RACE REPORT: Duathlon in the middle of nowhere.

I love living in Florida.  It’s the middle of November and it’s still warm enough for multisport racing.  In fact, the weather this morning was perfect for a duathlon, with temperatures in the high 50s and low 60s during the racing hours.

The advertised distances were 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run.  I hadn’t done any short course racing in a while, so I was looking forward to seeing how fast I could go.  I was also looking forward to testing out my new Blackwell One Hundred wheel, a super-fast, super-deep, super-badass race wheel.

As I racked my bike, one lady asked me, “wow are you a pro?”  She must have seen my bike and spazzy tri-suit and thought I was an elite athlete.  I loled and said, “no–I just pay a lot of money to look like one!”  She approved of this comment.

There were about 150 racers at the start today.  The RD started the men in the first wave, and the women in the second.  At the gun, I was not surprised to see that my fellow Y-chromosone athletes did not get the memo on pacing.  I was passed by at least half of the men’s field, including three boys under the age of 10.  I finished the first run in 12:18.  There’s no way it was 2 miles–I’m guessing it was closer to 1.8 miles, which would have put me at just under 7 minute pace.  Fine, good conservative start.

T1 was flawless.  I had been practicing.  Shoes off, helmet on, grab bike and GO.  Shoes were clipped into the pedals already.  Got those on my feet no problem heading out of transition.

I played the bike cool for a number of reasons.  One was that the course was actually kind of tricky.  It wasn’t hilly, but there were subtle elevation changes and lots of windy roads.  Two was that there was a LOT of congestion.  The course was a “T” shape–basically we went up the bottom of the “T”, did TWO LOOPS of the top of the “T” and then back to transition.  Two loops in 10 miles makes for a lot of bike traffic to negotiate. This was the only “slop” in an otherwise very-well-run race by <a href="http://www.drcsports.com">DRC Sports.

The first loop was relatively clean.  I spent most of my time passing the guys who went too hard on the first run.  At one point, I was going about 28 on a slight downgrade and passed a dude who was going about 22.  He was clearly working hard and I guess I emotionally obliterated him with my monstrous pass.  I heard “aw come on, you gotta be kidding!” as I blew by him.  I hit the end of the first loop in 6th place.

The second loop was an adventure to say the least.  I was now not only passing the back of the men’s field, but the entire women’s field as well.  I literally passed almost the entire women’s field on the second loop.  It was one “on your left” after another.  Fortunately, there were times I was going almost twice their speed so the passes were quick and painless.  There were a few minor traffic incidents, and one close call when I went to pass a chatting twosome at the same time as someone else was passing in the opposite direction, but all was good.

I rolled into T2 in 7th place, having been passed in the last mile by another guy who was coming through the field.  My time was a conservative but strong 29:19 for what my computer said was 10.6 miles.  If T1 was flawless, T2 was even better.  Helmet off, shoes on, get out of there.  I entered T2 in 7th place, 5 seconds down, and left T2 in 6th place by about 20 seconds!  (Who says transition times don’t mean anything!)

The second run was a huge pain cave.  For the entire first 3/4 mile, I could hear 7th place gaining on me.  I kept my pace steady and tried to control the side stitch that was developing in my left side.  Just before the turnaround, he passed me and opened up a gap of about 30 meters.  With a mile to go, I began to push the pace a bit and noticed that the gap was not increasing!  Though this was encouraging, I was starting to hurt.

With 3/4 of a mile to go, I decided that it was time to try and close the gap.  I knew from my pre-race warmup that the last 200 yards were on a narrow, windy path and there would not be room for a sprint, so I figured my best shot was to get in front of him with about 800m to go and execute a long burn to the finish.  I also knew that I had decent middle-distance speed thanks to the track work I’ve been doing recently, so if I was going to beat this guy I was going to do it at around 800 meters.

With the 1/2 mile to go sign within sight, I got behind him.  He knew I was there.  I waited until after he looked behind his shoulder, and then I sprinted.  I gave the initial sprint more effort than I knew I could sustain for the whole 800m, but I wanted to make sure that he couldn’t follow.

