The plan was simple: Alan and I would ride out Middle Road, follow Bairdford to the Red Belt, and return via Logan and Saxonburg Boulevard. All was well until the return on Saxonburg, where I flatted. No big deal, right? I swapped out the tube, and in the process of inflating it, the pump ate […]

Posted on July 4th, 2009 by admin
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Picnic races tonight, so a short race (30 laps), full field, and lots of primes. I thought about trying to go for a prime before the race, but terrible start position meant I spent a good portion of the race just trying to move up. The pace was fast, as expected, but not terrible. I […]

Posted on July 1st, 2009 by admin
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So we planned a trip to Connecticut to visit family around a bike race. There’s a report on the team website, so this will include more personal reflections on the race. * I really want to underscore how relatively safe the race felt, particularly the corners. This is likely the product of these guys racing […]

Posted on June 28th, 2009 by admin
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Last night’s poor performance has me again questioning my choice of training races. I’ve posted two results from several months of racing in the Bs. Of course, results aren’t why I’m doing these races. I suspect if I crack the top ten this year in the Bs it is only because ten people lined up […]

Posted on June 25th, 2009 by admin
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P course tonight. Hot. Lots of people. I really wanted to stick with the main group. This plan latest approximately five laps. What happened? Well, some gaps started to form in front of me (move up in the start grid, dummy!), and I spend a lot of energy chasing those down. I was hoping the […]

Posted on June 24th, 2009 by admin
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Let’s get this out of the way first–the race was far, far better than last year’s debacle (of course, that bar was fairly low to clear, eh?). HUGE field. 50+ pre-registered, plus more day of. Combine this with narrow farm roads, and there was literally no room to move in the group. John Heffner and […]

Posted on June 21st, 2009 by admin
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(or, Why Exactly Do I Race Bs Again?) Not much to report here. I mean, how interesting is it to read about pack fodder week after week? The race followed the usual script, mostly–break, break caught, break, break caught, break, break caught. At one point, the break swelled to roughly half the pack, at which […]

Posted on June 10th, 2009 by admin
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Yesterday was the Oakmont criterium (Riverview Grand Prix). John and I lined up for the team in the category 4/5 race (22 laps, 16 miles), along with 43 other racers. Scary. Fine weather, albeit a bit hot. There was a bit of breeze, but it only seemed problematic at one point in the course. My […]

Posted on June 8th, 2009 by admin
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I shall never again criticize legacy code that I did not write. Often, as a developer, you may find yourself slapping your forehead, saying what the… when reviewing an existing code base. This reaction, while perfectly valid, is short-sighted. It does not account for the rapid changes in scope that occur rather late in the […]

Posted on June 5th, 2009 by admin
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The alarm went off at 5:45 AM, but I didn’t feel like getting out of bed and riding. So I dozed for awhile, figured I would just ride later, then got up and drank coffee and ate toast. The rest of the family woke up a little while later, and I went for a short […]

Posted on May 30th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Saturday