This morning's ride was decently fast with 8 of us speeding down the parkway but my legs felt like bricks. I did my pull at around 24 mph but it was a chore, plus it was a bit cold outside and I'm tired of putting on the knickers and long-sleeves for the year. Maybe this'll be the last time until November?
As to the title of this entry, that's what one of the guys I rode with this morning says everytime a car waits for us to pass and doesn't try to go at the last minute ahead of us. Watching what the traffic does when we ride borders between funny and near dangerous...but always interesting.
We leave for Tucson on Saturday but there's so much to do in these last two days. Lots of work has come up....that's great but it figures it would happen as I'm about to leave for nine days. I'll get it all started before I leave but I'll be swamped when I get back. Well, the money will be worth the late nights I'll have after we return. Plus we have to start putting stuff in the storage room we've rented since Jonnene's things have arrived in the States from Perth. They got into Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago and we're expecting them to arrive soon. This is some of her furniture, boxes of clothes and utility items, and most important, her bike! We have someone staying at our house to watch Sophie, too. Lots to do......
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
130 psi
That's the pressure that's usually in my tires when I go riding.
It's been a while since I last entered anything in this blog. Basically I've been doing some work, riding the bike, and learning how not to admire the immigration service in the USofA. I've ranted on the CIS (Customs and Immigration Service) before but they're always pulling a new one on us. Like the IRS, this is a system that needs to be revamped and made useful for those who are entering this country the RIGHT and legal way, and quit making it so difficult for good people. Congress is not doing this country any great service by ignoring the levels of ignorance of either agency.
As to the bike riding, it's coming along fine. I'm still not there yet for racing but I'm getting some nice mileage in, putting in some nice efforts, and pretty much enjoying myself. Knocked out around 65 miles today and I don't feel near as crapped out as I might have been earlier this year. Averaged around 20.4 mph and put in plenty of 25+ mph efforts. Got a little hacked off at some of the guys for their lack of paying attention to what was happening out there but I'm over it and there's love in the air again. No need to stay upset at something nobody outside of Shreveport/Bossier City really cares about! As Wilbur Robinson says, "Keep moving forward!"
Most of my team is out in Brookhaven, Mississippi at the Gran Prix stage race and I'm anxious to hear how they are doing. I did speak to Jason earlier today and he said the Cat. 1-2-3 criterium on Friday night was a speed-fest, with an average of 29 mph! That's cooking on the road when you ride a bike. Patrick said his heartrate monitor was pegged at 185-190 bpm the entire race. That's serious heart-beatin' right there.
In a few days Jonnene and I will be heading out to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and try to get going with a long delayed honeymoon. We're heading out west to Tucson, AZ and it should be fun. Nothing beats hanging out around mountains and cactus....cacti?
It's been a while since I last entered anything in this blog. Basically I've been doing some work, riding the bike, and learning how not to admire the immigration service in the USofA. I've ranted on the CIS (Customs and Immigration Service) before but they're always pulling a new one on us. Like the IRS, this is a system that needs to be revamped and made useful for those who are entering this country the RIGHT and legal way, and quit making it so difficult for good people. Congress is not doing this country any great service by ignoring the levels of ignorance of either agency.
As to the bike riding, it's coming along fine. I'm still not there yet for racing but I'm getting some nice mileage in, putting in some nice efforts, and pretty much enjoying myself. Knocked out around 65 miles today and I don't feel near as crapped out as I might have been earlier this year. Averaged around 20.4 mph and put in plenty of 25+ mph efforts. Got a little hacked off at some of the guys for their lack of paying attention to what was happening out there but I'm over it and there's love in the air again. No need to stay upset at something nobody outside of Shreveport/Bossier City really cares about! As Wilbur Robinson says, "Keep moving forward!"
