Sauber double scores points..Oh Wait no they don't

I got really excited watching the F1 race Sunday afternoon.  I had to DVR it as per the norm.  After an evening at a water park birthday party I was wiped & couldn't stay up.  Luck had it that I had to go to a bouncy house birthday party Sun at noon so it was late afternoon before I could watch the race.  A great race it was too.  I don't think the movable wing & KERS played as much a part as the tires did.  Most were on a 2 -3 pit strategy.  Except Sauber's Rookie Perez .  He managed to go with just one pit stop & finish just one place in front of Kobi who stopped 3 times.  I was ecstatic.  Both Sauber's in the points in the first race.  

I had been on s self imposed news/web blackout till I could watch the race.  As soon as the race was over I fired up Google Reader & my heart sunk.  Both Sauber's had been been DQ'd because of a rules infringement of the rear wing.  I won't go into detail I linked details below. The car showed pace & I think once all is worked out Sauber is going to surprise a lot of people. Perhaps even with a podium this season.

Scarbs F1 explanation

Good explanation here

Racecar Engineering updated overview of the Sauber C30

Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app

Sauber – Explanation of the rear wing infringement (Scarbs F1)

“Sauber have three versions of the flap available and two were brought to Melbourne. It seems the version raced was not fully checked at the factory and therefore the error was not picked up, whereas the other (un-raced) specification flap was checked and deemed legal. Not every car and every component gets fully checked by the FIA scrutineers. The cars will go through different tests at different points in the weekend. It seems the Sauber flap in question was not tested until after the race.”

Update: Sauber was going to protest but have admitted it was their fault & are taking the punishment.  It was a manufacturing error & one version of the wing hadn't been fully verified & of course it was the one that got them in trouble with the stewards.

Updates coming for sure

I have ride updates & for sure a post about the Melbourne F1 race coming.  Lets just say I'm gutted about the "official" results.

2011 Rides # 7, 8 , & 9 Three Days in a Row.

I know its lazy to do 3 rides in one blog but I was somewhat busy on my days off & this is the first chance I've had.

Ride #7 Windy
Saturday got out for a windy & slightly chilly ride.  Weird strong wind from the East which guaranteed riding home in the wind.  Nothing special just a quick couple hours to spin the legs after 2 straight days of running.  Legs were a little sore from running since hadn't been out since Jan 9.

Ride #8  Hour of Power
Sunday got out early so I could have most of the day free for yard work & to make sure the Frisco Trail was relatively empty.  I like to ride on the Frisco when I do certain power workouts outside since I can make the power chart look like I was on the trainer.  Very consistent.  I hit my goal numbers & even managed to end up with a pretty good Normalized Power for about 2 hours.  That's focused workout numero uno of the year.

 Afterwards I spent the rest of the day doing Spring yard work.  Mowed the yard. Yep it needed it already.  Semi aerated the dead spots in the back yard(thanks dogs) & put down 10lbs of seed.  Hopefully that will thicken out the clumps.  I've come to realize as long as I have two big ass dogs I'll never have a great back yard.  But hopefully I can do some damage control.  Also cleaned out the garden boxes.  Last fall & over the winter some weed took over.  Was a SOB to get out. Very thin web like roots that are hard to break up.  Didn't get potatoes in the ground so will work on that next 4 off.

Ride #9 Break out the razor Spring is here!
There was no way I could sport my winter hairy legs anymore, especially with 76f predicted for today.  A big South wind so decided to venture South for the first time this year.  Did the winter Wednesday night loop which gives me 2ish hours from the house normally.  I avoid South when its cold because of the low water crossings.  I've taken a winter bike swim in Jan before & don't want to do that again, ever.

Back to work tonight.  As long as things don't change this week I'm back on my normal 4&4 so hopefully can get some descent rides in now the weather is getting nicer.  When I decided to do the DU series I got a little panicked when it dawned on me how soon they are.  I laid out a pretty ambitious schedule but should be able to stick to it.  Its not how I envisioned the year going though since I wanted a super slow year with Nats in Jan but it might be good to get some fitness soon so I can race some this summer since I missed Cross last fall.

Also stay tuned for some news about the TT series.  If it happens I think its really going to grow the TT series.  Should find out details this week.

Motivation??

Crap! Guess I have some training to do if I want to win this series

2011 Ride # 6 Race #1 Frozen Waffles Training Race

Lets face it I had ZERO business racing right now but I made a deal & a deal is a deal. there

Jerred Brackett

@TheRealScottyD Oh man, that's a tough one...I'm such a sucky TT'er. But yes I will come out to one if you show up. Deal!

There you have it I did Frozen Waffles now Bracket will be doing some local TT's this year.  I say some because once he does one I think he'll HAVE to do more.  

I pretty much treated this like a $20 group ride.  Especially since there were just 6 Master's.  The 123 field looked descent size for an afternoon training race in Springfield.  I decided weeks ago I was going to mostly tail gun.  Little did I know the eventual winner(Mr. Ski Mask) had the same idea, except for different reasons.  A few guys tried to gap me off several times so I had to inform them I wasn't really racing so quit wasting energy on me.  

After the first 11 mile lap I knew I was screwed going up the Dam hill(it really is a hill up the back side of a dam not a Damn hill).  I'm down on weight but also down on mileage.  I held on & even took some pulls for the first 3 laps. 

On lap 3 I got gapped off a little coming up the hill after the lake.  I managed to tag back on.  After this I decided once we hit the dam hill again I was going to sit up about half way since my legs were burning & my left knee was hurting pretty good. 

 I thought about bailing & heading home to go to work(I forgot to mention I had to go to work a few hours after the race) but hell why not get some miles. So put my head down into the wind & soloed the last lap.  About got lapped on the line by Brad Huff winner of the 123 race(duh).  Oops.

Packed up my stuff rushed home & got ready for work.  Work SUCKED! not only was I tired from no sleep & racing but work was exceptionally busy.  Stupid day light saving time.  Always screws up the computers at work.  Pretty tired this am but going to put on my compression tights & sleep it off.  I might actually wake up to an inch of snow! Wasn't it like 70f Friday?

2011 Ride #5 Furry Legs on a sunny day

The winter fur.

