Park Life

After this weekend's racing, a recovery ride at the park seemed like a mighty fine idea. Summer is officially here and Wash Park is getting pretty crowded on a daily basis after 5:00. It is amazing to me how oblivious people are about their fellow park users . . . we had to avoid a few people who pulled a squirrel turn when we said "on your left!" My legs were definitely ready for a nice mellow pace, with no real agenda, except the occasional super high cadence burst. Not only are they funny to watch, but they also make beaten down legs feel a little better.

A few of us headed over to Park Burger for dinner after the ride. It was nice to see that it was full on a Monday evening. Instead of waiting around for a table to clear up outside, we placed our order to go and hit Platt Park for the al fresco dining experience. I realized that besides using the park as Dempsey's early morning poopin' grounds, I really haven't taken advantage of it for picnicking of any sort. Over the course of the hour or so we were hanging out, we saw all shapes and varieties of dogs (and owners), kids playing catch with parents, and pretty much everything else you'd expect to see in a neighborhood park.

The park this morning was a much quieter place although Dempsey still found plenty of distractions making our game of fetch pretty lackluster. It seems like I go through cycles of discovering new things in the neighborhood. I'll have to remember the camera tomorrow morning to catch the unique topiary work in the side yard of one of the houses just off the park.

Another Dead Dog Notch on the Ol' Belt

The Dead Dog Classic has come and gone. This year's edition was a success with some very large field sizes in a number of different categories. The P/1/2 race had 60+ starters this year which was sort of nice to see, except for the fact that it also seemed like there was a larger number of guys who just ride bikes unlike us workaday schleps.

The trip up to Laramie was relatively uneventful, we all made it out on time . . . on time to get pounded by the storm of the day, as it passed through the northern half of the state. There were a couple stops on the way to the border, Longmont to drop off some dogs, Loveland to pick up some forms for registration to help out some friends who weren't coming up until the next day. Timing ended up being perfect. We got to Laramie with enough time to hit the store for some grocery shopping before packet pickup. By the time we got to Albany, the clouds had cleared and we were able to get out for the quick, pre-dinner ride. We avoided the debacle that was last year's arrival and that was a good thing. I had forgotten how much cozier the Gregory Cabin is than the Rose House Doublewide. The night and following morning, pre-race were just delightful.

The road race was another story . . . we watched out the window as the wind started to pick up a little earlier than usual. On the plus side, it kept the mosquitoes at bay, but it also meant the last eleven miles would be just as bad, if not worse than in years past. Over our sumptuous pasta dinner, we had discussed the loose race plan for the day. The plan was to float, play it by ear, keep an eye on Zac, sit in for the climbs, conserve, etc., etc. I had sworn off all early move antics. There were a couple early "attacks" and the Ciclismo bunch were kind enough to get to the front to keep things in check. With all seven of them on the front, it was relatively easy for one of their guys to roll off with a rider from the RM Elite bunch. When Stefano Barberi jumped, I was on his wheel and took the free ride across the gap. That would be the only work he'd do in our group for the day, but with our lead growing as we turned onto the highway, the rest of us kept it steady approaching the first round of climbing for the day.

Stefano had no teammates and no real reason to work, I had no desire to sit up and rejoin the main group where I'd likely get popped on the steeper part of the climb through Centennial. We dumped the RM Elite guy on the first pitch which left me, Dan Workman, Phil Mann, and our passenger. Knowing exactly what to expect having gone the early break route the past two years, I kept my tempo steady and focused on keeping my cadence a little higher than normal, just to keep the legs from loading up on the first trip over the summit at 10,800'. Shortly after making it over the summit, we were joined by Dan Porter who was looking as strong as ever. I tried to recover as much as possible on the descent, but with the wind, the only consolation I could take was that we'd have a tailwind for the climb.

At the turn around, we still had a respectable gap, but our group dynamic quickly became every man for himself. I stuck with Porter and Stefano for a bit after the other two popped off, but there was no way I was going to be able to maintain the pace that either was setting. Pretty soon, the gaps between the three of us grew and I was in no man's land just like last year. I focused on maintaining cadence, but put it in a higher gear whenever possible, hoping that I would make it over the top before getting caught. I got caught and passed by the first chase which included all the heavy hitters at pretty much the same place as last year. I didn't really have too many expectations of staying with that group, especially getting caught in one of the steeper parts of the climb. I latched onto the next group which contained places 12-19 and cruised back towards Centennial, aided by wind and gravity.

As expected the wind on the highway and the section leading back to Albany was bad. The last eleven miles of the race always feel like torture, especially with the 1k uphill finish. I made it very clear that I wasn't pulling through and even stayed well out of the way for guys to rotate through, but when guys started opening gaps, I had no choice but to jump across and resume sitting on. On the approach to the finish, our group was whittled down from eight to four. I did my best to hold on as we noodled in endlessly towards the finish, hoping to hold myself together enough to keep it close, knowing that with a good TT effort the next day, I could pick up a few places in the overall. I finished six seconds behind my "tow truck" and four seconds up on the guys who were still chasing.

