Apparently the Russian novelist, dissident, and fist-shaker at the ills of modernism has died. If you are unfamiliar with his work, I recommend his commencement address at Harvard, given in 1978. Time Magazine also has an article from 1974 detailing his expulsion from the Soviet Union as a dissident.
Posted on 3 August 2008
Deer Lakes Meandering, with Guys Run and Fox Chapel Road (no map, for reasons that become apparent)
Rode with Chris M today. The intention was to ride up to Deer Lakes Park, and work our way over to Dellenbaugh Road, then hit the Red Belt and Middle Road. Then I forgot the directions and we missed the turn up Little Deer Creek Road. Improvising from there, we rode up Crawford Run, over to Bailey’s Run (I think) then eventually over to Deer Creek. Using my keen (read: horrible) navigational skills, we ended up back on Freeport Road. From there we climbed Guys Run and came back on Fox Chapel Road. I had my usual crack near the top of Guys Run (that hill is about 400 meters longer than my conditioning), but otherwise I felt pretty good. It was good riding with Chris, as the pace was probably a bit higher than I would have maintained on my own.
Odometer read a bit over 42 miles.
Posted on 3 August 2008
Large field tonight–33 racers. Lots of newcomers, too. This translated to a bit of sketchy race, and there was a wreck. But more on that later.
I started at the front, and ended up taking a flyer with three other riders for the lap and half. This effort wasn’t too taxing, but, then again, I didn’t work much, either. I sat in for awhile, got boxed inside, then when the group went high (because everyone was following either Ted or Rob, who were, you know, pulling off so someone would pull through) I’d accelerate through. This happened several times, including once solo, but nothing stuck. It was a bit frustrating, as most people were content to sit in and let a few CMU and Iron City guys do all the work. This has the effect of causing the pace to yo-yo pretty radically, too, as when the stronger guys pull off to rest, no one actually pulls through. I feel like I spent a lot of time in the wind, and I realized I don’t have the legs to pull off the sort of efforts required for a long turn at the front.
The wreck happened with about 15 laps to go. There was quite a bit of sketchiness in the corners, and even in the straights (side note: thanks for Chris Mayhew’s contact drills a few weeks ago–I made contact (hips to my bars) at one point but managed to stay relaxed and neither us thought much about it). Coming out of the final corner, someone went down just behind me, and I heard the clatter of plastic and metal pavement, meaning at least a few other people went down too. This led to a serious conundrum within the group. Everyone immediately sat up, which is one of those conflicting things–you need to keep racing, since there are 30 other people who are expecting to go fast (well, maybe not that many) but you feel like a jerk for racing when someone could be hurt. Coming back around, the group was literally doing 19mph on the back straight.
Heading into the last lap, I wasn’t in a bad position, maybe middle of the pack, but I couldn’t get far enough outside to have a clear shot up the finishing straight. Two guys sat up in the front of me, and knowing that a full sprint would only mean 13th place instead of 18th, I was content to pull slowly around when I was sure it was clear, rather than jamming over and sprinting hard.
A few takeaways:
* I’d really prefer to be more active at the front during the race. Sitting in and sucking wheels (and then accelerating at the finish) may feel good for placing higher, but it’s much interesting (and safer, it would seem) to be off the front during the race.
* In order to do this, I need to be a bit stronger. Any sustained efforts (like my nearly lap long solo effort) are just too slow to stay away.
* I’ve been trying to play the position game during the last lap, and I’ve been failing miserably. I’m not sure if the pace is higher than the weeks I’ve done well (doubt it) or if I’m just over-thinking things. I vote for the latter.
Posted on 29 July 2008
Logan’s Ferry to Murraysville
(Sorry, no map)
Rode up Logan’s Ferry from New Kensington, then looped down Hanlkey Church Road just because, finishing at my dad’s house. Logan’s Ferry is really one of the nicer “classic” climbs in the area–windy, shady, low traffic, relatively consistent grade. The ridge riding on Sardis Road also, I think, rivals anything south of the city.
26 miles, 17.9 mph average speed.
Posted on 27 July 2008
Early morning start, and not much time, so I rode some hills. Center, Ravine, Berryhill, and High/Seavey. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been on these hills, so here are a few thoughts:
* Center wasn’t as bad as I remember. I thought it might hurt since I’d have about 2 miles of warm up, but it wasn’t bad.
* Ravine is hard. There’s a bit of wall in the middle that is quite hard. The shallower rise on Sharps Hill is good for riding hard and redlining things a bit.
* Berryhill was longer than I remember.
* High Street doesn’t feel that hard, and never really has. I suppose if you can keep a good line through the switchbacks, you avoid the steepest bits.
Rides like this seem to be a better way to go if I don’t have more than 90 minutes to ride. It’s hard to sit up and relax when the grade is over 20%.
