tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-277166142011-11-07T23:07:10.823-08:00Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.comBlogger2591100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-88924909485100804392011-10-31T19:16:00.000-07:002011-10-31T19:33:05.793-07:00

I got back from my run a few minutes ago. My ankle hurts a little, my shin hurts a little, my knee hurts a little. And I'm still doing the Couch to 5k Week 1 workout. This puts me square in the middle of my third week of week 1, and I decided that my standard to promote myself to the next week would be finishing two out of three runs without weird joint pain. Wow. I wonder if anyone else has

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-4820627230411442062011-10-20T10:31:00.001-07:002011-10-20T11:15:33.473-07:00

Every year or so, I decide to take up running again. I haven't turned into a very good runner, but I've been getting better at taking up running.I ran track in high school, briefly, but with no ill consequences. I ran in college, sort of - I'd run to the gym with a friend of mine, lift weights, and walk back to the dorm. When I got more serious about dance, I mostly stopped. Not in a pointed

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-70145251031742455862011-10-16T17:36:00.001-07:002011-10-16T17:38:20.412-07:00

The driver you need is ATK Hotkey. It's in the ATKHOTKEY directory on the driver/utility disk that shipped with your computer. My initial install failed, but Windows 7 magically fixed it with the compatibility assistant.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-5067148083231922592011-09-22T15:29:00.000-07:002011-09-22T15:44:55.702-07:00

Repost of the race report I put up on my team's email list.Cyclocross is not my favorite kind of racing. I've been promising myself and anyone who'll listen that I'm not going to be serious about it this year.So of course I've made more preseason races and workouts than ever before this season. My mother and her boyfriend wanted to see me race, so I told them to make it a 'cross race. I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-59087315058163289032011-08-30T12:16:00.000-07:002011-08-30T12:16:00.476-07:00

On race day, I drove down to Capitol Forest and got in line to get my number and goodie bag. I bumped into a couple of teammates, which was nice. I rode around on my bike a little, but I'd already decided not to have a real warmup. I knew the race was long enough that I'd warm up, have a couple hours of strong riding, and get tired within the span of the race. So warming up first would just

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-43579513692337802962011-08-29T12:16:00.000-07:002011-08-29T12:16:40.031-07:00

The difficulty I had in finding traditional cross-country races this season created a vacuum I decided to fill with trying endurance racing instead. So back in May I competed in a 30-mile race. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. Due to schedule conflicts, I didn't do the second 30-mile race in the series, and that brings me to Saturday, and the final, 50-mile race. The median time for my

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-58952545496079377572011-07-26T21:20:00.000-07:002011-07-26T22:41:11.653-07:00

OK, I didn't toss my cookies on the top of the hill at Lake Padden. So if you were hoping to hear about that, sorry. But I sure thought it was a possibility.I've been riding a lot since the Stottlemeyer 30. When I finished school, I hadn't lined up a job. So I went for a bunch of rides. I had a suspension-related freakout - I seem to have those every two years or so - and fixed it. I've

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-52416706244894930052011-06-10T08:53:00.000-07:002011-06-10T09:37:18.135-07:00

I've been reinventing myself as an engineering student over the last couple years - I started taking classes at North Seattle Community College in January of 2010. I finished up my basic sciences and some lower-division engineering classes there, and at Seattle Central Community College, at the end of Winter Quarter this year. At the same time, I also applied to the graduate program at the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-90331194068045281792011-05-15T21:14:00.000-07:002011-06-05T20:59:54.954-07:00

If I had to pick a couple of strengths I feel I have when I race my bike, they're endurance and good recovery. If I had to pick a couple of weaknesses, they'd be top-end power and handling. I've figured out some things to do with handling that are helping me to improve, but I'd say most sport-class men handle their bikes better than I do, for now. At least, when they're fresh - during the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-12601387320383409152011-04-18T15:43:00.003-07:002011-04-18T16:12:45.246-07:00

For one reason and another, I've never actually gone to all the races in a series. The points are structured assuming this, so it's not that big a deal. But yesterday, I went to the 6th BuDu Racing race in their series. It's an early-season series, so now it's done. I'm not sure why, exactly - I think it was because of going to all six - but I got some swag. It's a Jansport hydration pack;

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-16775526894960650152011-04-11T21:25:00.002-07:002011-04-11T22:15:49.820-07:00

I raced at Ft. Steilacoom on Sunday. Between 'cross and last year's MTB race there, I've actually raced there a fair amount now. Last year's race was pretty stressful, and while I did okay, I didn't feel that good about it. I was late getting out of the house, got lost on the way, and barely registered in time to start, let alone warm up or pre-ride.This time, I feel like I pretty much got it

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-32688139721704573832011-03-28T15:00:00.002-07:002011-03-28T15:37:28.609-07:00

I raced at Ft. Ebey State Park for the first time yesterday.It was hard! The park only has a 200' maximum difference between its low and high points, but it's a pot-and-kettle landscape. In fact, part of it is called "Kyle's Kettles." The course, supposedly, has about 1000' of climbing on each seven-mile lap. That actually doesn't seem like it should be all that much, but keep in mind that

