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May 2007

5.31.07 Went to see the movie Gracie, it was a really great movie- I highly recommend it.

5.30.07 Tanita scale tells the tale (hey that rhymes!). Weight 173.5, bodyfat 18.4% excellent progress after two weeks of solid riding. I've decided to eliminate all colas 100%. I like CocaCola, but unless I get an imported Mexican Coke (which uses real sugar) I will forgo them from now on. ( I will likely still have a RedBull or two during a race, though- I like the carbonation to offset several hours of "Hammer-mouth"). I think that the glut of gut in the USA can be directly attributed, in part, to HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). Promoted by the Corn Lobby and cheaper than real sugar due to US protections for the US sugar industry, HFCS is in so many products- I think I will be more label concious and just eliminate it as much as possible. I already eat mostly natural foods, organic when possible. We don't eat too many processed foods at our house. For Joni and Brenden I will make a meat of some type, which we have with (usually) rice. I typically quick fry (in Olive Oil only) some vegetables. That is pretty much our day to day meals. (I will either cook up some tofu or add black beans to my dinner). The most "processed" food we use at home is commercial tomato sauce and commercial cereals. ( I tried organic "fruit loops" but Brenden didn't like them. We get only organic milk (for Joni and Brenden- I drink Silk Soymilk). After weeks of this milk, Joni got a regular milk and Brenden said it tasted like soap- so back to the organic. Meijer's is really expanding their organic line of products throughout the grocery department.

I tried to do the Tuesday night Milkjug race, but my left hand was really hurting on the single track (sprained thumb at Boyne) so I dropped out. I paid for eleven races total for Brenden and I (six for me and five for him) and between the two of we only showed up for four of the events... oh well. Tonight, Brenden and I went for a 25 mile road ride down Wilson and O'Brien (stopping a minute to chat with team-mate Nate Versluis) on our way to John Ball Park to climb a tough hill. Then on to Kent Trails for the ride back to Grandville. Good practice and it was fun to have Brenden ride with me- he usually eschews road rides.

Thursday will be a maintenance day- for the bike. The front brake is rubbing (likely due to the crash on lap three at Boyne) so I will put a new rotor on it and tweak it as well as adjust the back brake. I also need to decide on a new bike computer if I cannot get my old one working. Definitely need wireless. I'd like to get one of those fancy one's with an altimeter, but the $90- to $150 price tag is a bit steep. I also lean toward getting the Topeak Panoram, which I've used for about five years, but may look for something a bit less expensive. Bike computers are one of the few items I tend to buy online (I like to support the local shops, mostly) and Performance Bike has a good selection in the recent mailing, though I may check with the shops first before deciding. I also need to get more Heed and some HammerGel (Espresso, preferably, but Chocolate will do as well). Funny story- I went to Cross Country Cycle in Holland to get some Hammergel last week and saw a display that was sparse. So I asked Laura if they had HammerGel anywhere else in the store... "we're out of Espresso" she said right away- hahahaha - did she know me for a coffee addict or what!

Later Thurday, we will be going to the movie Gracie, for which Joni got three tickets courtesy of the Gatorade vendor.

5.28.07 First, what a difficult event to manage... I know a 24 hour event would be tough in normal circumstances, but managing it with road crossing aand such is even more troublesome- hats off to Brent and his FunPromotions team. The awards ceremony was fun too, with interesting prizes and good pizza.

Recovering from the event. Boyne was fun, and difficult. It is arguably THE most difficult race venue in the state with its combination of strength-demanding climbs, technical ups and downs, and momentum sapping single tracks. The course was about 9.6 miles by my computer. The Saturday race started Lemans- riders had to have a wheel (or seatpost) off and run to the bike, install the part then go. I removed my rear wheel as my front (and seatpost) both would have required an allen-wrench.

