Monthly Archives: August 2011

Back to the Tuesday/Thursday ride, already in progress

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I arrived back home right around midnight Wednesday, and there was a small part of me that thought, wouldn’t it be nice to just sleep in, instead of get up at 6:57am and go ride? But that’s not the way it works. Not for me anyway, and by extension, not for Kevin either.

Kevin wasn’t any too happy about me getting him up; apparently he didn’t get to sleep unti pretty late, and wondered why he should have to ride, even pointing out that, at 18, he ought to be making his own decisions about such things. Well sure, he can, but without consistency he knows he’s going to fall back and there’s no denying he enjoys being in decent shape. Plus, I know that he’s going to enjoy the ride once things get going.

And, generally, he did. After we got yet another seizure out of the way on the climb up Kings. Getting a bit tired of that, but I’m working on a theory that his heart rate has something to do with it, with anything about 180 being far more likely to see a seizure than something below. I told him ahead of time to keep it below 180, and he thought he was, but checking out the download after the ride shows he was up to 185 when it hit. Next step? I’m going to set up my bike’s second computer to display his heart rate instead of mine.

If Wisconsin weather was always this nice…

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Becky riding the trails near Trek's Wisconsin factory

Our final morning in Wisconsin, Wednesday, was a rare day of perfect weather as Becky and I did a bike demo on the extensive trail system Trek has built in the woods near their Waterloo factory. Mid-70s, low humidity, light breeze. Wow. Weather like that could really fool you into thinking you’d found paradise in the midwest! I rode a Fuel 9.8, while Becky tried out a Top Fuel. Sure, we were on the “beginners” trail section, but it was a pretty fast singletrack with lots of small drops & climbs & tight corners between trees to keep things interesting. Also rode a couple of Speed Concept 9-series Time Trial bikes. Oh, should mention that Becky did a full-body face plant right behind me on the trails, probably over-braking in a turn. I just heard a “whomp” and looked behind to see her very-surprised expression as she lay ahead of her bike on the trail. Thankfully not hurt badly; not cuts, just bruises that will hurt a lot more as time goes on.

Steve being carded at O'Hare Chilis

At 2pm it was time to catch a bus to Chicago’s O’Hare airport for a flight home. We had enough time to catch dinner at the airport, where a bit of comedic action was brought to us by our waiter at Chili’s, who carded my brother when he ordered a drink. Steve’s just a few years younger than I am, so much much much closer to 50 than 21. After expressing our amusement at his request for Steve’s ID, we asked that he pose for a picture with Steve, a recreation of what had just happened. He happily complied.

It’s fun but incredibly tiring going to Trek’s dog-and-pony show each year. Each day, every hour, there are seminars teaching us about changes in the world of retail, how to better run our businesses to we’ll be there for our customers down the road (and keep a roof over our heads) and, of course, the technical stuff surrounding the new product. By the end we’re looking forward to coming home, taking showers where you don’t have to scrape the soap off with your fingernails, and breathing air that’s fresh off the ocean.

Riding with a few close friends (named Andy & Jens)

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My close buddies Jens & Andy

It was so cool, like I was a pro myself! Trek sets up some of their dealers on a 25 mile ride with Jens Voight and Andy Schleck, with a van in front taking pictures of us as we spend some face time with the guys, and then about 10 miles in I flatted and the group goes on but they send Jens back to pace me back up, and the two of us time-trialed our way back to the group despite Andy’s instincts taking over and driving the speed up to an insane pace, taking advantage of my misfortune in an attempt to keep me out of the final sprint.Well, it could have happened. :-) Yes, they set us up on a fun ride with the guys, as you can see in the photo, and yes, I got a flat, but no, they didn’t send one of the best cyclists in the world (possibly the best cyclist in the world to call upon if you need help getting paced back to the front) to help out. Instead, I watched as they faded into the distance as I quickly work to repair the tube (dang, wish I had a frame pump ‘cuz C02 doesn’t cut it for getting just a small amount of air in at first to aid in proper installation) and chase. Fortunately, a Trek rep, Dustin, dropped back to help get me going, and fortunately for Dustin, a support guy in a van dropped back to help Justin figure out how to make it back to Trek’s facility in Waterloo, where the ride started.

