Oh, yeah, the days are getting shorter. Just a couple of weeks ago, when I left the house at 5:45 am to do the morning ride on the parkway, you could see the streaks of blue beginning to crawl across the sky. By the time I joined up with the group downtown, the sky was beginning to light up. But this morning, it was still dark as I passed under Interstate 20 to meet the group on Marshall Street. In a couple of months before the time change, my entire ride will be in the dark. Fall is coming with Winter behind it.
You wouldn't think that with the way I soaked my bike uniform with sweat today!
The morning ride was a fast one with only six of us, including Louise who I'd never seen on this ride. I think she was surprised at how fast we went up the Stoner Street overpass, dropping her in the process but Mike went back for her and pulled her back up to the group. She was fine after that. I took one long pull and kept the speed around 25-26 mph. My legs were a little tired from riding the last couple of days but they did fine. Mike was riding after pulling a 14-hour drive from Pennsylvania the day before...I think I would have slept in this morning!
Work is still on the slow side but I've made some progress with a few jobs for the local Goodwill Industries and Blackwell Research - www.blackwellresearch.com - for whom I'm designing a new 2008 catalog and I picked up a few new products that I need to have photographed for it. However, all this means I can't bill for the jobs yet although I might do a work-in-progress billing to both places to keep some income flowing in. Good thing the wife has her job! There's also a couple of other jobs that are hanging in the air, waiting to hear from the clients on what to do next. I'm not that fond of that because I start to forget what the job was about and lose some enthusiasm for it. I am going to do an invoice to a local helicopter company on some renderings I did for a job proposal that didn't go through. My policy is that I don't do spec work, so I have to bill them for what the paint scheme renderings I did for them. I don't do formal work for free in hopes of getting more work...that's too much time invested if it doesn't work out and I'm not the one doing the proposal. I was hired to make the proposal a little more appealing!
Did a little road race in Tyler, Texas a week ago and it truly kicked my rear end. I ended up 13th in the Masters 50-54 age group and that wasn't bad at all but I was so totally wiped out from the effort! Despite having to climb some East Texas hills that have no equal around the Northwest Louisiana area, I still averaged over 21 mph for the race. I remember spending time in a chase group where one other guy and myself did most of the work, going around 28-30 mph for nearly six miles. We caught people and spit them out the back but could never catch back up to the main field (the 45-49 and 50-54 groups were combined and that made for over 75 riders in my race) who had dropped us on the "Beast", the steepest climb on the course. I was doing fine on that climb until about halfway up when reality hit and it felt like I was going backwards. When I finally reached the crest of the climb, I really wanted to throw up...no kidding. Fun race for sure.
Right after that, the Wife and I went on to Dallas for the rest of the weekend. We ate at a nice Italian restaurant Saturday night and, on Sunday, spent a couple of hours at Richardson's Bike Mart in north Dallas. We spent some major dollars (there was a summer sale going on) and I got a new pair of bike shoes for my birthday. She got a new pair of triathlon bike shoes plus some clothes and I found a great pair of long-fingered gloves from Pearl Izumi. I ride in long-fingers thanks to the influence of a good friend, Shannon, who races at the elite level of women's cycling in the USA. We both don't like the idea of getting road rash on our fingers if we crash (we're both artists and we like our hands) and long-fingered gloves help to minimize the surface damage. We could still break a finger or two but that's okay...nothing will stop that if it happens but at least the skin's in one piece! And they're really not that uncomfortable in the summer heat.
The Wife is doing a triathlon this weekend and I'll be the support personnel for her. I'll cheer her on, take pictures, and have fluids and dry clothes for her when she finishes. It should be fun, more for me than her!
