Cranky Monkey Series

Just to keep this blog thing going, I'll say that I had a great Cranky race series. Raced the single-speed category, and was lucky enough to have won 3 races and the overall (for which I won a very cool set of On-One Mary handlebars). I've been wondering if I'm sandbagging and should go "back" to racing Expert. When I first started SingleSpeeding 3 seasons ago, I did race Expert at Wakefield (there was no Cranky then). I suddenly shot up the scoreboard with my big gear and big wheels. I think I was 3rd for the Overall Series, and usually finished around 4th or 5th in each race.

Last season, for some reason, I wanted to compete against my own kind and raced the shorter SS race. I have to say that the shorter distance did, and still does, bother me. Out of the 4 races last year, I don't think I finished higher than 3rd. Judd, Evan, and Jed I believe won them all. This season, of the 4 Wakefields and 3 Crankys, I did not win 2 races, and had a sprint finish at another one. If the SS World Championships had not pulled away folks like Nick, Steve, Jed, Dave and others, I likely would not have won the last Cranky either.

So, am I sandbagging?

Wild 100

It was definitely not 100 degrees in Slatyfork for the Wild 100, like it was here at home. More like 70s, and for once, no rain! I raced the 2-person with Andy Neal as my teammate, both of us on single-speeds.



The short version is we took 2nd place in the 2-Man class. We made a smart choice on our way to CP-2 that no one in front of us had done yet, and we gained a lot of time there. But, we gave most of that time right back to several groups led by Chris Scott who bushwhacked a section on their way to CP-3. We took a longish route to 3 that contained the best singletrack of the race across Tea Creek Mountain. We rode to CP-4 with a group of folks from Kentucky and Ohio who had just been "lost" for about a 1/2 hour, and were none too happy about it. Andy knew a bushwhack to cut off the top of Prop's Run Trail which gained us a few places to the last CP.

We finished at 6:51, it was the fastest Wild 100 for either of us. Not sure how many miles we actually rode since neither of us carried any technology. We could've used a compass though...


a very pleasant Wild, one of my best. Congrats to all who rode that race! lookin' forward to the Shenandoah Mountain 100 and hanging out with most of those folks again.

Death from the parking lot

One of my favorite VDOTers died today. Mike Hamilton was hit by a dump truck pulling out of our VDOT parking lot in his orange truck. He apparently died instantly (as if that's any consolation to anyone).

Mike was one those old-school kind of guys. Lived and worked in northwest Loudoun County his whole life. Not many people do that any more. He was the Superintendent of the Hillsboro Headquarters. The Hillsboro office was always far and away the best performing VDOT area in Northern Virginia. This is directly because of Mike Hamilton. Lately, Mike had not been spending much time at Hillsboro because he kept filling in at other offices when their leaders turned over. Whenever we in GIS and IT developed map applications and software tools for the field staff, Mike and Hillsboro were always the very first ones to embrace them. When we sent out maps for the field to review and return, the first ones back were always from Mike. Not once in a while, but every single time. Mike was out front on everything we did.

The reason Mike was here at the main office today is that he was meeting with HR about applying for a new management opening.

He was going to retire in 3 years, and stay home to take care of his handicapped daughter.
He coached,
He volunteered,
He will be missed by many,
He will be missed by me.

Certified Nurse Midwife

Kim passed her Board exams months ago, but this week she received both her new CNM lab coat, and her first position. She took the job at the District of Columbia Birth Center where she'll be providing care to the underserved women of NE and SE D.C.

So, it looks like no Alaska for us (Kim certainly tried though), and the women of DC will be the beneficiaries.


Congratulations Kim!

surf

An update from the Island of Hatteras where I'm spending some time with my family and Kim's niece & husband, and their 2 young surfer boys.

Surfing for me, is 90% paddling, 9.5% waiting for waves, and .5% riding waves. I've been a novice surfer for about 25 years and the total amount of time I've spent actually riding waves is maybe equivalent in time to one bike lap at Wakefield. But I love it nonetheless and would be quite happy spending time every day trying to get beyond novice.

Jake, the 12-yr old

Surfing also has a "critical moment" similar to golf's (see golf blog below..), but with a more physical penalty for not succeeding. It's the moment of takeoff, after paddling up to speed, and after being lucky enough to be in the right spot to catch the wave. On small waves, the penalty is usually just a harmless fall, but on bigger waves, missing the takeoff can be quite painful.