Most of my team is out in Brookhaven, Mississippi at the Gran Prix stage race and I'm anxious to hear how they are doing. I did speak to Jason earlier today and he said the Cat. 1-2-3 criterium on Friday night was a speed-fest, with an average of 29 mph! That's cooking on the road when you ride a bike. Patrick said his heartrate monitor was pegged at 185-190 bpm the entire race. That's serious heart-beatin' right there.
In a few days Jonnene and I will be heading out to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and try to get going with a long delayed honeymoon. We're heading out west to Tucson, AZ and it should be fun. Nothing beats hanging out around mountains and cactus....cacti?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
It's Thursday!
Wow, great ride tonight! The group got split up pretty badly when we and other traffic were stopped on Leonard Road due to a movie being shot nearby. We managed to sneak past the deputy (well, actually with his permission) but it was done in smaller groups, and the front 5 guys just took off without waiting for the rest of us. The rest of us blitzed down Ellerbe Road trying to catch on before the CrossRoads but didn't...and that surprised me with the horsepower we had on hand. So our group split up due to that pace. I was happy to have been able to stay with the faster group but after CrossRoads I hung back to ride with the rest. What was irritating is that, back in the day, when we used to leave from LSUS we always regrouped at the CrossRoads. Jason, who was riding easy due to a heavy workout the night before, was really pissed at the guys who didn't wait for us which pretty much negates the purpose of the training ride.
Oh, well, we had a pretty good ride anyway. The pace was generally high but doable for the folks who weren't up to par yet. Jason and I took longer-than-usual pulls at the front....I was feeling energetic despite not having been on the bike enough the last 7 days. I attacked the hills to get some climbing time in and wasn't feeling tired at all the last half of the 50-mile ride. Good signs...now if my legs will allow me to do the Friday morning ride, weather permitting, then we'll be o-tay!!
Had the usual Thursday lunch with Dad and he briefed me on his trip to Arizona last week. He thoroughly enjoyed himself but all the traveling to different scenic spots really wore him out. They had total "rest days" on both of the Sundays they were there. Jonnene and I are heading out there for our first wedding anniversary soon and we needed the info.
The time trial scheduled in Baton Rouge for Saturday has been moved to Sunday due to expectations of heavy rains anticipated in the area on Saturday. I'd like to go down for that but I don't think I want to spend the funds for a 21-mile go-till-you-blow solo bike ride. Besides, BR is tough enough to get to from Shreveport...count on over 5 hours of driving time. There's a time trial in Lafayette next month and that's a much easier commute, a tad over 3 hours on the interstate, do the thing, and zip back.
Still waiting on Steve to get my taxes done...only five days to go! What will I owe?
Oh, well, we had a pretty good ride anyway. The pace was generally high but doable for the folks who weren't up to par yet. Jason and I took longer-than-usual pulls at the front....I was feeling energetic despite not having been on the bike enough the last 7 days. I attacked the hills to get some climbing time in and wasn't feeling tired at all the last half of the 50-mile ride. Good signs...now if my legs will allow me to do the Friday morning ride, weather permitting, then we'll be o-tay!!
Had the usual Thursday lunch with Dad and he briefed me on his trip to Arizona last week. He thoroughly enjoyed himself but all the traveling to different scenic spots really wore him out. They had total "rest days" on both of the Sundays they were there. Jonnene and I are heading out there for our first wedding anniversary soon and we needed the info.
The time trial scheduled in Baton Rouge for Saturday has been moved to Sunday due to expectations of heavy rains anticipated in the area on Saturday. I'd like to go down for that but I don't think I want to spend the funds for a 21-mile go-till-you-blow solo bike ride. Besides, BR is tough enough to get to from Shreveport...count on over 5 hours of driving time. There's a time trial in Lafayette next month and that's a much easier commute, a tad over 3 hours on the interstate, do the thing, and zip back.
Still waiting on Steve to get my taxes done...only five days to go! What will I owe?
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Where's that global warming when you need it?
