! TODAY for these 'savings'?  I know most of them think they are getting a deal, but I wonder if that is just a pretense for lemming mentality and herding.  Sheeple.  Cry for attention, wanting to feel special that you waited in line for a day or two to get a 'deal.'  Maybe they really do think they are, maybe that is all there is to it.

You won't find me out there.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to ride a bit, and get the bikes and stuff ready for the weekend of racing at Sterling.

heddwch
G

Nov 16th Sunset study

Raw photo dump, sunset on the 16th was impressive... back tracked across the Henderson Bridge on the sidewalk so I could grab the scene and play. Frustrated at times with not having full visual scope on the camera, would be so cool if the optics in these shock proof water proof pocket cameras could go wide enough w/o resorting to stitching. and yes - also, despite the dramatic coloring of the sunset, a black and white jersey pocket camera would be amazing. And no, even if I could afford it, I don't think the Leica Monochrome M would be a jersey pocket camera, def not suited for all weather cycling.

quiet

Fort pop'd this up on G+ this morning.

I enjoyed it.

Quiet is good.  I guess that's one of the biggest draws I have to the Quaker meetings. Silence. Sitting, reflecting, not saying anything.  If someone does say something, there is always a period of silence to reflect on the words.  I have pretty much more or less w/o much question a very atheistic leaning, but sympathetic and appreciative of the cultural framework that the more peaceful (modern incarnation) of some "churches" have, and the Quakers are there at the top of the list regarding respect.

There is a place for noise.  There is a place for cacophony, but there needs to be a place for quiet.

The bike in a way is close to that for me.  I do not ride with headphones.  I do not ride with music unless I'm on the trainer.  Sometimes warming up for a cross race I'll put music on to drown out the other distractions and help focus on the course, or imprint a tune on a particular section.  But the commute.  Quiet. Occasionally and less frequently lately, I will have a conversation with a fellow commuter.

I grew up where there was no sound outside made by man. The house would settle down and be silent at night.  Sometimes I would burn through the night reading, no other sound beside the turning of the page.

That one year I flew back from SEA to BOS, had coffee with JLSCX there at South Station, I boarded the Amtrak and found, much to my delight, the quiet car.  It was packed. No double open seats, so I took the closest one.

It was indeed quiet. It was relaxing and pleasant and much needed after a long flight.  There is nothing quiet about air travel.  And there was something reassuring about being in a train car with people who sought out the quiet. Fellow humans who were looking to escape the loud and inconsiderate.

I was a regular on trains for many years.  That was years ago though.  Back when cell phones were back pack sized and generally only found in cars.  People were quiet on the train.  No laptops, maybe the odd walkman or discman, but mostly we rode the train in respectful silence.  Staring out the window at the abandoned buildings you can only see from the train.  Imaging having a Dirk Pitt style house in one of them.  Randomly someone would strike up a conversation with their seatmate.  I'm too shy to initiate them much, but a few stick out in my mind, and they were memorable.   One man who was my Grandfather's generation, we talked about education, and the state of the demand for degrees beyond High School.  We had a great conversation, each of us making points that gave the other pause to think, reflect, and understand more. Another was a women, maybe my age, a girl i suppose, we talked, she would write in her book a bit here and there...  I dared not to read much but I saw one line that will be always burned in my memory.  Not sure she intended me to see it.  I did.  I never got her name, that's me, never very good with introductions or furthering the conversation or interaction beyond the initial one.

Reading the Quiet Car over lunch brought back a bit of reflection, a good bit of positive memories.

I'm glad I read it.

heddwch
G

Plymouth Day 1 2012 official race report

Never really wrote up Plymouth Day one or Day two to the full extend that they deserve.  Does it matter now? Yes, it always does.  And why now? well, why not and I have time and I'm not racing today, despite wishing I could hit Lowell.  Lowell's a great course, love the elevation change and all that.

Velocross looked amazing yesterday too, would have been pretty awesome to test the fitness level there. But Sleep was needed and finally this weekend managed some good sleep doping.  Caught the end of the Euro races both mornings and got some good family time in.

random thought

bike stuff -

Friday before the Plymouth Eco-cross triple i swapped sides with my rear brake (trailing side was worn to the holder almost). Essentially putting some 'new' material in contact with the rim. What a difference.  Braking was 'amazing.'

