Wednesday, 2 April
People, people, you just don't need to ride on the bike trail with all your headlights on when the sun is above the horizon and there's not a cloud in the sky. Think about it. That wasted light carries a price. Either you are sucking the life out of batteries that are imminently bound for a landfill where they will spew toxins into the soil and water table and eventually into the fish you eat. Or, thinking yourself to be quite "green," you are unnecessarily sapping the energy out of your rechargeable batteries so that you can rush home and plug them in for a refill, thereby enlarging your carbon footprint.
Most of the time you don't need a headlight on the trail for at least 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. In twilight conditions, you can see just fine--unless you shine a massively bright light source in one spot, and then your eyes cannot adjust to your surroundings outside the beam of light.
Be nice, be green, get a clue.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Foolish bloggery
April Fools Day
No, no jokes here. Not much exciting content either. But there's sunshine outside my window!
March sure did go out like a lion this year. Well, maybe more like a raging snow leopard. I can't remember ever seeing 4 days of snow at the end of March in Seattle. Work on Thursday was distracted because of it, Saturday's race was cancelled because of it, Sunday's ride route was altered because of it. Yesterday it was just plain torrential rain on my ride, so my nice toasty winter commuting jacket was still soggy when I left this morning. I had to scramble to find something else to keep me warm in the 32-degree fog.
Racing has been, well, weird. I have almost nothing but rants about Independence Valley so I've been keeping those to myself. It's a great course, the race is well promoted, and the weather was beautiful, but some other issues.....well, grrrr is about all I can say. Coming up next is what passes for vacation in my household: a four-day stage race. And the indulgent kind, too, with just one stage per day. Sounds like O.A.D. is planning some extracurricular miles to make sure we come home tired and overtrained. I'm planning visits to a couple of yarn shops I don't see very often. Also in sight on the April calendar is a tandem stage race, which is just a bucket of painful fun and a chance to check out the final road stage for Mt. Hood, which is under about 20 feet of snow right now.
Hats have been the small variety. Seems the Garage guys are on a roll (oh, really bad pun there, sorry), getting their wives pregnant in the off season. One of my teammates too. I'll bet you didn't know that the color choices in baby yarn are pretty dull. If you don't know a baby's sex, well, there's yellow and lavendar and icky mint green. If you choose something besides baby yarn, it's probably not as soft. I picked up some shocking neon pink yarn in Dublin last November, so I think I'll break that out for the next baby girl. I did have a request for one that was neon green, and that was fun.
The backyard farm is slow on the upswing this year, but the rhubarb is well along, the raspberries are starting to leaf out, and the blueberries are showing signs of life. The parsley that flattened itself against the ground for warmth all winter is perking up. The peas I planted on St. Patrick's Day, though, haven't done much in all this sub-40 weather we've had.
Oh, Argentius, you ask about my musical compositions and my day job. If I told you the latter, you'd never send me an email message again, and my recording career ended back in my college days, which were eons ago. Bike racing pushed my music performance out of my schedule, and crashing on my face a couple of years ago didn't do much to help it either.
Okay, the sun is shining. It must be time to go....to work.
No, no jokes here. Not much exciting content either. But there's sunshine outside my window!
March sure did go out like a lion this year. Well, maybe more like a raging snow leopard. I can't remember ever seeing 4 days of snow at the end of March in Seattle. Work on Thursday was distracted because of it, Saturday's race was cancelled because of it, Sunday's ride route was altered because of it. Yesterday it was just plain torrential rain on my ride, so my nice toasty winter commuting jacket was still soggy when I left this morning. I had to scramble to find something else to keep me warm in the 32-degree fog.
Racing has been, well, weird. I have almost nothing but rants about Independence Valley so I've been keeping those to myself. It's a great course, the race is well promoted, and the weather was beautiful, but some other issues.....well, grrrr is about all I can say. Coming up next is what passes for vacation in my household: a four-day stage race. And the indulgent kind, too, with just one stage per day. Sounds like O.A.D. is planning some extracurricular miles to make sure we come home tired and overtrained. I'm planning visits to a couple of yarn shops I don't see very often. Also in sight on the April calendar is a tandem stage race, which is just a bucket of painful fun and a chance to check out the final road stage for Mt. Hood, which is under about 20 feet of snow right now.
Hats have been the small variety. Seems the Garage guys are on a roll (oh, really bad pun there, sorry), getting their wives pregnant in the off season. One of my teammates too. I'll bet you didn't know that the color choices in baby yarn are pretty dull. If you don't know a baby's sex, well, there's yellow and lavendar and icky mint green. If you choose something besides baby yarn, it's probably not as soft. I picked up some shocking neon pink yarn in Dublin last November, so I think I'll break that out for the next baby girl. I did have a request for one that was neon green, and that was fun.
The backyard farm is slow on the upswing this year, but the rhubarb is well along, the raspberries are starting to leaf out, and the blueberries are showing signs of life. The parsley that flattened itself against the ground for warmth all winter is perking up. The peas I planted on St. Patrick's Day, though, haven't done much in all this sub-40 weather we've had.
Oh, Argentius, you ask about my musical compositions and my day job. If I told you the latter, you'd never send me an email message again, and my recording career ended back in my college days, which were eons ago. Bike racing pushed my music performance out of my schedule, and crashing on my face a couple of years ago didn't do much to help it either.
Okay, the sun is shining. It must be time to go....to work.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Done
Tuesday, 25 March
About two months ago, I was asked to take on a freelance book project. Nothing makes me agree to a ridiculous amount of work like flattery, so I said sure. I don't know what waking moments I thought I was going to squeeze it into, what with a "real" job and training and WSBA stuff. But, hallelujah, I finished it (I think) today. All that's left is to send in my invoice. :) The downside has been that sitting at the dining room table in front of the laptop and piles of paper is not a good weight control program.
So, it's time to catch up on my blogging.
New career? A while back I got a real, first-class letter addressed to me by name from Hill Top Records in Hollywood. They want to consider my compositions for "arranging, recording and distribution." They want to be my "first big break in the music industry." A cynical coworker pointed out that they left out the page that says how much to make out my check for. I still have the letter, but all my recent compositions lately are very unmusical.
Google redux. The tech staff at work reminded me that Google's astronomical consumption of electricity comes from climate control for all its servers and not for, well, googling. So, since the AC runs whether I'm googling or not, I guess I don't have to be conservative in internet searches. Someone in the industry did raise the question, though, of why the heck they put server farms in the toasty climate of Hermiston, OR, where they probably have to have air conditioners to keep the air conditioners from overheating in the summer.
On the green theme. I can now compost at work! Lest you wonder what output I'm paid to generate, let me explain that it's just like food waste in your yard waste bin. It means the leftovers from my apples, oranges, and bananas don't go in the landfill. The only drawback is that I have to accumulate the compostables in my office and carry them over to the next building. Fortunately, it takes a lot to draw weird looks where I work, so my public display of decomposables so far hasn't generated much attention. Just have to remember to empty it before I go on vacation....
The calendar says it's spring. The fashion calendar (post-Easter) says I can now wear white, open-toed shoes. Too bad the weather doesn't cooperate. Those peas I planted last week aren't going to rot in the ground, they're going to freeze. My annual countdown to the reopening of the North Cascades Highway has begun (May 1 is the due date), but there's new snow up there, which can't help the snowblower crew.
The experimental cat 3 women's race series is off and running (note to self: must update those points!), to both praise and criticism. My month of training races is done; April holds two stage races and a "spring classic." Maybe with the book project behind me, I'll be able to get training miles in that aren't just laps on the Burke Gilman Trail.
About two months ago, I was asked to take on a freelance book project. Nothing makes me agree to a ridiculous amount of work like flattery, so I said sure. I don't know what waking moments I thought I was going to squeeze it into, what with a "real" job and training and WSBA stuff. But, hallelujah, I finished it (I think) today. All that's left is to send in my invoice. :) The downside has been that sitting at the dining room table in front of the laptop and piles of paper is not a good weight control program.
So, it's time to catch up on my blogging.
New career? A while back I got a real, first-class letter addressed to me by name from Hill Top Records in Hollywood. They want to consider my compositions for "arranging, recording and distribution." They want to be my "first big break in the music industry." A cynical coworker pointed out that they left out the page that says how much to make out my check for. I still have the letter, but all my recent compositions lately are very unmusical.
Google redux. The tech staff at work reminded me that Google's astronomical consumption of electricity comes from climate control for all its servers and not for, well, googling. So, since the AC runs whether I'm googling or not, I guess I don't have to be conservative in internet searches. Someone in the industry did raise the question, though, of why the heck they put server farms in the toasty climate of Hermiston, OR, where they probably have to have air conditioners to keep the air conditioners from overheating in the summer.
On the green theme. I can now compost at work! Lest you wonder what output I'm paid to generate, let me explain that it's just like food waste in your yard waste bin. It means the leftovers from my apples, oranges, and bananas don't go in the landfill. The only drawback is that I have to accumulate the compostables in my office and carry them over to the next building. Fortunately, it takes a lot to draw weird looks where I work, so my public display of decomposables so far hasn't generated much attention. Just have to remember to empty it before I go on vacation....
The calendar says it's spring. The fashion calendar (post-Easter) says I can now wear white, open-toed shoes. Too bad the weather doesn't cooperate. Those peas I planted last week aren't going to rot in the ground, they're going to freeze. My annual countdown to the reopening of the North Cascades Highway has begun (May 1 is the due date), but there's new snow up there, which can't help the snowblower crew.
The experimental cat 3 women's race series is off and running (note to self: must update those points!), to both praise and criticism. My month of training races is done; April holds two stage races and a "spring classic." Maybe with the book project behind me, I'll be able to get training miles in that aren't just laps on the Burke Gilman Trail.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
IVRR
Easter
Yesterday was the Independence Valley Road Race. Erik and Dawn (and TGH) have done a great job of developing this race into a local spring classic. It's a beautiful course with the proverbial "something for everyone." After my race in the morning, I rode a lap backward in the afternoon, taking pictures along the way. Going that direction gives great views of Mt. Rainier in the long valley between the two climbs. And in case you don't think the course is hard enough, ask the promoter to reverse the race direction--those climbs are lots longer going the opposite way!
There were only a few flats yesterday and no crashes. More than 400 riders--including some from faraway places, such as Portland and Ohio and South Africa and Jamaica.
I wonder how many of those 400 were loony like me and went out for three hours in the rain this Easter morning. We sure didn't see anyone between here and Snohomish!
Afterthought: You know, that barn and my bike racing these days seem to have a lot in common.....
Yesterday was the Independence Valley Road Race. Erik and Dawn (and TGH) have done a great job of developing this race into a local spring classic. It's a beautiful course with the proverbial "something for everyone." After my race in the morning, I rode a lap backward in the afternoon, taking pictures along the way. Going that direction gives great views of Mt. Rainier in the long valley between the two climbs. And in case you don't think the course is hard enough, ask the promoter to reverse the race direction--those climbs are lots longer going the opposite way!There were only a few flats yesterday and no crashes. More than 400 riders--including some from faraway places, such as Portland and Ohio and South Africa and Jamaica.
I wonder how many of those 400 were loony like me and went out for three hours in the rain this Easter morning. We sure didn't see anyone between here and Snohomish!
Afterthought: You know, that barn and my bike racing these days seem to have a lot in common.....
Monday, March 17, 2008
How Irish are you?
St. Patrick's DayIrishness pervades my household down to the smallest everyday detail.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Stop go stop go equals stop
Sunday, 16 March
IMHO there are a couple of things that need to be fixed at the Banana Belt race at Hagg Lake. One is the road. There are several places where the road is sinking with drops of 3-4 inches running across the road. There are other places where the asphalt is missing, resulting in significant potholes. If you hit any of these landmines wrong, you could wreck a wheel...or worse. It impacts the racing when a pack has to funnel through a safe zone that's the 12 inches closest to the centerline on a descent. And it's just not safe.
The other thing that needs to be fixed is the race scheduling. For the second time in two weeks, the cat 1-2-3 women's race was neutralized three times in a four-lap (44-mile) race. That, too, impacts racing (the last time today was in the last 3K of the race). Try as they might promise, officials never do justice to a break when a race gets neutralized. And all those people who have popped off the back have a great opportunity to catch back on when their race is suddenly (and I mean suddenly--we nearly crashed into the lead car today when it whipped in front of our pack at 8 mph when we were probably cruising along at 20+) reduced to a crawl. Either there are too many categories on the course at one time, or the promoter hasn't given any thought to start order...or both. Is it really rocket science to calculate that cat 1-2-3 women are likely to catch cat 4 women started 5 minutes ahead of them?
Maybe I'm just whining because I had a bad race. But after a hard day at Mason Lake on Saturday, my legs were not really that eager to have speeds yo-yo as we got neutralized and "released" while the cat 1-2 men passed us in bits and pieces. My rubber band snapped, and I had a nice 1.5-lap ride around the lake with a couple other women. I thought I was nearly last, but I was 24th out of 36 starters, so that's as good--or as bad--as yesterday's result of 6th out of 9? starters.
I see in the paper today that there's a new book out called The Art of Racing in the Rain. The title was a timely reminder of last year's weather at the Independence Valley road race, which is coming up next Saturday. The description of the book, however, seems to have nothing to do with what you and I might think.
IMHO there are a couple of things that need to be fixed at the Banana Belt race at Hagg Lake. One is the road. There are several places where the road is sinking with drops of 3-4 inches running across the road. There are other places where the asphalt is missing, resulting in significant potholes. If you hit any of these landmines wrong, you could wreck a wheel...or worse. It impacts the racing when a pack has to funnel through a safe zone that's the 12 inches closest to the centerline on a descent. And it's just not safe.
