some bloggers racing at the track on thursday

Karla! (state pts race champion!) and Skibby













Donimator's Stoker and Donimator
(the Chequamegon tandem team is looking strong!)













(Dis)pencer (Smithers guest blogger) and Super Rookie

bad day at the races

Saturday was the last road race of 2006 for me and I ended it with a big 'ol DNF. I'm not even going to bother boring you with the details this time. I'll just say that it's no secret that I need to do some hill training before road racing in 2007.

But I had Bristol to look forward to that night! Or so I thought. I guess I saw enough of the race to know that none of my guys won...or even got a top 10. I don't think I got Karla hooked on NASCAR, but at least she has a guy now.

All in all, a bad day at the races.

The highlight of the day was definitely watching everyone else race in Marty Minnesota.

So now it's the road off-season...and I must admit I'm glad. At the same time, I really look forward to road racing in 2007 and I'm bummed that it's so far away.

"Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes..."

As you may have noticed, I'm not one to blog much about politics and/or national and world issues...I leave that to Smithers (because he's way better at it than I could ever be).

Those of you who know me well know that my job revolves around water - mostly lake water quality, river and stream systems, storm sewer systems, and water quantity (i.e. flooding). One of my areas of specialty is Flood Insurance Studies - to simplify, I create computer models that predict flood levels for rivers, streams, and lakes. I deal with FEMA on a weekly basis since these studies are submitted to them.

Two of my co-workers are retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees. After Katrina, the Corps asked if they could go to New Orleans to help manage the levee reconstruction projects. They both obliged and just recently returned to the Twin Cities. Last month they gave a fascinating presentation about the levee reconstruction project. The presentation included photos of the destruction and the reconstruction, maps of the of depth of flooding throughout the city, maps of the locations where the levees failed, and all sorts of other interesting data (interesting to us scientists and engineers anyway).

After the presentation, a co-worker in the audience asked what I think is the obvious question: why? The response was that the people of New Orleans don't even question reconstruction...it's a non-issue to them.

Anyway, the point of this post is that a friend forwarded me this interesting article from Time Magazine that I'd really like to share: Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Wildfires, Earthquakes...Why Don't We Prepare.

what's more tiring than track racing?...

...trying to shop for shoes to match a bridesmaid dress at the Mall of the Universe with a 3.5-yr old and a 2-yr old.

First, let me point out that I do not like to shop. Actually, let me re-phrase that - I do not like to shop in a mall. The only kind of shopping I like to do is online shopping...no digging through clothes to find the right size, no salespeople to bother me with "are you finding everything you're looking for?", no parking problems, no waiting in line, no high-schoolers that make me worry about having children that will turn out like them, no one asking you to try their product or take a survey, no dressing rooms with a million mirrors (one of which always shows a "bad angle" that I've never seen myself from before)...just me and the computer. And needless to say, Pete's not a shopper either.

So Pete and I normally avoid the MOA like the plague, but it couldn't be helped this time. My sister and I needed to find these shoes ASAP, so when track racing got cancelled due to rain, we agreed to meet my sister and nephews at the most overwhelming place in the Twin Cities/US?/World?. Pete was put on J-Dawg duty - not an easy assignment considering this is a 2-yr old who must touch and climb on anything and everything (and attempted to take a swim in the "wishing well" fountain).

The kids were actually pretty good considering we were dragging them through shoe store after shoe store. Although we did have to make a few pit-stops: one stop at the restroom where the Porkchop insisted that Aunt Sarah help him use the bathroom ("take my shoe off Sawah! Now put me on the toilet!!"); one stop at Lego-Land so the kids could pick up a few germs from the Legos that a million other kids had touched that day; one stop at the wishing well where the kids helped me finally get rid of all of my useless pennies; and two stops at the Rainforest Cafe (one to see the fake crocodile and creepy talking tree, and one to get a "special toy" for being good all night).

In the end, the shopping trip was a success (I thank the shopping goddesses that I don't have to go back!), and Pete and I got home in time to have a drink...or five.

ah, cute...

....they're even next to each other in this week's Power Rankings:

look mom, no hands!

