#1 Super Tri Guy

Picture courtesy of Jared Eborn.  Thanks for all your help, man.  You still owe me lunch though!

Saying hi to the girls.

Cross style remount.  Even if my technique sucks, I still passed a good three people before getting to the pavement.

So, yeah, I managed a new experience today, venturing into the world of triathlon at the Telos Turkey Tri.  It was pretty fun to try something different and nice to have it so close to home.  I rode my bike to the start, which was only maybe 6 miles or so from home.  Kelly, the girls, and Kelly’s brother Jeff met me there, so I had a cheering section.  Jared was kind enough to give me some pointers before the start, despite that we had lunch riding on the result. There were about 460 people pre-reg’d and, so I’m guessing around 500 total-ish.  Because of the time of the year, they ran it dyslexic- run, bike, swim.  On the other hand, we lucked out with temps in the 60’s and low wind.  Beats snow!!

The run was a painful 5k.  I tried to take off with the fast guys, and got maybe 500 meters with them before realizing I was over my head.  I pretty much lost ground from there to the finish.  I got “chicked” 3X and was probably 30th or so overall.

The bike was a different story.  Two laps of 5 mile course.  It was pretty weird as I thought I could make up a ton of time in the corners, but they were all super tight with only one lane and lots of varied ability levels riding 3 abreast.  It was tough to tell where you were with the people a lap down and everything, but I knew I didn’t get passed, and I was passing people consistently.  Apparently, I went pretty fast as I got back to transition and there was only one bike racked up.

I ran over to the pool and boy, oh boy, am I lucky it was a pool swim.  Yeah, swimming at some point in my “preparation” probably would have been good.  I was lucky to have  a lap lead+ on 3rd at the start of the swim because I sucked it up pretty bad.  Unbeknownst to me, Kelly, and Jeff were up in the viewing area above the pool and they said it looked like I was just slapping at the water, and that I was faster when I did the “breast stroke”.  I also walked briefly at one point while in the shallow end. 

In any case, I got through it without getting passed and was pretty stoked on 2nd for my first time.  I checked the age groups, and the top 3 in my age group were the top 3 overall.

The moral of the story is that it’s good to try something new once in awhile.  I’ll probably do some more next year, though when my sister (and full scale triathlete) said it was good to have another triathlete in the family, I could help wincing a little.  Pretty sure I’ll always be a cyclist at heart!  For now, time to rack the TT bike for the year!

WIN!!

Kelly already did a post on this, but I can’t help but unleash one as well.

Upon moving to the great state of Utahpia in 2004 BK (the Before Kids era)  we, as dutiful citizens, registered the vehicles here.  In order to get the Jeep to pass safety, we had to add mudflaps (no naked lady ones were available) and add fender flares to cover the tires.  We never needed such things in CA, which seems backwards as Utah is supposed to be the wild west, but in any case we moved forward with these accessories as necessitated by the state. 

Each year thereafter, the Jeep has failed on some account, but the extenders and mud flaps were good to go.  However, this year I took it to Pep Boys as they were the only place I knew that was open on Saturday and would fix the horn (it would have failed for not having a horn without this forethought).  In anycase, they failed us stating that the tire flares did not cover the entire tire and the mudflaps did not flap low enough.

The particular Pep Boy that I was dealing with said something like:

“My brother just ordered some extenders and flaps for his Jeep and they look pretty sweet”.

In fairness, he did say it peppily. 

I gave him my sob story to no avail, so I did what any good upstanding citizen would do and tried to go to another testing station.  Unfortunately, they could not test our car as it popped up on their computer that we’d failed elsewhere. 

Bummer.  They did pretty much say they would have passed it, and were also kind enough to point out that there is a number you can call to complain and that BY LAW a highway patrol officer has to come and inspect the vehicle.

Figuring that if we have to pay to redo this operation, we might as well drag it out as much as possible, we called.  Of course, they tried to tell us just to get the work done, but we prevailed in getting the UHP to our door. 

The officer, let’s call him Officer Rad, said that although we didn’t quite comply with the full standards set forth by the law, it was clear that we were attempting to comply and that he would never pull someone over for such things and that the testers need to “be reasonable”.  Ultimately, we got our pass!!

There it is folks, don’t give in, or back down.  Although the odds are slim, there are times where you can fight the power and win.

I would like to dedicate this victory to my baby mama.