The other thing that needs to be fixed is the race scheduling. For the second time in two weeks, the cat 1-2-3 women's race was neutralized three times in a four-lap (44-mile) race. That, too, impacts racing (the last time today was in the last 3K of the race). Try as they might promise, officials never do justice to a break when a race gets neutralized. And all those people who have popped off the back have a great opportunity to catch back on when their race is suddenly (and I mean suddenly--we nearly crashed into the lead car today when it whipped in front of our pack at 8 mph when we were probably cruising along at 20+) reduced to a crawl. Either there are too many categories on the course at one time, or the promoter hasn't given any thought to start order...or both. Is it really rocket science to calculate that cat 1-2-3 women are likely to catch cat 4 women started 5 minutes ahead of them?
Maybe I'm just whining because I had a bad race. But after a hard day at Mason Lake on Saturday, my legs were not really that eager to have speeds yo-yo as we got neutralized and "released" while the cat 1-2 men passed us in bits and pieces. My rubber band snapped, and I had a nice 1.5-lap ride around the lake with a couple other women. I thought I was nearly last, but I was 24th out of 36 starters, so that's as good--or as bad--as yesterday's result of 6th out of 9? starters.
I see in the paper today that there's a new book out called The Art of Racing in the Rain. The title was a timely reminder of last year's weather at the Independence Valley road race, which is coming up next Saturday. The description of the book, however, seems to have nothing to do with what you and I might think.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Venus and Mars
Sunday, 9 March
Do you know anything about planetary alignment? Did you know that Venus and Mars were on a collision course yesterday, going circles around Mason Lake, WA? This, apparently, is what you get when you combine masters' and women's races around here. If the frustration levels hadn't been so alarmingly high on both planets, it would've been entertaining. It just showed that different people have different ideas of what makes bike racing; I think in this case it was decades of experience vs. only years of experience, not Mars vs. Venus.
To escape the course that always engenders (sorry, bad pun) bickering, I headed south to race today. There's also a 3-week series in Oregon going on, doing laps around another lake about an hour west of Portland. The cat 1-2 women there get to race with the....cat 3 women. And they're not scored separately, so they can/have to race together. It was good. The only flat road on the entire course is about 300 meters across the top of a dam. It was interesting to contrast the savvy and smarts of women in the two pelotons. Teamwork goes to WA; pure smarts and savvy go to OR (although no team had more than 2 riders in the OR race). Funniest comment in the race: "you're the one who rides 400 miles a week, right?" (I really will have to be careful what I say here.) And it was great to race with Alice again! On the last lap, going down The (Down)Hill on the course, she sat up, both hands off the bars, and pulled out her water bottle. And hers was still the steadiest wheel in the pack.
Then, to start training for stage races, my local tandem partner and I followed our individual road races in the morning with a tandem road race in the afternoon. On lap 1, the group was pretty slow on the climbs, and the guy with the controls on our bike was choosing huge gears, and I thought my legs would never get to the end of the race. But they loosened up. The next-to-the-last time up The (Up)Hill on the course, there were just two bikes, and we started worrying that the race was going to come down to a sprint (it's a downhill finish, so it would've been a scream). But the tactician on the bike (stokers don't do anything except pedal and whine) worked over the other pair, and we'd dropped them about 3 miles later. We TTed to the finish solo.
It was nice to finish all three races this weekend, and to finish them with a win!
Do you know anything about planetary alignment? Did you know that Venus and Mars were on a collision course yesterday, going circles around Mason Lake, WA? This, apparently, is what you get when you combine masters' and women's races around here. If the frustration levels hadn't been so alarmingly high on both planets, it would've been entertaining. It just showed that different people have different ideas of what makes bike racing; I think in this case it was decades of experience vs. only years of experience, not Mars vs. Venus.
To escape the course that always engenders (sorry, bad pun) bickering, I headed south to race today. There's also a 3-week series in Oregon going on, doing laps around another lake about an hour west of Portland. The cat 1-2 women there get to race with the....cat 3 women. And they're not scored separately, so they can/have to race together. It was good. The only flat road on the entire course is about 300 meters across the top of a dam. It was interesting to contrast the savvy and smarts of women in the two pelotons. Teamwork goes to WA; pure smarts and savvy go to OR (although no team had more than 2 riders in the OR race). Funniest comment in the race: "you're the one who rides 400 miles a week, right?" (I really will have to be careful what I say here.) And it was great to race with Alice again! On the last lap, going down The (Down)Hill on the course, she sat up, both hands off the bars, and pulled out her water bottle. And hers was still the steadiest wheel in the pack.
Then, to start training for stage races, my local tandem partner and I followed our individual road races in the morning with a tandem road race in the afternoon. On lap 1, the group was pretty slow on the climbs, and the guy with the controls on our bike was choosing huge gears, and I thought my legs would never get to the end of the race. But they loosened up. The next-to-the-last time up The (Up)Hill on the course, there were just two bikes, and we started worrying that the race was going to come down to a sprint (it's a downhill finish, so it would've been a scream). But the tactician on the bike (stokers don't do anything except pedal and whine) worked over the other pair, and we'd dropped them about 3 miles later. We TTed to the finish solo.
It was nice to finish all three races this weekend, and to finish them with a win!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Icebreaker TT
Thursday, 6 March
David Longdon has posted video of about the first 40 riders starting the Icebreaker TT last Sunday. If you want to check your position, or assess your relative speed off the line, or laugh at someone, or just listen to the sound of all those disk wheels going by, you'll find the link here:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/velocity/
No, don't worry, he cut out the 25-second dead time between riders.
David Longdon has posted video of about the first 40 riders starting the Icebreaker TT last Sunday. If you want to check your position, or assess your relative speed off the line, or laugh at someone, or just listen to the sound of all those disk wheels going by, you'll find the link here:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/velocity/
No, don't worry, he cut out the 25-second dead time between riders.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Mason Lake 1
Saturday, 1 March
Nice day at Mason Lake. 44 cat 4 women, 17 cat 3 women, 12 cat 1-2 women. Plus one cat 1 who raced with cat 1-2 men. 74 women out of a total 343 riders = 22% of all racers. Nice.
I really have just one burning question from race day, though: Why does the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge have porta-potties? Can I park on the shoulder and jump over the jersey barrier to make a "rest stop"? They seem to be semi-permanent because they are lashed down. Are they for pedestrians who can't walk that far without a nature call? How come transportation dollars didn't pay for these on the I-90 bridge? Is this what the tolls pay for? They don't even match the bridge paint color scheme.
Nice day at Mason Lake. 44 cat 4 women, 17 cat 3 women, 12 cat 1-2 women. Plus one cat 1 who raced with cat 1-2 men. 74 women out of a total 343 riders = 22% of all racers. Nice.
I really have just one burning question from race day, though: Why does the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge have porta-potties? Can I park on the shoulder and jump over the jersey barrier to make a "rest stop"? They seem to be semi-permanent because they are lashed down. Are they for pedestrians who can't walk that far without a nature call? How come transportation dollars didn't pay for these on the I-90 bridge? Is this what the tolls pay for? They don't even match the bridge paint color scheme.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Boggledy bits
Thursday, 28 February
Thanks to Miss Chris for the link to a great article in Harper's about Google's use of electricity:
You might think your next search for a knitting pattern or cookie recipe or directions on how to glue a tubular is free, but it comes at a price if you watch the bottom line on your taxes and electric bill or if you're concerned about the impact of exponentially increasing use of energy. Enough energy to run Tacoma goes into one server farm in Hood River. And Microsoft and Yahoo will be moving in soon as gluttonous neighbors, thanks to our cheap electricity rates here in the Pacific Northwest. A good thing that might come of this? I don't know if the "farmers" employed there are like the "techies" in Redmond, but maybe this will mean a bigger customer base for Dave's bike shop?
And, on the subject of things that boggle the mind if you think too much about them, local stud Kristi Berg is training for her annual assault on the Columbia Tower. Here's the snippet from the latest CycleU newsletter:
Big Climb for a Cure: Coach Kristi is Back with a Vengeance!
Please help in my efforts to raise as much money as I can for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On March 16th I am going to participate in the 2008 Big Climb for a Cure. I will run 69 floors, 1311 stairs, up the Columbia Tower in Seattle. I have done this now for several years, and last year I became ill and was not able to participate so I am back with a vengeance this year to better my fastest time and raise more money then ever before. Please help by donating here. Your donations will go to help find a cure for Leukemia and Lynphoma. I will send out an update after the event to let you all know how I did! Thank you so much for your support.
Kristi BergUSAC Cycling Coach & ACE Personal Trainer
Let's all step up (oh, that's an awful pun--sorry!) and help Kristi and her great cause. You think your training regimen is tough? She's figured out she can go faster if she only hits every other step. Kristi is super tough, but her legs aren't what you'd call super long, so her plan is to PULL herself up 1311 stairs. You go girl!!
Thanks to Miss Chris for the link to a great article in Harper's about Google's use of electricity:
You might think your next search for a knitting pattern or cookie recipe or directions on how to glue a tubular is free, but it comes at a price if you watch the bottom line on your taxes and electric bill or if you're concerned about the impact of exponentially increasing use of energy. Enough energy to run Tacoma goes into one server farm in Hood River. And Microsoft and Yahoo will be moving in soon as gluttonous neighbors, thanks to our cheap electricity rates here in the Pacific Northwest. A good thing that might come of this? I don't know if the "farmers" employed there are like the "techies" in Redmond, but maybe this will mean a bigger customer base for Dave's bike shop?
And, on the subject of things that boggle the mind if you think too much about them, local stud Kristi Berg is training for her annual assault on the Columbia Tower. Here's the snippet from the latest CycleU newsletter:
Big Climb for a Cure: Coach Kristi is Back with a Vengeance!
Please help in my efforts to raise as much money as I can for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On March 16th I am going to participate in the 2008 Big Climb for a Cure. I will run 69 floors, 1311 stairs, up the Columbia Tower in Seattle. I have done this now for several years, and last year I became ill and was not able to participate so I am back with a vengeance this year to better my fastest time and raise more money then ever before. Please help by donating here. Your donations will go to help find a cure for Leukemia and Lynphoma. I will send out an update after the event to let you all know how I did! Thank you so much for your support.
Kristi BergUSAC Cycling Coach & ACE Personal Trainer
Let's all step up (oh, that's an awful pun--sorry!) and help Kristi and her great cause. You think your training regimen is tough? She's figured out she can go faster if she only hits every other step. Kristi is super tough, but her legs aren't what you'd call super long, so her plan is to PULL herself up 1311 stairs. You go girl!!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Frostbit
Sunday, 24 February
[My sanitized race report can be found after the Chilly Hilly report here: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/velocity/archives/132590.asp. What follows is a little more blog-like. Some overlap, though.]
Funny thing about good weather. You get to a time trial, it's dry and the wind is calm and you think, "these are ideal conditions for a time trial." Wrong! They are ideal conditions for the rider's psyche but not for the rider's time against the clock. The Frostbite Time Trial in Lowell in 2007 was a wet, windy, cold, and miserable affair. Today it was dry and calm with a promise of sunshine. My time this year was more than a minute slower than last year! No water on the road to decrease rolling resistance; no wind to push that disk wheel on its merry way. Don't get me wrong: it didn't feel harder--I thought I'd had a great race. But there was nothing to work harder against and nothing to work with you. And maybe cold, wet, and miserable is a subconscious motivator to finish that little bit sooner?
The only thing marring today's event was one of those "that's bike racing" episodes. Due to some miscommunication, the course marshals didn't figure out where the turnaround was until about 40-50 riders had turned around. I was rider #3 to start and rider #1 to the turn. I didn't remember that the WSBA had a "200M to turnaround" sign, but there it was, presumably 200M from the turnaround. But no cone to be seen in the yellow line, no marshals. Ah wait, there's a cone on the shoulder, just waiting for someone to move it to the middle of the road--right where it had been when we prerode the course. And it must be right because just past it there are signs on the opposite side of the road for oncoming traffic. So I turned AT the cone if not AROUND the cone. O.A.D. was right behind me so I yelled at him to turn at the cone. One teammate behind him as well as one of my former tandem captains made the turn, but another teammate right behind kept going on to Snohomish ("what sign?"). On the way back, I was amused to see three marshals standing at ANOTHER cone by the side of the road in the middle of the course (they weren't there on my way out, but O.A.D said he saw their car pull in after I went by). They must have been totally puzzled by riders coming from the wrong direction and not turning at their orange cone!
The bottom line is that it's the rider's responsibility to know the course. Usually I am on the wrong side of that line (i.e., screwed and/or lost), but local knowledge and previous experience sure helped me out today. It was pretty cool to see a promoter respond without getting hysterical or panicked. I think most people (there were 200 folks in the race) didn't even know the problem had happened. Watch for this event to get even better in 2009!
[My sanitized race report can be found after the Chilly Hilly report here: http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/velocity/archives/132590.asp. What follows is a little more blog-like. Some overlap, though.]
Funny thing about good weather. You get to a time trial, it's dry and the wind is calm and you think, "these are ideal conditions for a time trial." Wrong! They are ideal conditions for the rider's psyche but not for the rider's time against the clock. The Frostbite Time Trial in Lowell in 2007 was a wet, windy, cold, and miserable affair. Today it was dry and calm with a promise of sunshine. My time this year was more than a minute slower than last year! No water on the road to decrease rolling resistance; no wind to push that disk wheel on its merry way. Don't get me wrong: it didn't feel harder--I thought I'd had a great race. But there was nothing to work harder against and nothing to work with you. And maybe cold, wet, and miserable is a subconscious motivator to finish that little bit sooner?
The only thing marring today's event was one of those "that's bike racing" episodes. Due to some miscommunication, the course marshals didn't figure out where the turnaround was until about 40-50 riders had turned around. I was rider #3 to start and rider #1 to the turn. I didn't remember that the WSBA had a "200M to turnaround" sign, but there it was, presumably 200M from the turnaround. But no cone to be seen in the yellow line, no marshals. Ah wait, there's a cone on the shoulder, just waiting for someone to move it to the middle of the road--right where it had been when we prerode the course. And it must be right because just past it there are signs on the opposite side of the road for oncoming traffic. So I turned AT the cone if not AROUND the cone. O.A.D. was right behind me so I yelled at him to turn at the cone. One teammate behind him as well as one of my former tandem captains made the turn, but another teammate right behind kept going on to Snohomish ("what sign?"). On the way back, I was amused to see three marshals standing at ANOTHER cone by the side of the road in the middle of the course (they weren't there on my way out, but O.A.D said he saw their car pull in after I went by). They must have been totally puzzled by riders coming from the wrong direction and not turning at their orange cone!