Special K celebrating her prime at Downer's.

national championship weekend

We made the annual trek to Downer's Grove (Chicago) last weekend for some more bike racin' action. I'm still tired from the hectic weekend, so I hope this post makes sense. This was the first time I've raced at Downer's - loved the course, but had another bad race. It wasn't how I wanted to end my crit racing season, but I'm still glad I did it. The best part was that I had teammates to race with and hang out with all weekend!! My teammates Karla and Pdiddily had great races, so that was cool. And my teammate Jenn was there too. Got to watch the old GP guys do the master's race on Saturday - Dale took a flyer with about 4-5 laps to go and almost got the win by himself, but the field caught him on the last lap and it ended in the typical big field sprint (and Petey Pablo got 3rd). Karla also jumped in the women's Pro Am race on Saturday, so it was fun to watch her mix it up with the pros. Then the young GPers did the men's Pro Am race to warm up for the big race on Sunday.

On a side note, the local ice cream shop on the course was replaced with a new wine shop, so I wandered in and took a look around. I found a bottle of wine that I couldn't pass up, so I got that and another bottle to share with the ladies. So we proceeded to get our drink on and kept the GP boys up too late.

Sunday was the big race. I woke up with a killer headache, but was fine once I got thorougly caffeinated. Karla, Pdiddily and I watched Flandarian Shana do the women's national championship race, then it was time for the men's elite national championship. I don't care how you feel about the GP guys...say what you will...but those guys know how to race as a team...and they know how to race at Downer's. They had a plan, they stuck to it, had some bad luck (Dewey crashed HARD), and didn't get the win in the end, but damn, it was impressive to watch. I've seen a lot of bike races...and this one topped them all. You can read the Cyclingnews story here and check out the photos.

Here's my version of the race: The GP guys hung out in the pack for half the race, then with about 15 to go, captain Dale started moving everyone up. The guy's good. He got the whole team from the back of the pack to the front of the pack in about 2 laps which is impressive considering there were about 170 guys in the field. With about 10 to go, GP was at the front controlling the race - again, impressive considering the field size. With Dewey injured and out of the race, and one other teammate no where to be found, Dale, Pellis, Bergmania, Jeremy, Marcotte, and Petey Pablo had their work cut out for them. With about 5 to go, GP was still at the front with Bergmania controlling everything, and there was a prime that Bergmania easily won. I might add that it was at this point that I was about ready to pass out because I was so nervous. The pace started picking up on each lap, and each GP guy was doing his work at the front and peeling off. With two to go, Bergmania was drilling it at the front with Pete and Marcotte in tow...just as planned. As the field rolled through the start/finish line with one to go, a Hincapie guy attacked and Bergmania chased him down. Unfortunately, a lot of other teams had been sitting in behind the GP train, so another attack happened, and Bergmania and Pete both had to chase. Coming into the last turn, my heart dropped when I didn't see the GP guys at the front. But, Marcotte was still there sitting 4th coming through the last turn, and ended up on the podium in 4th...so that was very cool. So while they didn't get the win, they felt pretty good about their effort and getting one of their guys a 4th place finish. It was a great race to watch - those guys know how to race as a team, and it was fun to watch it all unfold. I'm not one to get all sappy and shit, but I was proud.

Moses has some sweet photos up from the whole weekend in Downer's!

SS

p.s. The wine was good...I highly recommend it! No worries mom, I got a bottle for you and dad.

quit the Internet?

I found out a few days ago that I will not have Internet access while on my two-week vacation next month (except for a few stops at Internet Cafe's where the keyboards are different, so typing becomes a game of "hunt and peck"). I have very mixed feelings about this. While I look forward to not having the daily distractions of the Internet and TV for almost two weeks, I'm afraid about quitting cold turkey. I remember when I quit drinking coffee cold turkey once in grad school...it was hell. One week of killer headaches...but I did it. I'm hoping that quitting the Internet won't be quite as painful, but I'm not convinced. It's a good thing I'll be able to drink a lot of coffee to help me through my Internet withdrawal.

cycling funk

I’m on day 13 of no bike riding. That may be a record. I have all sorts of lame excuses for not riding my bike, but the bottom line is that I guess I just needed some time off. The unfortunate part of my cycling funk is the timing…while I needed the break, I wish I would have waited until after track racing was over. But I didn’t really have a choice. It crept up on me, and once it started, I just couldn’t stop it. In fact, it’s still going. I’m hoping to change that tonight.