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-19455262634330065412011-03-21T21:33:00.002-07:002011-03-21T22:20:33.130-07:00

I never quite got around to writing about the race I did two weeks ago, on the trail network out by Black Diamond.The course organizers had a separately marked warmup loop, which I took to mean that they didn't want people to warm up and pre-ride on the course. The loop turned out to be really difficult. Lots of turns around logs with off-camber sides, and some woodwork. I decided that I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-43428126249510266302011-02-22T07:44:00.002-08:002011-02-22T08:07:08.996-08:00

I had my first massed start cross-country MTB race for the season on Sunday. It was put on by BuDu Racing. They do a series of six early-season races that a lot of people treat as part of their training for the Indie Series. When I first started racing cross country in 2009, the Indie Series had eight races, in a variety of venues, with some of them fairly close to Seattle and only one that I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-23201771297133931982011-02-03T21:16:00.003-08:002011-02-03T22:26:38.880-08:00

I went to strange sort-of race on Sunday. It was the Tapeworm Time Trial. One of the few times I've managed to meet up with a group from the Evergreen Mountain Bike Club was the first time I rode Tapeworm. It's part of a network of trails shoehorned into a powerline right of way in Renton. It has a strange feel. Not quite post-apocalyptic, like South Seatac, but odd - it's really quite a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-13366244151016485452011-01-16T08:51:00.003-08:002011-01-16T10:07:14.416-08:00

Most of my friends and family already know I joined a new cycling team. If you didn't know... I joined a new cycling team.I'm now a Blue Rooster. Internally, maybe, a Mud Rooster. The team is fairly large and has been around a long time and they have a regular training ride on Saturdays, strong participation in a lot of road, mountain, 'cross and track events, and some pretty nice

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-23388125909314196382011-01-03T12:59:00.004-08:002011-01-03T13:18:30.185-08:00

I have a set of old Scott ski poles. These things probably have about two decades of skiing behind them.There are a lot of things I like about them. They're not worth anything, so if I break one, it's not a big deal. The bright yellow grip and basket also make them very easy to pick out of a pile of poles. I think that the place where my parents got them for me sold them individually, and I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-46417445491574791532010-12-13T20:20:00.003-08:002010-12-13T20:40:47.574-08:00

I got home not too long ago from my last class of this quarter. I still have finals, but I'm done with classes.I don't think I ever wrote about what I'm doing. I had a physics class, a math class, and an engineering class.The physics class was the last quarter (third?) of first-year physics, for people majoring in sciences or engineering fields. This quarter covered wave phenomena, mainly.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-46180310856878708642010-11-23T23:51:00.002-08:002010-11-24T00:00:19.282-08:00

I haven't been posting lately. I've been busy. I built a new wheel after the previous blog's incident, but never made it to another race. I promised myself I'd go to the MFG Cyclocross Series Woodland Park Grand Prix, but worked until the early morning the night before, so I decided not to. I took pictures, though.They vary, and I stood at several different points along the course. This was

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-20795527722891823032010-10-04T14:00:00.005-07:002010-10-04T15:01:44.929-07:00

Yesterday's race was definitely one of "those" races. My race day started with a pleasant breakfast, but when I went to load my 'cross bike onto my truck, I noticed that the front tire was flat. D'oh! So I found the puncture - a piece of a thorn, got that changed, and headed down to the race. By the time I got there, the start list had already been printed. Not too big a deal, apparently - I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-47427600335029463862010-09-24T11:28:00.003-07:002010-09-24T12:02:15.039-07:00

I think most people who care about their bodies have been dissatisfied with their weight at one time or another. In the past, I've been underweight a couple of times. 135 is really not enough for me. My old high was when I was in college, eating at the dining hall, dancing about six hours a day, and lifting weights. I managed to get to 152. After college I was steady at 145 for a very long

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-13581441615721424232010-09-14T17:29:00.002-07:002010-09-14T18:08:08.460-07:00

I had my first 'cross race of the season on Sunday. I've had a cough for about two weeks, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be up to racing at all last weekend, so I didn't pre-register. I noticed that, riding my bike to work, I'd be more-or-less okay once I got warmed up, so when I felt more-or-less okay on Sunday morning I decided to go through with it.The parking lots were already full

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-86863504917184972732010-08-27T09:16:00.003-07:002010-08-27T10:16:56.445-07:00

So it's been a little while. I've been very busy. I've been working for the Census since April, and I started summer quarter in July, taking two classes - a full load, since summer is a shorter quarter but the classes have the same number of hours. I also did my last 'A' races of the mountain bike season, a few criteriums, and one or two Wednesday Night Worlds races.To be good at anything, a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-4828067032147667692010-06-23T19:57:00.000-07:002010-06-23T22:58:23.134-07:00

I think that one of the most important parts of a race is getting to the starting line. Not just getting to the starting line, but getting to the starting line warmed up, ready, and in time to have a good starting position if it's a race that goes into singletrack early.I overslept on the morning of this race. I decided breakfast wasn't negotiable and got out of the house later than I'd have

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-51882297292023318282010-06-15T15:30:00.000-07:002010-06-15T18:30:57.021-07:00