The bottom line is that it's the rider's responsibility to know the course. Usually I am on the wrong side of that line (i.e., screwed and/or lost), but local knowledge and previous experience sure helped me out today. It was pretty cool to see a promoter respond without getting hysterical or panicked. I think most people (there were 200 folks in the race) didn't even know the problem had happened. Watch for this event to get even better in 2009!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Google warming
Friday, 22 February
Did you ever think about the carbon footprint of your last Google search?
Consider this from the latest issue of Sierra: "Google is hunting for cheap renewable energy....The Internet powerhouse is investing millions in solar, wind, and geothermal technology, with the aim of generating a gigawatt of renewable energy that is cheaper than coal. A gigawatt is enough to power a city the size of San Francisco or three of Google's energy-sucking data centers."
Google is usually pretty silent on the subject of those "energy-sucking data centers"--where they are, how much energy they suck, how many there are. But if just one takes the power of one-third of San Francisco, well, in unproprietary layman's terms, that's a lot of electricity.
Giga- is a prefix meaning one billion, a 1 followed by 9 zeroes. A googol is equal to a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. I hadn't realized that Google's name is an apt reference to the amount of electricity it consumes.
So, what's the carbon offset for my next Google search: Geelong Tour?
Did you ever think about the carbon footprint of your last Google search?
Consider this from the latest issue of Sierra: "Google is hunting for cheap renewable energy....The Internet powerhouse is investing millions in solar, wind, and geothermal technology, with the aim of generating a gigawatt of renewable energy that is cheaper than coal. A gigawatt is enough to power a city the size of San Francisco or three of Google's energy-sucking data centers."
Google is usually pretty silent on the subject of those "energy-sucking data centers"--where they are, how much energy they suck, how many there are. But if just one takes the power of one-third of San Francisco, well, in unproprietary layman's terms, that's a lot of electricity.
Giga- is a prefix meaning one billion, a 1 followed by 9 zeroes. A googol is equal to a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. I hadn't realized that Google's name is an apt reference to the amount of electricity it consumes.
So, what's the carbon offset for my next Google search: Geelong Tour?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Overtrained?
Wednesday, 20 February
The best definition of overtrained is underrecovered. Since I am currently working 3 jobs (one of them full time) and doing the usual household chores (laundry, grocery shopping, etc.), I figured my week of mega miles would put me way over the line of fatigue. After all, I don't just sit around in my jammies after doing all those miles. But, hmmmm, no. (I'll let you know if I wake up with the flu tomorrow.)
So, from one Wednesday night TT through the next in the last week, I rode over 400 miles. Some easy, some hard, some climbing, some barely hanging on, but still 400 miles. Rain bike, race bike, tandem. Never did my resting heart rate budge above its normal 42-44 bpm range at night. My weight did not change (bummer). I do not hate my bike (or the saddle).
And some interesting numbers from the CompuTrainer TT tonight, for whatever they're worth. I got my HR higher than it's been all winter at CycleU (except for the time when they thought it got up to 221). I had my third fastest time of the winter (out of 11 races). Average watts and max watts were middling, which I swear are subject to calibration anyway.
Whatever overtrained is, those 400 miles weren't it. Don't think for a minute, though, that I don't get to rest now! And then the fun begins. I'm thinking smack talk about some early races, but I'm afraid to say it because I might jinx us all. Stay tuned!
The best definition of overtrained is underrecovered. Since I am currently working 3 jobs (one of them full time) and doing the usual household chores (laundry, grocery shopping, etc.), I figured my week of mega miles would put me way over the line of fatigue. After all, I don't just sit around in my jammies after doing all those miles. But, hmmmm, no. (I'll let you know if I wake up with the flu tomorrow.)
So, from one Wednesday night TT through the next in the last week, I rode over 400 miles. Some easy, some hard, some climbing, some barely hanging on, but still 400 miles. Rain bike, race bike, tandem. Never did my resting heart rate budge above its normal 42-44 bpm range at night. My weight did not change (bummer). I do not hate my bike (or the saddle).
And some interesting numbers from the CompuTrainer TT tonight, for whatever they're worth. I got my HR higher than it's been all winter at CycleU (except for the time when they thought it got up to 221). I had my third fastest time of the winter (out of 11 races). Average watts and max watts were middling, which I swear are subject to calibration anyway.
Whatever overtrained is, those 400 miles weren't it. Don't think for a minute, though, that I don't get to rest now! And then the fun begins. I'm thinking smack talk about some early races, but I'm afraid to say it because I might jinx us all. Stay tuned!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Random observations
Presidents Day
I rode to Snoqualmie Falls today, which turned out to be an 85-mile ride, which was farther than I thought it was going to be. This was my second big-miles weekend of the winter; it's gone like this:
Okay, the observations.
Many times have I ridden to Snoqualmie Falls, complete with the little detour on Fish Hatchery Road on the way up. Never before have I seen the airport on that road. I almost drove my bike into the ditch when I saw the plane and the runway.
The ride up to the falls is still the same nice gentle climb with gobs of winter grit on the shoulder. But the traffic on the way down 202 back to Fall City just plain sucks. This ride will not become part of my regular ride pattern; I think the only way to do this climb is to go on up Snoqualmie Ridge and out to North Bend. I had thought about going on to Issaquah, but that's lots more ugly-traffic miles; I opted for the quiet roads of Beaver Lake, with only a few on East Lake Samm before getting back on bike trail.
I saw a triple on the Sammamish River Trail. Not a tandem with a tag-along attachment, but a genuine triple bike with three adults on board. Cool. I also saw a ton of people without helmets. About the hundredth such underequipped person was a young woman with two kids in a trailer without a helmet between them. As I went by, I could not help but say, "You all need some helmets!" The response was not quite what I expected. She said, "Wha??" Maybe this is evolution in action.
A lot of new team kits out and about this weekend, too. They signal what I already know: the race season is here. One of my teammates won the cat 4 women's race at Cherry Pie yesterday. She was so eager to get her first race over with that she drove all the way to Corvallis for the thrill. Nice work, Daisy!
I rode to Snoqualmie Falls today, which turned out to be an 85-mile ride, which was farther than I thought it was going to be. This was my second big-miles weekend of the winter; it's gone like this:
- Thursday: 30 miles
- Friday: 81 miles
- Saturday: 62 miles
- Sunday: 97 miles (tandem)
- Monday: 85 miles
Okay, the observations.
Many times have I ridden to Snoqualmie Falls, complete with the little detour on Fish Hatchery Road on the way up. Never before have I seen the airport on that road. I almost drove my bike into the ditch when I saw the plane and the runway.
The ride up to the falls is still the same nice gentle climb with gobs of winter grit on the shoulder. But the traffic on the way down 202 back to Fall City just plain sucks. This ride will not become part of my regular ride pattern; I think the only way to do this climb is to go on up Snoqualmie Ridge and out to North Bend. I had thought about going on to Issaquah, but that's lots more ugly-traffic miles; I opted for the quiet roads of Beaver Lake, with only a few on East Lake Samm before getting back on bike trail.
I saw a triple on the Sammamish River Trail. Not a tandem with a tag-along attachment, but a genuine triple bike with three adults on board. Cool. I also saw a ton of people without helmets. About the hundredth such underequipped person was a young woman with two kids in a trailer without a helmet between them. As I went by, I could not help but say, "You all need some helmets!" The response was not quite what I expected. She said, "Wha??" Maybe this is evolution in action.
A lot of new team kits out and about this weekend, too. They signal what I already know: the race season is here. One of my teammates won the cat 4 women's race at Cherry Pie yesterday. She was so eager to get her first race over with that she drove all the way to Corvallis for the thrill. Nice work, Daisy!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Smile contagion
Thursday, 14 February
The last hat I made went to a little boy for his first birthday. I had made him baby hats, but I thought being one was a sign for a boy's hat, not a baby's hat. But the hat is nothing. The kid's smile is, I hope, enough to make everyone else smile too. Some of the sweetest things have no sugar.
more Valentine's bloggery
The last hat I made went to a little boy for his first birthday. I had made him baby hats, but I thought being one was a sign for a boy's hat, not a baby's hat. But the hat is nothing. The kid's smile is, I hope, enough to make everyone else smile too. Some of the sweetest things have no sugar.Tuesday, February 12, 2008
O sappy day
Valentine's Day
For something different, I started today by taking the long way to work (an alternative to a morning run). It was simply gorgeous. Most of this ride is on the bike trail along Lake Washington, looking southeast the whole way. I got to watch the sunrise develop into a shocking shade of red (suitable for Valentine's Day), Lake Washington was like glass, and Mt. Rainier with its cloud cap was perched at the end of lake like a deity on its throne (rightfully so). I even heard the birds singing in the trees. Truly a beautiful start to the day.
Now this for my one and only (the rest of you can go read something else):
My bike is red
the hand-me-down one I got from you, that is
Your bike is blue
the brand new one, sitting on the couch
I'm still so glad
glad, adj.: experiencing pleasure, joy, or delight : made happy
I fell in love with you.
blame it all on Lisdoonvarna!
For something different, I started today by taking the long way to work (an alternative to a morning run). It was simply gorgeous. Most of this ride is on the bike trail along Lake Washington, looking southeast the whole way. I got to watch the sunrise develop into a shocking shade of red (suitable for Valentine's Day), Lake Washington was like glass, and Mt. Rainier with its cloud cap was perched at the end of lake like a deity on its throne (rightfully so). I even heard the birds singing in the trees. Truly a beautiful start to the day.
Now this for my one and only (the rest of you can go read something else):
My bike is red
the hand-me-down one I got from you, that is
Your bike is blue
the brand new one, sitting on the couch
I'm still so glad
glad, adj.: experiencing pleasure, joy, or delight : made happy
I fell in love with you.
blame it all on Lisdoonvarna!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Funny fauna day
Saturday, 9 February
Nice riding today. Over 50 degrees. Sunny. Six hours. But the first hour was marked by some funny fauna observations.
At the bottom of Hollywood Hill, a car rolls up next to me. Two guys in tuxes want to know where Redmond High School is. I have no clue but can at least point them toward Redmond. Tuxes? At 9 a.m. on Saturday?
Over the backside of Hollywood, my peripheral vision picks up on three walkers in the road. I get a little closer and realize it's a man out walking his llamas. In a Woodinville subdivision. Maybe he hires them out as grazers to mow (and fertilize) lawns?
And then down at Cottage Lake, there was a flock of pink flamingos back in the bushes. I didn't for a minute think I was in Florida or (better) at Lake Manyara, and these were the flightless kind (seeing how they're stuck in the ground by metal stakes), but I did do a double-take.
After that it was just the usual herons and hawks, with frogs and chipmunks for background noise. I love riding my bike!
Nice riding today. Over 50 degrees. Sunny. Six hours. But the first hour was marked by some funny fauna observations.
At the bottom of Hollywood Hill, a car rolls up next to me. Two guys in tuxes want to know where Redmond High School is. I have no clue but can at least point them toward Redmond. Tuxes? At 9 a.m. on Saturday?
Over the backside of Hollywood, my peripheral vision picks up on three walkers in the road. I get a little closer and realize it's a man out walking his llamas. In a Woodinville subdivision. Maybe he hires them out as grazers to mow (and fertilize) lawns?
And then down at Cottage Lake, there was a flock of pink flamingos back in the bushes. I didn't for a minute think I was in Florida or (better) at Lake Manyara, and these were the flightless kind (seeing how they're stuck in the ground by metal stakes), but I did do a double-take.
After that it was just the usual herons and hawks, with frogs and chipmunks for background noise. I love riding my bike!
Friday, February 08, 2008
Ready or not
Friday, 8 February
Just like spring is around the corner whether you see it coming or not, so too is the bike racing season. Yesterday I mailed (yeah, old school) my entries (single, tandem) for the Frostbite TT, and this weekend is the last one free of "mandatory" team events or racing until (checking calendar....) mid-April? I've got four tandem dates already, and that's only between now and mid-March. :)
Mason Lake World Championships will be an entirely different women's race this year: the creation of a separate cat 3 race pushes the rest of us "elite women" into the masters men's race. That might not have much impact on the end result, but it will surely change the nature of the beast on the road for the women. No more lollygagging when the "right" break detaches itself from the pack. Well, the boys do that too, but 5 mph faster. After much hoopla all winter about all the women teammates I've got, at Mason Lake at least the ones I'm gonna see are men.
Hmmm, maybe it's time to give that race bike a spin on something besides a CompuTrainer? I'm giddy already..... :)
Just like spring is around the corner whether you see it coming or not, so too is the bike racing season. Yesterday I mailed (yeah, old school) my entries (single, tandem) for the Frostbite TT, and this weekend is the last one free of "mandatory" team events or racing until (checking calendar....) mid-April? I've got four tandem dates already, and that's only between now and mid-March. :)
Mason Lake World Championships will be an entirely different women's race this year: the creation of a separate cat 3 race pushes the rest of us "elite women" into the masters men's race. That might not have much impact on the end result, but it will surely change the nature of the beast on the road for the women. No more lollygagging when the "right" break detaches itself from the pack. Well, the boys do that too, but 5 mph faster. After much hoopla all winter about all the women teammates I've got, at Mason Lake at least the ones I'm gonna see are men.
Hmmm, maybe it's time to give that race bike a spin on something besides a CompuTrainer? I'm giddy already..... :)
Monday, February 04, 2008
Spring !!
Monday, 4 February
(one of those mathematical dates: 04 x 02 = 08)
In case you're a resident of somewhere like Bickleton and you think winter is never going to end, there's proof to the contrary right outside my front door. The tulips and daffodils are already several inches above ground and:
lily of the valley is starting to bloom,
and witch hazel is in full bloom.