So if I haven’t been riding my bike, what have I been doing? Mostly I’ve been working, spending some QT with the family at the lake, went to see Talladega Nights, and I even went running a few times (which is unusual for me…and it made me very sore). Oh, and I finally got to watch an entire NASCAR race last Sunday too. It’s been a while.

I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with Talladega Nights. It had so much potential since there are so many NASCARisms that they could have exploited. But instead, they just took the “just-let-Will-Farrell-be-Will-Farrell-and-it-will-be-funny” approach. Don’t get me wrong, that approach has worked before…more than once even…but I don’t think it worked this time. It had a few good moments, but that’s about it. My sister and I agreed that we should have seen “Pirates of the Caribbean” instead, strictly for the “hot guy” factor (i.e. even if it turned out to be crappy, at least we would have got to look at Johnny Depp for a few hours). The highlight of our trip to the movies was the sweet car we saw in the parking lot afterwards (keep in mind that we were in small-town Wisconsin) – it was an old school Trans Am that said “Daytona 500 Pace Car” on it. I tried to get a picture with my camera on my phone, but it didn’t turn out very well. So I looked it up online, and it looked like these. Who knew?

Since Talladega Nights was a disappointment, I treated myself to watching the entire Watkins Glen NASCAR road race on Sunday. It was raining in WI, so it was the perfect day to watch NASCAR. My guys all had a rough day, although Elliott did okay for his last day with Yates…hopefully he’ll turn things around in the #19. And Kasey started out in the front row, but just kept falling back throughout the race. With a few laps to go, he had worked his way up to somewhere in the top 15, but on the last lap, he decided to take a little jaunt through the sandtrap by the "bus stop". So he’s still sitting a few points away from making The Chase. DJ’s season has been as disappointing as Talladega Nights…the only time I ever see him getting airtime during a race is when he’s getting passed by the leaders. I'm not a huge fan of road races, but it was actually a pretty interesting race to watch - there were a record number of cautions for that track - and the last lap was exciting. I was happy to see Happy take the win from Doughy Smoke. I see one of my favorite races is coming up...the Bristol night race (it's like watching velodrome racing under the lights, but with cars instead of bikes)...but it's on TNT and I don't have cable!

I've got to go de-funkify now.

SS

why Pellis ended up 6th instead of 3rd

"soft and drunk guy"

Hairspray (the product, not the musical)

I am a consumer who fears a guilty conscience. I bought a $23 bottle of hairspray today because the little price card next to it explained that by purchasing this product, I'd be "supporting a program to fund clean, wind-based energy". After reading that, and scanning my other options, I knew I was going to have to buy that uber-expensive hairspray so that I didn't leave with a guilty conscience. But then I felt guilty about paying $23 for hairspray (note: that would pay for one night of track racing including the race entry fee, gatorade, GU, and gas to get there and back) - but I totally justified the purchase (and I'm not suggesting this is a valid justification) by reminding myself that it takes me 6 months or more to go through a bottle of hairspray. Go ahead...call me "sucka".

trackies have more fun

During the day last Thursday, I just couldn't picture myself making the weekly trek to the track. I'm not sure what my deal was, but I just didn't feel like racing. Maybe it's because I haven't been racing that well at the track lately or maybe it was because I just didn't want to sit in traffic or maybe it was because work's stressing me out...I don't know, but I just wasn't feeling it. But then a crisis came up at work, and I no longer had the option of track racing...and I suddenly wanted to race worse than ever. Funny how that works. I ended up being stuck at work until 9pm (and feeling a bit sorry for myself) while others were blissfully riding laps at the track.

Here's what I realized. When I miss a weekly race on the road, say Opus for example, I don't really feel like I missed much. But when I miss a night of track racing, I feel like I missed the cycling social event of the year.