Saturday was warm & not too windy.  Got out for ride #5 of 2011.  Another 2 hrs @ a Normalized Power of 214.  Other than that nothing special. I did do 20 secs @ 418 watts sprinting away from a dog (638 for 5 sec, 566 for 10 sec).  My HR never got over 150 in those 20 seconds so thats something I guess.  No rush for fitness for me anyway.  If I race more than 3x this summer it will be a miracle.

Granted I'm only up to Ride#5 but I've been on the bike for 21 straight days.  That is till Friday.  All the OT & commuting wore me out.   I had a DR. apt Friday so decided instead of making myself so tired I get sick I drove to work Thursday night.  Actually drove to work twice.  Got to work realized I left my work keys in my bike bag so had to head home & get them.  No keys means no uniform & no tool box access, can't have either of those.

I'm about to do something really stupid.  Going to go and "race" the Frozen Waffles Race Training race in a few hours.  The stupid part? Take your pick: I'm on ride 5 of the year, or the biggie, I have to go to work tonight(just an hour or two after the race). Stupid I know.  Luckily the Master's race is only 44 miles(will also be longest ride of year so far) so hopefully I can race & get home.  I might pull the cord early though if I think I'm gonna be wore out for work.  

I have laid off the coffee for the last month.   Decided today would be a good day to end that with all going on today & tonight.  Hello mass amounts of caffeine.

BMC wheel change for Jeff Louder in Paris-Nice

2011 Ride #4 & The Stand Off

Saturday before heading to work I got in a quick hour on the windtrainer. Two rides in a row!  That makes me 50/50 for rides this year. 1/2 road 1/2 trainer.  Another SST @ 201 watts.  Didn't feel too bad.  Had to adjust my left cleat a little to attempt to do away with some knee pain I seem to get every spring.  Other than that nothing special about the "ride".

 

Big news Saturday night was the stand off the Sheriff & SWAT had at the house 4 houses down from me.  Amber texted me at work to tell me there were cops all over the place on our street.  Thanks to the Twitter I found out why.  I was able to follow along all night.

 

Twitter / KTTS News: KTTS Breaking News Neighbo ...

KTTS Breaking News Neighborhood Peace Disturbed: No one is hurt and one man ...
twitter.com/KTTSNews/status/20622059411 - Cached

 

Turns out 2 guys held two woman and another man at gunpoint for several hours before 911 was called. A domestic dispute gone bad.  This was all coming to ahead right as I was hopping on the commuter to ride to work.  Guess the police were on their way or had just been called.  Probably would have skipped work if I knew this was going down so Amber & the kids weren't at home alone all night. 

 

Twitter / KTTS News: Standoff Last for 6 Hours ...

Standoff Last for 6 Hours in Southwest Greene County: A standoff with ...
twitter.com/KTTSNews/status/35578866969874434 - Cached

 

SWAT sent in their fancy robot to find out no one was there(glad my tax dollars got some use).  The police arrested one suspect when they released the "hostages". They think in the confusion of locking down the neighborhood the other gunman snuck off.  Besides the robot being sent into an empty house after being surrounded for several hours the story is made funnier(as funny as this situation can be) by the fact that the "gun" they found was a BB pistol. 

 

For what is normally a quiet neighborhood I don't know why my street has to be the epicenter of everything that happens in the entire subdivision.  I've been thinking about getting a hand gun for awhile now.  This pretty much seals the deal.  Amber isn't thrilled about the idea but I'm not thrilled about being at work all night with her home alone with the kids when I'm at work.  I'd get an arm but I just don't have confidence in ADT or the other options.  I guess I could just rig up a panic alarm.  Hmmm might just do that, if nothing else to wake the neighbors up occassionaly.

2011 Ride # 3 Windblown

Got out yesterday before the clouds came in for a pretty descent road ride.  

Headed up towards Bois D'arc to check on the TT course.  Of course that meant a tail wind up & a block head wind back.  Still managed to av 18 mph so not too bad.

Cool old school house at the 3 mile marker of the TT course.

Started out in Knee Warmers but had to ditch them about an hour in.  Stopped at the under pass on the TT course to disrobe.  Ended up with 2:10 with an average of 176 watts or 200 Normalized Watts for 1371Kj.  Not a bad ride for ride # 3 of the year.  Looks like ride #4 today will be on the trainer.  

The above idiot was DT'ing & decided to swerve at me.  Then slammed on his brakes & stopped in the middle of the road & got out of his truck.  This winner was a full on Meth head.  I kept my distance but couldn't help but laugh at him which made him even more pissed.  Thing is the idiot is roofing a house in my neighborhood.  After he said he'd kick my ass I told him I'd go ahead & call the Sheriff since I know where he's working.  He had a change of heart then.  Total Dumb Ass.  I had a better pic of him waving his arms but it didn't turn out.

2011 Ride #2: A Windtrainer to no where

Damn rain put a kink in my hopes of getting in a couple hours on the road bike.  Hit the Wind trainer for an hour of steady state(195 watts avg).  Passed the time watching Letters from Iwo Jima.  I put The Pacific on my BlackBerry the other day and have been on a WWII kick.  Its unimaginable how tough the Marines in the Pacific theater of war were.  

Once I finish watching Letters from Iwo Jima I'd cue up Flags of Our Fathers but of course the streaming only NetFlix doesn't have it available for streaming.  I'm starting to think the steaming only NetFlix is only good for seasons of TV shows & documentaries.  About 90% of the stuff I want to watch is DVD only which you can't get with a streaming only package.  Hopefully it will improve some once the CBS/NetFlix deal kicks in.

Back to work Friday night for another 6 day stretch so just commuting miles for me.  Got in 5 of the 6 days last week.

How to make an F1 Car & other musings

HMMM I have access to an autoclave about that size at work. Need to figure out where to lay my hands on some carbon fiber fabric.

FYI The Haynes manual is real. Its a promotional book , but supposedly has some basics of have to work on the RB1. Going to be out in the spring early summer. Going to have to get one.

Sucks the Bahrain GP is cancelled but it was the right thing to do. Back to the old season opener In Melbourne. A race that is in trouble itself. The Melbourne council is tired of sinking money into the race so they don't want to renew the contract when it ends in 2015. I imagine in the next few years there will be several GP's going the way of the dodo.

All this unrest in the Arab nations could bring on another global recession. I saw on the news expect $4/gal by summer & $5/gal by end of summer. That just adds more reasons for me to get CX races going here in Springfield. Its going to be hard to justify a big outlay of gas money to drive to KC or the STL for 40-60 min of racing(at least for me anyway).  I've already stopped driving to work.  A few of the production supervisors were giving me crap about riding to work the other day.  I told them to laugh it up now because I'll be laughing at their fat asses when gas is $5/gal.