Made me [over]think about all the comments when people put new brakes on their bike. Mid season or whenever.

New brake and suddenly they can stop like never before.

And does anyone put new brake hardware on with old glazed used, compressed pads?

How much of this new brake amazeballs is just new compound?

Just a random thought I had commuting on the bike this week, that I managed to poop out into a post.

Might have to go through the pain in the ass of adj all 4 brakes and give the 303s a run on the White Blue.  I think part of the 'feeling' of quickness and fast may be due to the radial driveside spokes on the 303s compared to the Ultegra tubeless wheels.

So far no riding today. No coffee until almost 10am, got some sleep, watched the last 3rd of the Euro race, sun beams filling the kitchen space and the girls stretching and working on ballet on yoga mats...

Now for the crazy part of the day

recharged

Nothing like a sweetheart dance to make it all better.  Literally, it was good. That's what matters.

It is what I need to measure everything by, and by that measure, things are pretty f'n amazing.

A good night.

A new venue too.  I've been going to these for a lot of years now, this was #8 (wtf... woah - seriously) four of them were with both girls, last couple just the youngest (oldest gets her own now again).

Moving on, happily. Things are good. I have my demons, my struggles, but it will all be okay...

perspective, you lose sight of it in anything you do and everything suffers... must not lose perspective.

heddwch
G

more coffee

Another long night in store today, had someone in who drank a bit of my carefully measured daily dose of coffee and now i need more, am making more.  The best part about making a small pot, it takes WAY less time.  WOO.

Head's tired and fuzzy after last weekend and this week.  So much going on.  And i know I'm not alone, it is pretty standard now, over scheduled and over booked.

I Read this...  I like it, granted racing for years and years gives you a distinct advantage and is part of the reason those old dudes who've been doing it for so long make it look easy, or at least can take the slow parts fast even if they can't pedal as fast anymore.  Referring to the link to this.

I am totally a cranky nut job. No question.  And I agree with this one on his whole post.

little half pot is finished... time to drink some coffee... gotta stay functional well past bedtime. so good i don't have to get in the car and drive 2 hrs tomorrow, as much as I would love to go race at Velocross, i can't.

put that behind and move on

Had the reception for my images hanging in the gallery/theater last night.  Realized while I put the link up here a few times I never did a single post about it. I did plenty of blasting to Faceplace, Tumblr, Twitter...  handed out real post cards to people, talked about it...  and a few people made it. There was a decent amount of food, well except for the milkshakes. They ran out of ice cream before I got one. Salmon mouse, mountains of cheese and veggies and great bread, some fancy grilled cheese and grilled turkey melts.  And there were plenty of people there. One good new potential contact (old photographer guy) but it was small.

I know I can be pretty fucking cryptic here. Put it this way, there were just enough people there for the first 90 min that I was talking and engaged (even if I knew them and they're very familiar with my images -they are in my office), but I would be lying if i said i was happy with it.  I know they've been up for a while, and due to my own inability to get out of my own way I haven't pushed for a solo opening but part of me didn't push for it because I pretty much have come to expect that no one would have shown up if i had done it alone, kind of like last night. I do really appreciate the effort my wife and the museum staff put into getting this together for me and all they've done to give me the chance to show off the images and It has been nice to share with people over the last year or so that they've been hanging.  Some very important people to me have seen them and that makes it worth it. I'm an unloveable jackass most of the time but this just sort of felt like a birthday where people were all invited and no one shows, or the team party i had at my house, cooked piles of food and almost no one showed up.  That's my track record. Consistent. Always has been. Not possible after 40+ years to think it is just random or scheduling conflicts or something.  Chances are if my sister didn't get married on the weekend i turned 40 no one would have shown up for the party i was told i needed to plan if i wanted a party for my 40th.  That's the facts, or at least the working hypothesis that has been tested enough for me to call a theory.  Plenty of reasons why. And yeah this probably reads like a big self pity party. Fuck it.  I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I'm just being analytically clinical, just one of my character "flaws" if you want to call it that.