I never got around to posting about my race on 5/23. I went to the Whidbey Island Mudder. It was pretty dry, just as it was when I did it last year. When I was racing last year, my big project was just to try to finish races without bonking. I wasn't always successful, but I think I expanded my aerobic capacity a lot. By the end of the season, completing a two hour race was no longer a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-30747948954760119682010-06-11T18:47:00.003-07:002010-06-11T19:25:31.383-07:00

In general, I tend to think I'm a very health person. If I sleep and eat adequately, I have a good energy level, feel healthy, don't get any weird symptoms, etc.Doctors seem to think differently. I've been getting some weird results on liver function tests for a couple of years now, basically since when I got health insurance while I was living in New York and decided that I should make them

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-76326053280807696922010-06-06T09:23:00.000-07:002010-06-06T12:24:30.591-07:00

A week ago, I raced in the Ski to Sea. The Ski to Sea is a funny race. It's a seven-stage relay race incorporating cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, running, road cycling, canoeing, mountain biking and kayaking. I rode in the mountain bike leg.Teams in the ski-to-sea vary from very competitive teams, with the top competitors completing the race in under six hours, to less competitive

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-52002697144434502322010-05-17T20:30:00.003-07:002010-05-19T14:36:32.640-07:00

I went for a ride on Sunday with one of my teammates for the Ski to Sea. She's going to be doing the road cycling leg of the race in two weeks but she's only been cycling for a few months and was a bit nervous about being able to complete the leg.We parked in Kendall, a small town in the dip in the leg's elevation profile, and headed east along SR-542. The road cycling leg of the race will

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-10294755954778043372010-05-11T21:50:00.004-07:002010-05-11T22:33:03.585-07:00

A coworker of mine mentioned today that she was thinking about getting a bike, as an alternative to waiting for the bus. I think it's silly to wait forty minutes to go six miles, and it would be great for her to do that. Which brings up the problem of what to buy and where to buy it.I'm a big fan of the $100 beater bike model for getting from A to B, running errands, etc. etc. I have a $100

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-84527272752053794802010-04-23T07:01:00.003-07:002010-04-23T07:21:25.579-07:00

I've had a pretty rocky start to my racing season this year. I've been to three 'B' races and finished two, and one 'C' race. I've already blogged about the two I finished - in one, I didn't ride hard enough in the first lap and it took me the entire race to catch up to the people in my class, and the second followed too intense a week and too little sleep, and I never found my rhythm. How

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-66115503915920385942010-04-14T09:41:00.002-07:002010-04-14T09:55:35.311-07:00

This year's plan, at least through the summer, is to go to the last BuDu Racing race, most or all of the Indie Series races, a lot of Wednesday Night Worlds races and the Ski to Sea in Bellingham. I might also try criterium racing if I have a week that I can't make it to a Wednesday but my Thursday night is free. I have a perfectly good road racing bike and I think it might be fun.Last year, I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-22185216928321721452010-04-11T17:18:00.004-07:002010-04-14T09:41:39.431-07:00

I never quite found my rhythm in Sunday's race. There were a lot of reasons for it not to be my day, but one of the things that I like about racing is that what counts is what happens in between when someone says "go" or blows a whistle and when I roll across the finish line.On Sunday, I started somewhat tentatively again. I didn't have time for a warmup or pre-ride when I got to the venue, so

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-9772200087016475052010-04-09T12:07:00.002-07:002010-04-09T12:26:20.563-07:00

I started taking classes at North Seattle Community College a few days into January this year. I took some classes when I was in New York, but they were more vocational; this time felt different. Anyway, I did pretty well throughout the quarter but finals still made me nervous. They were all more-or-less comprehensive, and I didn't realize quite how much material each of my classes covered

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-13371781397673321562010-03-21T18:44:00.005-07:002010-03-27T01:12:59.151-07:00

I had an interesting race today. I think it showed some things I'm not so good at, some things I'm good at, and some things I've improved on since last year.I didn't get an especially good start. Since the race was posted at 50 minutes, the start is very important, and the course I was racing on today, in Soaring Eagle County Park, is almost entirely on singletrack. The Sport class started in

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-70297927305486872742010-03-15T19:02:00.003-07:002010-03-15T19:10:04.266-07:00

I think I drew this picture when I was trying to solve the problem, and I thought, when I got my test back, "This is a great example of using primarily visual thinking to solve a physics problem." The problem was to figure out the speed of a point 'B' located at the front of the rim, where I was trying to show the vector for velocity. The rim is on a bicycle that's traveling at 10 m/s; the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-17670279905878704912010-03-10T18:00:00.005-08:002010-03-10T19:06:03.996-08:00

One of the things I enjoy about Newtonian Physics is that it's all about concrete, relatively human-scale phenomena - things that I can draw. I get a kick out of trying to put a little fun and realism in the sketches I make in my physics homework of the problems, almost all of which I start by drawing or diagramming.A lot of intelligent people I know are intimidated or "don't get" higher math,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-17634863631252067792010-02-15T17:29:00.003-08:002010-02-15T18:24:17.912-08:00