Anyway I got of topic there for a second. With oil going up its going to hit my job pretty hard since rubber is petroleum dependent. Expect bike tires & tubes to go up as well becasue of this. Better stock up on them now. I read on article on Velonews the other day about aging tubulars.  Makes me wish my house had a basement.  How I bought a house without a basement is beyond me.

Talking F1 & Commuting

The above video is pretty cool since its all different camera views than you get during practice & races. The angle looking back from the front of the car really shows the graining in the tires. The new Pirelli tires are really going to spice things up this year. More so than KERS & the movable rear wing. Everything I've been reading about the tires from driver comments is how fast the super fast go off. We could see 3 & 4 stop races. That should make some interesting tire strategies. Car wise I think Alonso is going to be hard to beat. Ferrari has put in some serious test mileage this winter. They also have been a lot more reliable. Though I think Red Bull has been playing possum. Sauber & my boy Kobayashi have been looking good, regularly near the top of the time sheets during testing. I think the passing opportunities that the tires, KERS, & the wing will suit his style.

Enough F1 now to the real reason the 6 people who still read this blog...me. I've started riding to work again. Gas hit the magic $3 mark. Having a dedicated commuter is nice. Though it has some tweaking needed. But that is half the fun of bikes. So far this week I ridden in warm high 60's, 30mph winds, rain, & sub 20f weather. Missouri is fun.

I'm also coffee free now for 5 days & counting. Coffee free not caffeine free. I've had a few sodas(not normal for me) & some tea, ice & hot; yes hot. I guess its the English in me. Not bad if you get the good stuff ie PG Tips. I've had some stomach problems lately that have been very ulcer like. I wanted to eliminate a big possibility before heading to the Dr. I drink ALOT of coffee, like 1-3 pots a day. The upside is It looks like I'm homing in on the culprit.

Work is still sucking the life out of me & the fam with all the OT. Looks like at least 3 more weeks of 72 hr weeks. With the possibility of of a month straight with NO days off. Pray to whoever you pray to that that doesn't happen. Mostly for Ambers sake. I can do it but I'm not sure she can. If that happens I'll have to burn some vacation time to get a few days off. Hopefully though the OT ends in 3 weeks.

2011 Ride #1

2/16/11 Yep I waited 46 days into 2011 to get my first ride of the year in.  I haven't even gotten out for a run since Jan 9!

Why you ask?  My work mostly, & the attempt to see the family as much as I can on my very few days off in the last 30+ days.  Its hard to justify going out for an hour or more to workout when you either are at work or asleep. Unfortunately this cycle of work, work, & more work has no immediate end insight.  The night shift opposite me had one guy take a month leave of absence.  The day he came back another guy on that shift quit.  The coverage for that shift falls to me and another guy.  Lots of 5 & 6 days in a row.  Doesn't seem like much?  Try working 12 hr night shifts & you'll have a change of heart.  By the time I get to work & get home I've been gone almost 14 hrs.  Doesn't leave much time for anything else.

I have been trying to compensate by doing my version of Crossfit... Workfit.  Lots of stair walking, pull ups, dips, hefting around heavy crap at work.  It seems to have worked because I didn't die riding yesterday.

With temps to be in the mid 60's there was no way I couldn't ride.  Especially after last weeks -12.

There are still piles of snow around but a pretty nice day.  Rode my favorite 2 hr loop north of the house.  The county has decided to enforce this bridge closing with more than signs now.  Huge piles of dirt requires a quick dismount now.

Had another wait for this HUGE train.  Allowed me time to catch up with Twitter & change my listening selection from F1B podcast to some Modest Mouse to get me home.

Nothing special about the ride.  All little ring.  I averaged a whopping 148 watts for Just shy of 2 hrs. My ass is sore as hell today.  Imagine that with almost zero saddle time since who knows when.

Team Lotus F1 vid

I'm not really a Lotus fan but they do an excellent job of embracing social media to engage the fans.  Their YouTube channel has some really good videos.  This is the 2011 kickoff film.

I wanted Katie to win

Katie did great at world's. Like Dave says in this clip its hard to be upset with 2nd.  Let's face it, Katie deserved it.  Vos just had the better day.  You can only control so much.  

This vid is hard to watch, but it makes me a bigger Katie fan.  She's human.


Velonews interview with Katie Compton from Matt Haughey on Vimeo.

Ferrari F150 testing video

Monday Musings

I'm back to work for another 6 day run. I did it last week too. The money is nice but what it does to me isn't. Mostly 12hr night shifts wear on you. I've gotten to where 4 of them aren't too bad. I'll occasionally have a night that is nuts & that adds to the fatigue level, but for the most part I make do & can function. Six 12's is another beast. Especially when the last 2 are crazy.

I made it through the first round. I was even able to function on my first night off to go to Amber's work party. A rousing good time. A co-worker of Amber went to a cx race with us in the stl a few years ago. Now everytime I see her she asks me when my next cx race is. While chatting at the party I told her about wanting to put on races here. Bam! Her Aunt is on the Park Board. She's going to tell her how awesome cx is and that they should give me the run of the park I want to use. Hopefully this pans out.

Sunday was a disaster. My body was stuck on nights. I was less than semi functional between naps on the couch. Then at 7PM I woke up & stayed up all night being less than productive watching movies & reruns of Top Gear on NetFlix. Should have rode the trainer I guess.

What's really rough is Mia misses me after only seeing me for a bit in the am & a bit at night before I go to work. Not to mention Amber is stuck with a newborn & an over active 4 y/o. She's a trooper though & managing better than I would.

That said I haven't rode or ran in 15 days! Yikes. I have been doing my version of crossfit. Workfit. I've been doing laps on the stairs at break & doing lots of pull ups & generally lifting heavier items more than I normally would. Manual labor for the win. Its just to hard to get up & doing anything before or after work. Plus it cuts into the time I get to spend with the family. I should talk Amber into letting me ride the trainer in the living room.

I saw this referenced in a tweet. Guess I have to blame my ignorance on something else.
Alcohol doesn't kill brain cells

A shocking tid bit link in that article No Triceratops? How did I miss that?  I mean I even had a triceratops model when I was a kid that I got from the London Natural Science Museum.  Crushing just crushing.

