two and out

The last two days were really nice biking. I'm happy that my rubber shoe covers stopped rubbing against my pedal and making a kind of annoying squeaky noise. 

Yesterday, I saw another biking on the road. He was in a full racing kit, so I'm assuming that he was fairly fast. Anyway, I decided to modify my route and try to catch up to him. I got really close but then I hit a red light and he got ahead of me. Once I had the green it took me about 4 miles of pretty hard riding to catch up. I finally caught him and asked if I could draft off him for a bit. He said he was going to a hill to do some hill repeats. He said I was welcome to come. A mile later there was a really big hill. I did one and went on with my own ride. I'm am excited that the hill is fairly close to my usual route. I've been going 10 miles out to a hill, but I'll usually winded by the time I get to that hill so I can't do any repeats. This hill new hill is shorter but steeper with a hairpin turn in the middle. I'm excited to try it out later.

Today it got cold and snowy. I thought it would be fun to try the workout dvd my sister got me for Christmas. Fast forward a whole ten minutes, I'm laying on the floor completely winded. Who would have thought that four second sprints could be so painful.  Topping it off, I listened to liz narrate the whole scene to her mom on the phone as it happened. I think the dvd will be great. I'll give it another go tomorrow. It'll go better now that I know what to expect (at least that's what I'm telling myself). If I do it a lot, I bet it'll help my hill sprints. 

Happy 09!

Outside

I went for an OUTDOOR bike ride today. It was a balmy 49 degrees, so I'm not sure it really counted as "winter" biking, but I put all my new winter things on out of spite anyway. Thank you to everyone who got me winter appropriate gear for Christmas. The jersey, shoes, hat, and gloves were of particular use. I'm sure that the blinky light and hex wrenches will come in handy soon though. I wore my old running tights, and they seemed to work for the most part.

Things that Nathan forgot while using his trainer:

1) Hills stink
2) You have to steer
3) You get to coast once in a while
4) People look at you funny when biking (although Liz did a good job of this when I was indoors)
5) The wind can make you feel like Lance Armstrong (I sustained 30mph for about 4 minutes)
6) The wind can break you ( from 30mph to 11mph by turning the corner)
7) Cows don't pay much attention to bikers (they were lying down in the fields today)
8) It's possible that the trainer may actually help my overall fitness (especially with a fancy spinerval dvd)


Other Christmas gifts that I have found useful so far (in no particular order)....

1) a mug.. it has been well broken in already.
2) A fancy auto waterer for Penny (see liz's blog)
3) Liz and I spent some of the Christmas money on a shelving thing
4) Deliciously roasted Flying J coffee
5) Canned green beans

This list just made me realized how blessed I am to be surrounded by a loving family.

Christmas time

I received some very nice gifts for Christmas.  Penny thinks that water out of a Lockheed Mug tastes better than standard water, but she will probably never get to sniff it again. My students had very nice things to say about me as their instructor. The worst comment was that I talk to fast, but it is true so it doesn't upset me. Next semester I'll make an effort to slow down.

and now... pennypalooza

Penny enjoying a new red blanket

Penny pretending to be an engineer

All done

Hi everyone~

I coming out from underneath my rock. I had my last exam today which means my semester is basically finished. I have some work and TA things to wrap up later this week, but those are all small peas. It'll be nice being able to go to bed a reasonable times again.

Now that school is done, I'm hoping to log some massively wicked miles on my bike. You heard it form me first...massively wicked. 

It finally snowed here. I makes me miss the real snow that places like Michigan and Chicago get. West Lafayette snow just doesn't cut it.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a fun and restful day with family!

Heartbreak

The Garmin-Slipstream Pro Cycling Team announced their 2009 roster today. This may come as a bit of a shock to everyone, but I didn't make it onto the roster this time around. I know I know. You are all probably thinking "What happened?" Well I had a chat with CEO Jonathan Vaughters (in my head), and he said I should focus on entering my first race, getting a racing license, and logging some individual miles to beef up my legs.