(one of those mathematical dates: 04 x 02 = 08)
In case you're a resident of somewhere like Bickleton and you think winter is never going to end, there's proof to the contrary right outside my front door. The tulips and daffodils are already several inches above ground and:
lily of the valley is starting to bloom,
daphne is just about to open up and release its glorious fragrance,
Women's racing in WA gets national attention
Monday, 4 February
USA Cycling shines its spotlight on the WSBA as its Local Association of the month with a feature on the cat 3 and cat 4 women's series we've got going this year.
https://www.usacycling.org/la/
We're not quite trailblazers (the East Coast and California already have lots of women's category racing), but we're not too backward out here in this little corner of the boondocks. :)
USA Cycling shines its spotlight on the WSBA as its Local Association of the month with a feature on the cat 3 and cat 4 women's series we've got going this year.
https://www.usacycling.org/la/
We're not quite trailblazers (the East Coast and California already have lots of women's category racing), but we're not too backward out here in this little corner of the boondocks. :)
Friday, January 25, 2008
Add this to your race calendar
Friday, 25 January
Happy Birthday, Martin!
News from Oregon:
The 7th annual Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in beautiful Baker City, Oregon, is already shaping up to be another superb event full of challenging racing, fellowship with friends, and a bounty of wonderful memories....same category opportunities as last year:
• Men's Pro 1 / 2
• Men's Cat 3
• Men's Cat 4 / 5
• Masters men 40+
• Women's Pro 1 / 2
• Women's Cat 3 / 4 (women's categories scored separately but run as one group)
A SPECIAL NOTE TO WOMEN RACERS: This is your chance to make a statement about the quality and commitment of women's racing in Oregon and throughout the Northwest. With the support of business leaders in Baker City, we have committed to matching the Women's Pro/1/2 payout to the Men's Pro/1/2 field, as well as scoring the Women 3/4s separately so there are many opportunities for women racers....You have asked for an opportunity in a stage race, and we have provided an exceptional one: now stand up and be counted....
All Elkhorn racers should plan accordingly for a wide variety of weather conditions and be in top shape; the course is tough but rewarding to those who come well prepared. All fields will follow the same courses with the same distances; because of this, Elkhorn does not assess time penalties or time cuts.
Registration is now open at: www.athleteslounge.com/events/event.php?eventid=2283.
For more information, including information on lodging and logistics in Baker City, please visit our website at http://www.elkhornclassicstagerace.com/.
Happy Birthday, Martin!
News from Oregon:
The 7th annual Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in beautiful Baker City, Oregon, is already shaping up to be another superb event full of challenging racing, fellowship with friends, and a bounty of wonderful memories....same category opportunities as last year:
• Men's Pro 1 / 2
• Men's Cat 3
• Men's Cat 4 / 5
• Masters men 40+
• Women's Pro 1 / 2
• Women's Cat 3 / 4 (women's categories scored separately but run as one group)
A SPECIAL NOTE TO WOMEN RACERS: This is your chance to make a statement about the quality and commitment of women's racing in Oregon and throughout the Northwest. With the support of business leaders in Baker City, we have committed to matching the Women's Pro/1/2 payout to the Men's Pro/1/2 field, as well as scoring the Women 3/4s separately so there are many opportunities for women racers....You have asked for an opportunity in a stage race, and we have provided an exceptional one: now stand up and be counted....
All Elkhorn racers should plan accordingly for a wide variety of weather conditions and be in top shape; the course is tough but rewarding to those who come well prepared. All fields will follow the same courses with the same distances; because of this, Elkhorn does not assess time penalties or time cuts.
Registration is now open at: www.athleteslounge.com/events/event.php?eventid=2283.
For more information, including information on lodging and logistics in Baker City, please visit our website at http://www.elkhornclassicstagerace.com/.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
DIY mini training camp
Wednesday, 23 January
In the week between two indoor time trials, I managed to eke out some numbers that look like a mini training camp. But I took just one day off from work, had no travel costs except about 40 miles of driving and various coffee/bakery stops, got my sprawling old apple tree pruned, and took a freelance job that will pay for a real vacation/training camp later in the year. The week by the numbers:
In the week between two indoor time trials, I managed to eke out some numbers that look like a mini training camp. But I took just one day off from work, had no travel costs except about 40 miles of driving and various coffee/bakery stops, got my sprawling old apple tree pruned, and took a freelance job that will pay for a real vacation/training camp later in the year. The week by the numbers:
- 300+ miles on the road: more than 50 on the TT bike, the rest on my heavy ol' rain bike with 25mm tires--sadly, none on the tandem
- 3 trips to the gym to lift weights
- 2 trainer workouts
- 2 10K time trials
- 1 run
Cold commute?
Tuesday, 22 January
Just in case you thought your bike commute this morning was a wee bit chilly, I thought I'd share this image sent from a friend in Bend, who snapped the photo while riding his bike to work this morning. Check that fine print on the thermometer--and then stop feeling sorry for yourself!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Women's race series
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Luna Bar Sponsors 2008 WSBA Women's Race Series
Seattle, Washington (January 21, 2008) – The Washington State Bicycle Association is excited to announce the Luna Category 3 Women's Race Series and the Luna Category 4 Women's Race Series for 2008. The category 4 series continues a Washington state tradition that began years ago by Northwest Women's Cycling, and the category 3 series is a brand new effort by committed promoters to give category 3 women the opportunity to race only with their peers, not combined with any other category. The WSBA is pleased to have Luna Bar as title sponsor for both series, with additional sponsorship from Onlineshoes.com.
The category 3 series features nine races, including two time trials, one criterium, and six road races. The series runs from February 24 through May 10. Points will be awarded for placing in each race in the series, and Onlineshoes.com has provided generous prizes for the top three series finishers. The series point standings will be updated on the WSBA website after each event.
The category 4 series features ten races, stretching from February 24 to August 10. Women earn points based on their placing in these events but also earn "participation points" for other races they do throughout the season. The point standings for this series will be updated after each race during the 2008 season on the WSBA website results pages.
In addition, the WSBA continues to offer five categories of women's racing at state championship events and for the Best All-Round Rider competition: categories 1-2, 3, 4, masters A, and masters B.
For more information about these series, please visit the WSBA website: www.wsbaracing.com/women.asp
Luna Bar Sponsors 2008 WSBA Women's Race Series
Seattle, Washington (January 21, 2008) – The Washington State Bicycle Association is excited to announce the Luna Category 3 Women's Race Series and the Luna Category 4 Women's Race Series for 2008. The category 4 series continues a Washington state tradition that began years ago by Northwest Women's Cycling, and the category 3 series is a brand new effort by committed promoters to give category 3 women the opportunity to race only with their peers, not combined with any other category. The WSBA is pleased to have Luna Bar as title sponsor for both series, with additional sponsorship from Onlineshoes.com.
The category 3 series features nine races, including two time trials, one criterium, and six road races. The series runs from February 24 through May 10. Points will be awarded for placing in each race in the series, and Onlineshoes.com has provided generous prizes for the top three series finishers. The series point standings will be updated on the WSBA website after each event.
The category 4 series features ten races, stretching from February 24 to August 10. Women earn points based on their placing in these events but also earn "participation points" for other races they do throughout the season. The point standings for this series will be updated after each race during the 2008 season on the WSBA website results pages.
In addition, the WSBA continues to offer five categories of women's racing at state championship events and for the Best All-Round Rider competition: categories 1-2, 3, 4, masters A, and masters B.
For more information about these series, please visit the WSBA website: www.wsbaracing.com/women.asp
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Commuting
Wednesday, 16 January
I wonder if anyone has studied the correlation between method of commuting to work, amount of coffee consumed, and workplace productivity and stress. Based on my own extensive fieldwork in the last two days of icy streets, I suggest that bicycle commuters tend toward more productivity and lower stress. Here's why.
My ride to work is 22 minutes. It's predictable but it makes me be alert and awake. I get to work with my blood flowing and my brain turned on. On the way home, work-related thoughts are replaced by the need to think about something else while I focus on traffic or where the next *&^#ing bump is on the Burke Gilman Trail.
It takes 45 minutes to get to work by bus. The bus is warm and dark. It's almost like going back to bed. When I get to work, I'm still in a fog, even if I didn't nap on the bus (somebody's too-loud iPod kept me awake!), even if I did a trainer workout before breakfast. I'm slow to take up tasks. I need coffee.
Driving to work is not an option for me (it costs $12 a day to park), but from my infrequent experiences driving in rush-hour traffic, I speculate that you need a cup of coffee in your hand for something to do while you inch toward that next stoplight. Between the caffeine and the annoying behaviors of other drivers, by the time you get to work, you're already on edge, ready to snap at someone. You need more coffee to soothe you.
[At this point, my readers in places like, say, Hood River are more delighted than ever that they don't live in the big city.]
Yeah, you can rationalize anything, but I'm grateful I can ride my bike to work almost every day. And these days when I can't (there is a demonstrated and strong correlation between icy roads and broken bones in cyclists) make me even more grateful. Ice, ice, go away!
I wonder if anyone has studied the correlation between method of commuting to work, amount of coffee consumed, and workplace productivity and stress. Based on my own extensive fieldwork in the last two days of icy streets, I suggest that bicycle commuters tend toward more productivity and lower stress. Here's why.
My ride to work is 22 minutes. It's predictable but it makes me be alert and awake. I get to work with my blood flowing and my brain turned on. On the way home, work-related thoughts are replaced by the need to think about something else while I focus on traffic or where the next *&^#ing bump is on the Burke Gilman Trail.
It takes 45 minutes to get to work by bus. The bus is warm and dark. It's almost like going back to bed. When I get to work, I'm still in a fog, even if I didn't nap on the bus (somebody's too-loud iPod kept me awake!), even if I did a trainer workout before breakfast. I'm slow to take up tasks. I need coffee.
Driving to work is not an option for me (it costs $12 a day to park), but from my infrequent experiences driving in rush-hour traffic, I speculate that you need a cup of coffee in your hand for something to do while you inch toward that next stoplight. Between the caffeine and the annoying behaviors of other drivers, by the time you get to work, you're already on edge, ready to snap at someone. You need more coffee to soothe you.
[At this point, my readers in places like, say, Hood River are more delighted than ever that they don't live in the big city.]
Yeah, you can rationalize anything, but I'm grateful I can ride my bike to work almost every day. And these days when I can't (there is a demonstrated and strong correlation between icy roads and broken bones in cyclists) make me even more grateful. Ice, ice, go away!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Lesser? Necessary? evil
Monday, 14 January
Well, in spite of what Argentius implies about how hateful trainers are, sometimes they are the better option. I was hoping for an hour's spin after work today, but the prospect of riding when it was 38 degrees, raining, windy, and dark was somehow less appealing than sitting on my trainer. It was the right call too, because as my commute took me over the second-highest hill in Seattle outside of West Seattle, it started to snow. And it hasn't stopped. So grinding away on the trainer in zone 2 while I kept up with Harry Potter trying to retake Hogwarts was much closer to the pleasant end of the spectrum than Argentius might have thought possible. True, you can't really do intervals and read at the same time, but my after-work spin takes me out the Burke Gilman Trail, and I discovered last week that those bumps are treacherous in the dark if you're out of the saddle and don't see them coming. Sort of like Dementors. And whatever you think of J.K. Rowling, her prose is lots better distraction on the bike than some race video.
Well, in spite of what Argentius implies about how hateful trainers are, sometimes they are the better option. I was hoping for an hour's spin after work today, but the prospect of riding when it was 38 degrees, raining, windy, and dark was somehow less appealing than sitting on my trainer. It was the right call too, because as my commute took me over the second-highest hill in Seattle outside of West Seattle, it started to snow. And it hasn't stopped. So grinding away on the trainer in zone 2 while I kept up with Harry Potter trying to retake Hogwarts was much closer to the pleasant end of the spectrum than Argentius might have thought possible. True, you can't really do intervals and read at the same time, but my after-work spin takes me out the Burke Gilman Trail, and I discovered last week that those bumps are treacherous in the dark if you're out of the saddle and don't see them coming. Sort of like Dementors. And whatever you think of J.K. Rowling, her prose is lots better distraction on the bike than some race video.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Gentlemen for 24 seconds
Wednesday, 9 January
It was a full contingent of 8 riders in the 7:00 heat at CycleU tonight: 6 men, another woman, and me. Once again the CompuTrainer HR monitor said I don't even have a pulse, and the monitor I brought from home only picked up the bird-like heart rates from Brian and Christine on either side of me. I know full well my HR doesn't get up to 137 when I'm just doodling along producing 85 watts. So that left me with only 2 things to watch for entertainment during the whole TT: watts and speed. Oh, and last year's Tour of California, which was actually pretty good distraction.
Lang gave us warnings at 2 minutes, 30 seconds, and 5 seconds, and we were off. Brian suddenly announced that I was in first place. I thought he was joking and I was afraid to look up. But sure enough, 5 seconds in, there was a 1 in the box under my name. By 10 seconds, I figured something was wrong. I mean, had everyone else stopped pedaling? Whatever strengths I have on the bike, bursts of power off the starting blocks are not one I've ever been credited with. I began to think they were all just being gentlemen and letting me ride away (I was getting worried that maybe I was going a whole lot harder than I realized and would soon have my first ever total explosion on the bike), until 24 seconds showed on the clock and OAD caught me and gave a big victory shout. And never looked back. After that, it was just a matter of watching them catch me one by one. When Tony caught me, I found a little spurt of feistiness and passed him back, but that was short lived and he soon left me in the dirt too.
Still, instead of paying a price for the apparent massive surge of power at the start, it ended up helping my time in the end. I had the fastest time that I've had in 21 months--and I think that one on 3/30/06 had some questionable calibration because it was more than a minute faster than tonight. Results will eventually be posted here, in case you want some chuckles to go with your morning coffee.
BTW these TTs are great. They make you hurt even more than a real TT, I think, especially if you can find some motivation (distraction) in holding off people who are catching you or trying to pass someone who's just overtaken you (it's a mass start TT, after all). I always go through at least one phase where I'm sure I'm going to get sick (oh, now that's a good selling point, I'm sure!). Watching those guys ride up the climbs along the California coast was pretty cool today. Lang promises video from the Wenatchee stage race at the next one! You can sign up here.
