TPE - TKY - TPE, originally uploaded by pommes king.
2010/01/31
2010/01/19
Shut Out of Harpoon B2B in Less Than 1 Minute!
That's right, I was awake and alert at 7 a.m this morning, fingers at the ready to hit "Reload" on the B2B registration page.
"CLICK"
Furiously, I typed in the required information on the page and hit "Submit". To my astonishment, the slots were all taken by the time my submission made it to the B2B server.
Now all I can do is hope I can snag someone else's slot for the ride.
2010/01/17
2009 Rehash - 2010 Goals Set
Got a 1 hour trainer session in yesterday and again today - this momentum will help me get caught up on the backlog of Heroes episodes I've collected since the fall. Felt pretty good, considering I hadn't been on the bike or trainer since early November. Sheesh.
Good news is my period of winter laziness was much shorter than last year - as long as I stick to it. Let's take a look back at 2009 and see how different it was from 2008:
- I bumped my total mileage up 9.5% from 2,640 miles to 2,889.
- My total "saddle time" was down 2%, largely due to the complete lack of indoor trainer sessions early in 2009 and the very late start of road work (May).
- For the same reason, I only logged 101 days with rides in '09 while in '08, I got in 112. Can't complain as most of those 101 days were on the road and not trainer sessions.
- Average monthly weight for the year was 172 vs. 2008's 177 lbs. (I'm starting 2010 at 169)
Things I'm happy about as I look back on 2009:
- Went from getting dropped to not only keeping up with the MRC Wednesday night crew but having a few very respectable performances.
- Rode 3 centuries during the year: Climb to the Clouds, Chatham-Provencetown and back, CRW Fall Century
- Regularly mixed in some good core body exercise as well as started to log a few running miles.
Disappointments:
- No Wells Ave. races
- Couldn't afford to buy a CX bike.
- Didn't enter any races
- Got sick in the late fall and stayed off the bike until new year
Ok, enough about the past - what about the coming year? How about a few goals?
- Complete the Harpoon B2B
- Centuries
- Mount Greylock
- Climb to the Clouds (set new PR)
- CRW Fall Century (set new PR)
- Enter 5 Wells Ave races (early season)
- Enter Sterling Classic
- Enter 5 Charlie Baker time trials
- Save pennies for a CX bike and race it in the fall
- Make running a regular part of weekly workouts
- Set PR's for 20 and 40 miles
Is that too many? I didn't want to make it too easy!
2009/12/27
Sunday Random Bike Pic
Matt on CBC, originally uploaded by andy_c.
2009/12/24
Merry Christmas!
UPDATE: This photo has been selected by Suburban Assault as a "Hump Day Pic of the Week". Thanks, dickdavid!
2009/12/23
Even Naked, You Must Ride With Protection
With a few months of basement-bound indoor training ahead, it warms my heart to find news articles like this one:
Two young men caught cycling with no clothes on have escaped charges of offensive behaviour, but received a warning to wear protective headgear.[via BBC News]Local policewoman Cathy Duder was unfazed when she came across the two nude men, both in their early 20s.
"They were more shocked than I was, trying to cover up their bits and pieces with their hands," she said.
...
Ms Duder issued them with a stern warning for not wearing helmets and then sent them directly home.
2009/12/20
2009/12/08
How Different My Childhood Would Have Been
Soak in this wonderful custom tricycle crafted by Sasha White, of Vanilla Bicycles . With a stainless steel front end, Phil Woods hub and a cherry rear deck with the Vanilla script inlaid in stainless steel.
[via Burstoid (some NSFW pics)]
2009/12/06
2009/11/29
2009/11/22
28 Days Later
Distance: 34.5 miles
Time: 2:08:52
Avg. speed: 16.06 mph
Weather: 50-48º, humidity 61-68%, wind ENE10-11
--
Yes, it's been four weeks since I last saddled up and rode. :: sigh ::
Easy-to-moderate ride with a fellow church member up into Harvard and Bolton. We kept the pace down to a level where conversation was possible as we went.
Had no trouble with any of the climbs, bike seemed to be in good shape despite the long idle period. It was good to be out there again!
2009/11/21
2009/11/19
Gender Equality is Goal of UCI Proposals - But There's a Hitch
I didn't know that in the Beijing Olympics last year, there were seven track events for men and only three for women. It's admirable that the UCI is trying to even up the opportunities for gold for men and women track cyclists.
UCI president Pat McQuaid... described track cycling’s current medal bias for men as “way out of line.”
But this positive move does not come without it's cost, it would "likely would deny American phenom Taylor Phinney a chance to compete in his specialty event" (individual pursuit). Phinney hopes his Twitter campaign to raise awareness of the problem will save the event, saying that losing the pursuit "would be devastating".
Cyclo-cross: It's Impact on the Land... and the Public
A cyclocross event to be held in West Seattle had it's permit by the Parks Department shortly before race day has put a spotlight on not only the environmental impact of the racing itself, but how communication between cycling advocates and the larger community needs to improve.
Read the comments below this post to get a glimpse of not only how members of the same community can have different ideas about how public property should be used, but the varying ways in which both sides get their points across. I'm sure you've seen a similar dynamic elsewhere.
Meanwhile, it would be prudent for race organizers to plan ahead for such trouble by taking the time to produce documents like this one (PDF) that they can present to permitting agencies and the public to show how limited the damage from hosting a CX race would be as well as having in place a post-race restoration plan which might include donations to maintenance funds and having volunteers actively participate in restoration.
As cycling's presence on the public scene continues to increase, we have to be sure that the public at large gets the right impression of who we are and what we do.
2009/11/15
2009/11/11
Wha-wha-what??
A former "roads minister" in Australia holds forth on cycling and shows that he is no friend of cyclists who share the road with motorists, but it sounds like cycling advocates there are not doing themselves any favors by the way they interact with the powers that be.
Meanwhile, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty wasn't helping cycling's public face by using a police escort to enable him to get his daily bike ride in and riding on limited access roadways.
2009/11/08
2009/11/07
Northampton Cyclocross 2009 - Day 1
Excerpts from Saturday morning's heats of the 19th Annual Cycle-Smart International/Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross:
I've uploaded all the of the shots that made the cut to this web gallery.
I got fixated with photographing the participants traversing barriers, ignoring good action elsewhere on the course. It didn't help that I had my 9 year-old in tow - my attention was half on keeping her entertained, informed of what was going on and making sure she was warm enough.
Looking forward to seeing what More Bacon at Double Hop produces from tomorrow's races.
POLL: Do you prefer the Picasa slide show (above) or Flickr embedded slide show (below)?
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