Depending on how effusive I'm feeling when you ask me about it, I'll often say that I love mountain biking, or that off-road cycling is my first love in cycling or something like that. When I was in college, in Santa Cruz, it was easy to love mountain biking. Like a girl I saw every day, the Santa Cruz mountains were there whenever I had a moment to hop on my little red Schwinn and throw some

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-65116748175716285612010-02-07T22:41:00.002-08:002010-02-07T23:28:32.586-08:00

I think that part of maturing is realizing the areas in which I am "That Guy." Who "That Guy" is varies, but people from at least some points of view will hate him. He might be "That Guy" who drives around and commutes in the city in a powerful sports car or a jacked up truck, or "That Guy" who runs out of gas on the freeway during rush hour or "That Guy" holds up the line at the supermarket

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-18178277513579537682010-01-20T18:20:00.004-08:002010-01-20T19:27:11.621-08:00

Zach's been giving me crap about using calculus to solve a problem that can be handled with algebra. I'd argue that solving it with algebra requires knowing formulas derived using calculus but he does have a point. Calculus is kind of like the hammer drill of math - it can accomplish tasks other tools can't, but it's a little silly to do drywall with it.The problem is a proof of an equation to

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-52736473352684197112010-01-15T15:29:00.002-08:002010-01-15T15:53:35.753-08:00

And I'm pretty fully into it... I've turned in my first assignments in math and physics, done my first quiz in chemistry, and I did my first in-class math test this morning. I did something with every problem and finished most of them, so hopefully there's a curve and I did well compared to my classmates. I'm a little annoyed at myself for not recognizing the derivative of inverse tangent when

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-22340328952331036762010-01-09T09:28:00.002-08:002010-01-09T10:10:33.152-08:00

I think most of my readers already know I'm planning on a career change, starting with going back to school. I want to study mechanical engineering, and before I can apply for Master's programs, I need to do a lot of prerequisites in math, basic sciences and engineering.I've just finished my first week at North Seattle Community College. I was nervous about it because while I've done this sort

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-18559794987422651302010-01-03T21:29:00.002-08:002010-01-03T21:55:26.961-08:00

When I think about 2009 in a cursory way, I think it kinda blew. After all, I worked very little and a lot of the jobs I did were pretty crappy. On the other hand, I actually accomplished quite a lot.When I lost my job, it left me with a ton of time on my hands. So I rode my bike a ton. I even did my first 100-mile day. When I went to my first mountain bike race in the Spring, I won the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-84705887050214170932009-11-27T09:44:00.003-08:002009-11-27T10:19:29.722-08:00

I'm not a big fan of flying for a number of reasons. Before 9/11 and the tighter security restrictions, though, I'd finally gotten to being able to pack One True Bag for trips of up to a week. My One True Bag contained a week's worth of clothes and a toiletry kit. After 9/11, I started checking my bag and going on the plane with nothing but a book and a jacket. Of course this isn't true of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-77841814119214651902009-11-24T22:31:00.007-08:002009-11-25T00:04:50.689-08:00

In my last post, I alluded to the trigonometric functions related to a hexagon being something one could derive easily, but I didn't actually do it. I also alluded to being able to keep slicing up the triangles forever, but didn't say why.I'm not going to prove the Pythagorean theorem here. If you don't remember it, here it is:A2 + B2 = C2So why did I choose a hexagon for my shape? There are a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-2441634732458059792009-11-23T08:07:00.004-08:002009-11-23T10:28:18.496-08:00

I'm planning to go back to school in January to take prerequisite classes enabling me to apply to engineering programs. In order to save time and money, I'm trying to avoid taking first-year calculus again, so I've been re-teaching myself math. This time around, I've been finding myself fascinated with certain things - why is the Pythagorean theorem true? How did people figure out pi?In

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-62256995070881420932009-11-21T15:41:00.003-08:002009-11-21T16:12:55.903-08:00

I learned a couple of things about training last season. One is that it's important. Another was that ultimately, all tracking methods are somewhat arbitrary. However, the information yielded by a cycle computer is pretty useless, especially when training on the road for off-road riding, or trying to combine on- and off-road training numbers. A mile of mountain biking is a lot harder than a

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-72396852676532264532009-11-14T15:37:00.003-08:002009-11-14T15:47:43.126-08:00

Tomorrow is the last race I'm planning to enter this season. After that, I don't race again until the BuDu Racing series starts near the end of next February. I'd like to keep riding my bike between now and then, but it gets a lot harder when it's dark and nasty out. So if I can rope my friends into it, I want to do some regular rides between now and then. If you're interested in riding bikes

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-50778982443066836662009-11-04T21:38:00.001-08:002009-11-04T22:07:59.047-08:00

Check out my flickr page. View the pictures within their sets to see them in order.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-16673127412358965942009-10-01T16:11:00.003-07:002009-10-01T16:18:52.674-07:00

Today was a very luggage-themed day - I got a new duffel bag from REI (thanks, Action Mom!) and a warranty-replacement bag from Timbuk2. My old one, much beloved despite my friends insisting that it's not a real messenger bag, tore several days ago. Timbuk2 has a lifetime warranty on their products, though. They gave me a pretty big online store credit, so I spent it all on this bag. I'm not