After a thrilling evening and a few rounds of the waiting game in the morning, it was finally time for us to go in circles for 50 minutes. With the crit being as short as it was, there was very little doubt that guys would hit it pretty hard and keep it consistently fast. Brian said the average speed was still in the 28 mph range, which isn't bad for a short, 6-corner crit in the middle of a stage race. A break got away midway through the race, unfortunately with two of the guys I was hoping to keep close in the mix. In the end, they stayed away with a gap of eight seconds. In the brief discussion between the crit and the TT, it became clear that we still have to work on our team communication/ESP. Zac was watching out for me, but probably could have made it across in the last two lap and definitely would have taken anybody in that group for the sprint. I'll keep the TT write up short, it was hard. We had a tailwind for the downhill leg out and a miserable grind on the way back. I tried my best to stay focused and go hard. It hurt, I finished 8th, beating some guys who I needed to put time into, but getting beaten by some guys who I should be faster than.

In the end, I finished 13th overall which is my best result by far in the P/1/2 category for this race. Hopefully with a few days of recovery, I'll be flying for the Tour of Lawrence this coming weekend. There are no pictures of the cookies as promised, they disappeared quickly and efficiently, but were enjoyed by all.

Bringing It All Together

Seems like the fun in my neighborhood never stops. From goofy construction and more goofy construction to new restaurant openings, there is always a source of excitement. I don't think I ever posted anything about the houses that became conjoined twins, but I stumbled upon it/them again the other day, surfing the web.


When I first saw the "improvement" from the street side, I thought to myself, "Wow! What a bunch of halfassery!" Then I found out who was responsible for the design and it all started making sense. The city got back to me regarding the project next door and it sounds like although the footprint matches the permit, the permit tech has stated what is being built is not what he approved. It should be interesting to find out the outcome of this one, especially since the first coat for stucco has been applied.

In all the drama surrounding the snow cone booth/guard tower/Dr. Who Tardis the real positive is that I have gotten to know some of the neighbors better. Two doors up, the neighbors are always on the front porch in the evening for cocktail hour. After nine years of walking past with only very brief exchanges, I made it up to the porch for a drink. It was amusing finding out their thoughts on the neighborhood, their first impressions of me when I moved in, perspectives on Herman's Hideaway concert goers, etc. It is nice to maintain the neighborly relations in an age when the trend is to enter your house through the garage, shutter the windows, and keep to yourself.

Road trip preparations are complete and I am just about ready to leave town. As long as it doesn't dump on us this weekend, it looks like it should be lovely in Wyoming. We won't have the same excitement of being in a double-wide like last year, but Brian is going to try to convince Zac to jump off the roof for entertainment purposes. I am also hoping that we don't have to do a car switch like last year when my A/C died just before the highway. I'd prefer not to spend another $1400 to have it fixed.

I also started preparations for the road trip to Lawrence next weekend. I am now fortunate to have a copy of every studio album put out by Kansas. I'm sure somebody will crack 45 miles into the state when they hear Carry On Wayward Son for the 9th time in a row, before we move onto other classics like Dust in the Wind and uh, uh . . . a little help . . . anyone?

The Real Bike to Work Day

Yesterday was officially Bike to Work Day in Denver. I didn't ride my bike to work, but a bunch of other people did in the metro area. I was trying to find some compelling stories, some interesting coverage of the event, but came away from the search pages with absolutely nothing. It cracks me up how many people can only manage to ride into work one day out of the year. Bicycle commuting neophytes usually have a very positive reaction to the experience, expressing how much fun they had, how it wasn't nearly as bad as they thought it would be . . . so why not do it more often?

Preparations for the trip to Wyoming for the Dead Dog Classic continue. The field is the largest we've ever had for the P/1/2 race and like just about every other race this season, there is no shortage of talent. I've had the joy of covering the early move the past couple years in the road race. While there is some sense of accomplishment to be had from going over the summit first/alone, I'd like to be in a better position coming over it the second time which is what really matters in the end. This afternoon, I have a pre-race fitness test at the ESP labs to see how things are progressing as the season wears on. After that, I get to finish packing for the trip and more importantly finish up the road trip cookies for the weekend. What's a trip without cookies and how can you even expect to pop out a decent TT effort without the proper fuel? This weekend the featured selection is the Jumbo Chocolate Snapper, pictures to follow . . .

Damn Kids

It took me long enough to get around to it, but I finally cleaned the graffiti off the garage door. In all honesty, I don't see it very often since there is no view of it except from the car as I am driving away.