So yeah, went home and didn't sleep. at least for a while.  At least I'm not racing this weekend in the sleep deprived state. It is what it is. What else is there to do about it. Nothing. Move forward, keep going, keep working, keep trying to make as positive an impact on individuals I come in contact with in person.

Going to try and ride tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Might just say F'it. What's the point.

heddwch
G

way back

in the dark ages of internet videos and pictures were dug up from unprotected file directories, linked and shared in a very primitive way...

There was one video that was hysterical the first time for me, and still makes me chuckle.  I saw an animated GIF of the movie, but man, just isn't the same w/o the sound track, and all the positions.

What killed me everytime was one of the field service engineers for the SEM we had in Michigan would hang out, and i happened to show him the video. He was in tears, doubled over sobbing he was laughing so hard. Every visit, we had to watch that video.  EVERY. VISIT.  CW is a smart dude, knows his stuff, pretty intelligent and a damn good mechanic and could fix the hell out of the electronics and keep shit tuned.

This one is for you CW...  I think I laugh now more thinking about how funny you thought this was... It has to be watched with sound. Has to be.

Warning - you may not find it funny.

This is awesome

Commercial Algae biodiesel.  
Not to be lumped in with BioFuel by those who would rather not see it happen.  I'm not keen on the whole sugar being used to make it. I'd take a lower yield rate using a waste stream as the carbon source vs the sugar.  BioFuel is used by people who want to prevent Ethanol from being used as a fuel, Biodiesel get a good bit of smear.

Compression ignition is good.  Spark is bad.

Oh well.

Plug-in Diesel Electric hybrid would be a market killer.

also - if you're headed to the reception tomorrow, best to RSVP as the invite requests.

The race to the starting line

Time to cue up some Cake?

Ice Weasels is on tap.

One of the few races that will fill super early.  Could even fill today for some categories.

it is also unsanctioned this year, meaning no USAC, and all the cupcake and whatever (beer) feeds you want. Hell maybe even a cabbage feed again.

Way too early to know what schedules will be like but I know i'm not good enough to race the Jedi old dudes and then the single speed... and well damnit, single speed is just too much fun to pass up.

See you online at noon.  Lets heat up the server closet at Bikereg for lunch.

questionable judgement

Racing today in the P/1/2/3 field with it as stacked as it was after two days of cross and associated everything, soccer games, picking up dropping off, shopping, cooking... was well, to be expected, kind of rough for me.

I knew yesterday that when I was too tired to open a beer, or eat more food, even though I kind of felt hungry, it might not go well.  One day? No problem.  Two days? Yeah usually that works.  Three in a row and an hour on top on a course that kind of demands fresh legs or at least decent fitness (no faking, no relying on strengths, just reserves and speed)...  questionable judgement.

I did wind up falling asleep not too late, but waking up having to get everyone ready to go with me (wife went to work, me and girls headed to the race) and then being about 30 minutes later leaving than I had hoped didn't help much. Exhausted.  Underfueled despite forcing myself to eat as much as I could. Tired from the week and racing two days and all that goes with it.

But hey, it was Eco-cross!!!  Shit is awesome.  Crazy fun. Last year I had a great race, it was fun.  It was also wet, AND it was a Friday going into Plymouth instead of a Monday following.

There was no way possible to get everyone in the car any earlier than i did, making the 3/4 race totally no a possibility, also the Masters Open...  could have done that but I had so much fun racing the extra time and with a different group last year...  oops.

Lined up, started.  Felt fine for the first two laps, started getting gapped on the 3rd lap and by the 4th lap the wheels had fallen off and I'd totally lost any ability to pedal the bike fast.  Like not at all fast.  I wasn't going slowly, but was going slow enough that pretty soon the fast Keough (Nick) came through.  Saw Manny G after his crash, took him a while to work back through me, not sure if he finished or not.  And then Peter G came through, and then pretty much everyone else it seemed. I think maybe half the field lapped me i was going so slowly.  Just. Couldn't. Get. Out. Of. My. Own. Way. Legs were dead. Empty, no fuel in the tank.