I had not been on the bike (save 1.5 hours on the wind trainer Saturday) since last Thursday and I needed to get out. So I met up with the gang at this morning's six-o'clock-ride-that-starts-at-5:50am. The radar looked good for the weather being dry enough to get the usual ride in before the predicted rains came. Temps were in the lower 50's but it felt pretty comfortable out there. We had barely passed the Sci-Port Discovery Center when the bottom fell out! It wasn't so bad until my socks, and subsequently my feet, got wet and I was getting increasingly concerned about riding in the dark while it's raining on roads getting new oils and grease washed up by the water. And I was on my skinny racing tires because I was too lazy to put on the training wheels, so I've got a real tiny contact patch with the road on tires aired up to 130 psi. Yeah, this is the way to ride! We didn't go far...the ride was cut short, everyone headed home, and I had to ride back into Bossier City, over the wet bridge with lightning and wind on the left of me. I don't think I've ever come down the bridge that slow before! Got home, made hot coffee...yummmm.
Jonnene went to the masters swim at LSUS, so I got home before she did. She has a job interview today which is great but would be even better if the immigration service will grant the permission to allow her to work! There's plenty of places here who are interested in her despite that little restriction and it sounds like they're willing to wait.
The purpose of my subject title is due to the sudden cold snap that showed up over the weekend. First weekend of April and it's almost close to freezing! I had planned to do some long rides and see if I was somewhat ready to do a race in Mississippi in a couple of weeks. But I woke up Saturday morning, saw the temps (below 40F) and decided I was tired of putting on all the cold weather riding gear. So I set up the wind trainer in front of the TV and put in 90 minutes while watching the morning show on Fox. Then that afternoon I did a fast little 30-minute trail run over at Stoner...it was fun and the cold weather was perfect for that. Sunday I pretty much did nothing after going to Easter services with Mom and Jim. Jonnene was down in New Iberia visiting Danielle for the weekend, taking Sophie with her, so Farley and I spent the weekend batching it and being lazy men. I did do some housework but none of the yardwork I was planning on. It was just too cold for me to deal with.
Jonnene went to the masters swim at LSUS, so I got home before she did. She has a job interview today which is great but would be even better if the immigration service will grant the permission to allow her to work! There's plenty of places here who are interested in her despite that little restriction and it sounds like they're willing to wait.
The purpose of my subject title is due to the sudden cold snap that showed up over the weekend. First weekend of April and it's almost close to freezing! I had planned to do some long rides and see if I was somewhat ready to do a race in Mississippi in a couple of weeks. But I woke up Saturday morning, saw the temps (below 40F) and decided I was tired of putting on all the cold weather riding gear. So I set up the wind trainer in front of the TV and put in 90 minutes while watching the morning show on Fox. Then that afternoon I did a fast little 30-minute trail run over at Stoner...it was fun and the cold weather was perfect for that. Sunday I pretty much did nothing after going to Easter services with Mom and Jim. Jonnene was down in New Iberia visiting Danielle for the weekend, taking Sophie with her, so Farley and I spent the weekend batching it and being lazy men. I did do some housework but none of the yardwork I was planning on. It was just too cold for me to deal with.
Friday, April 06, 2007
A Bicycling Story
Okay, so it's Thursday evening and I'm out on a solo training ride south of town. Basically, I'm doing a few long intervals...the kind where you go hard for five minutes each time (10-minute rest inbetween) until you are riding pathetically slow in the last minute or so, but still pushing as hard as you can. And you're watching your heartrate zoom into the stratosphere during all this. It really gives you a good idea of how long it takes to get from one point to another since you're timing what you're doing and you can see what landmarks show up at those key starting and stopping times.