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-15814138117703665032009-09-28T14:07:00.003-07:002009-09-28T14:16:37.785-07:00

I wrote this in a forum thread started by a guy who wants a commuter bike and has a budget of $250 - not enough to buy any but the cheapest of new bikes, but enough to get quite a lot on the used market. I'm saving the part about shopping for an older road bike. My assumption is that the person shopping wants to get something inexpensive that they can start using right away or after a tune-up

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-44324475852104301462009-09-25T17:15:00.004-07:002009-09-25T17:22:08.271-07:00

Credit for this shot goes to Greg Moring. Check out his slideshow of the race on Moring Designs.I like this picture a lot. For me, the run-up was a defining feature of the race, and I hadn't been able to find any pictures of it that I really liked. It even has a name, "Knapp Time," after a dominant 'cross racing family from around here.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-29334207506370695562009-09-24T12:47:00.003-07:002009-09-24T13:44:34.851-07:00

Over the last few weeks, I've tried to change the focus of this blog slightly to address a competition one of the big bike companies was doing. They planned to hand out some of their new line of urban bikes to bloggers who could commit to two entries a week for at least three months. I like free stuff, or at least stuff I get in exchange for doing something I do anyway, so I figured I'd give it

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-20020268781341376172009-09-23T15:41:00.004-07:002009-09-23T16:26:05.940-07:00

Sunday's race was a really difficult one for me. Not the race itself, at least any more than usual, but everything surrounding it. I'd worked twelve days in a row leading up to it, including some long days and short turnarounds in the last few days before the race, and I was really tired. I also overslept a little, and didn't get out of Seattle until about half an hour after I wanted to. I still

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-25504564062790095912009-09-17T22:02:00.003-07:002009-09-17T22:35:14.611-07:00

My brother is in town this month and decided he wanted to borrow a bike while he's staying here. He's doing a Sub-I, a training rotation, at a few local hospitals and typically has to be at the hospital at 6am. Here in Seattle, the buses don't run that early often enough to be useful, or at least that was his conclusion from looking over the schedules. I lent him one of mine for a day until I

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-4080994385254970412009-09-14T23:02:00.003-07:002009-09-14T23:41:35.816-07:00

When I went racing last week, I was a little disappointed in my performance. Mainly because I felt I could have raced harder. There are a lot of things in racing I can't control - the weather, other riders' performance, etc. But I can make a choice to race really, really hard, and last week it wasn't there. Since then, I've been riding bikes fast, near where I blow up, and I raced yesterday at

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-39027450721482159442009-09-09T12:23:00.003-07:002009-09-09T13:12:07.605-07:00

A few months ago, I tacoed the front wheel of my commuter. Last Sunday, I broke two spokes in the rear wheel. I was on my way to work and since I had several pounds of hand tools in a bag in one of my baskets, I decided to take a flatter route to work, via a multi-use path along Westlake Avenue. There's a point along that route where the paved trail shifts to the right. It was pretty early,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-78445851714451313932009-09-08T13:10:00.005-07:002009-09-08T13:48:58.726-07:00

My "Gateway Drug" for cycle racing was cyclocross. And now that it's Fall, the season's on. I think that racing mountain and road bikes is sort of like wearing white - it's inappropriate to do it after Labor Day. And cyclocross racing is like wearing boots - the moment Fall begins, you get to pull them, and dark-colored clothes, out of the closet and start running up hills and epic

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-75855037213987992782009-09-03T22:23:00.002-07:002009-09-03T23:57:36.721-07:00

I've been doing a lot of driving for the last week, which is kind of irritating. Work was pretty far away, too far for me in normal clothes and if cycling's not the main activity for the day.Today, though, I had some errands to run and some work to do in town.I got up latish, since work ran until midnight last night, and then rode from my place to my favorite Seattleite's place in Capitol Hill.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-81914192753206549282009-09-01T01:24:00.007-07:002009-09-01T02:11:03.503-07:00

I'm a little bit obsessive about bicycles. I like to think that it's because of the experiences they afford me, but I'm also a gearhead. In the stone age, I'd be the guy who was stoked about the discovery of flint, and could tell you about all the different kinds. I've been commuting on bikes, on and off, for thirteen years. I've been riding mountain bikes for nine or ten and riding road bikes

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-77603831793412840962009-08-13T19:39:00.003-07:002009-08-13T20:47:38.657-07:00

So what's next?Well, cyclocross season. But since I'm going to Bhutan for most of October and may or may not be able to race competitively on my return, I'm not going to be very serious about 'cross this year. I'll still race with my whole heart, when I race, but I'm not going to be turning down work to do it, and I'll probably only try to go racing every two weeks. So cyclocross is kind of an

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-41368056429698141162009-08-12T19:36:00.002-07:002009-08-12T20:04:16.568-07:00

In the spirit of "Wherever you go, there you are," my race on the 8th gave a pretty good snap shot of my current condition. It's been a long season to put myself there, though.When I did my first complete cyclocross season last Fall, I didn't really have enough time to train for it. I had a period of enforced inactivity in August, so when I arrived here in Seattle in mid-September, I was out of