Yesterday, after catching lots of crappy waves in the morning at Ocracoke, Jake, Ryder, and I wanted another session after we got back to Hatteras, and with a SW wind, we headed to Buxton to the Coast Guard Station north of the lighthouse. When we crested the dunes, we were amazed at the difference in size and quality of the waves here vs. those in Ocracoke where we had onshore winds messing up the surface. Tropical Storm Franklin was sending some weak pulses this way that weren't quite getting around the corner to Frisco and Ocracoke. There were only a handful of guys out, and all of them looked like experienced surfers. Ryder (the 10-year old) said he'd forgotten to bring a waterproof band-aid to cover up his stitches and so he said he'd sit out. I was somewhat relieved since it was a long paddle to get out to the break and I knew I'd have a hard time keeping track of all 3 of us in big-ish surf. Jake (the 12-year old) and I started the paddle out and it was tough. Jake eventually made it out, but I couldn't get through on my longboard. After struggling for a long time, I looked backwards and realized I was still closer to Ryder sitting on the beach than I was to the break. I headed back in and walked south around the groin and then paddled easily out right next to the groin. Should have thought of that the first time.

Anyway, the point of this now rambling post was to pat myself on the back and say that Jake and I each had 3 chances at the "critical moment", and we both made all 3. Good thing, cause it would've hurt if we'd blown the takeoffs, and we more than likely would not have been able to make the paddle back out. I paddled for, and caught 3 waves, all larger than anything I'd ridden in years and I kicked out of all of them before they closed out on me. I don't think I've ever been "3 for 3" before, and since we only had about 30 minutes for that session, that's all we had time for, and we were both quite happy to call it quits.

Da boyz

golf

I spent the morning last Friday playing golf with my lifelong best friend Mike. Mike's a regular golfer, and I'm a "once every couple years" golfer. The idea was mine, mainly just to spend some time with Mike and to give a little money to a VDOT benefit cause.

Golf, for me, is 90% looking for balls. Even on a relatively open course, I lost a lot of balls. Golf has a "critical moment", that millisecond where the club strikes the ball. If everything isn't perfectly aligned at that moment of impact, chances are good that I'll soon be poking through tall weeds looking for my ball. No matter how well I hit the ball on the practice range (and I do), I get nervous and tense up over my real shots. I usually swing too hard, squeeze the club, or yank my head at that critical moment, usually topping the ball. Ironically though, the only two good shots I hit were two iron shots out of the rough. I think it's because I was forced to hold onto the club very tightly to keep it from twisting in the rough before impact. So, for those two shots, I guess I kept a consistent grip and swing all the way through.

If golf is going to be one of the games of my senior years, I hope I get a bit better at it.

Single Speed, Multi Gender?

The final Wednesday at Wakefield Single Speed race was a blast as they all were. Nick got a flat midway through the 2nd lap and he dropped off my wheel. SteveD also had problems and dropped his chain 4 times which allowed me a lot of space. Thanks to all of the great competition, the PVC folks for running such a fine series, and The Bike Lane for the great support and prizes. Can't wait till next year.

Weds races

We luckily got the race in last night between storms all around the area.  We Single Speeders were schooled by Mr. Jason Beckley, otherwise known as the "novice who crashed into Pooch".  Jason usually races Expert, but last night dominated our race, then took 5th in the Exp. race.  Then, to further rub insult into us, he rode home to Annandale on one bike, pulling the other alongside him, while we drank beer at the finish area watching him ride across the bridge.

I took 2nd place, a little ways behind Jason. For part of the last lap, I thought I could catch up and make an interesting finish, but I just couldn't get there, and passing was getting more difficult with several lapped riders between us at all times.

A baby step towards Alaska

Kim had prelim phone interviews with 2 different places in Alaska this week.  One in Anchorage, and one in the bush, Kotzebue, which is inside the Arctic Circle.

 

 

A photo finish

My friends Dave & Holly took some great pics of Sunday's Cranky Monkey race, including this sequence of the sprint finish with Nick. Nick posted them on the Pedalshop forum.

Father's Day at the race

I had a good Dad's day at the first Cranky Monkey Wakefield race of the season. The race went well, and I had a good result in the Single Speed class, but I had a most interesting pre-ride, and I'm lucky it didn't carry over into the race. My legs were heavy from the previous day's effort of carrying large concrete chunks for the trail maintenance, so I needed to loosen them up as much as possible. I headed into the Bowl area for a quick warm-up. I hooked my handlebar end on one of those narrow tree-squeezes, broke off my bar-end, and hit the dirt. A few minutes later my pedal threads itself off the spindle, and I'm staring at a bare spindle. I look at my watch and it's 10 minutes till the noon start. I scramble around looking for my pedal in the leaves and dirt and start wondering from whom I can borrow a pedal, like immediately. I find my pedal and luckily was able to thread it back on (I've never seen this problem before...). I didn't have time now to finish the Bowl section so I just headed for daylight and the nearest road, bushwhacking through the woods a bit. I find a dirt road and pop out of the woods, onto Braddock Rd, across from the shopping center. Yikes! So, check my watch again and see I have about 7-8 minutes to book it up the road to the starting line. Luckily for me, my race was much less eventful. Father's Day is turning into a lucky day for me to race.

Alaska bound?