At 400 meters to the finish, I looked back and there was a sizable gap between us.  I beat him to the line by 8 seconds for 6th place overall.  Total race time was 52:49.  The second run time was 10:09.  Since there’s no way I can run 5:05 pace for 1 mile (much less 2 miles) I figure the distance was closer to 1.6 miles, which would put my second run pace at 6:20–a more reasonable figure.

It felt really good to actually *race* as opposed to slogging through the “survivathlon” that is an Ironman or ultra-distance event.  It was a huge rush to blow past that guy and kick it in to the finish.  I’m happy with my fitness and my speed is improving.  I’m going to continue to work on my speed (especially my run speed) during the winter season so that I can hit the ground running for the early 2010 races.

Stats:
Run 1 (1.8ish miles): 12:18 (6:50 pace) Rank: 26/156
T1: 0:33
Bike (10.6ish miles): 29:19 (21.70mph) Rank: 7/156
T2: 0:30
Run 2 (1.6ish miles): 10:09 (6:20 pace) Rank: 9/156
Total: 52:49 Rank: 6/156 (2/4 age group)

Some thoughts now that I’m settling in Gainesville.

It’s been two full days since Lana and I moved into our apartment in Gainesville.  We’ve actually been in Gainesville for four days, but due to complications with the landlord and previous tenant, we had to kill time while the previous tenant vacated and the landlord cleaned up his mess.  Fortunately, we’re now moved in and mostly unpacked.

Our apartment is pretty nice.  It’s in a neighborhood full of other similar apartment complexes.  It’s a 2 bdrm/2 bath first floor unit, very spacious, slightly old and has ceramic tile flooring everywhere except the bedrooms which are carpeted.  The carpeting in the bedroom sucks, we’re going to try and get the landlord to replace them (ideally with more tile).

Our AC works well.  Our apartment doesn’t retain the cool air as well as our old apartment.  This may be due to its large size and the slightly crappy windows in here.

We bought a second bed for the second bedroom.  That way, you (yes, you) can come visit and you’ll have a place to sleep!

We have to drive over 9 speed bumps to get to our apartment.  That’s a giant sack of crap.  So we park in a lot that is slightly farther away from our apartment, walk the remaining distance, and only drive over two speed bumps.  (WTF you ask?  The apartment complex is laid out in a J shape, and our apartment is at the –>J end.  We park in the middle (J<–) and cut across on foot).

Our apartment turns out to be strategically located.  Most importantly, it’s close to the Physics building (an easy bike ride of 1.8 miles for Lana).  It also happens that it’s super easy (and safe) to get out of town on a bike from our apartment!  The former was a major factor in choosing this place, the latter was a nice surprise.

It’s hot here.  Temps in the upper 90s, high humidity, heat indexes well over 110.  We’re already getting into the habit of doing our outside stuff before 10am.

It rains a lot here.  It’s rained every day we’ve been here so far, but rarely for longer than 30 minutes at a time.  It’s really off-and-on.  Weird.

Gainesville is a huge, sprawling town.  Driving across town takes forever, both in terms of time and miles.  I didn’t realize Gainesville was so big!

Buildings in Gainesville generally look ghetto, but that’s probably because (a) it rains a lot here and (b) buildings don’t need to be as weather-proof as they do in, say, suburban Chicago.

Streets in Gainesville are really nicely laid out.  Gainesville is split into four quadrants (NW, SW, SE, NE).  With a few exceptions for major roads, streets are numbered outward from the “origin,” with E-W streets having the suffix of either Avenue, Place, Road or Lane (just remember APRiL) and N-S streets using all other suffixes (Street, Blvd, etc).  The origin is Main Street (N-S) and University Avenue (E-W).

So, for example, I don’t need a map to tell you where “802 NW 13th St” is–I just travel to 13 blocks west (to get me to NW 13th st) of Main Street and 8 blocks north (to get me to the 800 block of NW 13th st) of University Ave!  I visited 8 different places this afternoon in my car, and navigated successfully to all of them without a map or GPS.  Why can’t other cities do this???

Cycling in Gainesville seems to be generally good!  The major roads in town have intelligently-designed bike paths.  The roads out of town are safe and well-paved, with minimal traffic on the county roads.  The only negatives seem to be the heat and the lack of hills.  I rode 56 miles this morning and averaged a full 3mph faster than I would have over the same distance of typical Bloomington terrain!  I was ready to quit at the end, though–it was just too hot.  I imagine that during the wintertime Gainesville will be a great place to ride.