I've seen far worse cover up jobs, but I'd give this a "P" for passable, on my special rating scale. I picked up some graffiti remover a few weeks back, after staring at the row of products, I selected what I thought would be best . . . Motsenbocker's Lift Off. Turns out they have a wide variety of products. Home Depot had #4 (graffiti remover), I wonder if I should have sought out #3 (ink remover). It smudged the ink a little bit and with more scrubbing, I could get the smudge off, but not all of the ink. The harder I scrubbed, the more paint started coming off, whoops. Fortunately I had some rattle can primer and got to practice my spraying technique. Unfortunately it wasn't an exact match, but see comments above regarding me caring.

Sometimes I don't get around to reading all of the articles in the paper for the day, I just skim. I didn't read the article that accompanied the picture below, because frankly I didn't care about family tensions rising when grandparents babysit.

Sameer Rafla sometimes helps out when his wife cares for their grandchildren, such as 3-year-old Quinn.

You really don't have to take it too far out of context to make the picture/caption combo highly amusing. It did remind me of the days of hanging out with my grandparents in Florida, spending all day at the pool in their complex and playing shuffleboard with anyone willing to put up with me. I'm sure there were plenty of grandpas who were very tempted to toss me back in the pool.

The Storm's A Brewin'

I think I might have picked the wrong day to bike to work. First of all, Bike to Work Day isn't until tomorrow for the metro Denver area and it looks like it is really stormy in the general homeward direction.


I'd love to stick around and blog some more, but my window of opportunity is getting smaller and smaller. If you don't see me tomorrow, try checking somewhere towards the CO/KS border . . .

Riddle Me This . . .

I know there have been some hard times in the real estate world, but can creative marketing still sell a "house"? I have passed this one a number of times and haven't seen much progress or intent to get crackin' but the sign, as fancy as it is, contains a few concerning issues.


It is a lovely sign, well constructed and I give it high marks for glossiness. The description of the home is pretty typical for new construction in the neighborhood. Who doesn't want his and hers wardrobes in this day and age?


The glossy factor makes a little hard to read the not so fine print at the top, but it says "available immediately" which I am finding a bit of a stretch.


And the curb appeal of which the realtor speaks just doesn't do it for me either.


I have seen some fast construction in my day. Model homes in new developments are often slammed together in a matter of weeks rather than months, but for something mid to high end and quasi custom, "available immediately" is not a very likely possibility. The phone number for the builder is on the sign if anybody would like to call and pretend to be an out of town buyer who would like to close in cash and move in next month. I'll post the full transcript of the call if you do.

Don't Eat the Cookie Dough

On the way to work this morning, I heard a report on the radio about cases of E. coli being linked to Toll House cookie dough. I would have thought this would be an obvious one to most people, but do you really want to eat cookie dough that was made in a factory, spent a certain amount of time in shipping, sat in the store . . . ?


I know exactly where this bread came from. It came out of the oven nice and early this morning. I was highly motivated apparently, enough so to set the alarm for 5:05 so I could turn the oven on, get back up at 5:20 to put the loaves in, and head out the door for Dempsey's morning walk.


I'm very proud of my near perfect swirl of cinnamon and raisin this batch. I also did some tinkering with the recipe and timing. The loaves have been coming out fairly dense so I decided to let them rest overnight, covered to keep the tops from drying out.


It tastes even better than it looks. I'm sure it would make pretty incredible french toast, but I won't get to find out until Sunday at the earliest since tomorrow's race is at the ass crack of dawn in Boulder.


Things continue to grow well in the backyard, both intended and unintended. You can see the weeds are making good progress, but the geraniums are also sending out the next round of flowers. This weekend seems as good a time as any to give them their next feeding. If I survive the race and the self-inflicted suffer fest that will follow.

Horgan

In preparation for Saturday's race, the Mike Horgan Hill Climb, I have been looking at pictures of big mountains and visualizing going up them quickly. As a backup plan, I have also been getting out to ride in the hills after work in the hopes that climbing skills will magically appear. As of yesterday, I was still not a climber.

My goals for the race will be simple ones, first and foremost, I will try to not urinate on myself or others. This isn't a new goal for me, but it is easily achieved, usually, and it lets me celebrate the most basic of accomplishments. Secondly, I would like to crack the top 20 in this race. I have come close in the past, but it will depend on who shows up to race on Saturday. Goal number three is to simply use the experience for building form and prepping for Dead Dog. I plan on getting to the top, taking off my number and continuing on in the hills for another few hours.


As you can see from the profile, Magnolia Road is no joke. There is no where to hide and those who can't climb will be going backwards relative to the race leaders. I am going to raise my hand right now and say, "I am not a climber" but since I race for fun anyways, why not go enjoy the scenery?

In my random internet meanderings, I came across a photo project that is an interesting juxtaposition (I really just wanted to use that word) of the fairytale world and the cold, cruel realities of everyday life. "The '...happily ever after' is replaced with a realistic outcome and addresses current issues" in Fallen Princesses. It is interesting if you read the comments to see how some people miss the point completely and take offense to the artist's commentary. I thought it was amusing . . . and another way to kill a few minutes.