First two laps went okay, pacing myself. But there's always that ONE lap! Lap three! About six miles in (I think) there's a really technical downhill about 100 yards long and greater than 45 degrees steep. It also has two long exposed roots running down the trail- you must either go between them or on one side (the left is better) because if you roll over the roots they are slippery and will throw the bike off the trail- which is what occured to me on this lap- I tried to stop the fall by grabbing a tree and sprained my left thumb- it is still swollen and I can't really use it now on Monday). I succeeded in not tumbling, but the bike crashed straight to a tree, knocking out my computer (which failed to function after that). I finished lap three with my thumb throbbing. I wasn't able to shift with the left thumb the rest of the night, but it wasn't too much difficulty as the few times I needed to shift with the left hand- front derailleur- I just shifted to the big ring using my palm. Shifting down was done by using the forefingers from the front of the handlebars.

Laps four, five and six were fairly uneventful and I felt okay most of the time. Lap seven was the deal breaker- first it started a light rain. I decided to go out for this lap anyway, a light rain not being a deterrent. But three or four miles into the lap the sky opened up and it poured buckets, drenching me to the bone as the temperature got colder. It was a long miserable lap. I arrived back at the chute as the rain began to let up, changed into a new jersey, got the bike jacket on and decided to go out for lap eight. But after a couple miles of gears scraping and grinding, I decided to drop out of the event, not wanting to risk damage to my bike. I felt I could have gone longer physically, so even a couple days later I have mixed emotions about the decision. It did take an hour and a half to clean the bike, chain, gears, etc. with no apparent damage.

I have decided I am a fair weather rider, for practical reasons. First, inclement weather can cause injuries. Also, the trail can be damaged and so can the bike- and I don't like working on bikes- working on bike is a chore. I'd rather ride. I have friends that spend hours working and tweaking their bikes, but I'd rather accomodate and live with a small or minor issue with the bike than stop and tweak it (providing accomodating doesn't cause additional damage).

Seven laps- I felt like I didn't do as well as I could have, but I think it was respectable compared to other lap counts.. and the one competitor I had did ten laps so I wasn't catching him anyway. I think I am getting stronger on the climbs- I did much of the course in the big & middle rings, only moving to the granny gear after several laps for the tougher climbs.

One final item regarding training and racing- I've decided that La Ruta is not on my agenda. I first thought about doing that race in 2000 as I recuperated from a broken back. But I was already going on age 42 then and in the past five years I haven't acquired enough fitness for an event of that type and I am not getting younger. I know guys my age do that race, but they likely have two decades of fitness behind them- which I do not have... so other goals will have to suffice. Next stop LUMBERJACK-100 !!! I have 18 more days of preparation.

But the weekend was a driving weekend, which rather bites due to the gas prices. We decided to take Brenden's girlfriend with us to Boyne- and she lives in Redford which is 2-1/2 hours away from us. So Friday was a drive down and back - five hours, arrive in Grandville and get pizza to eat while we pack Joni's car then get ready for the three hour drive to Boyne. We arrived there at about 1230 in the morning. Ugh!

5.24.07 Well, one task done- I finished the CPS standings through two races and David posted them online.

I evaluated my performance for Addison and entered the 12 Hours of Boyne instead of the 24 hour event. I also am looking ahead to June. FunPromotions has the 8 Hours of Cannonsburg, but I am really interested in doing the 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey that weekend. It is 12 hours of riding the same trails and rolling hills I ran as an Officer's Candidate in OCS in 1986 at Quantico Marine Corps base. It would be a blast from the past and give Joni and Brenden a chance to see where I spent seven of the most difficult weeks of my life! The primary difficulty is it seems to be held on Sunday rather than Saturday... more investigation is due.

5.20.07 My first race of the year- I haven't decided if it was a success or failure. The 12 Hours of Addison Oaks- I arrived Friday night at about 10pm, set up camp and had a quick dinner of couscous with tofu. Saturday morning getting ready- ominous beginning as I realized I'd forgotten my helmet, along with my took kit, glasses and gloves. Lifesavers Robin and Shari had a spare helmet for me, and I had extra gloves and glasses.