So I do my intervals and ride part of the remaining miles pretty vigorously until I get to Mayo Road where I drop the speed to the 18 mph range and take a long break. About midway down Mayo is an overpass that goes over Interstate 49, and I'm starting to cross over it. Then a small white pickup truck passes me on my left and pulls over in front of me, still going forward. My first thought is "oh, great, someone's going to give the bicyclist a hard time for riding on 'their' road." Just then a white car passes me and when I see the lights going on top I realize it's a Caddo Parish Deputy who's pulling the truck over. I had already slowed down enough and the deputy's car also pulls over in front of me. I'm about a couple of feet off his rear bumper but I was ready for this and I cruise around both him and the truck, which has stopped by now. As I passed the truck I looked at the driver and just shook my head. The guy could have just slowed to let me go on and then pull over. The deputy would have understood that, but he had to stay with the truck so I wouldn't get caught between them. I had no problem with that.
Anyway, I kept on going, leaving the scene for the driver of the truck to get his ticket for whatever he did. I get to the end of Mayo, turn right on Wallace Lake Road, and then a left onto Overton-Brooks Road.
I decided to give the old K2 a good final push on the flat part of O-B Road and I'm cruisin' around 24 mph when a deputies' car comes around me and pulls over to the side of the road. An arm sticks out the window and motions me to stop next to the vehicle which I do. The Deputy inside is smiling at me and says "Are you the cyclist who passed me over on Mayo?" I said yep, that was me. He raised up his sunglasses and said "Man, I'm sorry if I got in your way. I was trying my best to stay with that truck and not mess you up." I told him that I had no problem with what he was doing. I was more annoyed with the truck driver. We talked some more and laughed about the whole thing. I never asked why the truck was pulled over and I wish I had. Anyways, the Deputy wished me a good day and a good ride, and I told him to be safe out there. He drove off and I was rather pleased that he took the time to apologize for something he didn't have to apologize for.
That made for a most excellent ride.
So I do my intervals and ride part of the remaining miles pretty vigorously until I get to Mayo Road where I drop the speed to the 18 mph range and take a long break. About midway down Mayo is an overpass that goes over Interstate 49, and I'm starting to cross over it. Then a small white pickup truck passes me on my left and pulls over in front of me, still going forward. My first thought is "oh, great, someone's going to give the bicyclist a hard time for riding on 'their' road." Just then a white car passes me and when I see the lights going on top I realize it's a Caddo Parish Deputy who's pulling the truck over. I had already slowed down enough and the deputy's car also pulls over in front of me. I'm about a couple of feet off his rear bumper but I was ready for this and I cruise around both him and the truck, which has stopped by now. As I passed the truck I looked at the driver and just shook my head. The guy could have just slowed to let me go on and then pull over. The deputy would have understood that, but he had to stay with the truck so I wouldn't get caught between them. I had no problem with that.
Anyway, I kept on going, leaving the scene for the driver of the truck to get his ticket for whatever he did. I get to the end of Mayo, turn right on Wallace Lake Road, and then a left onto Overton-Brooks Road.
I decided to give the old K2 a good final push on the flat part of O-B Road and I'm cruisin' around 24 mph when a deputies' car comes around me and pulls over to the side of the road. An arm sticks out the window and motions me to stop next to the vehicle which I do. The Deputy inside is smiling at me and says "Are you the cyclist who passed me over on Mayo?" I said yep, that was me. He raised up his sunglasses and said "Man, I'm sorry if I got in your way. I was trying my best to stay with that truck and not mess you up." I told him that I had no problem with what he was doing. I was more annoyed with the truck driver. We talked some more and laughed about the whole thing. I never asked why the truck was pulled over and I wish I had. Anyways, the Deputy wished me a good day and a good ride, and I told him to be safe out there. He drove off and I was rather pleased that he took the time to apologize for something he didn't have to apologize for.