The $3/gal limit

I set an arbitrary threshold for the price of gas becoming to expensive to drive to work. That price is $3/gallon. Driving home in the snow this am I saw $2.99/gal. The snow will drive it up over $3 easily. I've been prepping. I purchased 700x28c tires & hard mounted fenders. Time to man up & become a full fledged year round bike commuter.

I need 28 hour days

There just isn't enough time in the day. You would think having a job where I'm off 1/2 the year I'd be able to accomplish everything I want. For the most part I can. Sometimes 4 12 hour night shifts wear me down & I spend 2 of my 4 days off recovering.

I've been on a roll the last 3 weeks & have gotten in some good run training. Almost 90 miles in 3 weeks isn't too bad. The wheels fell off the bus this week though. I'm at 7 days with nothing. No running, no riding(not that I have been anyway), no nothing. I have to put a bunch of overtime in (70+hr weeks) the next month. The overtime, driving to the stl for a funeral, & the need to spend time with the family took priority.

Mia has been missing me a lot with the OT so I took her to see Tron Legacy friday. Ok movie not as good as I was hoping. Mia liked most of it though. Especially the fight scene with Daft Punk playing. That kid likes to dance.

Let's see what else? Not much really passed on workinv out today so I could rush around and get a bunch of stuff done before starting a 6 day 72 hour work slog. Going to try hard to get a few workouts in. The other night at work I walked the stairs on one of my breaks. 10 sets of 60 stairs. Will have to do that some more, its a real leg burner.

Damn breaks over back to work I go.

More Springfield CX

No luck on getting State here in 2012 since Jeff City & St. Louis are next in line.  There is no way I can bid against any proposal from either since we haven't had a race here in 4 or 5 years.  MOBAR are talking moving State to a later date in Dec though.  That said I'm going to start planning a CX race for late Dec this year so I can get a future place holder for a chance for State later.   I'm going to start hustling now to get on the calendar early.  The venue I really want I cant see them letting me using for all the weekly training races & a weekend race.  That means I have to get 2 venues lined up.  I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.  How many races do I have to promote in a year to call myself a professional promoter.  I so want Don King hair

Springfield CX??

I've been kicking around the idea of putting on a CX race for awhile.  After last summers TT series I put on I really started to get interested in it.  Now with gas predicted to be upwards of $4 /gal by end of year it's time for more local races.  I've upped the number of TT's I'm putting on this year & am going to try & have a dirt TT as well.
I'm not kidding myself  I won't be able to draw field sizes like KC or STl.  There just isn't that many people who want to race in Springfield.  I think the most I got to show for any of my TT's was 20.  The Short Track races had descent but small turnout as well.  If I can get 15-20 people out each week I'll consider it a success.
I'm thinking about a series of 4-6 races mid week in Oct or Nov.  That means night races. Mid week allows those racing on the weekends to get in an effort mid week. I doubt there will be enough people to have more than one race.  That said I'll probably use some sort of staggered, handicapped start to make the racing interesting for all levels.  If the races show enough interest I might consider putting in a bid to have State CX in Springfield in 2012.
Cyclocross is a great sport so hopefully the few guys who do race local will show up & help promote the growth of the sport in Springfield.  We used to have a series here but it was competing against bigger weekend races in KC & STL.  Hopefully a mid week series will generate some interest.
This will be a no frills, no entry, no payout race.  All the free money I gave out at the TT's showed me free money can't get people to race.
Oct is a long way off but there is a lot to do in that time frame.  Find a venue(I have a couple in mind that have lights).  Getting the venue approved.  Then course lay out & design.  If you have interest in helping or have any ideas leave me a comment here or on Facebook or Twitter. or shoot me an email scottdunsmuirATTHEgmailDOTcom

Austin F1 ground Breaking

Last Minute Holiday Gift Idea: Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat

Last Minute Holiday Gift Idea: Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat

For the Bike Geek who has everything?

The Princess Bride meets Star Wars!!!!!!

#Project18 Fail Turkey Trot 2010

My 9th Turkey Trot(16th annual) didn't go as I had hoped.  The weather turned to crap.  Sleep is a thing of the past with Alex now.  I figured surely I could break 19:00 with all the running I've been doing, especially after running 19:13 last year with zero running.  Well that's what I get for thinking.  19:00.0000.  I screwed myself going out too fast.  I told my self not to get caught up in the wave in the first mile.  Nope did it anyway(mistake #1). 5:36 for the first mile.  I panicked a little and throttled back(mistake #2). Ran second mile a little too comfortable in 6:20.  Fell asleep in the 3rd mile (mistake #3) 6:26.  Saw the finish clock & sprinted for all I was worth to hit 19 exactly. Damn so close.  Should have leaned.  What I should have done was run even splits.  I guess I'll have to regroup & hit a 5k next week.

The Time Has Come

Nine plus months of waiting are over.  Tomorrow is GO TIME!  Going to go off the grid for a bit(I've been banned from Twitter, FB, Tumblr, etc) but will post pics, etc after K2 is settled & named.  Yes we still don't have a name.  I think besides that we are all set.  His room is done. Cleaning the carpets this afternoon.  Baby seat is in the car.  Amber's bag's are packed.  Off to the hospital in the am to finally meet K2.

Took advantage of my last 4 days off to catch up on choirs, errands, etc so that they are all out of the way.  Went ahead and took advantage of todays warm temps to hang the Xmas lights.  It way to early but its warm & I was motivated.  I mean I was up at 3 am.  I ran, watched the super prestige race, so needed some thing to do. The early wake ups have let me get a lot of stuff done, including a good run every morning.  Plus I've squeezed in a killer nap every afternoon.  Might as well get them while I can.

Turkey Trot is Thursday.  #project18's big day.  Did a speed workout Saturday that I hope says I'll hit the 18 mark. I have to avg 6:07 miles to go under 19:00. Going to be wicked cold though.  If my Jpow embro shows I'll wear shorts, if not it will be a tight morning.  Never been able to run very fast in tights.

Well all for now.  Wish us luck!

Me Productive?

Doesn't seem right to be productive while on a stay-cation.  Yesterday I woke up at 4 am so decided to get a jump on the day.  Managed to get a chilly 5 mile run in.  Hit the dentist.  Took Mia with me to get my hair cut.  Plus to cap it off changed the oil in the Volvo.  After all that I took a 2.5 hr power nap.  That's a full day right there.  Pretty much couch surfed the rest of evening.