Oh! I got a new Kestrel 44mm CARBON handlebar a couple of days ago. A friend was selling his barely used set of bars for a nice affordable price and I went after it! It's on my K2 now and I like it. However, I need to put a second wrap of handlebar tape on the top since I used my old tape again and the padding is a bit flattened out. No big deal. I'm slowly bringing my bike into the 21st Century.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday
I skipped this morning's ride on the parkway...the legs felt a little heavy and if I'm going to do a road race in Tyler, Texas this Saturday, well, I don't want to fatique them too much. I haven't done enough riding the last two weeks as it is. It should be "fun" with a monster hill (monster for East Texas) that'll I'll have to climb twice on two laps of the course with the 45-49 and 50-54 Masters. These old guys are no slouches and I'm just hoping I can hang on for most of the race. I'll have teammates in Brian and Don there but I think they'll do fine.
Last night was the weekly Tuesday Night Worlds. I spent most of the afternoon working in the front yard in the heat so I was a little zapped. I wasn't expecting to hang on even in the early part of the ride. There was a fairly strong headwind out of the south that should slow the pack somewhat but I was suspecting that it would help me keep up. Russ rolled up to me barely a mile out the church parking lot and asked how the marriage was going. I told him it was going pretty good and that I wasn't having to make many adjustments because I wanted change in my life and was willing to adapt to that change. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be. Then I told him that I wasn't planning to stay with the group because of the earlier yardwork out in the sun and that my energy was low. He said to stay in the back, draft, and try to hang on. I know he means it....he wants me to hang in there as long as I can.
As it turned out, the opening 12 miles to Frierson were easier for me than I could have imagined. It was easy to keep up, even going 27-28 mph into the headwind on Ellerbe Road. I sat in the back for a while just in case I had any problems, riding alongside T-Bone watching the rotation in front of us. It was a big group, maybe 25 riders (more?), and we touched 30 mph several times. There were a couple of jumps off the front but we reeled them back in. The whole process was quite smooth and, though there were some bold moves, nobody was doing anything dumb. After we turned onto Highway 175 to Frierson, the pace kept up as it usually does and I decided it was time to make some appearances at the front. I made one pull up the first rise on a set of rollers pretty effortlessly...other rides I have a tougher time on this section. Later, we were flying up the last rise before the village and I sat behind T-Bone as we zoomed at 30+ down the other side. This is not a steep decent, you have to work to go 30 mph. As we got to the "bottom" he pulled aside to let me through and I kept the pace up. Then I decided to up the pace to give everyone a minor workout (a VERY minor workout), standing up in the pedals for about 150 meters to keep the speed above 30. I took a quick look behind me and nobody was coming up on my right as I expected...they were all behind me, looking for the moment to make a jump to the Frierson train tracks. I swung to the right and tapped the brakes to force the group to pass me, and they did for the big sprint to the tracks. I was able to hang in to the tail of the group, surprised that we had dropped or lost almost a third of the original pack.
But about a mile on the other side of Frierson, I began to feel the effects of the earlier yard work I did and I didn't have the energy I needed to keep up with these boys. I turned around and headed back the way we came with the idea that I'd catch up to Jonnene's group ride and return back with them at an easier pace. As it turned out, her group is not exactly on the slow side! While I was with them the pace was often in the 21-24 mph range, sometimes faster, and that was much quicker than I thought it would be. It was fun, though, and I passed out some advice to a few riders to help them maximize their speed with less effort. I was proud of the way Jonnene didn't back down from any challenges in the ride and was more than willing to do the work and keep up the pace.
Today I need to get a rendering done for a window display, put together the material I need to send to USA Cycling of the results of the time trial last week, and maybe do a light workout on my time trial bike. Add in a few other things and it should be a full day.
Last night was the weekly Tuesday Night Worlds. I spent most of the afternoon working in the front yard in the heat so I was a little zapped. I wasn't expecting to hang on even in the early part of the ride. There was a fairly strong headwind out of the south that should slow the pack somewhat but I was suspecting that it would help me keep up. Russ rolled up to me barely a mile out the church parking lot and asked how the marriage was going. I told him it was going pretty good and that I wasn't having to make many adjustments because I wanted change in my life and was willing to adapt to that change. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be. Then I told him that I wasn't planning to stay with the group because of the earlier yardwork out in the sun and that my energy was low. He said to stay in the back, draft, and try to hang on. I know he means it....he wants me to hang in there as long as I can.