Posted on 26 July 2008
Moderate crowd, 26 racers, and humid and slightly windy conditions. My goals for the evening were:
1) Be more active during the race
2) Take some points in the sprint
The pace was reasonable and, for the most part, relatively consistent. There were quite a few primes (10 in a row, I think), but only a few really drove the pace up. With a large number of CMU riders in the race (the only real team presence), there was a lot of activity at the front, but nothing stuck for more than a lap or two. I managed to win my first prime (thus fulfilling goal #1), too. I wasn’t necessarily looking for one, but I was fourth wheel heading into the final corner and figured I was well-placed and might as well go for it. A CMU rider nearly caught me at the line, but I managed to stay clear for a cool $5. We sat up briefly (no one else from the field contested the prime) but when two other CMU riders came through trying to get clear, we both latched on and stayed away for another lap or so (the effort was highly unorganized). My prime effort (and the flyer) took some zip from my legs, but once back in the group, I was able to recover within a lap or two.
As the finish approached, I started to think about placing myself for the final sprint. I moved outside a bit, knowing that I didn’t want to be stuck on the inside. Two riders jumped from mid-pack with half a lap to go, and I nearly went, but figured it was too early. But my jump was too late, and I couldn’t manage better than 12th, while the guys who jumped managed to crack the top 6. Dumb.
Posted on 23 July 2008
Today was the Fort Cherry road race, a nice 40 mile affair over an eight mile loop west of the city. It was a fine course, with a short climb, a section of rollers, and lots of scenery. Unfortunately, it was hot (really hot) and I’ve discovered that my body just doesn’t like racing in the heat.
The race began with a neutral start to the first turn, and I made my (usual) mistake of started too far in the back. I then spent the climb jamming through traffic trying to regain contact with the bunch on the narrow road. By the time I made contact, the bunch accelerated, and I was already feeling the heat and watched them disappear. I started with a smaller group, but they made a failed effort to latch back on to the group, and I was promptly left behind. At this point, I was sweating buckets, and only recovering when I seriously scaled back my effort. Thus began the several mile discussion in my head about what I should do.
I knew there were several people (including Robbie) behind me, but repeatedly looking over my shoulder, I couldn’t see them. Looking at what would essentially be a 30 mile time trial, I contemplated simply accepting my failure and bowing out of the race at the end of the lap. I suspected I could avoid being lapped, but I weighed the cost of finishing and being shattered for the rest of the day (for no good reason) and decided to call it a day. As I passed the officials, I found a patch of shade, sat down, and finished two bottles of water.
I was not alone for long. With conditions as they were, the attrition rate was fairly high, and the groups actually contesting each race were fairly small. The takeaways from this race were few:
1. Move up at the start line.
2. 90+ degrees and sun do not make for great conditions.
After resting for nearly four hours (and after only riding about 15 miles) I still feel a bit out of sorts. I’m certainly a bit disappointed, but I know I can’t expect decent results at the Oval to translate into much of anything on the road.
Posted on 20 July 2008
A rather small group this evening, 21 racers. Several riders have moved the B race, and I think we’re all a bit happier for that, as the pace is a bit more reasonable and even over the course of the race.
Less action this week, with fewer attempted breaks. I took a few pulls at the front, included a rather hair-brained move with 2 laps to go (I thought, maybe, with the guys I went with, it might stick, but no such luck, given that this is a corollary of the any-break-I’m-in-is-doomed-to-fail maxim). This left me getting passed by most of the group, and then spending too much energy on the last lap getting back into position for the sprint. I will say I positioned better than previous weeks, so I had a fairly clean line to finish line, and I passed a few people and ended up 12th. Yeah, no points, but oh well. At least taking a pull or two is more fun than sitting on a wheel in the back of the group.
One moment of excitement–I lost a contact about halfway through the race. I am, as they say, blind as a bat, and this made the race a bit more, ummm, exciting, as I had to quickly assess how close I really was to the wheel in front of me. Time to start wearing glasses, I think.
Other observations:
The Fort Cherry road race is on Sunday. My goal is to last a single lap with the main group.
Posted on 15 July 2008
(Map doesn’t include riding to the South Side, and riding up, up, up Penn Avenue afterwards)
First ride in a long time with other folks: Chris, Scott, and Robbie (on his swanky new handbuilt frame). The pace was nice, the conversations good, and the roads generally excellent. It was, however, very hot. 160 ounces of water consumed. The little chocolate nuts chunks were a Bad Idea–completely melted within about 20 miles. Duly noted. Total mileage was a hair under 80.
Finishing by climbing Penn was a kick in the teeth. I probably could have done without that, but whatever doesn’t kill you…
Posted on 12 July 2008
(Note: geekery ahead)
Since I currently work on a platform that doesn’t have any sort of real integrated development environment (yes, I linked to the right place–I really do ColdFusion programming), in the past 18 months, I’ve jumped around between coding software quite a bit. The short list, with comments, contains:
Posted on 11 July 2008