Occasionally Amazed

Every once in a while, my faith in humanity is restored, at least a little bit. I'll be the first to admit that I am not perfect and on occasion, I screw things up in a manner that has consequences, usually the kind that hit my wallet. My most recent failure was in renewing my vehicle registration online. Some how, I botched the account type for my ACH payment resulting in the bank rejecting the request from the State of Colorado. The DMV finance group sent me a notice that my payment failed and to release my renewal, I would need to pay in person and include a $50 "short check" fee. I went through the normal reaction cycle starting with confusion, followed by rage, then anxiety, back to rage, then a profound feeling of hopelessness. Knowing that I was dealing with bureaucracy, the feelings of rage were natural, but useless and that's where the lack of hope came in. I figured I could place a few calls to try and explain my mistake and see if I could get what amounts to a 30% penalty on my renewal waived, but also figured that finding anybody even remotely sympathetic was unlikely. Shockingly I was wrong. I called the numbers listed, talked to a real person who was willing to see what could be done . . . problem solved.

Sometimes businesses say they want your feedback and sometimes . . . they actually listen to what you have to say. I was at Moe's a few weeks back getting a bagel and some coffee on the way to work. As I was driving down the road, I took the first sip of coffee and found it to be so gross that I knew I wouldn't be drinking any more of that coffee. It tasted like my thermal mug had years of rancid coffee oil in it, but I was drinking from their paper cup. In a moment of boredom at work, I hit the "feedback" button on the Moe's site and let them know their bagels were good as usual but their coffee was beyond undrinkable. Much to my surprise I got an email back from the manager saying to introduce myself next time I stopped in so she could pick up my breakfast. I was in Moe's this week and the manager was behind the counter, I introduced myself, we talked coffee, and my bagel and coffee were on the house. The offending thermal carafes had been replaced, but the manager very frankly told me she was not yet satisfied with their new beans and wanted to know what I thought. Yup, still bad coffee, but at least it doesn't taste like rancid foulness from the bottom of an old oil barrel.

I had a very compelling conversation today about workplace activities, animal hygiene, and education. How does this all fit together? Let me tell you.

-Alright I gotta go see a cat with poop stuck to its butt cause its too fat to groom himself!
*Ewww . . .
-Well that was a thriller. I went to 7 years of school so I could shave a dingleberry off a cat's butt.

When the topic was later revisited, I came across this list of crazy looking animals. It's a good little time killer. If you still need to kill some time, I highly recommend perusing the farm/garden classifieds on craigslist . . .

For the Files

There has been plenty of newsworthy fodder for the papers to pick up on as of late, be it the "unusual" weather economic trends or the Sarah Palin v. David Letterman scuffle political situation in Iran. The Denver Post must have been on some sort of editorial vacation a couple weeks back because they made one of the subjects that would have been in the strikethrough category front page news. Extra, extra, read all about it! Colorado has cougars!

I have long had a certain distaste for most forms of local news media be it the now defunct American Furniture Warehouse/Rocky Mountain News or any of the TV outlets that often turn the banal into the sensational come 10:00 PM news time. On a positive note, the Westword has a worthwhile feature pretty often and the restaurant pages are always amusing to read. The neighborhood papers are good for happenings in the hood and a great source for finding local services. In other local news, the blog-o-counter passed the 20,000 mark yesterday, thank for reading my almost daily drivel . . .

Glenwood Springs

Rumors were true . . . We got to Carbondale for the time trial in time to find out that Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer would be jumping into the P/1/2 group to test out new equipment and stuff. They went fast, faster than I did, but it was still cool to see them out there, even passing going opposite directions at high speed. I went fast enough for 3rd place among the real people, 5th overall if you include the "guest" racers.

The road race was OK, but kind of a cluster with mass confusion about who crossed the nonexistent center line on the dirt road. I was the last guy to get popped going into the turn around and couldn't close the gap to the lead group in the wind. When I sat up to join the next group back, they weren't doing anything at all so the lead group was as good as gone. Little did we know, we were actually racing for 12th place.

I wouldn't call my participation in the crit "racing" but I'd say I was there for ceremonial purposes, just representin'. Brian said the average speed for the crit was 27 mph which is pretty high on a course that has corners that you should be slowing down for. I don't know if any of the sponsors were out there, but the vehicles were magneted up and the flags were flying.


We made our presence known and had a good time in general watching the races prior to our own.


The weather caught us on the way home, but the rainbows around Dotsero were very impressive.


We had to laugh at the ladies in the convertible plowing straight towards the pots of gold at the ends of the rainbow only to find out that rain usually accompanies rainbows instead of gold . . . they stopped to put the top up, when they were smack in the middle of the rainy area. Me, I just turned the windshield wipers on.