As it turned out, the opening 12 miles to Frierson were easier for me than I could have imagined. It was easy to keep up, even going 27-28 mph into the headwind on Ellerbe Road. I sat in the back for a while just in case I had any problems, riding alongside T-Bone watching the rotation in front of us. It was a big group, maybe 25 riders (more?), and we touched 30 mph several times. There were a couple of jumps off the front but we reeled them back in. The whole process was quite smooth and, though there were some bold moves, nobody was doing anything dumb. After we turned onto Highway 175 to Frierson, the pace kept up as it usually does and I decided it was time to make some appearances at the front. I made one pull up the first rise on a set of rollers pretty effortlessly...other rides I have a tougher time on this section. Later, we were flying up the last rise before the village and I sat behind T-Bone as we zoomed at 30+ down the other side. This is not a steep decent, you have to work to go 30 mph. As we got to the "bottom" he pulled aside to let me through and I kept the pace up. Then I decided to up the pace to give everyone a minor workout (a VERY minor workout), standing up in the pedals for about 150 meters to keep the speed above 30. I took a quick look behind me and nobody was coming up on my right as I expected...they were all behind me, looking for the moment to make a jump to the Frierson train tracks. I swung to the right and tapped the brakes to force the group to pass me, and they did for the big sprint to the tracks. I was able to hang in to the tail of the group, surprised that we had dropped or lost almost a third of the original pack.
But about a mile on the other side of Frierson, I began to feel the effects of the earlier yard work I did and I didn't have the energy I needed to keep up with these boys. I turned around and headed back the way we came with the idea that I'd catch up to Jonnene's group ride and return back with them at an easier pace. As it turned out, her group is not exactly on the slow side! While I was with them the pace was often in the 21-24 mph range, sometimes faster, and that was much quicker than I thought it would be. It was fun, though, and I passed out some advice to a few riders to help them maximize their speed with less effort. I was proud of the way Jonnene didn't back down from any challenges in the ride and was more than willing to do the work and keep up the pace.
Today I need to get a rendering done for a window display, put together the material I need to send to USA Cycling of the results of the time trial last week, and maybe do a light workout on my time trial bike. Add in a few other things and it should be a full day.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Time flies
I hadn't realized how long it's been since I last logged on and posted an entry! Here's the short of what's been going on.....
1. Jonnene got second in her age group at the triathlon in Jefferson, Texas. Her run was slower than usual, which cost her first place, but I was impressed with the gaps she put on a number of the ladies after the swim and bike stages. The lake had flooded over the beach and some of the land areas so the transistion area had to be moved further inland on the parking lot. It was wierd seeing boats moored up to the picnic tables!
2. We had a time trial on the Fant Parkway over a week ago and it went off well. We had 42 finishers for the 4.91 mile distance that we matched up with the Prologue stage of the Tour de France happening that same day. The only hitch was the hour's delay we had to endure when the city's streets and parks department thought the event had been canceled (we never told anyone that) and didn't show up to block the parkway for the race. However, the police had shown up and nobody told them that the race had been canceled. The officers contacted the right people and we had barricades in place pretty quick. I think everyone had a good time and there were some nice results. However, the difference between the pro riders and our little group was evident...our fastest rider was still 16 seconds slower than the slowest rider at le Tour!
3. I finished up another month of ads for Blackwell. JC designed new aerobars called the Blackwell Base Wing Bar....all carbon and designed specifically for clip-on aerobars to have a nice aerodynamic combo. It really looks sweet. Look for the ad in the September issues of Triathlete and Inside Triathlon magazines. I still need to get that catalog finished up for them in a few weeks.
1. Jonnene got second in her age group at the triathlon in Jefferson, Texas. Her run was slower than usual, which cost her first place, but I was impressed with the gaps she put on a number of the ladies after the swim and bike stages. The lake had flooded over the beach and some of the land areas so the transistion area had to be moved further inland on the parking lot. It was wierd seeing boats moored up to the picnic tables!