That said it was still pretty fun, and I did kind of figure out how to go fast in the corners.  When i felt like it.

I think it looked like i was scored lucky 13th.  15 finishers and one DNF.  Pretty abysmal.  Esp considering if they had decided to make us race one more lap i'd have gone TWO laps down. So insane that i was stoked only to be one lap down.  But Hey. It was what it was.

The girls were there cheering when they saw me go through.  I really wasn't going that slow but compared to Nick or Peter...  yeah... not so much fast in my legs.  The one dismount didn't help. The hills, the two of them, were fine, could go up them with the leaders but the short bursts after the turn wasn't there.  Slow burn power was fine, short intense stuff was GONE.  Old.  Oops.  Mark and Kevin did fine, Mark on his 5th of 6  races over the long weekend, so it isn't exactly age, but then they aren't exactly normal old dudes, not that I am either.

I'm glad I raced though. Was a beautiful day, I felt good on the bike, the shifting was working again, always fun being at the farm and seeing how they run the course.  The girls both had a big plate of pulled pork with rice and beans and stuff.  Caught up with a few folks and headed back home.

And made Pizza.

Been AGES since I've made pizza.  I was tired - too tired probably, but it has been in production since about 2:45.  Dough made totally by eye. Sure that much yeast? okay, how much water did i use? No idea.  How much flour did i add? enough until it looked ride.  Sauce, bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms, olives, cheese... some of it all of it.  They turned out pretty spectacularly.  Oven is off.  There might be enough left over for lunch. or at least 1st lunch.

Of the three courses I loved Day 1 the most.  I think Eco-cross was more fun than Day 2 but day two was slightly better for me. 4th 6th and a 13th. If I'd raced it a bit differently or if Gary A hadn't washed out on that first lap giving the top three a decent gap...  who knows, or if i hadn't soft pedaled following wheels for a lap... in one section...  a podium or better would have been possible.  Still happy with the result.

Satisfied by how fatigued and blown i'm feeling right now.  No racing next weekend for me. Might try and squeeze in a couple hours on the road on Saturday.  We'll see what happens though.

This week is a big one.  Have to get stuff together for the reception on Thursday night (my art stuff - if you're local it would mean a great deal for me to be able to share it, digital display doesn't really do these prints justice), father daughter dance friday night. Some craziness tomorrow and Wednesday too.  Way to start off the short week in a deep hole.

Okay - time to wrap it all up...

oh and put the bikes back together.  Damn it.  I did manage to get both bikes inside the rusty race wagon AND both of the girls.  And everyone had a seatbelt.  But they're sitting kind of waiting to be put together.

One last thing...

no clue what that last thing was/is. Going to put them together... oh right, one last thing to do before trying to get some sleep.  Bikes. Together.

heddwch
G

Here we go

Made some coffee, getting ready to head out for Plymouth Day 2.

Dark. Leaving for a bike race in the dark.  It is like I'm Jerry or something.

Yesterday was a good day.  Woke up, late, made waffles, ate them and drank coffee watching the Euro CX race live, headed to Plymouth, hung out, raced, headed to watch youngest play soccer, hung out at the farm. came home.

Now lets do it all over again.  But differently.

That big nor-easter

forgot to mention it.

kind of windy yesterday.

and raining.

and windy...

Was a f'n challenge, not a big deal. Not as bad as riding home wednesday night realizing how unprepared i was for the weather.  Ouch.

Realizing i need to either find a new clear M-frame lens or buy new glasses (i keep trying lab safety glasses but they all distort things so much i get a headache just wearing them for a few minutes)... riding w/o glasses into a 50+mph gusts with snow and sleet really really hurts.

At least i didn't need the studded tires.

And yes - i had to ride into that wind. Yeah but no big deal.  Just a little wind.  Oh and it was raining, mixed with little balls of ice. No big deal.

what the hell have I done

Signing up for the P/1/2/3 race at Eco-cross when it is on a Friday is one thing.  That's fun.  A good hour, in the morning, nice opener for the Plymouth weekend.