My apartment complex has a pool that I could, in theory, swim laps in.  It’s about 25 yards long, with no lane lines but very little use.  I will see if this works, as this could be a nice way to save on a gym membership!

Pointy Helmet stuff is going well.  I’m going to concentrate on getting the stuff ready for the free triathlon clinics I’m doing starting in September.  I’m also going to flyer the campus very soon, and network with people on group rides and Masters swims.  Hopefully I can spread the word about my coaching service!

I’m also applying for some part-time jobs just to have some additional income though.  Gotta hedge my bets on this one.

Crashed my bike today.

I was planning on doing 100 miles this afternoon.  Two loops of my 50 mile route.  I completed the first loop without incident, and was feeling strong starting the second loop, when just two miles into the second loop I fell hard making a sweeping left hand turn.  (For the townies, I went down on Henckel Road, approaching Griffey Lake from the south side of the lake, just before the downhill gets steep, at that left hand turn near the golf course.)  Evidently I just slid out and went down at about 20mph.  I hit my head (I was wearing a helmet) and lost consciousness for a about a minute or two.

When I came to, there were several golfers (the golf course is right next to the road) around me.  They called the ambulance (and Lana) and I was taken to the hospital.  They took a CT scan (negative), confirmed that I had a concussion, cleaned me up, stitched two cuts on my face and sent me home with some Vicodin.  (SWEEEEEEEET).

Fortunately, I broke NO BONES and have ZERO MAJOR DAMAGE to my body.  Just a few cuts and bruises, mostly on my face.  My bike also appears to be okay, too!  I could be back on my bike as soon as TOMORROW if my bruses heal well overnight!

Here are the lessons learned:

1. I am an idiot who doesn’t know how to handle my bike.  Initially, I thought I may have been hit by a car, but this was incorrect.  I simply slid out making a left hand turn.  The minor damage to my bike, as well as the damage to my hands, legs and face supports this.
2. Cyclists NEED to wear proper protection when riding a bike.  Fortunately, I had this covered.  I was wearing my helmet, which served its purpose by cracking and destroying itself.  I was also wearing gloves, which saved my hands some damage.  I was also wearing sunglasses, which were scratched and bloody and may have saved my eyes some damage as well.
3. If you’re a cyclist, YOU MUST HAVE GOOD HEALTH INSURANCE.  I will pay less than $100 for this trip to the hospital, thanks to the good insurance from Indiana University that I got by being an AI.  Cyclists will crash.  It is inevitable.  It’s part of the game.  And when it happens, you’d better be ready to either (a) whip out that health insurance card or (b) pay.
4. Lana is amazing and supportive.  She beat the ambulance to the hospital and was at my side throughout my ER experience.  I am glad to be her partner.
5. Beards are no good for cyclists.  I shave my legs so that in the event of a crash the wounds are easier to clean.  However, I forgot to apply that logic to my FACE and now some of my cuts will be difficult to clean and slower to heal.  First chance I get, the beard goes.

Alright, I am gonna go eat some delicious Mother Bear’s pizza, and maybe some Jiffy Treet (thanks Allison!) and definitely some Vicodin.

Cyclists and Drivers – Pop Quiz.

This is a test of your knowledge of how cyclists and drivers should be sharing the road.  If you fail this test, or even miss a single question, an untimely demise will come for you sooner than you probably anticipated.

Question 1.  You are a driver, driving along at about 45mph on a country road.  The road is moderately hilly and turny, such that the middle line is almost always a double yellow line.  You come upon a cyclist going up a hill at about 10mph.  You cannot see more than about 50 feet of road beyond the cyclist, as the hill crests at that point.  Here’s an example of the kind of road I’m talking about.

As the driver, do you:

(A) Accelerate quickly and try to pass the cyclist, hoping that another car doesn’t come over the crest of the hill as you are passing the cyclist
(B) wait 4 seconds for the cyclist to get up the hill and pass him safely when you can see the road ahead

If you answered (A), you are an idiot.  If you answered (B), you get a “thank you” wave from me as you pass me as we are going down the hill.