Never did catch back up, which was surprising to me because we were pushing fairly hard, vs a large number of people not all of whom were in the best of shape but did have the benefit of drafting behind Jens, Andy, and a car. I’m not convinced they didn’t take a shorter route back than we did though. All in all, a nice ride, beautiful day (by Wisconsin standards; probably low 80s and high humidity by bay area standards but pretty moderate out here) and best of all, they were serving Brats at the end!

I was hoping to have Jens or Andy sign my brother Steve’s jersey as we were riding though, something they wouldn’t buy into, thinking it might be a bit too risky. Even had a wide felt tip pen with me! Would have made for a great photo, but maybe some other time.

One interesting memory from the ride- shortly before my flat, Andy drops back for a “natural break” (taking a leak). When he returns, instead of riding up the left side of the group, he’s out there in the gravel on the right shoulder. Yikes. No big deal to him. I’m thinking shredded tires, crashing in gravel, nothing good comes from riding off the side of the road. But these are the same guys you see putting on jackets while flying downhill through corners at 50mph. –Mike–

A few people I’ve seen before

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Last night John Burke, President of Trek Bicycles, brought a bunch of dealers to his house on the lake (don’t ask me which lake; there are two of them on opposite sides of Madison, Monona & Mendota?) where a few special guests showed up. Very special. Fabian Cancelllara, Jens Voight, Chris Lieto, Frank Schleck & Andy Schleck. The strong men of the Tour de France with Chris Lieto, Triathlete extrarodinaire, in the middle (OK, actually, he was kinda squeezed off to the side a bit by the big guns).

I think I’ve finally figured out the real connection that binds Trek with pro bike racing. Beer. From what I’ve heard, the Leopard Trek guys enjoy a good beer. Or two. As does John Burke and quite a few others at Trek.

Not shown clearly here, because we’re trying to keep this PG-13, is Andy’s shirt. Tactfully covered by his microphone is a female portrait some would feel a bit uncomfortable with. What might go for art in the Louvre is a bit, well, gauche on a t-shirt. Guess you can get away with that when your 25 or 26 and one of the best cyclists in the world. Not something that would pass standard for employees at the shop though. Sorry guys!

Not quite the Thursday-morning ride I’d prefer

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It started out like any other Tuesday/Thursday-morning ride, getting up at 6:57am (used to be 7:05am but I need just a bit more time when my son is riding with me). A bit cool and damp, which is never a good thing for me, at least not early in the ride, and that held true today as I was gasping for air like a fish out of water on the alternate through-the-park option we often do on Thursdays. Didn’t seem to be an issue for Karl or either Kevin (pilot and son) or Eric or Chris or not-me-Mike or Todd.

Once we got to Kings I was looking forward to the more-even climb up Kings, where I can catch my breath and watch as the others ever-so-gradually ride off into the distance (everyone but Karl, who’s still recovering from the collarbone and slowly coming up to speed, like you’re supposed to after an injury).

At one point I thought maybe I could get back onto my son’s wheel, but no. I watched as Kevin faded slightly and Eric passed him, thinking maybe he could ride Eric’s wheel to the top (Eric follows a very consistent pace) but not quite. Then, about a quarter mile from the top, with Kevin maybe 100 meters in front of me (yeah, mixing metric and imperial measurements here) I watch as Kevin falls over. Darn. A seizure, and apparently not enough warning to get off the bike. I arrive shortly, and find him already non-responsive (normally you’ve got about 20 seconds or so while he can still talk) and then proceeds to have the “strongest” seizure I’ve seen since the initial big one that put him in the hospital. Big enough that I had to sit on him to keep him from flopping around and hurting himself. Karl arrived soon and moved the bike away from him (didn’t want his flailing feet to damage the new bike, y’know?) and eventually he came out of it. A helpful motorist had seen him on the ground and nice stopped to keep any cars away from us, and couldn’t figure out why in the world we didn’t accept her offer of a ride down the hill. Sigh. The things that have become “normal” and “routine” for Kevin and I…

Since he’d bloodied his chin and hands a bit, and I wasn’t sure how much bruising he might have gotten, we sent Karl on ahead to let people know what went on and tell them we were heading immediately back down. Darn. Time to get this kid fixed once & for all, but that’s much easier said than done. It’s especially frustrating since he shows such promise cycling, and yet it’s cycling where we can predict when he’s most-likely to have a seizure. He still has random seizures at other times, without rhyme or reason though, so it’s not as if not riding would cure his epilepsy. Quite the opposite I think; the fact that we can point to very specific triggers when riding might (should?!) provide a path towards better understanding why he has his seizures. Or so a frustrated father thinks.