Summer Camp Redux

Gone are the days of the 9-5 shift at the UNC Faculty Staff Recreation Association pool, AKA the farm. Gone are the days of day camp, sleep over camp, month long bike tours and summers jam packed with nothing by recreation and leisure. I went to some pretty dorky camps, but they were still a good time . . . I wouldn't be able to speak a lick of German had I relied solely on high school classes.

I decided to recreate the summer camp experience by creating a set of activity sessions not considered part of the core curriculum of my normal work day. This morning, I wandered over to Aspen Baking Company for a bakery tour. I wanted to see what a commercial bakery looked like so I walked in, introduced myself to the receptionist, explained that I work across the street, and moments later, I was donning a hairnet and walking through the facility with the sales manager. It is pretty cool to see production at that scale. Their proofing room was about as big as my living room and they had a refrigerated workroom for making the more delicate goodies, like croissants.

Next week's major activity will be welding class with Sonny in the hollow metal shop at work. His one requirement was that I promise not to go back up to the office crying the first time I burn myself. I see it as a highly worthwhile activity since I'll be picking up another useful skill, albeit one that I'll rarely have a chance to use, but a skill nonetheless.

I took a correspondence course last night by telephone on garage door opener diagnostics and repair. I had a terrible time yesterday trying to get the garage door to close when leaving the house. It would go down part way, stop and go back up with the lights a-flashing. Given that it was after normal business hours for Raynor Door, I got the on call repair person who gave me the quick rundown on how to figure out the problem and fix it. Not only did he want to avoid charging me $150 for a service call, but he also didn't want to cut his dinner short I suspect, given the clinking of dishware in the background. Turns out that the electronic eyes weren't staring at each other intently enough. The instruction to align them and then smack the track to "simulate the vibration of the moving door" was priceless and highly functional. Garage door opener . . . fixed!

This weekend will be the overnight trip to Glenwood Springs for the bike racing session for camp. If certain rumors are true, it will be a hard weekend of racing. Timing on the time trial is going to be tricky with a three hour drive and a 6:00 PM start time. Over on the other side of town, Joey and Shawnee have been taking the lumber jacking workshop and making fine use of Rose Bud Weiser . . .


I put in a request for some supplies from the country store, hopefully they can get that thing rolling full on Jed Clampett style, rocking chair and all. See you next week, they are playing capture the flag in the warehouse, gotta run.

Twister . . .

I know the eastern plains of Colorado are adjacent to "Tornado Alley" but the daily tornado warnings are starting to get old. Every day this week I have left work only to be greeted by threatening weather, severe thunderstorms with hail and high tornado potential. Today appears to be no different, although it looks like it might be clearing out west of town . . . clearing enough to lure me out of the safety of the basement, only to get rained on.

One of my new favorite activities of late is looking up different words on the Merriam-Webster site just to hear the pronunciation. I find it very cathartic to have a nice voice available at the click of a button to curse for me. Give it a try . . .

This weekend is the Western Slope Omnium out in Glenwood Springs. We have the split squad thing going right now with Chuck and Zac in Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix, but Brian, Zak and I will be representing locally. I'm sure I'll have the full report to follow, as long as the tornadoes don't head west of the divide and get us. There is also the risk of being overwhelmed by the Ride the Rockies riders who start their "epic" adventure in Glenwood Springs this weekend as well.

Signs of the Times

One of my favorite lunch time activities is going to the grocery store and grazing. The store closest to the new office is the King Soopers in Stapleton which has an incredible mix of suburban housewives/husbands and "other" which makes for outstanding people watching. I've seen some questionable signage in grocery stores before, like the religious candles with a "satisfaction guaranteed" next to the price label . . .


This one is as good as the "adult cereal" sign at the Safeway on 6th and Downing that is just asking to be stolen. Seriously though, I have no idea what constitutes adult nutrition, I walked up and down the aisle and still couldn't come up with a good answer.

Apparently not only do I have to be concerned about homicide in my neighborhood, but now it seems there's a threat of piracy.


Unfortunately there aren't really any pirates, just a wacky neighbor. This sign got tacked up on what we thought might have been a guard shack, but turns out it is a pirate hangout.


I didn't really think about it prior, but the openings at the top might be for the cannons. I haven't checked the zoning code in detail, but it's gotta fall into the same category as "trellis over front gate" . . . None of us have any concept of what the neighbor is doing yet. Rumor has it the inspector was at the house for a good long while the other day. From a construction standpoint, the windows aren't straight, the "sash" is shimmed instead of the jamb, and the structure isn't square to the street/sidewalk. I can't wait to see the stucco job . . . in my construction experience I have never seen an American do stucco . . .


Tooling around this morning, I saw the above stencil work. It is pretty similar to Banksy and visually much more interesting than the usual tags. Yeah, 303 Homiez, I'm talking to you . . .