Question 2.  You are a cyclist, cycling at about 19mph on a similar, but flatter country road to question 1.  Traffic is moderate to high.  You see some cars heading toward you in the opposite lane of traffic, and, at the same time, you hear a car or two coming up behind you.  There is no rideable shoulder.  In which part of the lane should you be riding?

(A) As far to the right as possible
(B) In the right tire track
(C) In the center of the lane
(D) In the left tire track

No derogatory marks if you get this one wrong, but the correct answer is usually (C) or (D).  Riding as far to the right is usually a bad idea, because it invites idiot drivers to try and pass you while sharing the lane with you.  This usually means you get “buzzed” (passed too closely) and it is unsafe for you.  The right tire track is an even worse idea than riding on the white line, because the idiot drivers will *still* try to pass you and you’ll have even less space between you and the car.  Riding in the center or the left tire track (known as “taking the lane”) is often the only way to ensure your safety in this type of situation, as traffic travelling in your direction can’t safely get around you.

Most novice cyclists attempt to “stay to the right” (i.e. choices (A) or (B) when they encounter heavy traffic.  Unfortunately, this is often a higher-risk maneuver than taking the lane.  You’ll get more honks from drivers by taking the lane, but I’d rather get the honks–that means that they are seeing you and not hitting you with their Motorized Killing Machine!

Okay, Question 3.  You are the driver again, and you come upon a cyclist.  This time, the road is flat, the yellow line is single dashed, and there are no cars ahead or behind you.  The coast is clear to get around her.  Do you:

(A) rev your engine to show how big your penis is as you pass her
(B) honk your horn to alert the cyclist you are going to make a pass
(C) gently accelerate past the cyclist, moving halfway into the next lane to make the pass
(D) gently accelerate past the cyclist, moving all the way into the next lane to make the pass

If you answered (A), you are a douche. (B) may be tempting, but we can hear–and possibly see–you back there. Beeping your horn may distract the cyclist and cause her to swerve, so there is really no need even to give a quick beep before you pass. (C) is getting better (and often acceptable), but why not (D) give the cyclist the full lane if you can? She will absolutely appreciate it.

Last question. You are the cyclist, doing about 21mph along on a slightly hilly, moderately turny country road similar to that in question 1. Behind you comes a school bus. Do you:

(A) take the lane, making it difficult for the school bus to pass you safely
(B) continue as normal, probably riding in the right tire track, and hope that that damn school bus gets by you soon
(C) pull off the road as soon as you can to let the school bus by you

Just pull off the road. Cyclists have to concede a bit, too. School bus drivers (and other utilitarian vehicles like snowplows and city buses) have an important job to do, and their use of the road, in my opinion, supersedes a recreational (or even a commuter) cyclist’s use of the road. It’s the nice thing to do, the driver will appreciate it, and from a pragmatist’s view, this is wise as the driver will be more likely to keep a kind eye out for cyclists in the future!

Stay tuned for more Pop Quizzes, as I ride outside more and observe more and more Highway Shennanigans.

I Bought a Tandem Bicycle Today.

Link to Photo album

Link to the same pictures from my website (higher resolution, unorganized)

 

Okay, here’s the story about our search for, and then the subsequent purchase of a tandem bicycle.

Lana and I have been interested in getting a tandem bicycle (or “tandemsickle” as we call it) since probably late 2007, when we read stories about cute couples adventuring across the U.S. on their tandem bike, loaded with panniers, having a great time and looking really fit.  Unfortunately, neither of us had a lot of money, and tandems are expensive.  We decided to try to get a gently used, slightly older tandem. After investigating a bit, it turned out that the market for used tandems is pretty slim, because old tandems either tended to be of low quality, or be far away (which means prohibitively expensive shipping costs).

The other option, which we started investigating around that time as well, was to buy a new tandem from the Bikesmiths bike shop in town.  The 2008 Cannondale Road Tandem 3 came well equipped with good wheels, a 9spd drivetrain, and a frame in our size for a very fair, but still very expensive, $1799 before tax.  We even took one out for a test ride, though it was a size too big for us, and neither of us was really prepared for the ride.  While this was a good value, we had to table this option, as neither of us could put together $1k last winter to go “halvsies” on a tandem (especially since I was planning on buying a tri bike at the same time).