Today I woke up @ 3:30 am.  I guess it lets me catch up on a bunch of shows on the DVR.  I figure the sleep deprivation will prepare me for the arrival of K2 next week.  Speaking of we go to the Dr. this afternoon for a sonogram & what should be the final Dr. apt.  The contractions are coming pretty regularly so it should be soon.

I got in a pretty cold 6 miler this am.  26f with wind chill.  What's crazy is 70 is predicted for this weekend.  Thanksgiving day about race time at the Turkey Trot its supposed to be 22f.  I ordered some J-Pow embro so hopefully it shows up before Thursday.

Ambers off to the anesthesiologist for a consult on the epidural.  I think Mia & I are going to hit the garage to work on the mtb's disc brakes.  Lots of good advice so I'll try again.  With the weather predicted I think it would be good to hit the trails.  It'll be the only way to avoid the hurricane force winds that will come with the temps.

Getting Ready for '11

Yesterday I decided to do some prep work for 2011.  Mostly get the MTB off the rack & get it ride-able.  Air up the tires, put the chain back on, & bleed the brakes.  Little did I know the brakes were going to eat my lunch & destroy a whole afternoon.  Four hours later, a lot of cussing, a few thoughts about killing a Hayes engineer, taking a shower in brake fluid, and I got the rear brake kinda workable.  Yes just one freaking brake in 4 hours!

After looking online it seems Hayes has the worst design for disc brakes on the market.  Turns out most shops won't even bleed them, they send them back to Hayes.  I did manage to find a feasible work around to keep me from having to pull them & send them in.  Luckily I don't mind a brake thats a little soft so I'm semi happy.  I'm a little leery about bleeding the front brake now, but will dive in to it perhaps this afternoon.

2011 will bring some changes for me.  Training with 2 kids will be the big one.  Not a huge problem in the winter since I ride so much on the trainer anyway.  Another big change will be my racing age is 40.  That means full on Masters racing for me. Road, MTB, & CX.  I'll probably do a few open CX races, & maybe a 1/2/3 crit or 2, but mostly racing with the old men.

My two readers may have noticed I pulled the SKC logo from the old blog.  SKC has decided not to sponsor a team anymore so I'm team-less for 2011.  Not that big a deal with my limited schedule anyway.  SKC will be around but mostly sponsoring rider participant events like the MS150.  I have a few options on the table but I may just get an all black get & race for Team Me.

2010 wasn't much of a racing year for me.  I had what I thought was a great spring of training.  Only to have crappy results in the few races I did.  Granted my TT at Hermann doesn't count since I was stopped by the semi.  I carried a huge fatigue load that I was writing off to working nights & all the training I was doing.  I had noticed last fall I was having trouble gaining any form, but figured it was getting used to racing 60 min in Opens & readjusting to nights.  Well not so.  I managed to get a medical explanation for it.  Hopefully now I know the problem I can control it.  As it stands not racing for most of the year may have helped from really burning me out chasing my tail to no avail.

K2 is due in less than 2 weeks so I'll have something good to blog about again.  Plus maybe a 5k race report or two.

This That & the Other

Lots going on here in my little slice of the world.  We are now on weekly baby doc status.  Amber doesn't think the boy is going to wait till his due day to make his appearance.  I'm beginning to think so too.  I have my vacation scheduled but mostly because I didn't want to loose out on getting the week of Thanksgiving off.  I know its a crap shoot for it to work out but I have another week of vacation to play with if I need it.

Not much riding going on, maybe 1 or 2 rides a week right now.  Been focusing on the run.  Going to try & get another 5k in before the Turkey Trot, hopefully.  Been so damn windy lately riding isn't very appealing.  In fact in makes doing run intervals unappealing as well.  Last time I ran in circles the wind killed me.  Pretty much decided the road bike is going to be mounted to the trainer for the winter.  Any outside riding will be done on the CX or MTB.  Which means I've got to put the MTB back together.  Right now it has no chain & 2 flat tires.  Not optimal for riding.

As I told Amber lack of ride time frees up more time for me to piddle.  The hacks have began.  Last week I rooted an iPod shuffle to banish iTunes from it.  I'm not a fan of iTunes since its like the Borg & takes over your computer.  I've switched to VLC for my multimedia pleasure.  Its open source & feature packed.  I highly recommended it.  Yesterday I finally got around to setting up the Wii for streaming Netflix.  Next up is hacking the Wii to run on Linux so I can get more out of it.  Which will give me insentive to finally multiboot the computer to run on Linux & XP.  Been reading about it for awhile so its time to pull the trigger.  I've got a few more mods kicking around in my head just have to motivate & find the free time to work on them.

I had more to write about but have forgotten most of it now.  Besides I'm just blogging in an attempt to stall for lacing up & going for a run.

Don't forget Speed.TV is streaming P1 from the F1 race in Brazil in the am.  Starts at 8am.

This is from Japan where Kobayashi put on a passing clinic.  I've become a huge fan of him as well of most of the F1 fans in the world.


The F1 season is down to 2 races.  The driver & constructor championships are up for grabs & getting hot.   Hopefully Mr. Webber can keep it on the track & make up for the brain fart he had in Korea.


I read today that Mr. Vettel is using an engine this weekend thats on its 3rd race.  He's hard on engines so I'm thinking he might have another epic come apart like Korea.



Which hopefully will make him get in line & finally help Webber out instead of crashing into him.

De Cross Gaat Door

New Turkey Trot Course

This should make my quest for 18:xx a little easier.  Though I hate long straight stretches.

Batman???

I picked this up off my Twitter Feed:


Jeb Corliss wing-suit demo from Jeb Corliss on Vimeo.

Week 2 Circle Fail

30+ mile per hour winds pretty much destroyed me & any hope I had of hitting goal times.  I knew better but I figured time is limited so why not try.  I got a hard workout in that about all I got.  Pretty demoralizing.  The plan was for 3x1200 @ 4:00 with 400m recovery.  Came close first interval.  Little farther off the 2nd.  The third one was a waste of time.  With any luck the wind will die down by Thursday & I can try this workout again.