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-11038981629446711622009-08-11T19:14:00.004-07:002009-08-12T00:01:56.536-07:00

I completed the last race of my mountain bike season on Saturday. It wasn't quite as hard as Roslyn, and I felt better at the beginning than I did at Padden Mountain, but it certainly wasn't easy either. I typically try to pre-ride the course at all my races, but I didn't with this one - my class, "Sport," was going to be riding one long loop and one short loop. I figured it would be a little

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-89813306382734947942009-08-05T08:36:00.003-07:002009-08-05T09:42:50.539-07:00

My friend lent me this book, by Joe Parkin, a couple of days ago. Joe Parkin is an American who traveled Belgium to race bikes, racing for Belgian teams from 1986-1991. He then raced on the road for a few more years for American teams and raced mountain bikes for a couple years at the end of his career.The book's pretty well put-together. Rather than trying to shove five years of minutiae into

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-78863444917314585692009-07-30T17:35:00.004-07:002009-07-30T18:10:04.952-07:00

When I bought my bike, I thought that if I ever started racing, I'd buy something fancier. Fate had other plans and I don't think that the difference between one 26"-wheeled aluminum hardtail frame and another is very significant. So I'm focusing on getting my current bike to work for me as well as possible. I think that the most important attributes of a bike when trying for maximum performance

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-45355507265597077292009-07-28T19:45:00.003-07:002009-07-28T19:56:45.353-07:00

Here's one from Sunday in which I'm actually on my bike.Credit for the picture goes to Josh, who got lots of good pictures of the race. Check out his Picasa.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-51565727152999453562009-07-27T08:22:00.004-07:002009-07-27T08:36:52.218-07:00

This is the only one from yesterday so far... I actually managed to ride up that hill once, and it's steeper than it looks, I swear.This is from the Whidbey Island Mudder back in May.And this is from a 'B' race in March, when I was thinking about not fixing my suspension fork.All pictures were taken by Joe Martin. I found the older ones on his Picasa after he posted that he'd taken some of my

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-87280621629911046832009-07-26T20:06:00.004-07:002009-07-26T21:07:07.925-07:00

I thought Padden Mountain was a difficult race. The weather was actually really nice for racing, though - close to what I'd ask for if I could put in a request. Today was hot. Really hot.According to the NWS, temperatures were around 82 when I started and 88 or so when I finished. Humidity was pretty low, so getting enough water into me was really hard. I was a bit dehydrated by the end.The

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-25608854477966909382009-07-22T08:03:00.003-07:002009-07-22T08:16:54.475-07:00

I got a compliment on my new masthead recently. The picture is a cropped-down version of this one, which was taken at the Donida Farms race in the Seattle Cyclocross series. I don't have the information about who took this, so if it's yours, let me know and I'll give credit and a link or whatever.Based on the angle and the file names, I think the below shot shot was taken immediately before the

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-47705412540584644392009-07-18T22:50:00.002-07:002009-07-18T22:52:49.283-07:00

If I look scared... I probably am. This course was terrifying at times.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-17584457398156301082009-07-16T09:58:00.003-07:002009-07-16T10:01:27.770-07:00

All I'm saying about how I got this shot is that a web site can't give my computer permission to download a picture without giving my computer permission to download that picture.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-7965099128399932912009-07-13T14:39:00.003-07:002009-07-13T15:08:20.129-07:00

I went to a race near Bellingham yesterday. It was really hard. Bellingham is about 90 miles north of Seattle. I spent the night there the night before, so on race day all I had to do was drive a few miles to the race, which I ended up having some difficulty finding, check in, pre-ride and race.Checking in was a little bit of a pain because there wasn’t a separate line for pre-registered

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-50119877510781926842009-07-04T14:48:00.006-07:002009-07-04T16:14:53.601-07:00

Running and I have an interesting relationship. I've done it on and off since I was fourteen or fifteen, but aside from when I ran track in high school, for a whole semester, I've never been particularly serious about it.Now that I'm being kind of serious about riding my bike, I'm trying to be more serious about cross-training too. I think that if I only ride my bike, I will be a very fast

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-61281200502841852442009-06-25T13:38:00.002-07:002009-06-25T14:08:54.772-07:00

I didn't realize it at the time, but I was getting sick when I did my last Indie Series race, on May 17th. I thought I was just overtrained, because I decided not to do a rest week before that race since the timing of the races was so close together. Anyway, I ended up with a wicked cough and skipped the following race, on June 6th.I was more or less better on the 14th and started training

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-19264444827801550702009-05-27T11:16:00.003-07:002009-05-27T12:17:06.433-07:00

I was talking to a friend of mine recently who has had the same job for the last few years.  I have yet to do that.  The longest I've held any single job has been two years, and it was a silly job that I didn't care about but slowed my burn rate through savings while I pursued dance.  The runner-up for longest time is the job I had the first season I spent in Lake Tahoe, which got me a season

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-19947830354008394062009-05-20T23:03:00.003-07:002009-05-20T23:47:43.784-07:00