A funny thing…

happened at the airport last week (sorry to those who saw this on FB already).  The lady behind the counter took my license, but let me know it was expired.  It had expired on my birthday, in June.  Luckily, I had my SS card.  You are supposed to recieve a renewal notice in the mail, but for whatever reason I did not.  I know people always say that, but I am reasonably certain that it never arrived. 

JE told me that I should have known to renew because it was my birthday, but with renewal only coming every five years, that seems a bit much to ask someone to remember.

Anyway, I got on the plane.  They didn’t notice on the way  home, and I’ve now rectified the situation. 

Now if I can just get the Jeep to pass the safety inspection, I am good to go…

I didn’t get lapped…

This might be the first cross race (yesterday at Big Wheeler Farm) I’ve done where Bart did not lap me. 

Got things off to an awesome start by pulling my feet out of both pedals from the gun. 

“Hello, groin… It’s me, top tube!”

It was probably the worst course I could imagine for me.  I can seriously remember doing at least one mountain bike race back in VA that was less technical than this.  Lots of fun, though.

I don’t care what you real cross guys say, I will take upper 60’s and sunny over crap weather anyday.  Bonus: my bike is not completely destroyed.

With this small bit of progress (not getting lapped!), I am sad to announce that it may be my last cross race of the year. Yes, two races could be it.  I am tri-geeking out next weekend, then there’s a weekend off.  Then,  there’s the state chumps/double weekend, but I am pretty sure we’ll leave for Sedona that Saturday and miss the next weekend as well.  Shredding red dirt on the cross bike sounds like a fair exchange.  After that, there’s just not much left.  I wonder if I would actually get better if I did more than 2-3 races/year?  The world may never know.

Kelly already covered Halloween, so just go there.

Jiggety Jig

Got on an earlier flight and made it home by 9:00, instead of 1:00, hallelujah!

Caught the end of the Amityville Horror.  I think the Caveman is the scariest part:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Me like plus signs”

On a similar note, I read a good chunk of “Under the Banner of Heaven” on the flights.  Pretty interesting stuff. 

Our hotel was right next to the Mall of America, and featured the Waterpark of America, purportedly the “World’s Largest Indoor Waterpark”.  That’s what they claim, but until I see every indoor waterpark the world has to offer, I can’t validate.  Anyway, I wanted to try the standing wave surfing thing, but it was like $20 for the day and I only had like an hour to kill.  So, I ran.  For an entire hour, pretty much my record.  I guess I could look at it positively and say it’s faster than walking.

Anyway, home now.  Time to enjoy some halloweening action.

Leaving on a jet plane…

Pretty sure when I’ll be back again.  Midnight tomorrow.

As discussed, hitting out for the mall of uh-merica this arvo.  It’s work and all, but I am mildly excited.  It’s a short enough trip, which helps and it’s always nice to leave cube land, if briefly.

Of course, I’ll miss my girls.  Was lucky enough to walk Haley to the bus stop this morn.  Morgan came too, in her PJ’s and jacket.

I’ll be home for Halloween.  I’ll miss the cross race Saturday to hang with the girls.  Got reg. the Jeep too.  Wonder what it will fail for this year?  I mean besides not having a horn.  At least I didn’t wait until the last day of the month, again.  Oh wait, I did. 

Maybe I’ll race cross Sunday, Sunday, Sunday at Big Wheeler Farm.  If I don’t OD on candy.

An Active Blogger

Yeah, I am trying to stay on this whole web-logging program again.  The next couple days could be tough as I am going to Minnesota, and I don’t know what my time/connectivity will be like.  Yeah, Minnesota! !  Maybe I better watch “Fargo” tonight to brush up on the dialect.

The surprise change in weather yesterday suprised me like something that is surprising.  Even though it was forecasted.  I thought taking a day completely off exorcisms exercising might be good as I was a bit sore from an increased running schedule.  Only a day in, and I can feel the seasonal anxiety disorder kicking in.  Long and whiny story short, I need to get out every (single) day.  At least for a few.  So, see you at lunch time?  I’ll be the tall guy in the 53X11.

Morgan woke up in the middle of the night last night screaming.  I went in and she said that something in her bed licked her.  Actually she says “lick-ed”.  In any case, she fell back asleep immediately, but I was up for an hour or so after that.  Lots of thoughts running through this head.