I've been pretty beat up lately.  Mostly various achilles/calf problems.  Friday I woke up without the ability to move my neck very much.  After some heat pad & Amber working on it I got some mobility.  Went to work where the neck pain moved into my bad shoulder.  Its now Tuesday & still bothering me a little.  Saturday night I also managed to whack myself in the shin.  I feel like I should turn this into an injury report blog about myself.

Running around in circles

Its been four years since my last foray into track intervals.  Thanks to #project18 I figured I'd better do some track work or I'd flail mightily.  Especially with the target race less than 6 weeks away.

I packed up my bag, mounted my bike, & rode over to MSU's Plaster field to run some circles. A nice 8 mile ride over, I figured it would be a good warm up.   Oops!  Guess the track is closed in the afternoon till after 5.  SOB!  Turn around & head home to plan B and now 16 miles in my legs.

Luckily the subdivision across from mine has a 400 meter loop(+/- 5 meters) which is good enough for my purposes.  I figured for the first week 10x 400 at or below 1:30 with 400 recovery would be a good start.  Four years ago I stood for my recovery since I wasn't running much & was interested in making the times. Which wouldn't happen if I ran the recoveries.  This year I've been putting in the miles & figured I'd better run the recoveries. Plus the extra mileage might make another attempt at the Sylamore 50K in February a likelihood. 

To sum up: 1) 1:28 (2) 1:28 (3) 1:29 (4) 1:26 (5) 1:26 (6) 1:24 (7) 1:28 (8) 1:28 (9) 1:28 (10) 1:30  Felt the 16 miles of pre riding in my legs on the last one.

All in all not a bad first go around at running speed work. An added bonus was my long run now is 6.5 miles.

Old Skool CX

Holy Hell!

2010 Starcrossed

Visit beta.cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

Pewter the tofu of colors

Visit beta.cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

TRP

Visit beta.cyclingdirt.org for more Videos

How NOT to Transition to bike

Not your run off the mill Ford Fiesta

I hope he has a rim sponsor:

Quick run update

Run mileage has been creeping up.  Running 5 miles now avg 7 min miles pretty easily.  Will have to start some pre-speed work workouts soon.  Settled on the Denim Day 5k on 9/25 to open up my #project18 races.

In a bout of insomnia last night I did some intrawebbing of my past 5k races results.  In 2003 I had seven 5k's under 18:20.  Two of those under 18 min(17:47 & 17:29).  Obviously I'm not going to race that much before the Turkey Trot but I like to think Im training harder & smarter this go around.  I'm thinking the sub 19 this go around is going to happen.

Looks like the Dry Sac short track races are supposed to have a CX friendly race Tuesday(if the floods stop).  I might actually show up with a cx bike(sans tubies) to this one.  Depends on how my weekend of work goes and how motivated I am to donate $15.

Running along

Well #project18 is coming along nicely.  First tune up 5k is in a couple of weeks.  Have my weekly mileage into the 20-25 mile range.  I'll hold it steady there till maybe November then hit 30 or 35 to start to taper for the goal race of #project18.

I've moved my mileage up slowly.  Start with 2.5 mile runs then bumped my pace up. Bumped up to 4, then bumped pace up, then up to 5 miles which I'm at now.  I'll hold it at 5 miles till I can hit 5 miles @ 6:45 pace pretty easily.  Should be doable.

Riding is playing second fiddle right now with saddle time being sporadic.  Mostly an occasional spin or commute to work.  I did hit the trainer for an hour yesterday to avoid the monsoon.  Right now & in the immediate future running gives me more bang for my buck.  I can get the same amount of TSS in 30 min running as I can get in an hour & a half on the bike (that is without intervals which I'm in now shape for).  

Since I had a pretty wicked bought of insomnia last night I got out with the sun coming up for a quick 5 miler.  I'm thinking I might get out in a few for an hour of low level power hill repeats on the bike.  Snagging saddle time where I can.  Got to take a nap today since tonight is my first night back at work this week; so might as well make myself tired.

Four on Four off is good & bad for training for sure.  I have been getting some strength work in at work.  The locker room has a perfect pull up bar.   I'm up to 50 in a 12 hour shift.  Not too bad when you factor in I'm doing them with steel toe boots on as well.  I might get back to my previous strength when I was climbing & kayaking all the time. 

Typing more than 140 characters is making my fingers tired.  I've set up a Tumblr account for posts longer than 140 characters & less than a novel that blogging takes.  Yes I know I'm a social media whore.

Final Pre EBAY Sale Chance Prices Cut

This is your Final Pre EBAY Sale Chance. I've cut prices to try & save myself the hassle of the EBAY.

1. Dura Ace Braze on Front Derailleur  $15 $10
2. Shimano 600 Cranks 175 square taper w/ BB no chain rings $15 $10
3. Ritchey Pro Clincher Rim semi aero $10 $5
4. Mavic MA2 SBP clincher rim $5
5. 2 Specialized PRO Adrenaline 26x2.0 tires $40 $30
6. SRAM 9spd 12-26 PG-950 cassette $15 $10  SOLD
7. SRAM 9spd 11-26 PG-950 cassette $15  $10
   
8. SRAM 9spd  11-21 PG-970 cassette $15 $10
   
9. American Classic seatpost (300mm) 26.6  $10 $5
10. Winwood Carbon fork w/ Aluminum crown CX Fork threadless 1" (star nut installed) with 1" threadless stems in 120mm & 130mm & Cable Hanger $65 $55
11. Chris King 1" ahead set silver  $50
12. Surley 1" steel CX Fork (star nut installed)  with 1" threadless stems in 120mm & 130mm & Cable Hanger $30
13. Rock Shock Judy 11/8" Star nut installed $50 $40
14. RST Mozo Pro 11/8" (3" travel; elastomer) Star nut installed $20 $15
15. XT Cantilever brakes Front & Rear set with pads $15
16. SRAM 9.0 V-brakes Front & Rear with pads & all hardware including noodles  $20 $15
17. SRAM 7.0 Brake levers $10 $5
18. Bontrager Crowbar Riser Bar & Bontrager 11/8"stem 120mm  $10
19. EC90 Carbon MTB Bar $30
20. EC70 130mm stem 11/8" $15 $10
21. Dura Ace 175m Octolink Crank with Octolink BB (no chainrings) $60 $50
22. Tiagra 9spd STI Shifters $60  sold
23. Ultegra 9spd rear deraileur $10 sold
24. Shimano 600 Road brakes with pads $10
25. Shimano 105 front deraileur 31.8 clamp $10 $5
26. Kooka Crank w/ square taper BB & crank bolts 175mm mtb no chainrings $10
27. Shimano PD-M737 clipless mtb pedals(old style but work with new cleats) $10
28. Truvativ 175 Single Speed Crank no chainring $15
29. Sun Ringle RPM Lite W/ Ringle Skewers& Kenda Short Tracker tires installed $75 $65

800m World Record!