A good friend of mine names a lot of her possessions.  I don't really like to do that, but it has happened to some of mine anyway - people have a thing for naming modes of transportation, and will do it for mine.  Including my cyclocross bike, which she had festooned with bits and pieces of commute/training bike accessory - different pedals, fenders, street tires, many blinkers, a cycle computer,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-35066741228585619792009-05-17T21:58:00.004-07:002009-05-17T23:41:23.080-07:00

I felt a little fatigued from the very beginning of today's race, but I actually ended up doing pretty well.  It was on Whidbey Island, one of the islands in Puget Sound.  Being a cheapskate, I drove to the ferry terminal, parked my truck, and crossed with just my bike.  I figured riding three or four miles to the course would help me get warmed up, and it didn't make sense to me to pay a bunch

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-52672365982750649442009-05-14T22:22:00.003-07:002009-05-14T22:30:42.830-07:00

People sometimes give me crap about having too many bikes.This didn't just happen to one of my nice bikes.I really will try to fix it, though.  Stay tuned.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-63838560806924693642009-05-10T11:12:00.005-07:002009-05-13T22:47:20.922-07:00

Last weekend's race was a blast.  It's also the hardest I've ever ridden for 1:48.  I expected another really muddy race like the one a couple weeks ago but it ended up being a really beautiful day.A couple weeks ago, after looking at my time and finishing position, I decided it was time to quit strategizing and go really hard from the very beginning, to try to stay in contact with the lead group

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-90770646737411095482009-05-05T00:50:00.005-07:002009-05-05T01:07:46.764-07:00

I thought I knew where on the course this was, but now that I look at it, I really don't.Whee!Thanks to ges5690, whoever you are.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-2275263618248064512009-05-04T18:29:00.004-07:002009-05-04T19:05:04.937-07:00

I went racing on Sunday.  I'll write a real post about it later.  For now, there are some pictures of me, wearing spandex of course, warming up before the race over on Broken Thoughts.And a picture I took today with my phone...I try to restrain my impulse to snobbery concerning other people's bikes.  But when the bike in question costs $1900 at retail, it's hard not to be snobby when they don't

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-57941999599636107612009-04-26T22:10:00.002-07:002009-04-26T22:38:21.138-07:00

Last Fall was the first time I did anything "serious" with cycling aside from that long, slow process at the beginning of the year when I decided to really fix my knees.  I had to figure out a training schedule that would work for me.  It didn't help that I only got about two weeks of riding in before the racing season started, so I went straight to a pretty intense training load.  Even though

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-42234465042958243532009-04-25T17:07:00.003-07:002009-04-25T17:31:03.093-07:00

I had my first 'A' race on Sunday the 12th. I was pretty nervous going into it because this is my first year racing in mountain bike races and after some positive early-season results, I decided to race an intermediate class instead of the beginning one.  The races are longer, which is intimidating, and I'd planned to spend a season not having to be as serious and competing against more forgiving

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-54755347304458271312009-04-24T13:26:00.001-07:002009-04-24T13:29:11.221-07:00

I created a Skype account today.  If you want to be one of my contacts, e-mail me your screen name and I'll add you.  A few people I don't know (not many) read this blog, so I'm disinclined to publish contact information all over the web.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-11124878919933020702009-04-06T00:22:00.002-07:002009-04-06T00:33:42.372-07:00

I talked my friend into going racing for the first time last week.  I believe that the only really important thing to do in a race is to do it with my whole heart, and I had to go back to work later that evening, so I took a camera with me and didn't enter myself.  Anyway, the pictures are on flickr.Wednesday Night Worlds 1/1/09It was kind of fun - I've sometimes tried to shoot my brother skiing,

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-45200032226992515002009-03-29T21:05:00.003-07:002009-03-29T21:55:58.886-07:00

My suspension fork quit working right after a ride the other day.  I haven't had time to figure out what's wrong with it yet, but I wanted to race today, so I borrowed a friend's bike.  It's a fully rigid mountain bike she bought in 1994.  Part of why I didn't just call off the whole thing, especially since this is not an important race for me, is because I have trouble with my fork every few

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-12250451826614203232009-03-23T10:24:00.002-07:002009-03-23T10:27:44.497-07:00

I just posted this to a mountain biking forum I read.3/21: Dirty Dozen #13/29: West Side Series #44/12: Indie Series #14/18: Dirty Dozen #25/3: Indie Series #25/17: Indie Series #35/23: Dirty Dozen #36/6: Indie Series #46/21: Indie Series #57/12: Indie Series #67/26: Indie Series #78/8: Indie Series #8Wednesdays: Wednesday Night World ChampionshipsThe Indie Series is the one I'm taking "seriously

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-8295425576918619062009-03-22T21:21:00.003-07:002009-03-22T21:28:49.354-07:00

My friends Paul and Amanda came to Saturday's race with me.  It wasn't very spectator-friendly, but Paul found himself a spot on one of the fire roads where he could stand and take pictures.  This is me (because it's my blog and I'll be narcissistic if I want to.)  Paul has more pictures on his photostream.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-53389425537798117642009-03-21T18:00:00.003-07:002009-03-21T18:42:37.363-07:00