It was a full contingent of 8 riders in the 7:00 heat at CycleU tonight: 6 men, another woman, and me. Once again the CompuTrainer HR monitor said I don't even have a pulse, and the monitor I brought from home only picked up the bird-like heart rates from Brian and Christine on either side of me. I know full well my HR doesn't get up to 137 when I'm just doodling along producing 85 watts. So that left me with only 2 things to watch for entertainment during the whole TT: watts and speed. Oh, and last year's Tour of California, which was actually pretty good distraction.
Lang gave us warnings at 2 minutes, 30 seconds, and 5 seconds, and we were off. Brian suddenly announced that I was in first place. I thought he was joking and I was afraid to look up. But sure enough, 5 seconds in, there was a 1 in the box under my name. By 10 seconds, I figured something was wrong. I mean, had everyone else stopped pedaling? Whatever strengths I have on the bike, bursts of power off the starting blocks are not one I've ever been credited with. I began to think they were all just being gentlemen and letting me ride away (I was getting worried that maybe I was going a whole lot harder than I realized and would soon have my first ever total explosion on the bike), until 24 seconds showed on the clock and OAD caught me and gave a big victory shout. And never looked back. After that, it was just a matter of watching them catch me one by one. When Tony caught me, I found a little spurt of feistiness and passed him back, but that was short lived and he soon left me in the dirt too.
Still, instead of paying a price for the apparent massive surge of power at the start, it ended up helping my time in the end. I had the fastest time that I've had in 21 months--and I think that one on 3/30/06 had some questionable calibration because it was more than a minute faster than tonight. Results will eventually be posted here, in case you want some chuckles to go with your morning coffee.
BTW these TTs are great. They make you hurt even more than a real TT, I think, especially if you can find some motivation (distraction) in holding off people who are catching you or trying to pass someone who's just overtaken you (it's a mass start TT, after all). I always go through at least one phase where I'm sure I'm going to get sick (oh, now that's a good selling point, I'm sure!). Watching those guys ride up the climbs along the California coast was pretty cool today. Lang promises video from the Wenatchee stage race at the next one! You can sign up here.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
No competition
Tuesday, 8 January
While I try to patronize small businesses (see my entries about local bakeries and local yarn shops), I admit I'm a frequent customer of corporate giant Starbucks. I rationalize this allocation of my dollars by noting that it's a local company, a local and progressive employer, and a supporter of bike racing. Still, when our team ride met at the Redmond Peet's last Saturday, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how the competition works.
The experience was not nice. The woman who took my order repeated it back incorrectly ("no lid" does not mean "no room"), I corrected her, but then she delivered something else ("short" does not mean 16 oz.). She never made eye contact with me during the entire transaction. I do get tired of the perpetual smiles at Starbucks and the query of "how's your day going so far?" that opens nearly every transaction, and I'm often grouchy and sullen myself (there's a reason I'm not in retail), but my coffee experience is so much nicer when it's, well, nice. Howard Schultz is back at the helm, and hopefully he remembers that customer service is the edge that will keep us out of Peet's and McDonalds (ewww) for our coffee fixes.
While I try to patronize small businesses (see my entries about local bakeries and local yarn shops), I admit I'm a frequent customer of corporate giant Starbucks. I rationalize this allocation of my dollars by noting that it's a local company, a local and progressive employer, and a supporter of bike racing. Still, when our team ride met at the Redmond Peet's last Saturday, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how the competition works.
The experience was not nice. The woman who took my order repeated it back incorrectly ("no lid" does not mean "no room"), I corrected her, but then she delivered something else ("short" does not mean 16 oz.). She never made eye contact with me during the entire transaction. I do get tired of the perpetual smiles at Starbucks and the query of "how's your day going so far?" that opens nearly every transaction, and I'm often grouchy and sullen myself (there's a reason I'm not in retail), but my coffee experience is so much nicer when it's, well, nice. Howard Schultz is back at the helm, and hopefully he remembers that customer service is the edge that will keep us out of Peet's and McDonalds (ewww) for our coffee fixes.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Three strikes
Monday, 7 January
The 28 mm armadillo rear tire has been retired (there's a pun there, I'm sure, but no coffee yet, so I can't quite make it happen). Just about the time it started to snow on yesterday's ride, my tire developed a slow leak. By the time it was a full-on snowstorm, I realized I had no choice but to stop and fix a rear flat. My hands had been toasty warm, but funny how taking all your gloves and mittens off and handling a cold, wet tire while it's snowing chases that feeling away. The gloves I left on my hands got wet from the tire; the ones I took off and set on the ground got wet from the giant snowflakes. I was still an hour from home, and I was pretty sure I would lose all feeling in my hands on the long gradual descent that was ahead. But no, goretex mittens/shells are a great wind barrier and ever so gradually my hands got less frigid (mind you, I'm not saying they got warm again). And the second flat I feared didn't materialize.
Three flats in three months is not a very good track record, and I'm now happily rolling a skinnier Continental duraskin rear tire. I was hoping to fly up the hills on my commute this morning, but where I really noticed the difference was on the flats and downhill sections. The bike seemed a lot squirmier, um, I mean responsive, but I got used to that within a few miles. But no excuses for being the slow one on team rides any more....
The 28 mm armadillo rear tire has been retired (there's a pun there, I'm sure, but no coffee yet, so I can't quite make it happen). Just about the time it started to snow on yesterday's ride, my tire developed a slow leak. By the time it was a full-on snowstorm, I realized I had no choice but to stop and fix a rear flat. My hands had been toasty warm, but funny how taking all your gloves and mittens off and handling a cold, wet tire while it's snowing chases that feeling away. The gloves I left on my hands got wet from the tire; the ones I took off and set on the ground got wet from the giant snowflakes. I was still an hour from home, and I was pretty sure I would lose all feeling in my hands on the long gradual descent that was ahead. But no, goretex mittens/shells are a great wind barrier and ever so gradually my hands got less frigid (mind you, I'm not saying they got warm again). And the second flat I feared didn't materialize.
Three flats in three months is not a very good track record, and I'm now happily rolling a skinnier Continental duraskin rear tire. I was hoping to fly up the hills on my commute this morning, but where I really noticed the difference was on the flats and downhill sections. The bike seemed a lot squirmier, um, I mean responsive, but I got used to that within a few miles. But no excuses for being the slow one on team rides any more....
Friday, January 04, 2008
Dave Douglas Do
Friday, 4 January
In case you've been under a rock lately, Dave Douglas has officially stepped down as president (and equipment manager and race permitter and rider upgrader and membership coordinator and general dogsbody) of the Washington State Bicycle Association. To pay tribute to his many (endless) accomplishments on behalf of bike racing in the Evergreen State, the WSBA has organized a (no-host) opportunity to fete/toast/honor/roast Dave tomorrow:
When: Saturday, January 5, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Endolyne Joe's, no host bar (West Seattle; over 21, please) http://www.chowfoods.com/endolyne/index.aspx
You know that if you've ever raced your bike in Washington, you ought to come and say thanks. Kickoff time for the Seahawks' playoff game was scheduled early in the afternoon just so you can enjoy both events in the same day.
In case you have a really good excuse for not showing up tomorrow night (like, you're still under a rock and you don't read this until Groundhog Day), Dave will still be putting on races and you can thank him in person there (too) for his years of devoted, inspired leadership and his commitment to bike racing.
If you want the full scoop, it's been posted for ages on the WSBA website. See you Saturday night!
In case you've been under a rock lately, Dave Douglas has officially stepped down as president (and equipment manager and race permitter and rider upgrader and membership coordinator and general dogsbody) of the Washington State Bicycle Association. To pay tribute to his many (endless) accomplishments on behalf of bike racing in the Evergreen State, the WSBA has organized a (no-host) opportunity to fete/toast/honor/roast Dave tomorrow:
When: Saturday, January 5, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Endolyne Joe's, no host bar (West Seattle; over 21, please) http://www.chowfoods.com/endolyne/index.aspx
You know that if you've ever raced your bike in Washington, you ought to come and say thanks. Kickoff time for the Seahawks' playoff game was scheduled early in the afternoon just so you can enjoy both events in the same day.
In case you have a really good excuse for not showing up tomorrow night (like, you're still under a rock and you don't read this until Groundhog Day), Dave will still be putting on races and you can thank him in person there (too) for his years of devoted, inspired leadership and his commitment to bike racing.
If you want the full scoop, it's been posted for ages on the WSBA website. See you Saturday night!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Forever young
Thursday, 3 January
There's a story in a Seattle newspaper this morning about how women over 40 can look "forever young." Biggest laugh: avoid helmet hair. So helmet hair is okay on women under 40? How unfair. But maybe this dictum will be good for my hat business.
One tip I don't get is that I'm supposed to wear skirts that hit at or below my knee. But I'm also not supposed to look "frumpy," and a long, loose skirt is a really quick way to look dumpy and frumpy--like a 1960s leftover. If you have abs, it's okay to wear a bikini, but if you have quads, you can't wear a skirt that's 4 inches above your knee?
Of course, all this comes from a woman who "gets her hair blown out and her nails done once or twice a week, her hair recolored every three to four weeks," and whose "beauty spending" amounts to $16,000 a year or more.
I guess we all have our priorities. We just don't all write books about them. Only blogs. :)
There's a story in a Seattle newspaper this morning about how women over 40 can look "forever young." Biggest laugh: avoid helmet hair. So helmet hair is okay on women under 40? How unfair. But maybe this dictum will be good for my hat business.
One tip I don't get is that I'm supposed to wear skirts that hit at or below my knee. But I'm also not supposed to look "frumpy," and a long, loose skirt is a really quick way to look dumpy and frumpy--like a 1960s leftover. If you have abs, it's okay to wear a bikini, but if you have quads, you can't wear a skirt that's 4 inches above your knee?
Of course, all this comes from a woman who "gets her hair blown out and her nails done once or twice a week, her hair recolored every three to four weeks," and whose "beauty spending" amounts to $16,000 a year or more.
I guess we all have our priorities. We just don't all write books about them. Only blogs. :)
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
2007 data
New Year's Day
I've never done this before, but last night I added up some numbers from my 2007 training journal. Some made me smile, one made me wince.
Total bike (road, TT, tandem) miles: 10,931
Total tandem miles in the above: 1,753 (16%)
Total days with no bike miles: 23 (most in January and December)
Total trainer time: 80 hours
Month with the most miles: July (1,091 total; 388 tandem)
Month with the least miles: January (711 total; 184 tandem)
What made me smile was adding up all those miles for July and remembering the rides and races that month. Kind of discouraging was the equivalent of 2 weeks at work on the trainer. Disheartening too were the low training miles last January because of ice and snow. But Dan V. in Eugene is the latest proof that "it's just not worth it" to ride when there's any risk of black ice--hope your bones heal fast, Dan!
I've never done this before, but last night I added up some numbers from my 2007 training journal. Some made me smile, one made me wince.
Total bike (road, TT, tandem) miles: 10,931
Total tandem miles in the above: 1,753 (16%)
Total days with no bike miles: 23 (most in January and December)
Total trainer time: 80 hours
Month with the most miles: July (1,091 total; 388 tandem)
Month with the least miles: January (711 total; 184 tandem)
What made me smile was adding up all those miles for July and remembering the rides and races that month. Kind of discouraging was the equivalent of 2 weeks at work on the trainer. Disheartening too were the low training miles last January because of ice and snow. But Dan V. in Eugene is the latest proof that "it's just not worth it" to ride when there's any risk of black ice--hope your bones heal fast, Dan!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Cold feet ?
Sunday, 30 December
Happy Birthday, Old as Dirt !
[warning: unsolicited product endorsement follows]
One of the biggest challenges for me of winter training is keeping my hands and feet warm on cold, sometimes wet, rides. I've been doing pretty well with heavy fleece socks and two pairs of booties, but I just added something new to my arsenal: Toasty Feet.
I bought these from Sahalie mainly as a way to inflate the value of my Christmas order to the minimum for free shipping. I forgot about them when the box arrived until it was time to wrap the gift inside. They went for their first bike rides this weekend.
They are inserts that replace the liners that came with your cycling shoes; they probably won't work if you have special orthotics, although the packaging says you can just put them on top of whatever you're currently using. They have a rubber layer that faces out (down) and a waffly "nanoporous" layer that keeps your body heat next to your foot. "NASA space-age insulation," "microscopic air pockets," blah blah blah. I was dubious but always eager for warmer extremities.
On Saturday's 5-hour ride, I wore them with two pairs of booties, and sometimes my feet were almost too warm. Not like overheated on a long, hot climb in the middle of July when the hotspots pop up in odd places on your feet, but just really toasty and a little sweaty. The temperature was about 37 degrees for most of the ride. Today's ride was shorter (4 hours) and marginally warmer, and I only wore one pair of booties. I could feel that the insoles warmed the bottoms of my feet while the mesh in my shoes was creating a colder draft across the tops of my feet. Microclimates, indeed. But wiggling my toes every once in a while seemed to redistribute the warmth and banish the cold.
These things are going to stay in my training shoes for the rest of the winter. At $15, they're better than buying toe warmer packets that go into the trash. I'll be curious to see how they do on a wet ride. Maybe we won't have any more of those this winter? Yeah, right! :)
Happy Birthday, Old as Dirt !
[warning: unsolicited product endorsement follows]
One of the biggest challenges for me of winter training is keeping my hands and feet warm on cold, sometimes wet, rides. I've been doing pretty well with heavy fleece socks and two pairs of booties, but I just added something new to my arsenal: Toasty Feet.
I bought these from Sahalie mainly as a way to inflate the value of my Christmas order to the minimum for free shipping. I forgot about them when the box arrived until it was time to wrap the gift inside. They went for their first bike rides this weekend.