All things considered, they are certainly better off without me. I was glad to see that my two favorite riders, Will Frischkorn and Christian Vande Velde, are returning for another season. I hope they have a great season, and that Will continues to blog about his experiences as a fairly new rider on the tour. I am willing to bet that they are by far the most fashionable pro team around right now. After all, argyle is the new vintage (not sure what that means, but just go with it).

http://www.slipstreamsports.com

Tomatoes and Pretzels

Liz doesn't eat the chunks of tomatoes in her soup because she doesn't like them. No one cares that she doesn't eat them. After all, why eat things that don't taste good. This has led me to my new personal rule. I don't eat pretzels anymore. I don't like them even a little bit, so why do I keep choking them down when they pop up in my chex mix? From now on, I will simply leave them in the bowl and eat around them. The only exception to this rule are those pretzels that Meredith made at school and brought to the marathon a year ago. Those pass. I will also try a pretzel or two if it is somehow the polite thing to do, but beyond that pretzels are officially rejected by me.

I got a new battery for my bike computer from Walmart. It is nice because it prompted me to finally correct the time and date on it. The bigger bonus was that I didn't lose all of my odometer miles (560mi now), so I don't have to start again from zero.

It has been brought to my attention that some people think that the video I posted last time is indeed cool. I guess I don't get you guys either. I still think it looks silly, but if it makes him happy I wouldn't want him to stop.

Yeah.. some things will never look cool

I must not see the vision.

Back on the bike

I wasn't real successful at biking this week, but I did get 45 minutes in today while watching some football. I bike computer went dead so until I get a new battery, I won't know how far or fast I went. Although a little annoying, it was also kind of nice not having to worry about keeping my speed up. 

That's about all from here. I'm going to make chex mix now. Yummmm

Forgot the camera

I don't have any pictures, but I thought it was cool to watch the race. I didn't realize how common it was to fall over in cyclocross. Liz's only thought was "I'm cold."

Bike racing Saturday

Liz and I are going to campus this afternoon to watch some bike racing. There are a bunch of cyclecross races on campus that should be fun to watch. Hopefully I'll get some pictures to post this afternoon.

My odometer is at 545 miles right now. Now that I'm past 500, I'm working to 1000. 

School is in a bit of a lull right now which is super nice. I'm trying to work ahead a bit so that the end of the semester isn't so bad. I only have to run one more night screening this semester, and I'll have all the data I need for my masters. After that, it'll be onto analyzing the stuff and writing up the results followed by changing the world with my radically new ideas (maybe not)

Dislike for Child Disorders

I don't like one of my classes. It's one of those classes that requires a lot of outside effort, with very little knowledge gained in the process. It's all just busy work. Blahhh. 

On a bright note. I was able to get a ride in both on Saturday and today. That makes me just amazingly happy. Today's ride was a little rough on account of some coffee and chips I had eaten. It could also be that I inadvertently took last week off. The big biking moment was when my bike odometer clicked over to 500 miles. If I add the original 300+ miles I did before I had my computer it means that I am approaching 1000 miles. Crazy.

night

 

Over the hump

Well, I made it over a hump of the semester. I finished my paper, took my two tests, and am almost caught back up on other stuff like research. We'll see if I can ever actually get all the way caught up. There is an awfully big stack of papers on the couch that need grading.

I've been working a little extra at MFRI by helping with some interviews at the homes of national guard members. Overall I like it, but I really really dislike not getting home till later at night. 

Biking has been rough over the last week. I promised myself I would bike today, but when I got home at 8:30 I started on homework and haven't really stopped yet. 

Tomorrow I'm applying for a teaching position over the summer. I doubt they will give it to me since I am still working on my masters, but you have to try. Professor Nathan...... I like the sound of that :P

For my research I'm looking for short (~1min)  clips from movies that people might find offensive. If you think of any movies offhand that you watched that has scenes that could be construed as offensive, let me know and I'll go look at them to see if they'll work for the study. 

Back to work now...like a happy grad student :)

Weekend riding

I managed a weak showing of riding a total of 4 miles this weekeng. I did it while watching 10 minutes of CSI last night until I decided that sleep was much more fun than biking inside in the dark. 