On Thursday night after racing, The Roommate came home and described the night's events, and then the local cycling blog community lit up the Internet with stories of the night's trials and tribulations...I felt like I missed really a cool party complete with some racin' action, some trash-talk, and some drama, what with Super-Rookie returning to Blaine and the controversy surrounding his Keirin win, and Bergman's recent return to racing as a Cat 5 on the track.

So it got me thinking about why a night at the track is so much fun as both a racing and a pseudo-social event. I think it's safe to say that the racing's fun because the races are always different, and the crowd gets into it, and we have awesome announcers that get everyone fired up. And for whatever reason, it seems like a much more supportive racing environment - trackies are supportive of other trackies, even when they're the competition (and it's not just the chicks). The Donimator can say what he wants about me being a tree-hugging liberal, but I hear him cheering for me during races.

But what about the social side? Because let's face it, most cyclists really aren't the extroverts of our society - which is probably why we do most of our socializing via blogs. So why is the track more social? Is it because we're forced to, at the very least, look at each other as we mill around on the infield? And then maybe eventually go out on a limb and chat with our fellow racers? Is it because we actually learn each other's names since the announcer introduces riders and gives the play-by-play during races? Is it just the personality of a trackie (or the Blaine trackies in particular) that promotes the fun environment? Is it because we're forced to dress and undress in front of each other (if we don't want to be in our chama-lama-ding-dong all night), therefore showing some vulnerability? Okay, that might be pushing it. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that track racing seems like it's become some sort of pseudo-social club for fit people that manifests itself via Blogland...and I'm not afraid to admit that I like it. And the truth is, I'll understand the week's bloggins' much better if I've been at the track to witness everything first-hand.

I don't want to get too schmoopy about it, but I feel track racing brings people together from all sorts of different backgrounds, plops us in to a little oval, tells us to play nicely (but have fun doing it), and then begs us to go home and get on the Internet and let everyone know how much fun we had, even if the racing made us puke.

I guess track racing is just great blog fodder. And I know I'm biased since I love racing at the track and I love reading about other's racing at the track, but ever notice that most of the local cycling blogs are from trackies? Coincidence? I think not. Trackies just have more fun.

you tell me

Now that bike racing is more or less over in MN for the season, I'm losing my motivation to ride. Instead, I've been working and drinking too much, and I find myself pondering many of life's important questions:

1. What if local bike racing had power rankings?
2. Why am I at work instead of racing at the track right now?
3. How nice would it be if I could train/race at the track during the winter instead of riding a trainer?
4. Why did Flandis have to go and do that?
5. How does Smithers have time to update his blog multiple times a day? It's very impressive - he's always got updates and they're always interesting. (And Baby Smithers choosing the Tour de France winner...priceless). Even his guest blogger, (dis)pencer followed suit with the multiple updates.
   
6. How can we inexperienced bloggers keep up with the Smithers?
7. Why will MN cyclists show up in droves for a snowy road race in April or to do hundreds of circles at Opus in the rain in May, but won't show up for a race in August? (Actually, I know why, but it's frustrating.)
8. How did Karla do that?
9. Why do my legs ache every morning when I climb the three flights of stairs at work?
10. Why is it "cute" when babies and toddlers have pudgy thighs, but the opposite of cute when adults have them?
11. Which NASCAR drivers will make cameos in "Talladega Nights"?
12. How can I learn French in a month?
13. How many bikes is too many?
14. How does Stenson lose her cell-phone and car keys every week? But more importantly, how is it possible that Stenson can start her car by using her brakes and accelerator to "pump in" a code?
    
15. Why did some asshole steal my mountain bike?
16. Why does Donimator think Hummers are so cool?
    
17. Why can't I fall asleep at night without putting my Burt's Bees chapstick on first?
18. How can I have my femur broken in half, separated an inch, and recover in 6 months - but then have a little teeny weeny arthroscopic hip surgery, and it still bothers me 9 months later when I try to put my pants on or clip into my bike pedal?
19. Why are Nalgene's the only water bottle that don't leak?
20. Who ever came up with a "work week" being 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week? And why did other people go along with that?

"No worries Super-Rookie, I'll get the #19 back on track next year."