Weekend Photos

Might as well start it out with the unofficial team vehicle of the Vista Auto Group-Subaru Cycling Team. The team car/truck happens to be the one that the vehicle magnets get slapped onto for the day. Sometimes it is a VW, sometimes a Ford, sometimes it is even a Subaru. I brought out the truck because it was easy to load up in the morning.


Here's a shot of the swanky accommodations we had on site. The tent came in very, very handy later in the day. You can see Cimbura is enjoying the Sunday Times after his racing was done for the day. With the course being a full two miles, we experienced gaps in the action for about 5 minutes at a time.


Mike and Alex discuss tactics between Alex's multiple races of the day.


Coached under the principle of "to finish first, you must first finish", Alex prepares for his second race of the day.


Armed with a mimosa, Leonard prepared to finish his second biscuit of the day, while Cimbura looks on sternly.


We have track jackets, shhhhhhh! Martel gets ready for the main event, the 35+ race.


Chuck outlines the strategy which was something along the lines of "to finish first, you must first finish" . . . to which Martel responded by simply rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.


Mid-race, Martel stopped in for a beer and a biscuit, before getting back out there to help Chuck to a 2nd place finish. He didn't want to get mustard on his skinsuit . . .


From sunshine and good times to . . . hell hail.


Being the good sport that he is, Chip was still all smiles, despite having spent the past few laps getting pelted by marble sized, frozen projectiles.


Thanks to everybody who came out to watch, help, eat, hang out, and help some more. Chris Kopp gets an extra thumbs up for helping me load everything back into the team truck at the end of the day. He spent the better part of the day out cheering on teammates and representing well all the way around. This was one of the last "free" weekends for me until August when I'll be in full prep mode for Masters Worlds . . . it was enjoyable though.

Bike to Work Day

Bike to Work Day in the Denver metro area isn't until June 24th, but I think this year, I will be able to bike to work safely without fear of life and limb since my new commute includes absolutely zero time on the bike paths. Having done a test run a few weeks back, I finally rode in for real today, on the townie bike, and found it downright pleasant. According to the cell phone GPS, the 35 minute ride was 11.05 miles, with 135' of climbing and 138' of descending. It's going to be a tough ride home with that extra 3' of climbing.


For the purpose of sheer exaggeration, I stretched/skewed the elevation profile. You can see the ascent to Capitol Hill and then the murderous climb to the high point of the day, Park Hill. The route really wasn't bad at all traffic wise, especially before 7:00. Compared to the 13.6 miles by car (in blue) and approximately 22 minutes, but up to 35 minutes in traffic, the ride is quite OK in decent weather. If the downpour/hail/tornado pattern of yesterday is ever repeated, it will make for an ugly ride home.

I was fortunate enough to get out to City Park yesterday to watch the races. Since there was no Pro/1 race, I decided I might as well make a day out of it and did some baking and prepping the night before. We had the tent and flags set up in time to catch the majority of the first race, the 35+ Cat 3. The Vista Auto Group-Subaru tent was the place to be. We had mimosas, rosemary buttermilk biscuits with roastbeef and horseradish cheddar, pecan molasses bundt cake with a bourbon glaze, fixings for shandies . . . much better way to spend the day instead of wasting it going in circles!

In the 35+ race, a race that probably contained a very high proportion of the fast guys who race locally (again, no Pro/1 race yesterday) a few early breaks got clear, but couldn't stay away. It came down to a sprint and it looked like Chuck was sitting pretty coming out of the final corner, but he couldn't quite get around Dan Schmatz going to the line. Still an impressive showing again for the team as a whole since Chuck, Randy, Chris, Scott, Duane, and Alex all got to race together. The real bummer of the day was the Cat 2/Cat 3 race which came to an anticlimactic, neutralized finish after the final five laps were in the rain/hail/thunder/lightening. Officials are put in a tough spot having to make calls that most people will find fault with, but given the fact that people made it around the corners for the previous four laps or so, it would have been nice to see a finish. Instead, no placings were given, no prizes distributed . . . just another event in a screwy Colorado road racing season.

Saturday a lovely day for the John Stenner Memorial Colorado Time Trial Championships out by DIA. As usual, the winds were variable and seemed to come from everywhere. I found myself overwhelmed by apathy going into the event and didn't feel fast prior to my 2:08 start time. Knowing that the uphill sections of the course would be into a headwind, I went out easy and wonder if I went out too easy. The most entertaining part of the race was watching another rider throw a temper tantrum (and his bike) after suffering a tire puncture 2/3 of the way through. I maintained focus and plowed on through to the finish, taking 1:15 off my time from last year to finish the 38km in 48:46. Unfortunately, that was only good enough for 5th this year.

This picture doesn't fit in anywhere for any reason, but Dempsey makes me laugh. I let him run around the backyard yesterday morning while I was loading up to go to City Park . . .


