Fragments

This weekend I intended to grind my way through the Suicide 6 at Harriet Hollister. Due to a number of reasons (excuses?) I did not - and so ends another summer season of mountain bike racing with only one event and no forays into some of the endurance challenges. Ah, well, maybe next year.

Things have been a bit hectic, part of what contributed to my foregoing the race today. I haven't had a chance (or made the time) to get out for a ride, resulting in too many incomplete thoughts and partially formed hypotheses banging around in my melon. It seems that without a brain bucket to keep them in, I lose focus on these, which prevents me from moving on to more productive places. This weekend I will be spending some time canoeing in Algonquin Provincial Park with friends. Maybe this will present the opportunity for some lucidity to my current cadre of thoughts amidst the call of loons and reflections of northern lights.

Slate - bike centric?

I am starting to become a fan of Slate. A friend of mine sent me this article recently, which follows on the heals of my post about an article in Slate on bike parking.

Bike Parking

Living in a place where my only option to lock up is most often a sign post, this article is something officials in all US cities should read.

Here from there from here

Today I ascended into a place I have looked at since I was a kid and still do every day.

Where many members of my family were married.

Where my mom was baptized.

Where my mom played the organ at age fourteen.

Where my grandmother served her time in purgatory cleaning the sanctuary.

Where my grandparents' lives were celebrated.

Where pigeons go to die a slow death amongst others like them who could get in but not out.

Where others have gone before us and left there mark - who is Harry Stacey?

Where pulling of ropes and material sound has been replaced by the push of a button and pulse of electricity.

I witnessed the transformation of these towers from blue to a copper patina and now, I hope, they are witnessing the transformation of the neighborhood they have looked over since 1845, when building meant building forever.

Fight Club and other random bits

A friend of mine recently recommended I allot a portion of my freetime to watch Fight Club - ok, it really was over a month ago but who's counting. This is a movie I've seen bits and pieces of over the years but never really thought it was something I could get into but I thought I'd give it a try. Let me just say I should really have watched this movie much sooner. I am pretty fried right now from two 90 degree, 95 percent humidity days in the sun to get into my observations about this movie but I'll set the stage with these lines/concepts:

"losing all hope was freedom"

"single serving friend"

If I don't follow up, let me know because I really should.

In a separate vein, since ten years have passed since I spent a summer living on the Isle of Portland in England, I've been reading through the journal I kept while I was there. Something that amazes me about this look back is how much I've grown in many ways and how much I've not, or even digressed. Sort of encouraging but also scary. Makes me want to start doing all of the things I say I need to do to change things but haven't made the effort to do so because it requires me to step outside the lines I've drawn. Maybe it is time for an eraser? Or at least a bigger canvas...

And because I am completely delirious at this point, I am posting this random picture I took this weekend of two silos made of different materials, concrete and clay...

Art and bikes - or - Bikes and art

A friend of mine sent this to me a while ago and I've been meaning to post it. I think this is a cool project, mixing art and bikes.

Back

Been away for a while due to an electrical problem at my house that fried my modem. Seems electronic devices designed for 110 don't play well with 220... go figure.

Anyway, I am reloaded into the interweb now and thought I'd share a few things. First, this video seems to be making the rounds. I find it entertaining.

Also, this week I went on an impromptu bike ride with some of my friends from work. It was 5:15 and someone said "Hey, let's go for a ride today." 'nough said. We started out a committed group of four but dwindled to three. We each had different rides (road, hybrid, fixie) and decided on the Tour de Northside. Rode the streets to a number of different parks, none of which I'd ever visited. We started first at Schiller, then meandered over to Lincoln and finished at Sunny Crest. Now most of the parks are built on high points in the city, probably because they were to difficult to build residential housing on, but maybe there is some other reasoning. Schiller has a great view of downtown and the university. (I didn't bring my camera which is unfortunate but next time.) Lincoln looks more easterly. Sunny Crest is a south easterly view (likely the reasoning behind the name). There is a golf course in the park, bringing the number of golf courses in Syracuse's parks system (that I know about) to two. While I support recreation, this seems a bit high in time of fiscal constraints for the city. But I digress - if there were two mountain bike parks, I wouldn't be making the same observation...

It was a great relaxing ride. I got to try the fixie, which was fun, and mayhaps planted the seed for this winter's bike project...

Check, Check, 1-2-3

Circumnavigate Cayuga Lake, the longest of the Finger Lakes, on a bike - check.

Complete first century ride - check.

See Mom happy as a kid on her new bike - check.

Decompress after a long week at work - check.

Discover Snickers makes a dark chocolate version of their beloved candy bar, which saved me in the last 20 miles - check.

Forget to wear sunscreen and receive a burn - check.

Avoid a flat - check.

Out sprint a charging dog 60 miles in - check.

Wave to every other cyclist I saw - check.

Have a great time - check.

Today I completed two major life goals - to ride my bike around Cayuga Lake and to complete a century ride. It was a pretty long and strenuous week at work so when I woke up this morning and saw the forecast for a perfect day to bike, I thought "What the heck, let's give this thing a go." I googled a route and this MapMyRide website came up. My route differed only slightly, with a detour to say hi to Mom and Dad and a number of stops to stuff food in my face (which I didn't bring enough of...). The highlights of the day included stopping by to see Mom and Dad - Mom was acting like a little kid on her new bike; outsprinting a charging unleashed dog at around mile sixty - I think he was old and out of shape, kind of like the rider he was chasing down; and avoiding the dreaded bonk at mile 80 by purchasing a Dark Chocolate Snickers bar even though it cost me the same as what two regular Snickers had earlier in the day - highway robbery comes to mind.