David Rudisha ran1:41:09 for 800m in Berlin this weekend. Holy crap that's hauling!  His rabbit Sammy Tangui of Kenya hit the 400m mark @ 48.65.  Rudisha went through 600m @ 1:14.54 after his rabbit pulls off.

MORE Pre EBAY

1. Dura Ace Braze on Front Dérailleur  $15
2. Shimano 600 Cranks 175 square taper w/ BB no chain rings $15
3. Ritchey Pro Clincher Rim semi aero $10
4. Mavic MA2 SBP clincher rim $5
5. 2 Specialized PRO Adrenaline 26x2.0 tires $40
6. SRAM 9spd 12-26 PG-950 cassette $15
7. SRAM 9spd 11-26 PG-950 cassette $15 
8. SRAM 9spd  11-21 PG-970 cassette $15 

Pre EBAY Sale

This is what I've dug out so far. Get it before I stick it on the EBAY:

1. American Classic seatpost (300mm) 26.6  $10
2. Winwood Carbon fork w/ Aluminum crown CX Fork threadless 1" (star nut installed) with 1" threadless stems in 120mm & 130mm & Cable Hanger $65
3. Chris King 1" ahead set silver  $50
4. Surley 1" steel CX Fork (star nut installed)  with 1" threadless stems in 120mm & 130mm & Cable Hanger $30
5. Rock Shock Judy 11/8" Star nut installed $50
6. RST Mozo Pro 11/8" (3" travel; elastomer) Star nut installed $20
7. XT Cantilever brakes Front & Rear set with pads $15
8. SRAM 9.0 V-brakes Front & Rear with pads & all hardware including noodles  $20
9. SRAM 7.0 Brake levers $10
10. Bontrager Crowbar Riser Bar & Bontrager 11/8"stem 120mm  $10
11. EC90 Carbon MTB Bar $30
12. EC70 130mm stem 11/8" $15
13. Dura Ace 175m Octolink Crank with Octolink BB (no chainrings) $60
14. Tiagra 9spd STI Shifters $60  sold
15. Ultegra 9spd rear deraileur $10 sold
16. Shimano 600 Road brakes with pads $10
17. Shimano 105 front deraileur 31.8 clamp $10
18. Kooka Crank w/ square taper BB & crank bolts 175mm mtb no chainrings $10
19. Shimano PD-M737 clipless mtb pedals(old style but work with new cleats) $10
20. Truvativ 175 Single Speed Crank no chainring $15
21. Sun Ringle RPM Lite W/ Ringle Skewers & Kenda Short Tracker tires installed $75

Deer Run

I've lived next to the Deer Run Subdivision for 5 years now.  Last night I found out why it got its name.  I was running along at dusk when what I thought was a dog ran up besides me.  Nope it was Bambi, spots & all.  I was so startled I couldn't get my crackberry out to get a pic.  After running with me for a few feet it sped off into the field.  About 3 minutes later it did it again.  This time a passing car saw it & slowed.  The driver yelled at me to put a leash on my dog.  I yelled back it was a deer. He looked at me like I was high.

Bambi buzzed me one more time before joining momma deer in the field.  I thought that was pretty cool.  I hit my turn around & started to run back.  Bambi thought buzzing me was a fun game since it did it two more times.  I was starting to get pretty paranoid since each time it got closer.  I ran about a 1/2 mile looking over my shoulder.  The Bambi run in aside I got a pretty good 4 miler in averaging 7:30 miles.  Felt pretty good too even though my avg HR was a little high.

Locals:  Time to whittle down the bike parts.  First up a set of 26"mtb SunRingle RPM Lite Wheels(rim brake only) Includes Ringle skewers & Kenda Short Tracker Tires. $100obo get them before I put them on Ebay

Project 18 rolling along

After looking at my work calendar I picked a day for my first 5k warm up race. Sept 25. Thing is there are 4. yes 4! 5k's in & around Springfield on that day. Holy Hell. There is maybe 4  bike races in Springfield ALL year let alone 4 in one day.  I'll have to do some research & find the flattest one.  One I think I have done before so I'll have a time reference for it.  I ran 19:13 with zero miles in November.  Granted my CX form was coming on in a big way.  I figure in 6 weeks of running I can surely run at least 19:45. 30 seconds slower is doable.

I did see there is a 5k trail run with a 5k kayak race the week before(9/24).  Might be interesting.  My creek boat is a pig to paddle in flat water though.  Will have to think about that one.  Might be able to borrow a longish sea kayak.  17' limit.

Slo Rolling into Sunday

I'm moving pretty slow today. After Friday's 5 hr power washing marathon & yesterday's all day stain fest on the deck I'm pretty sore today. I slept in & convinced Amber to work on my legs a bit to help with the soreness. She dug in & I thought I was going to cry. An hour later & a couple of Tylenol I'm up and at em at the crack of noon.

Today I just have some touch up work, a few stiles, & the main stairs left to stain & I'll be done with the deck for two years. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours & we can be grilling this evening outside on a deck that looks good as new. That's a big huge check mark on the old to do list.
I need to mow the yard today since its my last day off but I might just wait till we get back from the Baby Doc tomorrow morning. One of the advantages of working nights is being able to get a few things done on my first night back before I go in. That is if I don't mind 24+ hrs without sleep. Kinda getting used to it now.

Heat wave is supposed to return next week so work is going to be ridiculously hot again. I'm not a heat person so that makes it even harder for me to motivate to train. I might have to log a few running miles in the am after I get off work. Or stick the Ridley on the trainer. I really need to invest in rollers I guess.

I really need to buy this CD

Mumford & Son's to motivate you

The To Do List

Everyone has one. Some small, some large, some overwhelmingly ambitious. Mine is pretty big but manageable. That is if I put effort into it. With lack of riding I've been putting a pretty good dent into mine.