He didn't go very far, he knows his food is inside, next to the refrigerator . . .

Back to the Roots

Everyday, the real news sections of the WSJ seem to get more discouraging. I mean, go economic recovery, wooo! I'm still trying to understand the shell game going on with the government, GM, and the Delphi deal, but my feeble brain can't comprehend such complexity when it comes to smoke and mirror shenanigans. Leave it to the weekend section to provide articles of interest and inspiration.

Front and center, there was an article about the increased interest from both diners and restaurateurs alike in the new spin on the good old fashioned roach coach lunch truck. Having done my turn on more than one construction site, I am familiar with the varying degrees of culinary excellence available via mobile dining. I have seen trucks that are merely convenience stores on wheels and I have had some of the best tacos I have ever eaten. Hats off to those putting the finer dining options on the street and finding creative ways to keep their dreams alive, hopefully "the man" doesn't start regulating this niche out of existence, after all, eating food from a cart is as old as the cart itself.

Having put the cart before the horse, a few pages deeper into the weekend section on the WSJ sports page (first color photography in the WSJ, now sports . . . thanks Rupert Murdoch, can't wait for the Fox News Section . . .) there was an article about "bush tracks" in Louisiana as the training ground for what is now a dying breed, the American jockey. I swear, everything that comes out of Calvin Borel's mouth is gold. He got on a horse at the age of 2 and his older brother, a trainer, decided he was ready to race at the age of 8. Borel on dropping out of school in the 8th grade, "It was pretty clear I wasn’t going to be no doctor or no lawyer" and on the disappearance of bush tracks, "It’s going to be real hard for them boys to come out of there without the bushes anymore."

Just for quick comparison, here's Borel back in the day on a straight bush track:


And on the track at Churchill Downs:


In all honesty, not much has changed besides jockey attire and the backdrop. Well I guess the horse is probably a couple million dollars more expensive, the entry fee is more than the $2 charged at Cajun Downs, the stakes are higher, and there are actual turns on the track. The roots of the sport and the history of the training grounds for men like Calvin Borel are fascinating. Thanks to "the man" and regulatin', you have to be 16 before you can race horses legally and the bush tracks are disappearing, meaning "the Cajun pipeline is running dry without those Sunday morning match races that followed the Saturday night cockfights."

Music maestro (for what it is worth, S.C.O.T.S. will be playing at the Gothic in Denver next Friday) . . .

Just yesterday, while catching up on posts on the Endangered Durham Blog, I came across a post with subject matter outside of Durham, NC just a little ways down Highway 70, in Hillsborough. In all likelihood, I would have never known there was another race track in Orange County besides the Orange County Motor Speedway. I have heard stories about back in the day when it was a dirt track with no fencing, but it turns out one of the original tracks used for NASCAR was back in the woods in Hillsborough.


As you can see from the satellite image, over the years, nature has reclaimed the space for its own. The outline of the track is still visible, but these days it is part of a walking path.


The grandstand and some other features are still there, slowly decaying while the urban fabric surrounding what was once Occoneechee Farm continues to develop.


Stock car racing is now far, far removed from its roots hearkening back to the days of running moonshine. Today's super speedways, like all modern sporting facilities have more amenities, more seating, more everything except character.


I highly doubt anybody will be writing a paper like this one about racing these days . . . I did a quick search but couldn't find a scientific/psychological term for nostalgia for a time in which one did not live, but I find myself experiencing a sense of fondness for some of these times gone by. "Back in the day" had its ups and downs for sure, but I miss some of the manners and mannerism that are long lost and a time when things were simply slower.

Let It Grow

With all the moisture we have had lately, everything is turning lush and green. It seemed like a good time to give an update on my agricultural projects. I don't have a picture, but after a good feeding of a 10-10-10 fertilizer, the geraniums in the window boxes on the garage are getting ready for the next bunch of blooms. It has been a pleasant distraction on the way to the car in the morning, keeping up with my deadheading and making sure the plants are getting enough moisture. Not like I really want to get to work in a hurry anyways.

The great grapefruit seed experiment of 2009 continues to progress brilliantly. In the next few weeks, I will have to re-pot this little guy and do some trimming to encourage fuller, bushier growth. For whatever reason, it amuses me that the seed from my grapefruit sprouted and started to grow. I know this isn't really a stretch for nature, but . . .


The time has come for the indoor herb garden starter to move to the out of doors. Everything but the lavender sprouted and looks to be doing well. For the sake or organizing my plants, I will put the basil and cilantro in their own pots since they are annuals. Everything else will go into the window planter off the back of the house, next to the lemon thyme, sage, and rosemary. Hopefully by the end of the season, I'll be creating my culinary masterpieces with herbs freshly clipped from the comforts of the coffee room.