They are inserts that replace the liners that came with your cycling shoes; they probably won't work if you have special orthotics, although the packaging says you can just put them on top of whatever you're currently using. They have a rubber layer that faces out (down) and a waffly "nanoporous" layer that keeps your body heat next to your foot. "NASA space-age insulation," "microscopic air pockets," blah blah blah. I was dubious but always eager for warmer extremities.
On Saturday's 5-hour ride, I wore them with two pairs of booties, and sometimes my feet were almost too warm. Not like overheated on a long, hot climb in the middle of July when the hotspots pop up in odd places on your feet, but just really toasty and a little sweaty. The temperature was about 37 degrees for most of the ride. Today's ride was shorter (4 hours) and marginally warmer, and I only wore one pair of booties. I could feel that the insoles warmed the bottoms of my feet while the mesh in my shoes was creating a colder draft across the tops of my feet. Microclimates, indeed. But wiggling my toes every once in a while seemed to redistribute the warmth and banish the cold.
These things are going to stay in my training shoes for the rest of the winter. At $15, they're better than buying toe warmer packets that go into the trash. I'll be curious to see how they do on a wet ride. Maybe we won't have any more of those this winter? Yeah, right! :)
Monday, December 24, 2007
Enjoying the weather ?
Friday, 28 December
I was born a short ferry ride from Seattle (not short enough for a woman in labor) and moved to the city when I was about a year old. With that Northwest Native upbringing, I'm not affected in the least by seasonal affective disorder. I almost enjoy this weather. It's soothing. It makes you enjoy things like hot spiced wine and fireplace fires and snuggly sweaters. It's how winter here is supposed to be. It's like prozac that evens out the more exciting--good and bad--weather patterns we get in Seattle. It's dreary to some but comforting to me.
I was thinking of this on a cold, wet 4-hour ride last Sunday, enjoying the subtle palette of colors in the Snohomish valley. The first few words of a Christmas carol I never learned kept popping to mind, so I went home and looked them up. They really seem to describe winter here, except that some of the layers of snow might be replaced by puddles of water.
In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.
And really it only looks bleak if you're grumpy and think it's monochromatic and are looking for something to complain about. On a short lunchtime walk yesterday, I found bursts of color breaking up the endless shades of grey.
Lest you try to read between the lines, I assure you that I don't find riding my bike in this particularly comforting or soothing or enjoyable. But those glorious days of summer would be so much less remarkable if we didn't have bleak midwinter days for contrast.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Congrats to the happy couple !
Sunday, 23 December
Another holiday party last night.
Not the usual fare, though.
Nuptials (a surprise!) between courses.
Even the groom shed a tear.
Twas touching and exciting and beautiful.
Two special people whose lives are now joined in a new way.
Everyone should be so lucky.
A few guests knew the purpose of the occasion, but
No one gave it away to those of us in the dark.
Did I say they picked their date just six days ago?
Kisses abounded.
Embraces were warm.
None of the candles outshone the bride's beautiful glow.
No one was more sincere than the groom with his vows.
You two are now one--it's official.
Congratulations! 22 December 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Ho ho ho
it's still Friday, 21 December
This was a new venture for me: I've never put a pompon (no, that's not a typo--google it) on a hat before. They're a lot of work, but a necessity for this item!
On this, the longest night of the year, I made fudge, biscotti, gingerbread, dinner, glog (hot spiced wine), and soup for post-ride lunch tomorrow. And a Santa hat. Ho ho ho!
TME *
Friday, 21 December
* Too Much Excitement.
Very few people in my building came to work today, and things have been quiet--with notable exceptions. During the lunch hour, a group of brass players gathered outside the building next door for their annual holiday serenade and commenced to play their way through just about every carol in the repertory. The weird thing was that it seemed they had never heard the music before. The lead trumpet player was particularly prone to clams, and accidentals in the music usually went unobserved (even when the verse was repeated). Still, in an oddly festive sort of way, it was "real" music and almost better than having, say, the Canadian Brass playing a live Christmas concert outside your office window. I look forward to this performance every year.
My listening experience was rudely interrupted, however. Yesterday was the annual test of the building's fire alarm system. We were advised to turn off our computers (because of the switch to emergency power--you never know what might happen) but got to stay in our offices to endure the fire alarm and "this is only a test" PA announcements for a few minutes. So when the alarm went off today, the first thought was "oh, they forgot to do something yesterday." A head check out my door, though, revealed that others were being good citizens and leaving the building. I grabbed all my worldly goods (it might be hours before we get back in) and joined the group in front of our building. Turned out that somebody overcooked something in the microwave. No fire in the building, but so much smoke still in the air that I think I might have to leave early. :) We tried not to laugh when six firefighters in full gear showed up for a microwave meltdown; some of them were pretty serious but the last ones to leave were laughing with us. The offending pile of melted plastic and food has been ceremoniously placed atop the pedestal that used to house a bust of the building's namesake. No one has come forward as the offending chef.I'm hoping my holiday baking at home tonight is not nearly as exciting.
Buses, cereal, and hats
Friday, 21 December
Yesterday morning I got a funny surprise in my cereal box. I didn't even notice when I bought the box, but it contained a small children's book ("collect all six!"). I had a good laugh when I pulled this out. The first page says "Do YOU have a hat? Something fuzzy, warm, and red,
to keep the snowflakes off your head?" Indeed, I've been working on this fuzzy one that I'll give away today, and also a red (Santa) one that gets given away tomorrow.
Today was the first bus day of the season. This morning our driveway twinkled and the street was a sheet of black ice with little rock nubbins poking out, so no bike commute for me. The bus schedule had changed since last year (imagine that!), so I was rather later to work than I expected. But nobody else was here when I got in!
Yesterday morning I got a funny surprise in my cereal box. I didn't even notice when I bought the box, but it contained a small children's book ("collect all six!"). I had a good laugh when I pulled this out. The first page says "Do YOU have a hat? Something fuzzy, warm, and red,
to keep the snowflakes off your head?" Indeed, I've been working on this fuzzy one that I'll give away today, and also a red (Santa) one that gets given away tomorrow.Happy winter solstice tomorrow! Stay warm!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Sweets and shopping
Tuesday, 18 December (again)
I did some more Christmas baking today, this time meringues to go along with the chocolate raspberry torte for Christmas dinner. They are sweet but light--just egg whites and sugar, plus orange zest in some and coffee powder in others. The orange ones are best. They might not last til Christmas. :) Instead of making freeform blobs with teaspoons, I used my pastry bag and a rosette, and they look pretty fancy!
I also made another visit to A New Yarn and really stocked up. I need to make a couple of hats this week for Christmas. The shop has a big basket of yarn that's been donated, and they give you a plastic grocery bag, you fill it up (!), and it costs $3 for the whole lot. So in addition to 4 skeins of yarn for the aforementioned hats, I got some beautiful blue Icelandic wool, some stretchy brown stuff that has inch-long wormy bits sticking out all over (it'll make great hat trim), and gobs of baby yarn. If we have any snow days, I am set!
Rejoice !
Tuesday, 18 December
Sunset today is later than it was yesterday!! That's the first step toward days getting longer. The winter solstice is this Saturday; a few days after that, sunrise will start getting earlier. You'll be able to shelve all your bike lights before you know it...well....soonish....
Sunset today is later than it was yesterday!! That's the first step toward days getting longer. The winter solstice is this Saturday; a few days after that, sunrise will start getting earlier. You'll be able to shelve all your bike lights before you know it...well....soonish....
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Out-of-town riding
Sunday, December 16
(tomorrow is Beethoven's birthday!)
Today was the long-appointed day for a FRM women's team ride in the hometown that claims the largest number of our riders: Bainbridge Island. Last night, the weather forecast was ugly, but there was not a speck of rain today until I got in the car after the ferry ride back to Seattle. We had some blue sky, some great views of sunshine on the Olympics, and a mid-Sound treat of unrestricted views of snowclad Rainier and Baker.
Sometimes I knew where I was, mostly I didn't. We stopped for shots (espresso with milk and a tad bit of sugar) in Port Gamble, we bypassed downtown Poulsbo by riding through the parking lot next to the marina, and we had a scenic tour along Lemolo Road. We also did some of those vicious, short, steep hills that Bainbridge is famous for. It was a terrific ride with good company--and local knowledge of a super coffee shop to finish off a great day while we waited for our ship to come in.
Total miles today were 47. After yesterday's low psi ride plus a trip to the gym to lift weights yesterday afternoon, 47 was plenty. And my legs are looking forward to just sitting in my chair at work tomorrow!
(tomorrow is Beethoven's birthday!)
Today was the long-appointed day for a FRM women's team ride in the hometown that claims the largest number of our riders: Bainbridge Island. Last night, the weather forecast was ugly, but there was not a speck of rain today until I got in the car after the ferry ride back to Seattle. We had some blue sky, some great views of sunshine on the Olympics, and a mid-Sound treat of unrestricted views of snowclad Rainier and Baker.
Sometimes I knew where I was, mostly I didn't. We stopped for shots (espresso with milk and a tad bit of sugar) in Port Gamble, we bypassed downtown Poulsbo by riding through the parking lot next to the marina, and we had a scenic tour along Lemolo Road. We also did some of those vicious, short, steep hills that Bainbridge is famous for. It was a terrific ride with good company--and local knowledge of a super coffee shop to finish off a great day while we waited for our ship to come in.
Total miles today were 47. After yesterday's low psi ride plus a trip to the gym to lift weights yesterday afternoon, 47 was plenty. And my legs are looking forward to just sitting in my chair at work tomorrow!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
50 psi x 28 mm = not so fast
Saturday, Ides of December
I think my rear tire has a super slow leak. My team ride had to wait for me, like, 30 times today. I got dropped going down a 3% untechnical hill with a tailwind--and I was working hard. The tire was a little bouncy sometimes, although I never thought it was flat and it didn't seem to get worse. I did seem to get slower, though. :) Still, my average speed was over 15 mph for 81 miles with something like a thick layer of, well, cookie dough for a rear tire (as opposed to the spare tire of cookie dough accumulating on me!). Maybe this will make my workout on my race bike on the CycleU computrainer this week seem effortless?
Bad day for crashes. Best wishes to Richard and Andrew for speedy recoveries!
I think my rear tire has a super slow leak. My team ride had to wait for me, like, 30 times today. I got dropped going down a 3% untechnical hill with a tailwind--and I was working hard. The tire was a little bouncy sometimes, although I never thought it was flat and it didn't seem to get worse. I did seem to get slower, though. :) Still, my average speed was over 15 mph for 81 miles with something like a thick layer of, well, cookie dough for a rear tire (as opposed to the spare tire of cookie dough accumulating on me!). Maybe this will make my workout on my race bike on the CycleU computrainer this week seem effortless?
Bad day for crashes. Best wishes to Richard and Andrew for speedy recoveries!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Another good cause
Tuesday, 11 December
Short version: Lisa and Friends will be signing copies of their calendar to raise funds for breast cancer charities at Third Place Books (which shares space with the Honey Bear Bakery) in Lake Forest Park shopping center (about a mile from Log Boom Park) this Friday, December 14, at 6:30. The calendar features beautiful photography and would make a great present for some on your holiday list.
Longer version: "13 women, including several who are either fighting, or have survived breast cancer, have posed nude for a calendar celebrating both women's vulnerability and strength in the face of this disease." One of those calendar girls is my teammate, Lisa Lund. "Sales of the calendar have raised about $22,000 for charity so far -- money Lund has earmarked to help pay for mammograms for uninsured, or underinsured women." More information on the calendar, the women it features, and how cycling helped Lisa get through her cancer treatment is in an article in last week's Post-Intelligencer: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342373_calendar06.html
Also see the photographer's website for some of the incredible images in this calendar:
www.petesaloutos.com
I hope to see you at Third Place Books on Friday evening! (And if you didn't already sign the petition to preserve libraries in our schools, read and follow up on the posting below.)
Short version: Lisa and Friends will be signing copies of their calendar to raise funds for breast cancer charities at Third Place Books (which shares space with the Honey Bear Bakery) in Lake Forest Park shopping center (about a mile from Log Boom Park) this Friday, December 14, at 6:30. The calendar features beautiful photography and would make a great present for some on your holiday list.
Longer version: "13 women, including several who are either fighting, or have survived breast cancer, have posed nude for a calendar celebrating both women's vulnerability and strength in the face of this disease." One of those calendar girls is my teammate, Lisa Lund. "Sales of the calendar have raised about $22,000 for charity so far -- money Lund has earmarked to help pay for mammograms for uninsured, or underinsured women." More information on the calendar, the women it features, and how cycling helped Lisa get through her cancer treatment is in an article in last week's Post-Intelligencer: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/342373_calendar06.html
Also see the photographer's website for some of the incredible images in this calendar:
www.petesaloutos.com
I hope to see you at Third Place Books on Friday evening! (And if you didn't already sign the petition to preserve libraries in our schools, read and follow up on the posting below.)
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Save school libraries
Sunday, 9 December (another snow day)
I work in higher education and am proud to say I frequently use the biggest library in the State of Washington and rely on the expertise of its professional librarians. Unfortunately, there's a move afoot to cut libraries and librarians in our public schools, which will reduce information literacy among students and cut access to information technology for those who don't have those resources at home.
Please take a few minutes to sign a petition supporting school libraries in Washington State. The petition was started by a parent in the Spokane Schools who has witnessed how the district has cut library programs over the past few years and decided to try to change the tide. Join the over 300 Washingtonians in asking for funding for school libraries across the state. Here is what Lisa, the petition's founder, says:
"Can you take a moment to sign a petition that advocates for WA school libraries and information technology? Cuts have occurred around the state: libraries sit dark sometimes up to 3 days out of the week and new proposals for further reductions in the next school year are already emerging. A state-wide petition has been launched. It is our hope that as many WA residents as possible sign to send the message that we do not want our school libraries and information literacy compromised. This is where you come in. Can you please sign the petition and forward to as many people and organizations as possible?
http://gopetition.com/online/15285.html
"We have a chance for Washington to take a stand on what is happening around the country. Tucson's school district has just proposed eliminating librarians and replacing them with aides beginning the next school year. We are optimistic that, if this campaign is successful, WA school libraries and their programs will no longer be at risk and we can inspire other states to take a stand as well."