Today is day 2 off & being Friday Mia hangs out with me all day. She has been a holy terror lately but so far today she has been willing to cooperate with my to do list. So far today I've managed to clean out the Volvo, take it to the car wash(before 10am get $2 back @ Mr. Zippy's), used the free high powered car vacs. I did forget to pick up some tire shine so that will have to be done later.

Ran over & got a hair cut & shaved my face to make the wife happy. Once home I got in high gear & sprayed the yard for bugs. Fleas are sneaking in from the neighbors yard; I really dislike my neighbors.

I then busted out the Pressure washer to clean the deck. I had bad luck in the past with this. Every time I pressure wash the deck it rains before I can seal it. No rain in the forecast so hopefully tomorrow I can cross this nagging item of my list. I'm over 2/3 done but had to stop so Mia could get a nap. Amber is home busting ass now so I can get back on it.

Sunday we are going to prep for the neighborhood yard sale. Got to make room for kid numero two. I also ordered a bunch of flat rate boxes so I can start Ebaying all the crap in my garage. Going to get rid of a bunch of bike parts & spare wheels as well. I'm done kidding myself I'm never going to finish those project bikes so that's crossed off the to do list.

Amber just added to the list. Furniture moving to start setting up Jr's room. Cross one thing off & 3 more go on.

Project 18

Those on Twitter probably have noticed the hashtag #project18 I've been using lately. It's my way of motivating myself to run 18 min @ this years Turkey Trot. Part of that means actually Running this year. Since I've not been riding why not run? I mean I have a history of it.

Think this was my Freshman year in college. It was either a steeplechase or a 5k not sure. By the look on my face I'd say a 5k since I always looked horrible racing steeplechases. Those bad boys hurt!
I've been hitting the pavement early on my days off to avoid the heat. Managed to knock 45 seconds of my loop time today. Now I need to string several days together to rack up some mileage. Hopefully I can hit a 5k or 2 before the Turkey Trot to get some racing in my legs.

TT series reminder

Don't forget Tuesday everyone races for free.
Payout at least 3 deep in every category with 3 or more racers.

If you break the men's or women's course records you get an extra payout!!

Divisions are Aero men, nonaero men, & open women.

The men's course record was set on a TT bike. Scott Sifferman 22:04
The women's on a standard road bike. Stacy Bertsch 26:23

Movie Day

Today I let Mia stay home from daycare for a daddie & Mia day. If figure with her days of being the only child fleeting I need to give her some one on one attention while I can. She really likes 3 D movies after seeing Toy Story 3D. She says the "movie is in her face". So I forked over the $20 for two tickets to see another 3D movie with her. 3D will be the death of watching movies at the theater, wait and see. Way too spendy. Anyway we went and saw Despicable Me. I was a little disappointed. I guess I shouldn't have been with all the hype. Turns out a movie with the main character & most of the supporting cast having shows on NBC is going to be a big advert. They didn't even try and make it subtle advertising for NBC & PlayStation Wii. But I guess its a kid movie & they are advertising to the audience. Mia managed to eat most of a giant bucket of popcorn while watching it. She enjoyed it so money well spent.

We came home and took a PHAT nap. I ended up napping longer since Amber came home. Since I've not been riding lately I've been a napping machine. Strange when I need the rest I can't get it. When I don't all I can do is sleep. hmmm?

I did a little bike shop work for a friend of a friend then we headed over for dinner at Los Portales. If you follow me on Twitter or the Facebook you know how much we eat here. Best Spanglish food in Springfield. Plus ICE COLD Negra Medolo's what more do you need.

Tuesday Night TT

Results Link

Smaller turn out again this week. Times were slower as well as everyone had to fight heat & a pretty good cross to headwind. Stacy Bertsch did set a new women's course record without using a TT bike: 26:23. She would have placed 5th in the Aero division last night!

Remember next week everyone races for FREE & their will be payouts! FREE MONEY! Plus if anyone breaks the course records there is bonus money.

Course Records:
Men Scott Sifferman 22:04
Women Stacy Bertsch 26:23

IT'S A BOY & OTHER NEWS

First off for those who don't follow me on the Facebook or the Twitter.  Amber & I are having a baby BOY!  I had all but convinced myself we would end up with two girls.  One of each just seems right.

Other news:  What else is going on?  Thanks to a technology fail a big long blog post vanished off into the tubes of the web never to be seen again.  I figured I better update this thing or take it down.  The new Design feature let me shoot some life into the format so maybe I'll dabble in more than 140 characters a little more.

Training Time Trial Series.  I'm a race promoter now.  Crazy I know.  After the initial jitters it is actually fun.  Make a flier.  Hand them out to the local shops. Make a Facebook Event page.  Mark a course. Time it & post some results & presto your a race promoter.  Turn out was about what I expected for a time trial, on Tuesday nights, that isn't on the East side of town.  But its a race with payouts in Springfield. Not many of those.  Two more to go. Tonight & the following week.  The last TT(7/20/10) is free to all & there will be payouts at that one as well. FREE MONEY! 

Other News: I haven't rode in 2 months.  Decided that with the kid on the way & my new work schedule its not fair to the family to go racing on the 2 weekends I have off every 8 weeks.  Race wheels are hung up for now(that means no cross!).  I think it is time to start some training though before I turn into Jabba the Hut.  Plus Baby Boy Dunsmuir is due Thanksgiving Day. That means I need to run REALLY fast at the Turkey Trot this year.  I've run 17:30 on the old course.  Haven't yet broke 18 on this course.  Might need to log some miles & get into the low 17's so I can get to Labor & Delivery. It's possible; I ran 19:13 with zero run training.

I think I'm going to use the time I would normally spend riding to fully rehab my shoulder & back.  When I was Adventure Racing I was a lot fitter because of all the cross training.  Its time to get back(no pun) to a more fitter well rounded Scott.  Then when I do race CX again I can be faster.

TT Training Series

Week 2 TT Results

Week 2 TT Results http://bit.ly/aZLmes

Small turn out this week only 12 racers down from last weeks 19 & no women this week. I guess paying people to race isn't enough to entice them out. People complain all the time about the lack of racing in Springfield. Give them a race & they still won't race. Baffles me. Oh well the people coming out are having some good training & making some cash in the process.

Time Trial Results

Link to the results for the First Training TT 6/29/10

Course records are now set:
Men's Curt Evenson 23:14.0
Women's Kris Locke 33:48.0

Hope to see everyone next Tuesday!