Wait . . . "Why do you not want to go to work?" you ask . . . Rumor has it that the mold sampling is complete and the full report from the environmental specialist is ready to go. Refer back to the "all the moisture lately" part and consider what you know about mold.


The home testing kit is showing the mold thriving under current conditions. I wonder what flavor it is . . .

Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuuumble!!!

There's all sorts of hubbub about Microsoft's new web search tool, Bing. Besides a stupid name, it has a prettier picture on the home page compared to Google's plain white screen, but that isn't really an important feature. I played around a little bit and it seems like classic Microsoft, full of features that rapidly become nuisance when it starts doing things for you on its own that you don't necessarily notice.


I thought I'd do a little more side by side comparing and depending on the search, the two engines come out with different or vastly different results.


I have to give Google the edge right now for a couple of reasons. One, it resizes as needed so everything fits in the window, whereas Bing does not. Two, it seems to have more logical order of listing of results on the first page than Bing, plus it includes images and video without having to go to the tabs at the top. Google/Bing your name and see what happens . . . who knows more about you in that oh so frightening way? I look forward to Google and others getting into the operating system side of the game where Microsoft has been relatively dominant. It would be nice to have options for more streamlined systems that don't bog down and that might actually be more useful.

The Colorado State Time Trial Championships are right around the corner and preparation is coming along swimmingly. I had high hopes that last year would be the final year on the course out by DIA, but no such luck. Part of my prep work has been subjecting myself to long intervals on the bike that simulate the conditions of the 38k effort. Last night, I put in a trainer ride to stay dry and to try to approximate the boredom I would experience for the 50 minute effort. Tonight, I will be riding up the I-70 frontage road on the TT bike, in position to . . . uh, simulate riding the TT bike while on a road made from asphalt. The truth of the matter is, I have done enough time trials now, I know what to expect and I know what to do in the days leading to the race. In the end, I will do as well as I can do, but there isn't much mystery or magic to it anymore. Thanks to advances in science, hopefully, by next year if they don't have a change in venue, somebody will be able to keep my brain alive outside my body while the rest of me races.

It All Falls Apart

It comes as no surprise to me that the world is a relatively stupid place where resources, physical and intellectual, are wasted on a daily basis. I still found bits of the WSJ's "The Latest Buzz on . . . Phone Culture" piece more than disturbing. Let me set the stage by saying that I watched the movie Idiocracy last night. In this film, Mike Judge gives a view of the future of the country as a dystopian society dominated by total and utter dumbassery thanks to the trend of the moron stock breeding like rabbits while the intelligent population fails to reproduce.

Narrator: As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down. How did this happen? Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered species.

Are we really headed in a direction that could result in humanity resorting to soundbites and advertising slogans for language? Let's start with the latest craze in Japan, more virtual experiences . . . you can now have virtual boy/girlfriends that "live" on your electronic device of choice and pop up at intervals to tell you how great you are. Even better, you can "run" a virtual version of the Tokyo Marathon . . . so the things you "can't do in the real world, you can do vicariously through avatars," except that with a few exceptions here or there, everybody could run in the real world. Along the same line of thought, Woodway is coming out with the EcoMill treadmill, which thanks to superior technology allows people to workout "using zero electricity". I haven't done the math yet, but compare the carbon footprint of manufacturing such a machine and shipping it to the end user with the carbon footprint of stepping outside and running on a revolutionary new surface called "the ground" . . . I'm just saying . . .

I am not an opponent of technological innovation, but it seems like resources could be used a little bit more intelligently. I understand where you see seemingly stupid decisions being made there is often a reason behind it and that reason is most often money. Maybe we are destined to have the great scientific minds of the future focus on the critical issues like hair loss and erectile dysfunction although if we can reduce the human experience to an infinite set of virtual experiences does it really matter? I have been pondering a new career and the idea just came to me, I could focus on liability issues of virtual experience because you know people are still going to sue people or should that be "people" . . .

It All Comes Together

Spoiler alert . . . this blog post is of no importance and possibly of less interest than usual.

A few weeks back, I met Alessandro Bazzana who is staying at Chuck's house, just prior to the Haystack Mountain team time trial. Baz is an Italian rider, racing for the Fly V-Successful Living squad and basing himself out of Chuck's basement for the summer. He has been posting his musings on Chuck's site The Pros Stuff and they are often quite amusing. When I read this article in the WSJ this morning, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to scribble about it.

I never really thought about Grape Nuts, what they are or how they are made, but they are pretty tasty, especially in yogurt or Kefir. Fascinating to find out that they get baked in brick like loaves and then dumped down a chute where giant blades turn them into whatever shape it is that they are. I also never knew that they had outrages advertisements because I never considered them to be a cereal that took much marketing . . . learn something new every day. So next time you are cereal shopping, picture in your head the Post employee tossing logs of soon to be "ape's nuts" down to the chopper, shouting "Dropping the bombs! Dropping the bombs!"