That made for a most excellent ride.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Emotions, not facts
Last weekend was a good one on the bike....got in about 140 miles all told, mostly saddle time and away from the racing guys. Nothing against them but sometimes I want a change of pace, place, and face to keep things fresh. I got to put in some pretty hard efforts during the rides, hand out some advice, and just enjoy some East Texas scenery on the Sunday ride to Jefferson. Saturday I made the attempt to do the ride to Natchitoches but weather conditions were not the best, plenty of wind and some rain, and we got in about 60 miles, more or less. Jonnene did her longest ride since she's been in the States, around 46 miles before she had to take the sag vehicle in for the remainder of the distance. She rode very well but the endurance isn't there yet.
My friend, Paul, is in town to help me out with a photo shoot for Blackwell. We were out on the Bossier parkway around 10 pm last night to shoot pics of their 50mm and 100mm wheels, using the asphalt for background and the night to bring out the glare of the flash for this harsh look I wanted. It got a little chilly but I think we got what I wanted. This particular ad will be in the June issue of Triathlete magazine and I think it's a good one....full page featuring Kate Major who won the Ford Ironman Triathlon in California last weekend. She had the fastest women's bike split using Blackwell wheels so that needs to be promoted.
Yesterday I expressed an opinion on the LAMBRA egroup about an unusually high entry fee for the time trial stage of a race being held in Alexandria on June 2-3. It's an omnium race, points-based, not time-based, and they're allowing entry in individual stages. My problem was that the costs of each stage on that basis was $30 each across the board versus $55 for the overall registration. However, the time trial is only 3.1 miles long and I had/have a real problem with paying that much for something I'll finish in less than 7 minutes! I can't do the Sunday criterium stage (have to be back in Shreveport) so my options can be to pay $60 in individual fees for the road race and time trial, or pay $55 for the overall fee and skip the crit. Besides my complaint about the fee for the TT, the organizers are shorting themselves with that fee schedule depending on how a rider in my situation handles it. The time trial should have a $20 entry fee attached to it, that's the right way to handle it. Unfortunately, I'm getting the bum's rush from a few folks who are actually defending that $30 entry fee. I was even accused of being emotional and not fact-based on the issue. Yeah? I'm waiting to hear the facts from the other side, and it's easy to get a little pissed when you're being told that you're emotional about something when you're aren't. I'm sticking to my position that the higher entry fee is dumb unless someone convinces me otherwise. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen.
My friend, Paul, is in town to help me out with a photo shoot for Blackwell. We were out on the Bossier parkway around 10 pm last night to shoot pics of their 50mm and 100mm wheels, using the asphalt for background and the night to bring out the glare of the flash for this harsh look I wanted. It got a little chilly but I think we got what I wanted. This particular ad will be in the June issue of Triathlete magazine and I think it's a good one....full page featuring Kate Major who won the Ford Ironman Triathlon in California last weekend. She had the fastest women's bike split using Blackwell wheels so that needs to be promoted.
Yesterday I expressed an opinion on the LAMBRA egroup about an unusually high entry fee for the time trial stage of a race being held in Alexandria on June 2-3. It's an omnium race, points-based, not time-based, and they're allowing entry in individual stages. My problem was that the costs of each stage on that basis was $30 each across the board versus $55 for the overall registration. However, the time trial is only 3.1 miles long and I had/have a real problem with paying that much for something I'll finish in less than 7 minutes! I can't do the Sunday criterium stage (have to be back in Shreveport) so my options can be to pay $60 in individual fees for the road race and time trial, or pay $55 for the overall fee and skip the crit. Besides my complaint about the fee for the TT, the organizers are shorting themselves with that fee schedule depending on how a rider in my situation handles it. The time trial should have a $20 entry fee attached to it, that's the right way to handle it. Unfortunately, I'm getting the bum's rush from a few folks who are actually defending that $30 entry fee. I was even accused of being emotional and not fact-based on the issue. Yeah? I'm waiting to hear the facts from the other side, and it's easy to get a little pissed when you're being told that you're emotional about something when you're aren't. I'm sticking to my position that the higher entry fee is dumb unless someone convinces me otherwise. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen.
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