Cat 5s went off hard and chaotic, and the cornering skills were such that if you were in the middle of the pack around the first two corners you were already way behind due to the yo-yo. I had a rough start, so that was where I was, but I took it easy and made up a few positions around each turn (come on guys, where were you when I was teaching that cornering class yesterday?).

End of lap 2 saw the first two of three crashes. One when a rider cut across my teammates line and clipped his wheel. Boom. Emergency braking to avoid running over teammate. Lost a ton of position. Second crash happened at the same time, but I didn’t see much other than the thud of a helmet on the ground. Both riders took their free lap and jumped back in.

My avoidance maneuver kept me upright so I didn’t get to cash in a skin-ticket for a free lap. The rest of the race was a cat and mouse game where I would pick a wheel half a lap ahead, catch it before the upwind back stretch so I could sit on it for 200 yards, then sprint around on corners 7and 8 onto the downwind finishing stretch. Lather, rinse, repeat. Made up at least ten positions, but they were too spread out from the main field to catch back on. No points for me tonight. Immediately after finishing, I could feel the muscle soreness kick back in from Monday nigh’s weightlifting session in the gym. I’m glad it stayed away during the race at least.

That cornering class I mentioned was a series of clinics run by Les Wooldridge (of the Harpeth Racing Team, and also VP of the Harpeth Bike Club). Les put me in charge of the cornering class. I set up cones to show entry points, apexes, and exit points on a couple of different types of corners. We went through things from the ground up; all the way from pedal position to countersteering, line selection, and body position. By the time the class was over they were making smooth turns at speed with nary a line change through the curve.

We had another group working on contact drills at the same time. After both groups had been through the classes we split into groups and worked on riding a smooth paceline around the racetrack at the Nashville Fairgrounds (the Pseudodrome).

It was cool to watch the progression from beginner rider to more confident Bicycle Pilot. it’s also amazing to think how much of those skills I take for granted. Even as a relative beginner I know that the time spent working on riding technique has paid huge dividends in safety and smoothness in a pack or race situation. Last night’s crit race really showed that. Many of the riders would brake hard before a corner, sacrificing a ton of hard-earned momentum and position in order to go through the corner at a speed that they felt comfortable with. I would set my entry speed early, apex the corner with enough room for error, and sail right past them without touching the brakes.

It’s a crazy packed week this week. Cornering clinic, Crit race, tonight I’m going to check out the race loop at Hamilton Creek on the mountain bike (more about that later this week), then on Friday we head up to Kentucky for the Horsey Hundred on Saturday, then right back to Nashville for the Gatorade Criterium that Harpeth Racing is putting on. Hope my legs hold out!

Finally, something cool. I’m going to have to build some of these. Austin from Green Fleet Messengers pointed them out, and I definitely have some tubes that can’t be repaired. Click pic or here for full post

Bicycle tubes turned into shelving

Working on the logo with her (that means offering unecessary commentary while she came up with the design), I came across some great examples of race posters that inspired me for future events.

The poster is the first thing a prospective racer sees when they learn about your event, so it is important that it captures some of the essence of what the event is about.

The poster design influences the vibe of the event and sets the tone of what kind of event is being held. They are kind of like movie posters, or concert posters in that way. Fixed-gear crit in an industrial park in the middle of the night? Something like a punk rock poster from the 70s comes to mind. State Championship Omnium? Something more formal that brings to mind the high level of competition and notoriety of the event.

I saw these two posters on Trackosaurus Rex and wanted to share them. Both are great examples of the art. I especially love the inclusion of the World Championship stripes in both of them. It’s a perfect, slightly tongue-in-cheek touch reference similar to how a lot of local racing clubs refer to their weeknight group hammerfests as the “Tuesday Night World Championships”.

As much as this cost, it’s painfully obvious that new tires for my car will cost less per mile than any of the other vehicles I own (human powered or not). It’s good that the Civic no longer drives like the Hyundai Accent I rented last week while in Round Rock, but it would be just as good to still have that cash for a single speed cyclocross bike.

Not that I race cyclocross (yet) but I’ve been wanting a single speed for training rides, and I might as well get one that uses big, fat, expensive tires that only last a few thousand miles while I’m at it.

Completely non-related to this post, but today on Make I saw this patent application for a coffin built into an auger. They’re always trying to find new ways to screw us.

The plan for the day was an endurance pace on flat to rolling hills for the first hour, then an hour of endurance mixed with tempo (in Brad’s words, halfway between easy endurance, and god-awful threshold) over a hillier route, then another hour of endurance as we rode back the shop. Most of this plan went well.

We rode out Del Rio in a double paceline, talking and taking things easy. A quick turn onto the broken pavement of Old Natchez Trace broke the formation up as everyone worked to avoid the worst of the potholes. After the short gravel section on Temple, we regrouped and headed towards the Natchez Trace Parkway. Some of the faster guys pushed the pace a bit on the first climb coming up from Hwy 100, but most of us were still staying together this early in the ride.

Brad coaxed me into keeping the chain in the big chainring up the climbs to work on leg strength, which I did for the next few miles. Our goal for this ride was mostly endurance paced riding, and I knew that Brad, Les, and a few others with a good sense of discipline would stick to that game plan regardless of what the speedsters chose to do. I tried to do a little of both. Stick with the front group as much as possible while not letting my heart rate and wattage blow up in any single effort.

At a certain point (after the big bridge over 96, but not to Hwy 46) I noticed that our group no longer contained Brad and Les. When we ride as a team we try to remain aware of where everyone is so we stay together as much as possible. I made the group aware that we were missing some riders, and Jay had us soft pedal for a few minutes as he dropped back to find them. When we regrouped a few miles later Brad ribbed us a little about the pace,  “I was following the workout, what were you guys doing?”