The summer came and went, and we talked intermittently about buying that tandem.  Lana’s job over the summer grew stressful, and we realized that waiting would be prudent, as in addition to being broke we didn’t have any time to get together for rides.  I was content doing my races and saving my money anyway.

This fall, after Labor Day, I noticed that a bike shop in Indy had the same C’Dale Road Tandem 3 available, in our size, in the shop, at a discount.  I gave them a call and learned that the price was $1550 before tax.  An even better buy than Bikesmiths in town!  However, Lana and I still didn’t quite have the money to spend, and so she talked me out of it.

That brings us to about a week ago.  Both of us are doing a bit better money-wise, I saved up a bunch of money through Xmas and being frugal last semester, and the tandem discussion came up once again.  This time, since I had more money, and since we both anticipate lighter schedules for the rest of the year, Lana said she thought it would be okay to get a tandem now.  Since Lana’s blessing was pretty much all I was waiting for (I had saved the necessary funds to purchase the bike outright by then), I quickly resumed my search for a tandem.

A few days ago, having not found any good deals on tandems, I walked into Bikesmiths, prepared to buy the (now 2009) C’Dale tandem for the full retail price of $1775.  I went to order the bike, and I was told that they wouldn’t be available until mid February.  While the delay wasn’t important, since it’s cold outside now, the delay did give me extra time to search for a good deal.

As a last ditch effort, last night I went to the website of the bike shop in Indy that had the 2008 C’Dale tandem on sale after Labor day.  Somehow, they hadn’t sold the tandem at $1550, and it was even marked down further to $1349!  Since the difference between the 2008 and 2009 tandems are mostly cosmetic (paint job, etc), this was really a no-brainer.  I reserved the bike on the spot and made plans to go pick it up in the morning.

This morning, we made the 90 minute drive to the shop in Indy, where the bike was waiting for us, ready to go.  After a few pictures, avoiding the “accessory up-sell,” the Credit Card Swipe, and the happy moment of realizing we finally had our tandem, we zoomed back to Bloomington to resume our normal lives.

In summary, I got an amazingly good deal on this tandem.  This was not an “impulse purchase,” as many of you have asked me.  We’d been considering this for almost 18 months, and a good deal happened to pop up at the right time.  It’s our size, brand new, and ready to ride.  

Was the wait worth it?  I think so.  It just made today’s purchase that much sweeter.

See you on the roads. Look for the cute cycling couple passing you on a beautiful (yet unnamed) red tandemsickle.

Driving Safety Scenario #1: Cyclists and Stop Signs–How Can I Screw This Up?

Let’s say you’re an important guy. driving along in your shiny car, on a straight, relatively flat road in a semi-residential area, and you see a cyclist up ahead. The cyclist is riding in the right tire track, about 2 feet from the white line. You’d really like to pass the cyclist, because it’s important to pass cyclists as quickly as possible, to minimize the inconvenience to your busy schedule. After all, you’re an important guy, who owns a shiny car.

Let’s also say that there’s a STOP sign coming up in about 150 feet. Maybe you see it, maybe you don’t. You’re more concerned about passing that damn cyclist, who by now has added SIX SECONDS onto your commute time. Jesus Christ! What a stupid cyclist. So you pull out in the other lane to attempt to pass the cyclist.

Since you’re a nice guy in your shiny car, you accelerate gently, take most of the opposite traffic lane, and start to overtake the cyclist. However, at this point you have arrived at the stop sign. The cyclist is in the correct lane of traffic, coming to a stop at the stop sign, and you are in the opposite lane of traffic, coming to a stop at the stop sign, in the opposite lane of traffic.

Did I mention you were in the opposite lane of traffic? Coming to a STOP sign?

The cyclists comes to a complete stop to allow you to merge back onto the proper side of traffic. You, on the other hand, roll the stop sign at 15mph and show your frustration by honking at the cyclist, who of course caused the whole incident by being on the damn road. As you honk you finish merging onto the proper side of the road, just in time to avoid a car approaching from the opposite direction (the car is in the correct traffic lane).

Incidentally, the same cyclist catches up to you a half mile ahead, when you are forced to wait at a long red light for two minutes.