I work in higher education and am proud to say I frequently use the biggest library in the State of Washington and rely on the expertise of its professional librarians. Unfortunately, there's a move afoot to cut libraries and librarians in our public schools, which will reduce information literacy among students and cut access to information technology for those who don't have those resources at home.
Please take a few minutes to sign a petition supporting school libraries in Washington State. The petition was started by a parent in the Spokane Schools who has witnessed how the district has cut library programs over the past few years and decided to try to change the tide. Join the over 300 Washingtonians in asking for funding for school libraries across the state. Here is what Lisa, the petition's founder, says:
"Can you take a moment to sign a petition that advocates for WA school libraries and information technology? Cuts have occurred around the state: libraries sit dark sometimes up to 3 days out of the week and new proposals for further reductions in the next school year are already emerging. A state-wide petition has been launched. It is our hope that as many WA residents as possible sign to send the message that we do not want our school libraries and information literacy compromised. This is where you come in. Can you please sign the petition and forward to as many people and organizations as possible?
http://gopetition.com/online/15285.html
"We have a chance for Washington to take a stand on what is happening around the country. Tucson's school district has just proposed eliminating librarians and replacing them with aides beginning the next school year. We are optimistic that, if this campaign is successful, WA school libraries and their programs will no longer be at risk and we can inspire other states to take a stand as well."
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
We broke it !
Wednesday, 5 December
About 3/10 of a mile from the finish of my 10K TT (how's that for mixing units of measure?) at CycleU tonight, the CompuTrainer system broke. The clock kept running, but the program stopped measuring distance, watts, and other critical data. O.A.D. and one other guy had finished; the rest of us, of course, were on pace for PR times--and you'll never be able to disprove that! :)
Before our little spin at Sand Point, I did my first holiday "baking" of the season. I'm not sure it's baking when the only thing that happened in the oven was toasting the almonds. But the end result is luscious: chocolate almond toffee. It's further proof that you can combine butter and sugar with most anything (chocolate and almonds, in this case) and have a tasty result. This is reserved for "hostess gifts" for the holiday season (not everybody gets hats!), so we definitely have to keep our hands out of the cookie tin (as if 3/4 of a pound of butter wasn't reason enough)!
About 3/10 of a mile from the finish of my 10K TT (how's that for mixing units of measure?) at CycleU tonight, the CompuTrainer system broke. The clock kept running, but the program stopped measuring distance, watts, and other critical data. O.A.D. and one other guy had finished; the rest of us, of course, were on pace for PR times--and you'll never be able to disprove that! :)
Before our little spin at Sand Point, I did my first holiday "baking" of the season. I'm not sure it's baking when the only thing that happened in the oven was toasting the almonds. But the end result is luscious: chocolate almond toffee. It's further proof that you can combine butter and sugar with most anything (chocolate and almonds, in this case) and have a tasty result. This is reserved for "hostess gifts" for the holiday season (not everybody gets hats!), so we definitely have to keep our hands out of the cookie tin (as if 3/4 of a pound of butter wasn't reason enough)!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Unboring weather
Tuesday, 4 December
We've had pretty extreme weather in these parts since last Saturday, with unpleasant consequences for some. But I looked out my window at work today in one of those gully-washer showers and saw this. Almost as good as the snow scenes over the weekend.
The list of roads closed in King and Snohomish counties reads like a list of where we ride every weekend. Hopefully things will dry up a little by Saturday!
We've had pretty extreme weather in these parts since last Saturday, with unpleasant consequences for some. But I looked out my window at work today in one of those gully-washer showers and saw this. Almost as good as the snow scenes over the weekend.The list of roads closed in King and Snohomish counties reads like a list of where we ride every weekend. Hopefully things will dry up a little by Saturday!
Saturday, December 01, 2007
A New Yarn
Saturday, 1 December
After what was a great ride for the first day of December, in Seattle (no ice, no rain, a little sunshine), I first visited a local indulgerie (yes, it's a bakery/coffee shop, but not as, um, industrial as Starbucks and way tastier--and hence probably way more indulgent). Then, since I had put on so many clothes for the bike ride that I was not frozen despite 3+ hours on the bike in sub-40-degree temps, I decided to check out a yarn shop with a mission that I didn't even know was in my neighborhood. I hope the feature in this morning's paper brings them a lot of crafters and stitchers from north Seattle:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/341901_retail01.html
http://www.anewyarn.org/
It's a small shop with big windows on one whole side and a big table for socializing while working on your latest project. They carry a lot of the yarns I use for hats, so I will be going back. They teased me when I said I didn't "need" any more yarn right now: yarn is sort of like bikes--never too much or too many. They had some great cotton yarn in Christmas colors, but the only thing I know how to knit with cotton is dish cloths, and who really wants a Christmas dish cloth?
After what was a great ride for the first day of December, in Seattle (no ice, no rain, a little sunshine), I first visited a local indulgerie (yes, it's a bakery/coffee shop, but not as, um, industrial as Starbucks and way tastier--and hence probably way more indulgent). Then, since I had put on so many clothes for the bike ride that I was not frozen despite 3+ hours on the bike in sub-40-degree temps, I decided to check out a yarn shop with a mission that I didn't even know was in my neighborhood. I hope the feature in this morning's paper brings them a lot of crafters and stitchers from north Seattle:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/341901_retail01.html
http://www.anewyarn.org/
It's a small shop with big windows on one whole side and a big table for socializing while working on your latest project. They carry a lot of the yarns I use for hats, so I will be going back. They teased me when I said I didn't "need" any more yarn right now: yarn is sort of like bikes--never too much or too many. They had some great cotton yarn in Christmas colors, but the only thing I know how to knit with cotton is dish cloths, and who really wants a Christmas dish cloth?
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Teammates--or, cross training
Thursday, 29 November
I have some amazingly strong teammates. One of 'em suggests stand-up paddle surfing for your next core workout! I guess it can't be much colder or wetter than riding a bike in 38 degrees and rain....
I have some amazingly strong teammates. One of 'em suggests stand-up paddle surfing for your next core workout! I guess it can't be much colder or wetter than riding a bike in 38 degrees and rain....
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Nice
Tuesday, 27 November
You gotta read this: http://sechstage.blogspot.com/
LFG Adrian is in Nice, training to race at Mason Lake, in shorts, in the sleety rain/snow mix. Well, that's one way to read it, anyway. The pictures hurt, but the prose is great.
You gotta read this: http://sechstage.blogspot.com/
LFG Adrian is in Nice, training to race at Mason Lake, in shorts, in the sleety rain/snow mix. Well, that's one way to read it, anyway. The pictures hurt, but the prose is great.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Accidental bike fit
Sunday, 25 November
For about 2 months, the saddle on my rain bike has made annoying, squeaking, creaking sounds. Not-so-subtle hints to my live-in mechanic brought no results, so finally last night I took matters into my own hands. I had realized that I was beginning to dread long rides because after 40-50 miles, sitting on the saddle and pedaling was agony. It occurred to me that maybe the saddle was done and needed to be retired, although there wasn't all that much deflection when I pushed down on it. My plan was to borrow my saddle off the tandem (since I need my race bike intact for CycleU TTs) and replace the hand-me-down on the rain bike.
Turns out the squeaking was for good reason: one of the two bolts holding the saddle on the seatpost clamp was gone. Said mechanic said no, we don't have any of those bolts, but here's another saddle and a new seatpost (I can't find a zip tie on his workbench, but he can locate a saddle and a seatpost--go figure!). So with a new hand-me-down saddle and a brand new seatpost, I was good to go for today's ride.
Genius here remembered to measure saddle height before the new installation, and she got out the spirit level to make sure it wasn't cock-eyed, but she forgot about the distance from saddle to bars. 20 feet down the driveway and I knew my position was different. But it didn't seem bad, and I was late, so I kept going. And after 60 miles today, my back and other body parts were so much happier than yesterday.
No, it didn't help me overcome the lethargy of the 28mm armadillo rear tire, but sometimes you just know things aren't right when it hurts to ride your bike, even at the risk of sounding like a princess with a pea. And this one was even a pretty quick fix. Now I've got to go straighten out my stem and see if that takes out the kink I've had in my neck since I started riding the rain bike back in September....
For about 2 months, the saddle on my rain bike has made annoying, squeaking, creaking sounds. Not-so-subtle hints to my live-in mechanic brought no results, so finally last night I took matters into my own hands. I had realized that I was beginning to dread long rides because after 40-50 miles, sitting on the saddle and pedaling was agony. It occurred to me that maybe the saddle was done and needed to be retired, although there wasn't all that much deflection when I pushed down on it. My plan was to borrow my saddle off the tandem (since I need my race bike intact for CycleU TTs) and replace the hand-me-down on the rain bike.
Turns out the squeaking was for good reason: one of the two bolts holding the saddle on the seatpost clamp was gone. Said mechanic said no, we don't have any of those bolts, but here's another saddle and a new seatpost (I can't find a zip tie on his workbench, but he can locate a saddle and a seatpost--go figure!). So with a new hand-me-down saddle and a brand new seatpost, I was good to go for today's ride.
Genius here remembered to measure saddle height before the new installation, and she got out the spirit level to make sure it wasn't cock-eyed, but she forgot about the distance from saddle to bars. 20 feet down the driveway and I knew my position was different. But it didn't seem bad, and I was late, so I kept going. And after 60 miles today, my back and other body parts were so much happier than yesterday.
No, it didn't help me overcome the lethargy of the 28mm armadillo rear tire, but sometimes you just know things aren't right when it hurts to ride your bike, even at the risk of sounding like a princess with a pea. And this one was even a pretty quick fix. Now I've got to go straighten out my stem and see if that takes out the kink I've had in my neck since I started riding the rain bike back in September....
Friday, November 23, 2007
Another day of thanks
Friday, 23 November
Ever have one of those great rides where you're just happy to be out on your (heavy, slow) bike, looking at snow-capped mountains all around, blue sky and sunshine, pastures full of cows, empty roads, and a pastry case in the bakery that has too many choices? So much to be thankful for....
Ever have one of those great rides where you're just happy to be out on your (heavy, slow) bike, looking at snow-capped mountains all around, blue sky and sunshine, pastures full of cows, empty roads, and a pastry case in the bakery that has too many choices? So much to be thankful for....
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Memories
Tuesday, 20 November
I stopped in my tracks when I saw this shirt (and a sweatshirt with a big purple W) in a sports shop in Co Wicklow. This is Adidas clothing, and last time I checked Nike was the Huskies' official clothing company. The only other U.S. team on any clothing in this shop was the Yankees, so I am still puzzling about how the Dawgs got there.
I think this "morning coffee" set us back about $18.
I found a great running loop on this trip in one of Dublin's nicer suburbs (near a horse race track, past a golf course, past the Egyptian ambassador's house, and past a HUGE park). Most of it had some sort of sidewalk (sometimes all of 18 inches wide)--this was the only dodgy bit.
Compulsory visit to Grafton Street, the famous pedestrian-only shopping street at the center of Dublin. All decked out for Christmas, of course. The shop windows at Brown Thomas had amazing holiday scenes!
19 hours door to door today from Dublin to home. Here are some of the photos I couldn't post while I was away.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw this shirt (and a sweatshirt with a big purple W) in a sports shop in Co Wicklow. This is Adidas clothing, and last time I checked Nike was the Huskies' official clothing company. The only other U.S. team on any clothing in this shop was the Yankees, so I am still puzzling about how the Dawgs got there.
I think this "morning coffee" set us back about $18.
I found a great running loop on this trip in one of Dublin's nicer suburbs (near a horse race track, past a golf course, past the Egyptian ambassador's house, and past a HUGE park). Most of it had some sort of sidewalk (sometimes all of 18 inches wide)--this was the only dodgy bit.
Compulsory visit to Grafton Street, the famous pedestrian-only shopping street at the center of Dublin. All decked out for Christmas, of course. The shop windows at Brown Thomas had amazing holiday scenes!
This is Terminal 4 at Heathrow Airport in London. I decided today that globalization is just a big word for same-ization. Even the furniture and the milk pitchers were exactly the same as they are in the Starbucks that's 1/4 mile from my house. But hey, in London they gave me 55 cents off for using my own mug (instead of the 10 cents I save here).
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Emerald isle
Monday, 19 November
Ireland is called the Emerald Isle. It stays green because it rains so much (less than it does in Seattle, actually, but nobody here believes that). They have a lovely phrase for gentle mist: "soft rain." It soaks you in about 15 minutes on the bike, but otherwise it's not so bad. However, what we've been in for here this time is "lashing rain." The kind that soaks you in a 30-second walk from the car to the door, the kind that beats on the skylights at 1:53 a.m. and keeps me awake and forces me to blog. Here are some other observations about things and how they happen here.
Fat. We took O.A.D.'s mother to lunch on Sunday. The man at the table next to us had a whole plate of pate for his first course, then proceeded to a main course of steak plus at least a litre by volume of chips (french fries) and an equal amount of onion rings. We left before he got dessert. In the supermarket yesterday morning, I was trying to find some low-fat yogurt and I always read yogurt labels anyway to make sure I'm not getting any gelatin (mad cow). The first stuff I picked up had not only whole milk, but whipping cream! I'm sure it was yummy....
Being green. We saw an ad on TV that reminded us that one recycled aluminum can saves enough electricity to keep your TV running for 3 hours. We are reminded to conserve water, although I'm not sure why (see first paragraph above). To recycle glass, you have to take it to a special bottle bank (usually in public car parks), but most everything else is picked up kerbside. An English brand of smoothies available in Ireland, Innocent, comes in a bottle that looks like plastic but the label proudly states that it's made from corn and completely compostable.