So much for discipline. Still, Mark reported that his max heart rate during the ride was only 169, so based on his threshold he was following the workout. He’s just got an aerobic engine that a lot of us don’t.

At the Hwy 46 exit, James Martinez and a few of the newer D-Squad members elected to head back towards Franklin, while the rest of us proceeded to the small town of Fly. The section of the Trace between Leiper’s Fork and Fly is mostly flat with a few long hills of an easy grade. Les (our team mentor/coach) discussed using this stretch to practice chase simulations later in the Spring. We have done this a few times in the past and chasing (or being chased, for that matter) is a great motivator for working at a higher pace, and working together smoothly with your group.

I sat back with Brad as we approached the turnoff to Hwy 7.  He was starting to run out of gas and I knew that we could ride a higher pace if we shared the load of cutting through the wind which had picked up considerably. We turned onto Hwy 7 together and headed downhill into a headwind that had roadside flags standing straight out from the poles. We pedaled down the hill at 200+ watts, barely breaking 18mph, where we would normally be closing in on 40mph on a clear day. A cold mist was also falling, heavy enough to dampen everything and make the temperature feel like it had dropped by ten or more degrees.

The rest of the team was waiting at the Fly General Store, and it was obvious that no one was excited about the 20 miles we still had to ride to get back to the shop. As we downed some food and liquids under the porch, it started to rain in earnest. You could see the reluctance on everyone’s face as conditions worsened. Jay said, “If it were ten degrees warmer I wouldn’t give it a second thought… but this is potentially dangerous.” No one wanted to go back out. It was then that Jonathan mentions, “I live only a mile or so down the road, and I have two pickup trucks that we could use to ferry ourselves back to the shop.” Instantly all but one of us hard, determined cyclists decided to take Jonathan’s offer. Mitch, now nicknamed “The Belgian Boult” decided to ride the remaining 15 miles home.

We rode the longest “mile or so” in the world down Leiper’s Creek Rd to Jonathan’s house in a worsening cold rain. There was no good position in the group to avoid it. Up front and you were first into the wind. Mid-pack and you got a face full of salty road spray that soaked you to the bone in seconds. Finally I saw Jonathan’s mailbox in the distance and moved to the front so no one would miss it. I was so glad to get off of the main road and headed for cover that I sprinted up the soft gravel driveway. Mountain bike skills can come in handy on the road

After dripping a gallon of muddy water on the kitchen floor, and trying in vain to warm up around the gas burners on the stove, we loaded up the trucks and headed back to Franklin. Wet, cold, defeated, but surviving to ride another day. Thanks Jonathan, we owe you one.

Oh yeah. The “Belgian Boult” got picked up as we headed through Leiper’s Fork. He’s officially 10 miles harder than any of us.

I saw this post on Make Magazine’s Blog while sittingn Portland Brew with Daryl and Carolyn from the Mid TN SORBA (southern offroad bicycle association). We met today to discuss rebuilding the www.sorbamidtn.org website in Wordpress.

The Make Magazine article states that the scientists had attempted to calibrate the fusion reactor using a stationary neutron emitter, but it wasn’t accurate enough, hence the toy train, which increased the accuracy ten fold! This is genius at work. The ability to go fr0m high level technological work (calibrating a fusion reactor) to a decidedly low-brow solution (toy train). Sometimes the simplest solution is indeed the best.

Frequently when I find myself stuck looking for a solution to a difficult problem, I need an outside perspective to help crystallize the solution. I wonder if something similar happened here.

Read the original article here: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/01/toy_train_used_to_calibrate_fusion.html

My grandmother’s very full house served as an overnight location for us as well as my Mom, nephews, sister and sister’s fiancé who are all up here for a wedding shower.

This morning we got up and rode a quick 22 miles to stretch out the legs, ate a ribeye sandwich outside of Ransall’s Grocery, and hit the road for Council Bluffs.

I’m still pondering bringing my Dell Mini 9 along with me so I can update this site from the road. I am already taking a digital camera and iPhone, so who knows. Why miss a chance to over complicate a vacation using technology?

On another topic, I almost took a pigeon to the forehead while riding to work this morning on my motorcycle. Someone had thrown french fries into the road and the stupid bird waited till the last second to fly away. I ducked, and it missed the top of my helmet by mere inches.

Example @15 seconds after some unsafe-for-public-road style riding. (Not my video)

• Clingman’s Dome Bike Ride – Was awesome, hard, and I can’t wait to do it again. Definitely worth a blog post
• Fly Fishing with Eric Stroup on Spruce Creek in Pennsylvania – Who knew a trout that big would be willing to live in water that shallow
• Horsey Hundred Ride Report – Hot, long, hillier than I expected

There’s more, but this is what I can think of that definitely needs a post. Hold me to this, Wordpress. We have made a pact.

Olympus Stylus 1050SW

Hence my desire to purchase a new digital camera.

A few years ago some of the fishing guides out in Montana started carrying Pentax Optio digital cameras, and we got some nice shots of rainbow trout being released from underwater. They were impressive shots.

I sometimes take our Canon on fishing trips, but I’m always vigilant about not getting it wet, or dropping it. I have also never taken it on a long bike ride because I am afraid of sweat infilatrating the lens assembly, or causing some other malfunction.

A waterproof digital camera would solve all of these issues. Fishing, cycling, hiking, it could go anywhere. RAGBRAI this summer will definitely provide for some interesting (read: incriminating) photo opportunities.

A bit of research into shutter lag, waterproofness, and durability, and I should have one of these in my jersey pocket on the next ride, or in the waders on the next fishing trip.