I completed my first mountain bike race a couple hours ago.  Some of my readers might say, "Andrew, you've been racing mountain bikes every now and then since 2000."  That's true, but this is the first time I've raced a mountain bike in a cross-country mountain bike race.It was awesome!I tried to ride my mountain bike fast a couple weeks ago, and it was really, really fun.  I also have a blast

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-80150441498707358462009-03-16T17:08:00.002-07:002009-03-16T19:41:44.595-07:00

I wrote a blog back in February of '07 comparing my experience of skiing and snowboarding.  That was about two years ago and I hadn't thought about it since then, until now.  Someone commented on it.  The conclusion of the original blog was that I liked skis better for most things, but snowboards were better in deep powder.  The comment was "fool snowboards are good in everything."  I think he

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-23749708804218401022009-03-13T14:35:00.004-07:002009-03-13T14:57:09.228-07:00

One of the things that drives me nuts about working on bikes, at least when I'm not getting some perverse enjoyment out of it, is that parts compatibility is a huge pain in the butt. Things don't fit with each other, pull the wrong amount of cable for each other, are threaded in odd ways, etc. etc.My most recent project was to replace one of the chain rings on my mountain bike with one that

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-77004489774730063412009-03-10T09:07:00.004-07:002009-03-10T09:34:17.030-07:00

Because you haven't seen enough.  These were from Crosstoberfest, last October.  It was the first time I took my cyclocross bike off-road, and I had no idea what I was doing on it."Hmm.  This bike weighs less than my mountain bike and that makes it easier to get over barriers.""Is that a corner?  Maybe I should powerslide.  Can I powerslide a 'cross bike?""Yep.  Definitely a corner."The bike

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-66683768518760910422009-03-09T12:46:00.002-07:002009-03-09T13:11:55.948-07:00

Having too much time on my hands has allowed me to do a lot of virtual window shopping.  I've also had time to be annoyed at my friend for buying an iPhone instead of finishing a project he's been talking about since July, that I believe has a lower budget to complete than purchasing an iPhone.  So I did a "Google Shopping" search to find out what, exactly, an iPhone costs.  The search results

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-18660140849961911192009-03-05T15:29:00.003-08:002009-03-05T15:35:16.678-08:00

The shop I'm racing for includes cleaning(ish) with their tune.  The bike's not likely to look this way again until I next get it tuned, and that's not likely to be anytime soon.  So I took a picture.  It'll last longer.Racing trim is pretty close to the same, but if it isn't raining I'll strip the fenders.  When I can get unbroke, I want to replace the crankset with something a little more

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-90538581975573193882009-03-04T20:33:00.003-08:002009-03-04T21:02:29.311-08:00

A forum I read has a "how was your February" thread.  This is a copy-paste from there.My training log is kind of pathetic. It's a SI swimsuit calendar.376 miles on the road. 17.4 off-road. And assorted errands on my commuter, which doesn't have a computer.Bad riding weather messed with my schedule a little bit. Also missing some days for a ski trip and then a midweek powder day a while later. Ask

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-46345362437673162442009-02-27T13:19:00.004-08:002009-02-27T13:54:54.069-08:00

Part of my bike strategy is that I have a bike dedicated to being utilitarian and less attractive to thieves.  Having something like that makes it easy to keep my "fun" bikes as fast and impractical and flashy as I want.  There are a bunch of solutions to the utility part but many are not at all secure and don't really work for me and how I like to be able to ride my utility bike.I got the bike

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-88510412551929313262009-02-25T03:16:00.001-08:002009-02-25T03:19:07.064-08:00

The best part is the longish comment a few down that puts the shoe on the other foot.Check it out.

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-73130289433622989362009-02-24T14:47:00.002-08:002009-02-24T14:54:28.507-08:00

The phrase "In Sickness and in Health" has a nice ring to it, but it doesn't quite make sense.  How can someone simultaneously be sick and healthy?  Calling in sick to work to go skiing (I don't have work to call in sick to, unfortunately) strikes me as one way.  As far as other people are concerned, I'm sick.  Unless the other people in question are in my car.  But it's hard for me to imagine

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-85012711016908172862009-02-22T20:28:00.004-08:002009-02-23T11:25:08.810-08:00

From time to time, I ride with a cycling club called Point83.  To call them a "club" is almost too strong a word.  There's no process for joining - a person just shows up and rides if they want to.  Rides start at designated places on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and are typically slow, short, and involve a lot of drinking.  When I only had time to ride at night, it was nice to be out on bikes

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-22081199996344768542009-02-19T23:19:00.003-08:002009-02-20T09:01:38.379-08:00

I think the only mention of my friend Amanda in this blog so far is in my "More Thoughts on Training" entry.  And it's pretty oblique, in a sense - I just say that the main body of the entry is an e-mail to a friend.  In another sense, though, I suspect that she has a pretty strong presence in that blog.  The e-mail was, after all, to her.  She's probably better at saying who she is in her own

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27716614.post-55081083596308646652009-02-13T10:54:00.001-08:002009-02-13T10:55:57.137-08:00

Subject says it all.Clean House, Filthy Mouth

Andrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12794391156710206283noreply@blogger.com0