Prices. Muffins in bakeries are usually $3-4--and muffins have a short tradition here, so I'm not sure they're anything like worth that much. Bananas work out to about the same price as at home. The organic low-fat yogurt I bought yesterday was only slightly more expensive (and tastier, and localer) than what I get at home. Chocolate in good Euro brands (Lindt, Green and Black) is less expensive but so far I have resisted. Nutella is lots cheaper and, as Nathan pointed out, has no trans fats, unlike the same brand sold in the U.S. But taking the cake so far was a pair of pajamas I bought for 4.50 euro, or about $6.75. They were probably made by child slave labor in Asia (or eastern Europe). The fabric alone would easily cost $20 in Seattle. That allows nothing for labor, transport, or middle-man mark-up. Boggled my mind, so I had to buy a pair.
Yarn and coffee are on the agenda for today (after it stops raining enough to sleep). The Irish yarn shop that's first on everyone's list is on a famous (but tiny) street in the heart of Dublin; I can't imagine there are any bargains there, but I hope there's some nice Irish wool that will keep Dwan's head warm in his battle with cancer. Also on the agenda may be coffee at Bewley's, which has been a coffee shop in Dublin for probably a century longer than Starbucks has been around. Of course, if we stumble upon a Starbucks, we might have to go in and inspect the premises for Zana. To get into town, we'll ride the Luas, Dublin's second commuter rail system.
Hope to see you on O.A.D.'s Thanksgiving ride to benefit Northwest Harvest (scroll down this page in the News & Distractions sidebar for more info).
Ireland is called the Emerald Isle. It stays green because it rains so much (less than it does in Seattle, actually, but nobody here believes that). They have a lovely phrase for gentle mist: "soft rain." It soaks you in about 15 minutes on the bike, but otherwise it's not so bad. However, what we've been in for here this time is "lashing rain." The kind that soaks you in a 30-second walk from the car to the door, the kind that beats on the skylights at 1:53 a.m. and keeps me awake and forces me to blog. Here are some other observations about things and how they happen here.
Fat. We took O.A.D.'s mother to lunch on Sunday. The man at the table next to us had a whole plate of pate for his first course, then proceeded to a main course of steak plus at least a litre by volume of chips (french fries) and an equal amount of onion rings. We left before he got dessert. In the supermarket yesterday morning, I was trying to find some low-fat yogurt and I always read yogurt labels anyway to make sure I'm not getting any gelatin (mad cow). The first stuff I picked up had not only whole milk, but whipping cream! I'm sure it was yummy....
Being green. We saw an ad on TV that reminded us that one recycled aluminum can saves enough electricity to keep your TV running for 3 hours. We are reminded to conserve water, although I'm not sure why (see first paragraph above). To recycle glass, you have to take it to a special bottle bank (usually in public car parks), but most everything else is picked up kerbside. An English brand of smoothies available in Ireland, Innocent, comes in a bottle that looks like plastic but the label proudly states that it's made from corn and completely compostable.
Prices. Muffins in bakeries are usually $3-4--and muffins have a short tradition here, so I'm not sure they're anything like worth that much. Bananas work out to about the same price as at home. The organic low-fat yogurt I bought yesterday was only slightly more expensive (and tastier, and localer) than what I get at home. Chocolate in good Euro brands (Lindt, Green and Black) is less expensive but so far I have resisted. Nutella is lots cheaper and, as Nathan pointed out, has no trans fats, unlike the same brand sold in the U.S. But taking the cake so far was a pair of pajamas I bought for 4.50 euro, or about $6.75. They were probably made by child slave labor in Asia (or eastern Europe). The fabric alone would easily cost $20 in Seattle. That allows nothing for labor, transport, or middle-man mark-up. Boggled my mind, so I had to buy a pair.
Yarn and coffee are on the agenda for today (after it stops raining enough to sleep). The Irish yarn shop that's first on everyone's list is on a famous (but tiny) street in the heart of Dublin; I can't imagine there are any bargains there, but I hope there's some nice Irish wool that will keep Dwan's head warm in his battle with cancer. Also on the agenda may be coffee at Bewley's, which has been a coffee shop in Dublin for probably a century longer than Starbucks has been around. Of course, if we stumble upon a Starbucks, we might have to go in and inspect the premises for Zana. To get into town, we'll ride the Luas, Dublin's second commuter rail system.
Hope to see you on O.A.D.'s Thanksgiving ride to benefit Northwest Harvest (scroll down this page in the News & Distractions sidebar for more info).
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Your personal postcard
Saturday, 17 November
Greetings from Dublin, and I don't mean Ohio or California! I've been taking pictures to post here, but I'm a "guest" on this computer and it won't open or upload anything off the camera. Weather's been great so far...well, dry anyway. No bikes this trip, so I've been running each morning to offset the substantial amount of eating that happens during the rest of the day. This morning I found the residence of the Egyptian ambassador. You can be sure there were a lot of cameras and lights and locks on the gates on that driveway!
The highlight planned for yesterday's agenda was visiting one of the best yarn shops in Ireland (there aren't very many). Sadly, the business had closed (so much for Google searches). But we did get in a wonderful walk on the beach (did anybody ever tell you that Ireland has some of the best beaches in the world?). One of the pictures I took yesterday was of the tray with our morning coffee/lunch. 18 euro/$27 for 2 cups of coffee and sweet stuff.
In all the shopping I did yesterday, the most interesting thing was finding a bargain on peanut butter. I have yet to meet anyone here who likes the stuff (O.A.D. has been converted by living with me), yet there in the health food store was a one-kilo tub of pure ground peanuts (no added oil or salt or sugar) for about $9. While there's lots of organic food available here, being a "locavore" or considering the carbon impact of your food purchases hasn't caught on. That same health food store sold a lot of honey--from New Zealand. Thanks to greenhouses, though, you can buy fresh Irish strawberries in the supermarket right now.
The big excitement is that Bill's in town for a fundraiser for Hillary. Due to U.S. campaign laws, only U.S. citizens are allowed to pay for the tickets (because they amount to a campaign contribution). We haven't quite figured out who's going--a bunch of U.S. expats? Not us; we're headed down to Wexford this afternoon to visit family who live next door to the John F. Kennedy Arboretum.
Happy riding this weekend. For all of you who think I never take rest weeks or time off the bike, this is my second consecutive weekend sans bicycle. At least here (unlike CO Springs) there's enough oxygen to breathe to making running a viable alternative! Gotta run--I need a refill on my Christmas Blend.
Greetings from Dublin, and I don't mean Ohio or California! I've been taking pictures to post here, but I'm a "guest" on this computer and it won't open or upload anything off the camera. Weather's been great so far...well, dry anyway. No bikes this trip, so I've been running each morning to offset the substantial amount of eating that happens during the rest of the day. This morning I found the residence of the Egyptian ambassador. You can be sure there were a lot of cameras and lights and locks on the gates on that driveway!
The highlight planned for yesterday's agenda was visiting one of the best yarn shops in Ireland (there aren't very many). Sadly, the business had closed (so much for Google searches). But we did get in a wonderful walk on the beach (did anybody ever tell you that Ireland has some of the best beaches in the world?). One of the pictures I took yesterday was of the tray with our morning coffee/lunch. 18 euro/$27 for 2 cups of coffee and sweet stuff.
In all the shopping I did yesterday, the most interesting thing was finding a bargain on peanut butter. I have yet to meet anyone here who likes the stuff (O.A.D. has been converted by living with me), yet there in the health food store was a one-kilo tub of pure ground peanuts (no added oil or salt or sugar) for about $9. While there's lots of organic food available here, being a "locavore" or considering the carbon impact of your food purchases hasn't caught on. That same health food store sold a lot of honey--from New Zealand. Thanks to greenhouses, though, you can buy fresh Irish strawberries in the supermarket right now.
The big excitement is that Bill's in town for a fundraiser for Hillary. Due to U.S. campaign laws, only U.S. citizens are allowed to pay for the tickets (because they amount to a campaign contribution). We haven't quite figured out who's going--a bunch of U.S. expats? Not us; we're headed down to Wexford this afternoon to visit family who live next door to the John F. Kennedy Arboretum.
Happy riding this weekend. For all of you who think I never take rest weeks or time off the bike, this is my second consecutive weekend sans bicycle. At least here (unlike CO Springs) there's enough oxygen to breathe to making running a viable alternative! Gotta run--I need a refill on my Christmas Blend.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Word play
Tuesday, 13 November
Numbly.
Dumbly.
Crumbly.
They derive from rhyming roots: numb, dumb, and crumb.
So how come the B is silent in numbly and dumbly, but not in crumbly?
Numbly.
Dumbly.
Crumbly.
They derive from rhyming roots: numb, dumb, and crumb.
So how come the B is silent in numbly and dumbly, but not in crumbly?
Monday, November 12, 2007
New in the Gin Optics line
Veterans Day
PruDOG was being CATTY and wouldn't tell me for sure what colors are and aren't in the 2008 Axley/Gin Optics kit. So I had to wing it when I started making hats for the newbies on the team. I hope the color scheme didn't switch to purple and green!
PruDOG was being CATTY and wouldn't tell me for sure what colors are and aren't in the 2008 Axley/Gin Optics kit. So I had to wing it when I started making hats for the newbies on the team. I hope the color scheme didn't switch to purple and green!Saturday, November 10, 2007
The Springs
Saturday, 10 November
This is one place that's probably more glamorous in your dreams than it is in person.
This is one place that's probably more glamorous in your dreams than it is in person.
I wonder how many of these "go missing" every year....
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
WTF is up?
Tuesday, 6 November
Alright already, we should've moved past the fireworks of the 5th of November by now. Yahoo and Comcast have been dysfunctional all day, and Topica hasn't delivered a message I sent 11 hours ago (sorry, TiCycles!) (can I say yet that the WSBA will soon launch its own listserv off Topica?). What's up? Are secret internet forces conspiring to make me actually do work at work? Am I supposed to be happy that my Armadillo didn't flat in 20 whopping miles today and just let go on the email thing? If you think I'm ignoring an important email message, well, I'm not...really...I just don't know it's there. Argh.
Alright already, we should've moved past the fireworks of the 5th of November by now. Yahoo and Comcast have been dysfunctional all day, and Topica hasn't delivered a message I sent 11 hours ago (sorry, TiCycles!) (can I say yet that the WSBA will soon launch its own listserv off Topica?). What's up? Are secret internet forces conspiring to make me actually do work at work? Am I supposed to be happy that my Armadillo didn't flat in 20 whopping miles today and just let go on the email thing? If you think I'm ignoring an important email message, well, I'm not...really...I just don't know it's there. Argh.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
120
Saturday, 3 November
120. That's how miles I got in on my super tough, super slow, solid-rubber-with-tread armadillo tires before I got a flat. Tiny piece of glass sliced right through. Of course, since the tire was so stiff, it took me 20 minutes to get it off, replace the tube, and get the tire back on again. Ironically enough, I was on my way to a team ride, and my teammates waited for me--longer than they would've waited if I'd flatted my friendly old tire that slipped on and off. Just whose bright idea was this?
120. That's how miles I got in on my super tough, super slow, solid-rubber-with-tread armadillo tires before I got a flat. Tiny piece of glass sliced right through. Of course, since the tire was so stiff, it took me 20 minutes to get it off, replace the tube, and get the tire back on again. Ironically enough, I was on my way to a team ride, and my teammates waited for me--longer than they would've waited if I'd flatted my friendly old tire that slipped on and off. Just whose bright idea was this?
Friday, November 02, 2007
Random thoughts
Friday, 2 November
One-time, end-of-season race reimbursements make for a nice chunk of change. The team never shared its magic formula for making such calculations, but it turns out I was the most frequent racer (out of 200+ team members) and the check is generous. Thanks, JCV!
I second the suggestion by Anonymous that NWBuckeye should write a web page for promoters on how to professionally put on a bike race. It's some advice that could use sharing. I think the WSBA could make a home for such guidance.
Alastair, who crashed on a shoe last Saturday, is in great spirits. He's in a neck brace for 6 weeks, so no driving, no riding, and (in his words) no driving Formula One for a while. He had a humdinger of a black eye when I saw him earlier in the week and was due to have his cheekbone screwed and pinned back together yesterday. He carries on with his other hobby, though, and will have a showing of his photography at the U-Frame It on Broadway from November 14 through December 31. The title of the exhibit is "Fully Exposed," and let's just say that the photos are probably mostly of women. I was going to post a picture of the photo from the announcement, but that's probably a violation of his artistic property rights and Coach Curly would get on my case for violating his sense of family values.
Tomorrow is the WSBA calendar meeting when we get fodder for planning next year's race season. OBRA has been at this for two months, so it will be interesting to see what major conflicts develop. Most interesting so far is that the women's race at Mt. Hood (and not the men's race) is on the UCI calendar and the event has moved to mid-May. So now I'd need a UCI license to do one of the stage races closest to home?
I love this view from the stairwell next to my office. The colors just keep getting better (although the camera phone doesn't do them justice).
One-time, end-of-season race reimbursements make for a nice chunk of change. The team never shared its magic formula for making such calculations, but it turns out I was the most frequent racer (out of 200+ team members) and the check is generous. Thanks, JCV!
I second the suggestion by Anonymous that NWBuckeye should write a web page for promoters on how to professionally put on a bike race. It's some advice that could use sharing. I think the WSBA could make a home for such guidance.
Alastair, who crashed on a shoe last Saturday, is in great spirits. He's in a neck brace for 6 weeks, so no driving, no riding, and (in his words) no driving Formula One for a while. He had a humdinger of a black eye when I saw him earlier in the week and was due to have his cheekbone screwed and pinned back together yesterday. He carries on with his other hobby, though, and will have a showing of his photography at the U-Frame It on Broadway from November 14 through December 31. The title of the exhibit is "Fully Exposed," and let's just say that the photos are probably mostly of women. I was going to post a picture of the photo from the announcement, but that's probably a violation of his artistic property rights and Coach Curly would get on my case for violating his sense of family values.
Tomorrow is the WSBA calendar meeting when we get fodder for planning next year's race season. OBRA has been at this for two months, so it will be interesting to see what major conflicts develop. Most interesting so far is that the women's race at Mt. Hood (and not the men's race) is on the UCI calendar and the event has moved to mid-May. So now I'd need a UCI license to do one of the stage races closest to home?
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