Kim applied for a midwive job in Anchorage this week. Maybe if I write it, it'll come true.

a Joe Foley pic

Joe Foley takes some great bike photos. Here's one from last summers Wakefield race series. Note the special "water" bottle.

Oliver's blog...

Last weekend's trip to ride Thomas the Tank Engine is a good time to start up a blog for Oliver.

a funhog day

Today was a good sports day for me. I did the Backyard Burn Trail Run at Hemlock Overlook Park, and then got in a couple laps on the bike at Fountainhead later in the day after Kim took Oliver out to a friend's pool in Winchester (they all had a great day too! Oliver loves the pool).

The run went really well for me, I did the shorter 5-mile distance. Trail running is fun, maybe I won't quit running again after this race like I planned to do.

Oliver's evening social club

MORE camping trip

Buzzard Rocks ride

It's impossible to really describe the Buzzard Rocks Trail. Here's Barry O'Melinn riding a typical line from today's ride. Barry hadn't climbed a mountain in 2 years since his knee surgeries, and he was psyched to be finally out there again. He's still a technical riding wizard.

triking

Oliver is gettin' around pretty good these days on his trike.

Bike to Work Day (long post..)

Today was National Bike to Work Day, and as I've done the past couple years, I served as the VDOT representative at Fairfax Gov't Center, one of the many pit stops around the area. The pit stops have food, coffee, raffles, t-shirts etc. for the commuters, and some stops even have live bands playing. Bike to Work Days for me usually mean a really early start, some extra miles, and an early ride home for the day. This one was slightly more interesting than the others.

Rain had been forecast for today as far back as last Sunday, and it hit right on time. I woke at 0500 to wet roads and wet air, but nothing really coming down. I got quickly out of the house without waking Oliver (always a challenge), and hit the road with lights on. After a mile I remembered I hadn't brushed my teeth. Luckily I also remembered I had my toothbrush/toothpaste still in my pack from last weekend's camping trip, so I pulled off on the side of the empty trail and did what I needed. Back on the bike, riding the trail along New Braddock/Braddock Rd. I had printed out an aerial photo and map from work showing an abandoned road which cut from Braddock Rd. into an old Fairfax neighborhood directly across from the entrance to Gov't Center. Sweet, I thought. Well, that abandoned road was completely gone so I pushed/rode my bike along a powerline cut for about 1/4 mile until hitting the neighborhood street I needed. My pants, socks, and shoes were now soaked through from the wet, tall brush, not to mention the many small hidden water holes I stepped in. Hopefully, I thought, my clothes would dry out some, or I'd be spending the next few hours standing around wet. Oh well, at least I'll be getting paid for it thought. I've certainly been wetter for less money before.

I made it there pretty dry other than my feet and pants and we had plenty of cover from the rain which had picked up by then and was quite heavy. The organizers were worried that no one would show up with this weather, especially since the Gov't Center area is not a very popular bike commuting area. But, it is the seat of County government, so they want to be a part of it, and they do a good job. Many County employees biked to work despite the rain, and it was evident from their bikes and gear that they aren't regular bikers or commuters. All were happy, not a one complained of the rain. It was interesting looking at everyone's bikes, and seeing their home locations pinned up on the map board. One guy rode all the way from D.C. on a 1950s-era Pee-Wee Herman style Schwinn. Two and a half hours, in the cold rain, in shorts. He won a prize. Surprisingly, many people did bike, and many even went out of their way to stop for a while at our pit stop.

The County Board of Supervisor's Chairman, Gerry Connolly was there. Folks from REI, the County Trails Coordinator (Jenny Pate), and a rep from Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA) were also there. The lady from WABA started an argument with Connolly over some of his positions toward bikes, roads, or trails. She challenged him on something she had heard attributed to him. Connolly dug in like a pit bull and was appalled that she would question an elected official's integrity (without backup). He demanded to know what she meant, and I heard her stammer out a "..I hear things...." and a "...we look at things differently.." before a staff photographer friendly to Connolly pulled him aside for a photo op. Unfortunately, the argument was never resumed. Now, I'm all for confronting politicians and putting them on the spot, but the WABA lady was not well prepared and got flustered when challenged. In my opinion, she blew a good opportunity to get any messages across to him, and I wouldn't be surprised if WABA (the major sponsor of Bike to Work Day) weren't invited back to Fairfax Gov't Center next year.

My ride the rest of the way to work was in pouring rain and wind (not too worried about my shoes and socks now..). Luckily I was able to throw all my bike clothes in the dryer at the Health Club where I shower. Went and did a few hours of regular work, then dressed back in dry clothes and hit the road home in dryer air. However, the creeks were so high they were flowing over top of one of the bridges I use, so I was forced to take all roads home and stay out of the stream valley trail network, which was completely under water. Overall, 2.1" of rain fell. Just a day in the life right..... Sorry for such a long post (if you made it this far...)