A gingerbread typewriter!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble....Race reports #2, 3, & 4
Race #2 was prior to vacation and so all that remains is a vague memory of suffering in Prunedale. Oh, and the fact that my team mate beat me on one of my own bicycles! That is so low C(l)ass. To my thinking, if you smash your bike the day before in training and your teammate loans you HIS STEVENS for the race, you should at least have the common decency to sit up before the line, right? Well, two days after returning from vacation, I did races #3 and #4, 90 minutes apart. What made me think that this was a good idea is still under investigation. Earlier findings indicate a screw loose. The course was typical Candlestick; fast, dry, bumpy and technical. Anyway, I managed to pulled off the double, racing the SS race in at 9:40 and the 45+ race at 12:30. Don't let that photo fool you (thanks Jon). I'm only smiling because Cass had just farted.... and the race hadn't started yet. I felt pretty ok during the SS race. I let 7th place slip through my fingers, but was pretty satisfied with 8th. There was a decent gap, maybe 30 seconds, to Chris in 6th place. Nice jobs Chris. Next time don't fall down so much;-) I ran a 60in gear and was completely spun out on the long straight. I should have run a 63, but I'm not sure I could have survived it. I really had pretty modest goals for the 45+ race. Stay on the lead lap. It was harder than I thought. Coats, Mundelius and Myrah decided to race a minute ahead in the 35+ race. Heck, it's hard enough to stay lead lap when they race age appropriate! The first 3 laps felt ok. I started at the back with Hans so that I could get my butt on camera as much as possible and was actually passing more folks than not. This was to be short lived. Lap 4 hurt. Lap 5 really hurt. The remaining 43 laps were a complete blurr. Whining aside, I acheived my goal finishing 21st, losing most of my places in the last two laps. I think top 15 on fresh legs. The folks running the BASP series really upped their game a notch this year with a fly-over, totally PRO race numbers and a remote fly-cam. The ML3RDL tent was in full swing with the team posting a couple of 1sts, a 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 8th....well, alot! Sadly, the cross gods required their sacrifce and both Max and Janie offered up flesh. Heal up and see y'ins next week.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Steve Jobs. RIP
“When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in confederacy against him.”
― Jonathan Swift
― Jonathan Swift
Monday, October 03, 2011
In the Bag. 2011 race #1
SS CX rule # 12. If the gear feels good in warm-up, it's too big.
SS CX rule #33. Get that F-ing 18t cog back that you loaned to your teammate BEFORE you go to the race.
Raced SS at Lion of Fairfax on Saturday. It always feels good to get that first one outta the way. I wasn't 100% due to that mid Sept. cold so when faced with either a 64 or a 54 inch gear, I chose the latter (A 60 would have been perfect in retrospect ). I was woefully undergeared on the front half of the course, but was drilling it on the slow rooted climb....and no cramping. I ignored the "Go Hampster Go" cat calls through the start finish and told myself I had made the right choice. I finished mid-pack without having to go too deep. That's not to say I didnt' suffer. I made some big efforts to reel in a friend of mine over the first few laps, but I paid the price and was hurting as I came through the start/finish. When I looked up to see "5 to go" on the lap cards, I was sure they had made a mistake. When they showed "4 to go" one lap, later, I realized it was no mistake and almost headed to the car. Not sure how I hung on for 4 more laps, but I'm happy with the result considering I"m about 3 weeks behind schedule fitness wise.
Side note: checked out Tim C's latest incarnation of his hydraulic setup. It's pretty damn sweet. Fantastic modulation with a single finger. CX discs are definitely in my future. Hurry up Shimano/Sram/Sacha!
SS CX rule #33. Get that F-ing 18t cog back that you loaned to your teammate BEFORE you go to the race.
Raced SS at Lion of Fairfax on Saturday. It always feels good to get that first one outta the way. I wasn't 100% due to that mid Sept. cold so when faced with either a 64 or a 54 inch gear, I chose the latter (A 60 would have been perfect in retrospect ). I was woefully undergeared on the front half of the course, but was drilling it on the slow rooted climb....and no cramping. I ignored the "Go Hampster Go" cat calls through the start finish and told myself I had made the right choice. I finished mid-pack without having to go too deep. That's not to say I didnt' suffer. I made some big efforts to reel in a friend of mine over the first few laps, but I paid the price and was hurting as I came through the start/finish. When I looked up to see "5 to go" on the lap cards, I was sure they had made a mistake. When they showed "4 to go" one lap, later, I realized it was no mistake and almost headed to the car. Not sure how I hung on for 4 more laps, but I'm happy with the result considering I"m about 3 weeks behind schedule fitness wise.
Side note: checked out Tim C's latest incarnation of his hydraulic setup. It's pretty damn sweet. Fantastic modulation with a single finger. CX discs are definitely in my future. Hurry up Shimano/Sram/Sacha!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Hilarious+Sad+Hilarious+Sad=UrbanBaby
Heavens to Murgatroid! I was reading this pretty decent NYT article about failure and success when I made the mistake of clicking through to UrbanBaby. It's entertaining in that tabloid sort of way. Funny for about 10 seconds, then just sad. Do yourself a favor and dont click through....
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
I train during my lunch hour. I don't want to train at lunch. I'd rather go to Vik's. I'd rather ride after work. I'd rather come home late and eat dinner on the sofa with my legs up. But such is not my life, so I ride at lunch. Almost without fail, someone will ask as I stink my way back to my office if I had a nice ride. I use to say "Yes". I would tell them what they expected to hear. I use to lie. My rides are never nice. I don't have the hours for 'nice'. Mine are invariably some form of 'ugly'. They range from slightly off-putting to down right Rob Zombie. As a result, my co-workers will no longer ride with me. So I'm alone in my misery, talkin' crazy talk to no one. But at least I no longer lie...except to myself ;-)
mini sabbatical
Since I'm the only one that reads my blog, I want to apologize to myself for the lazy pic posts of late. It's all I've had time for...Last season started strong (again) and ended abruptly (again). I really didn't feel like revisiting many races. Ok. I will post something about the Michigan race soon as I plan on hanging the entire 2010/2011 season on that single result. This seaon, it's happening again, albeit a month sooner, so there is hope.
Anyone see a pattern? Maybe it's just a perfect storm of peak fitness meets the beginning of the school year. I'm most vunerable to vectors just as the number of them I'm exposed to increases by an orders of magnitude.
I wish I could blame the kids. Wait. I can. Damn Kids.
Anyone see a pattern? Maybe it's just a perfect storm of peak fitness meets the beginning of the school year. I'm most vunerable to vectors just as the number of them I'm exposed to increases by an orders of magnitude.
I wish I could blame the kids. Wait. I can. Damn Kids.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Abandon hope all ye who enter here.
I'm not worried about America's youth, nope, not worried one bit.
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Narrowing the Choices
As you can see from the removed pink post-its, the number of potential candidates has been greatly reduced. Whew.
IMG_0517.JPG, originally uploaded by crankles.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
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