Big group on the Tuesday ride

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Big group at Old LaHonda & Skyline. Left to right, Kevin J, Mike (not me), Kevin S, Chris, Eric, George, Karen, Todd, Marcus, Mike (not me again) & Karl. Missing (turned off earlier) is Jim.

So now I go to bed the night before the Tuesday/Thursday ride wondering how badly I’m going to get beat up… by my son. I knew this was coming, but I didn’t realize how rapidly he would progress. It was only a couple months ago (literally) that Kevin finally broke 30 minutes up Kings and could actually ride with our group without holding us up. And now, he can squeeze off a 26-something time more reliably than I can.

But today I never got to find out how badly he might beat me. Maybe a quarter mile before the start of the climb, one of my two computers came off the handlebar, without me noticing, but Karl let me know he’d seen if fly off and hit the side of the road. OK… I briefly considered whether it was worth sacrificing the climb for a computer… maybe it would still be there when I got back… but it might be tough figuring out exactly where it had landed later, so I watched the others head on up the hill while I made a u-turn and retrieved the computer. Did anyone offer to stay behind and ride up with me? Er, no, but Chris was a late arrival and was coming up behind, trying to catch the group. Yeah, sure, I can just have Chris pace me back up the hill. Right. For about 100 meters or so, and then he vanished. Poof. Gone. Didn’t see him again until the top of the hill.

Eventually I did catch up to Kevin, Todd & Karl. Yes, Karl, who’s recovering nicely from his latest collarbone/clavicle issue. They had been soft-pedaling for a while, actually having conversations, while my lungs are searching for every available atom of oxygen (I was going to say “molecule of air” but is air a molecule? Apparently yes.) I was dying; probably 27:20 or so, a lot of time to be thinking about everybody else already well ahead of me, riding faster, finishing soon.

Very big group this morning. 12 at least, given that there are 11 in the photo plus me, and there might have been one guy who turned off before then (yes, there was one more, Jim I think). A bit foggy at the top, fairly cool, and just damp enough to give me the creeps descending (Kevin doesn’t seem to have such trouble, but then Kevin doesn’t have the years of experience descending that I have, some of those descents ending up on my side instead of my wheels).

For the final sprint it was all Chris. Kevin wasn’t anywhere in sight; obviously, it’s time I get him back to sprinting again (since maybe emphasizing sprinting will slow him down on the climbs).

Why do we ignore simple solutions to intersection design?

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Yikes, read through this article on intersections and see if you can make sense of everything- http://www.slate.com/id/2300425/pagenum/2 (someone reading this provided a link to a youtube video that does a much better job of presenting the solution this article provides)

In a nutshell, many believe that left turns are the big no-no for proper traffic flow. But why go to so much trouble, all manner of examples of complex traffic re-engineering to solve this problem, and *no* mention of traffic circles? I have both cycled and driven in areas that make extensive use of traffic circles, and they require very little retraining. They’re not entirely intuitive; it takes a little getting used to the idea that, at least in some cultures, making eye-contact means you’re yielding to the other person, but that’s likely more cultural than an aspect of the traffic circle itself.

Yes, they require real estate, but the center of the circle presents significant opportunity for visual enhancement (park accessible via underground or overground passageway, gateway signage, etc). They also offer opportunities for traffic calming without the complication of signals and other electro-mechanical devices that don’t work when there’s a power outage. In other words, very low maintenance.

Perhaps part of the issue is that, in the US, there’s a belief that a blank space must be filled. It should have parking, or office space, or something. You can’t just have a piece of land (the center of the circle) that people can’t park or walk or trash. Darn, once again, life imitates life. It’s just like a retail bike shop. You get too large an open space and you want to put something there, instead of recognizing the value of reducing clutter and making things more open and spacious to set people at ease.

–Mike–