Finally, I am still getting hits every day from people searching “tracking device in flu shot” or similar from a post (which alleged no such thing) over a year ago.  People, “the man” does not need to inject you with a tracking device.  Your cell phone has that covered.

So it begins…

First commute in the snow this morning.  The roads were pretty much just wet, but with the mega-wind blowing, it was ugly enough to count.  I am trying to avoid viewing winter as my nemesis as I have the last few years.  Nonetheless, the commute to work which is typically just a mild pain in the jugular becomes a full on throat slashing in the winter.  Howev, there’s not much I can do (yeah, yeah, I could move, I guess), so I might as well suck it up and try to enjoy the benefits.  With that in mind, I’m buying a night pass to Sundance.

Draper Cross

First, I don’t know why the pic above ended up in the post below.

Anyway, pics for Sandy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dig the Wu Tang socks courtesy of SockGuy.

Anyway, I did the cross race in Draper.  It was a super fun course, and I definitely preferred the start of this one (pavement) over others I’ve done. In fact, had I gotten into my pedals off the line, I might’ve taken Sandy’s advice and hit it right there.  Not that it would have made much difference as I am just not so good on the technical stuff.  I can say I am pretty fit right now.  Like fit enough I would expect to be there, or at least thereabout in a local road race.  Not so much for the cross!  Bart was kind enough to lap me with about 500 meters to go (or 1 lap + 500 meters to go, in my case), putting me out of my misery.  For the record, it was like 63 and sunny when we arrived, but a downpour arrived just in time for the start and dropped the temp like 10 degrees.  It was fun and I hope to get out a couple more times this year.  Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town for a bunch of the remaining races, but we’ll see what we can do.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705339169/Cycling-giant-McGinnis-dies-of-cancer.html?linkTrack=rss-38

Cycling ambassador Terry McGinnis dies

By Jared Eborn
Utah lost one of its biggest ambassadors for the sport of cycling Saturday when Terry McGinnis, the executive director of the Tour of Utah, passed away after a long battle with cancer.

McGinnis was 46.

“He was a fixture in the Utah cycling community,” Burke Swindlehurst, a professional cyclist from Salt Lake City, said. “Everybody knew him, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a disparaging word said about him. He was just a friend to cycling and a friend to everyone.”

McGinnis was also instrumental in turning the Tour of Utah into one of the biggest bicycle races in the country, attracting many of the nation’s top teams with its challenging terrain and demanding routes.

After the race was canceled in 2007 because of sponsorship problems, McGinnis was asked to take charge of the race. In doing so, the event has quickly become one of the most-anticipated races in the country.

“Over the last couple of years, since he was diagnosed, he wasn’t able to race much,” former teammate and friend Dave Harward said. “But he still did so much and was such a huge part of bringing cycling’s focus to Utah.”

McGinnis, who leaves behind his wife, Cindy, and two children, was diagnosed with cancer about three years ago. At the time, Harward said, doctors told McGinnis he had only a matter of months to live.

Still, with his competitive cycling life largely over, McGinnis jumped into the cycling scene as a coach and administrator — serving on the board of directors of the Utah Cycling Association.

More recently, McGinnis worked tirelessly to make the Tour of Utah a success.

In the advanced stages of cancer this August, McGinnis nonetheless was at the start, finish and all stages in between as the Tour of Utah welcomed hundreds of professionals to the Wasatch Front.

Harward, who said he visited with McGinnis personally on Friday, said his love for bicycling never faded.

“I was lucky enough to talk to him,” Harward said. “He said, ‘I’ve been fighting this so long and I don’t think I’ve got much more.’ It was pretty hard for all of us that have known him.”

Under his leadership, the Tour of Utah grew from a nearly dead race in 2007 to an event at the top of the National Racing Calendar’s priority list.

“He was pretty much the savior of the Tour of Utah,” Swindlehurst said. “To step in and resurrect the event, even though he was going through what he was … it takes a special person to accept that challenge.”

Few outside of his circle of friends understood his health concerns, especially just two months ago during the Tour of Utah.

“He was passionate about cycling and passionate until the very end,” Swindlehurst said. “He had incredible amounts of will power and will be missed.”

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Like so many of us, T Mac lived and breathed cycling.  I wasn’t as close with T Mac as many of the Utah cycling community were, but I can say I don’t remember ever hearing a negative comment coming from the man. Something we can all aspire to.

Rest In Peace, Terry.