Lap on went well- and I was quite warm as I'd worn leggings and a jacket. I took the jacket off after lap one but kept the leggings all race. Lap two saw a hard crash as my handlebars clipped a tree slamming me to the ground- my shoulder and ribs are still sore. The weather remained cool for sometime so after lap three I put a base layer under the jersey and that sufficed for the remainder of the day.

At about 230pm, it began raining and it was cold- luckily, the rain was a light mist and didn't last more than an hour. I took a break here for this period rather than ride in the rain. Lap four was tough as I had thigh cramp which tried to pop back occaisionally but was eliminated using the Hammer Endurolytes. Lap 8 was a real killer- I had flat tire and changed it on the trail, but the compressed air canister was faulty and the tire didn't inflate adequately so I had to ride several miles VERY slowly (so as to not damage the rim) rather than walk. Help from an RBS team member with another canister got me into the pits.

I'd set a goal of 100 miles, but fell short- I had 12 laps (7.2 miles each) by 915pm and opted to stop for the night for a total of 86.5 miles. My nearest competitor had 14 laps so I had no chance of moving up had I gone out for a 13th lap anyway, and I finished 6th of 8 in my class.

It was a really good venue to open up the season, no really big hills, but it did call into question my thoughts of doing the 24 Hours of Boyne- I think I will opt for the 12 Hour race next weekend instead.

5.15.07 Brenden had his second race at Owasippe last Saturday in which he took 4th of 5 racers in Sport Single Speed. (He's racing single speed for the Tailwind Time Trials and geared bike sport 15-19 in the Championship Point Series.

I was supposed to do the Milkjug series tonight, but it rained in Grand Rapids, so I passed. I got a new CD/tuner in my car instead (the other one stopped playing CDs and I hate listening to radio).

My preparation is for the 12 Hours of Addison Oaks this coming Saturday. It will be my first event of the year!

5.14.07: WOW- time flew by from April to May. We flew to Ireland on April 30 for a week- fantastic vacation (you can read about it on the Ireland page and check out some of my photos). I had a job interview while there, but as of today (15th) not news yet on an offer- or not.

We got back to Michigan to find a FLOOD in the basement! Usually there is a reorientation upon return from vacation but it was a disaster this year. I arrived in Chicago at 430CST and turned my phone on- immediately recving a call from Brenden- there was a FOOT of water in our entire basement (the basement dimensions are the same as the house so you can imagine how much water THAT was.. the water heater had burst and- most likely for several days- water surged into the basement at GUSHER levels... and I am in chicago and need to go to Muskegon before getting home!

After a bit of thought on process- I finally called Joni and Brenden back and directed them to go to HomeDepot and rent a pump- which they did. Joni's sister and her husband also showed up to help- Dale brought a shopvac. Dale and Brenden went back to HD to get another pump and this time when they told the guy what they were doing he got them a pump with a firehose sized hose (instead of their earlier rental which had a standard garden hose dimention). Long story short- by the time I got home at 1130pmEST, the basement was drained with a merely wet floor and side walls and much stuff was up on the yard.

I also called the landlord and told him of the issue and the need for a new water heater which he said he'd install Tuesday. I skipped work that morning and Joni and I hauled boxes and junk from the basement. Dale stopped by with a dehumidifier to complement our fans. Ed (landlord) arrived with a helper and by noon had installed a new water heater. we have piles of boxes outside to dispose of when the dumpster I ordered arrives Friday.

No major losses really, though. Most of the stuff is "why do we still have that after 15 years"? most critical were some heirloom-like christmas ornaments which became water logged- the yard looked as if we were holding a hardsale with stuff all over the grass and on tables- but the worst is over now. Most items to be pitched are set on the deck, most to be dried are dry (or nearly so) and in the house, the basement is getting less wet with constant fan and dehumidifier. We do have a steady drip yet from the pipes to the water heater which needs to be fixed, but currently dripping to a bucket