2. We had a time trial on the Fant Parkway over a week ago and it went off well. We had 42 finishers for the 4.91 mile distance that we matched up with the Prologue stage of the Tour de France happening that same day. The only hitch was the hour's delay we had to endure when the city's streets and parks department thought the event had been canceled (we never told anyone that) and didn't show up to block the parkway for the race. However, the police had shown up and nobody told them that the race had been canceled. The officers contacted the right people and we had barricades in place pretty quick. I think everyone had a good time and there were some nice results. However, the difference between the pro riders and our little group was evident...our fastest rider was still 16 seconds slower than the slowest rider at le Tour!
3. I finished up another month of ads for Blackwell. JC designed new aerobars called the Blackwell Base Wing Bar....all carbon and designed specifically for clip-on aerobars to have a nice aerodynamic combo. It really looks sweet. Look for the ad in the September issues of Triathlete and Inside Triathlon magazines. I still need to get that catalog finished up for them in a few weeks.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Da twain, da twain!!
Tuesday morning (yesterday), I got up early to do the 5:50 am ride in Shrevport. As I've mentioned before, I ride over the Red River on the Texas Street Bridge to meet up with the group who have come up from South Shreveport....anyway, I left the house barely on time (around 5:45 am) and get about 1/2 mile from the house to where a second set of railroad tracks are located. There's a train on the tracks just sitting there, not moving. I've been held up before by trains on these rides but they usually get out of the way because they're usually moving at the time. But not this one. I decided to do some circles in the street to kill some time...then the train starts to move. About twenty cars later, it stops again, still blocking the street. I kept doing laps in the street and finally I decided it wasn't moving again any time soon and I ride back to the house. I got in a total of 1.4 miles in 10 minutes! I can run 1.4 miles faster than that! I showered and got ready for the day. I thought about doing a run instead but....naawww!! Ain't happenin'.
The Tuesday night ride was a small affair. I think a lot of folks thought rain was coming, plus several were going to do the Firecracker 5K run in the morning so they didn't need to wear themselves out doing a leg-ripping ride at Tuesday Night Worlds. There were probably ten of us and my legs felt kinda numb, not really strong at all. But it turned into another fast night. I spent half my time in the back but with only ten guys, there's not much to draft off of. I did take a number of pulls, even sat on the only Team Psycho fella who showed up when he tried to take off on a flyer. Even made a monster chase-bridge-thing after a 2-man break that Don was able to finish off while we were on Linwood. I was a little tired afterward but it was all good for me....I guess.
Today is Independence Day. The wife and I went out to watch the Firecracker 5K run...she was nursing a sore knee and I hadn't run enough, which is why we were watching and not doing. Three thousand folks were out there in muggy conditions but at least it didn't rain. The rest of the day was spent working on a mock-up of the Blackwell catalog I'm trying to get done with and replacing three ink cartridges in the printer since I used the old ones up by printing out that mock-up.
It's also three days until the Prologue Time Trial that I've put together with the help of some great people. I've got a few more things to do but it'll be a busy three days.
The Tuesday night ride was a small affair. I think a lot of folks thought rain was coming, plus several were going to do the Firecracker 5K run in the morning so they didn't need to wear themselves out doing a leg-ripping ride at Tuesday Night Worlds. There were probably ten of us and my legs felt kinda numb, not really strong at all. But it turned into another fast night. I spent half my time in the back but with only ten guys, there's not much to draft off of. I did take a number of pulls, even sat on the only Team Psycho fella who showed up when he tried to take off on a flyer. Even made a monster chase-bridge-thing after a 2-man break that Don was able to finish off while we were on Linwood. I was a little tired afterward but it was all good for me....I guess.
Today is Independence Day. The wife and I went out to watch the Firecracker 5K run...she was nursing a sore knee and I hadn't run enough, which is why we were watching and not doing. Three thousand folks were out there in muggy conditions but at least it didn't rain. The rest of the day was spent working on a mock-up of the Blackwell catalog I'm trying to get done with and replacing three ink cartridges in the printer since I used the old ones up by printing out that mock-up.
It's also three days until the Prologue Time Trial that I've put together with the help of some great people. I've got a few more things to do but it'll be a busy three days.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)