I chose to start in Ithaca because I thought it would get most of the big climbs out of the way early in the ride. This was true for the most part but 34B drops into Lansing and then climbs f-0-r-e-v-e-r out until the right onto Sheldon Road. That climb about did me in... I made a big effort to try to drink frequently (every 10 to 15 minutes) and eat something every 45 minutes or so. Toward the end, the drinking fell off but the food intake picked up. I consumed two Snickers, a Power Bar, a Gu gel, two and a half water bottles of Gatorade and 3/4 a liter of Pepsi. I am finding caffeine to be a real boost to my ability for finishing the longer rides I've done this year. This is probably some form of cheating but I'm going to go with it for now.

It was a very picturesque ride although my camera batteries died so I didn't bring it with me. Next time. 

All told, it was 6 hours and 40 minutes of riding for just over 102 miles, averaging 15.3 miles an hour. I was averaging up in the 17mph range but fell off with the climbing at the end.  This puts me over 500 miles for the season, well off last year's pace but I've been pretty busy during the week and there isn't a trail out my front door like there was in Rochester...

Mom's New Bike

The folks at Geneva Bicycle Center set Mom up with one of these today. She tried out three bikes and this one was the best fit. They took the time to help set her up by adjusting handlebars and other components to get it right for her - another example of why this shop remains at the top of my list. All shops should do this but many don't when someone comes in who is outside the cycle-centric world. This is a real put-off in my opinion and does nothing to foster an appreciation for cycling. Kudos to you, GBC, and your exceptional staff.

2009 Highland Forest Classic recap AKA Mudfest 2009

I knew it wasn't going to be good when I awoke early on Sunday to the sound of rain and thunder claps. Highland is wet even in the driest of summers. Ah, well, it is about the experience, right? And when I was a kid, the more mud the better.

I got a later start than I hoped but made it to Highland in record time. Picked up my race number and pint glass with ten minutes to spare, I was told. Ten minutes turned into twenty and drizzle turned into downpour. I slurped down a double expresso Gu (bad idea in some respects, good in others) and lined up with the other Sport 30-39 races when it was our turn. The race started up hill and, well, they don't call it mountain biking for nothing. Since I wasn't out to win this thing, I hung with the pack as long as I felt comfortable and then settled into my rhythm. I passed a few riders on the first climb, one or two passing me back on the downhill. This went on until we all found our paces and settled into the muddy groove. The course is in and out of single and double track so there are plenty of places to pass. 

With the rain and mud, I thought my riding glasses would be clutch. Wrong. The grinding uphills caused them to fog and the desire to keep things upright meant I went too slowly on the downhills for them to defog. One quarter of the way through the first lap, I decided it was better to risk mud in the eye to see for most of the time than to not be able to see through foggy, mud-flecked, and rain-speckled glasses. I am grateful for my (nearly) perfect eyesight because some riders who need glasses to see did not have this option.

Can we talk about the mud for a second? Last year, I raced the Raccoon Rally, which was also  a mud fest. But the mud there was different. It was mainly slick and greasy, allowing you to go (sometimes dangerously) fast. Not so with Highland. Here, the mud was in places slick and fast but for the most part it was like riding through quagmire. My tires stuck to the mud like a fly to the fly-paper in a greasy spoon diner. This would be fine except that the greasy spots were on the downhills and the fly paper spots on the flats and uphills. Go figure, right? Fortunately, I managed to keep things rubber side down the entire race (thanks to the pre-ride last week) with only a few miscues into the bushes. 

The first lap things weren't too chewed up yet so I came through in just over 45 minutes, not too bad and would have placed me first or second in the beginner class. At the start of the second lap, I decided to skip the second caffeine laced Gu shot and grind it out on the jitters from the first. Also, the trail was being pulverized into mud mousse so I decided to see what luck I would have with the glasses. I felt a little more confident on the downhills so they stayed a bit clearer and saved my eyes from shots of muck. I passed a few riders who had mechanical issues (mud wreaks havoc on a drivetrain) and felt pretty decent. I kept an eye on the clock on my computer and noticed my time was slowing down, mainly due to the trail conditions. Ah, well, I was still having fun. I rolled through the second and final lap to a small, drenched but much less muddy crowd of spectators to finish in 1 hour and 37 minutes. A few minutes later, the leader of the Expert class finished - three laps in the time it took me to do two... I guess that's why they call it the expert class. I was thinking about entering that just so I could do three laps but am glad I didn't. 

Overall, I am satisfied with the time. It is very close to what it took me to do two laps during the pre-ride last week which I feel means that had the conditions been better, I would have ridden a much faster time. Next year maybe.

So all in all, a muddy, fun event. I am glad I pre-registered because I (a) got a sweet new pint glass out of the deal and (b) didn't have to worry about being late. I wish I had some pictures because my bike and I were a mess. So much so that when I went to return my race number for the deposit, the folks taking them laughed at me. In my post race haze, I looked around at first to see what they were laughing at only to realize it was me. "You are the muddiest we've seen yet." It seems other racers were using the hose to clean themselves and their bikes. I chose only the bike. 

I noticed the Farmall race series is starting this week in Rochester. Bummer I am going to miss this, it is a fun one. I'll just have to find something else around here although there seem to be pretty slim pick'ns, just like the wares at the local bike shops. Do I really have to go to three shops to find cleats and shoes? Well, yes, yes I do. Ah, well, that is the price I have to accept to keep myself in good working order. 

Maybe I'll try a six hour race next, just to keep things interesting.