School work won this weekend, but biking is gearing up for round two.

AGHHHH

I don't like exams. They blow my mind up. I'm hoping to get to bike ride in tonight since I'll be done with my hard test and will have a few minutes to breath before starting studying for the next.

Let's move this party inside

Wow! It got cold fast. I think that I'll be biking indoors for the rest of the season. I can do about an hour before my brain melts and my legs just stop moving. Liz sits on the couch and laughs at me, but deep down I know she is jealous.

Bump in the road

I made a fairly large scheduling error today. As a result, I can't go to my race tomorrow. I'm sad because it will take me out of the overall point contention, but that's life I guess. Mistakes happen, and riding isn't as important as collecting the data for my masters.

Riding in the rain

I went for a ride today and it sprinkled on me just little bit. I didn't even get that wet, but I realized that rain hitting your face at 20mph feels quiet different compared to just hitting your face when walking. It feels more like hail I think.

In sad news, one of the psychologists in the department was murdered over the weekend. I didn't know him very well because he wasn't a professor, but his office does share a wall with mine. Right when you think you can hide from the real world in academia something horrific happens.

It's getting colder

I have had two enjoyable rides over the last two days. For the first time today, I donned my long sleeved compresion shirt. It fit really well when I tried it on in the store, but apparently my arms have gotten a bit smaller. The only thing being compressed if my body. The arms are all loose, and I think it make me look silly. I tried putting my purdue jersey overtop, and it didn't really help. 

From a functional standpoint,  it works just fine. It certainly kept me much warmer than yesterday's short sleeved outing. 

My toes are even starting to feel the chill during the bike ride, and my nose seems to generate a lot more snot. I know what everyone is thinking, and you are all correct. I am not very attractive when riding, and I'm ok with that. 

I think that it is safe to say that for Christmas I will be requesting a wide range of cycling type cloths to help me deal with colder weather, warmer weather, and even normal weather. I really like having jerseys with pockets. 

I have discovered that semi trucks going the opposite direction on country roads are about the most annoying things ever.  It's scary when they past, but the wind they create can about blow you over. There is nothing being at a point in the ride when you are going uphill, feeling really tired, and having a semi vortex swirl about you. I find it very disheartening at times. 

That's about all for now.

Semi-trucks.  Good for buisness. Bad for bikers.

New glasses and gray skies

Here is a picture of my new glasses. We think they are a dark green color.




I'm not good at rotating picures



Penny was stocking up on sun yesterday in preperation for the winter months. Today is pretty dreary, so I think a lot of homework could get done.

Back on the bike

My knee is feeling better so I went out for a short and easy ride today. All systems go for a harder training day tomorrow.

I have a week and a half to get ready for the next time trial. I shaved off another 4 seconds from my time last Wednesday which put me in 4th place (most improved) for the race and 5th place in the overall point standings. Two more races to go.

Watching the Marathon made me think about running a little bit again, but the feeling is fleeting. Staying with Liz's sister was a good time (as always). I felt very hip for the night.

I bought new frames and lenses today. Our insurance policy stinks, but it had to be done even though it cost a bit of money. Liz is going to get a pair of frames next month.

More of the same

Thankfully the weather continues (for the most part) to be fairly nice. Although, it is getting noticeably cooler outside. I did one training session on the trainer I bought since it was raining out. It made me sweat and gave me a decent work out. The bonus was that I watched 1.5 episodes of cops while doing it.

On Wednesday, I had another time trial and shaved four seconds off my time. That put me in forth place for improvement. Most people were slower due to 5 miles of a wicked headwind. I'm also in forth place in the point standings. If I have two more good races I think I have a chance of moving up a spot or two.

This is day two of a few days off of the bike. I twisted my knee a few days ago, so I'm giving it a little rest. I'm going to try a light ride on either Saturday or Sunday.


That's all the biking stuff.

School is now much less stressful now that I have gotten some of my tests back. I did better than I thought I had on both, so that helps out a lot. My presentation went well yesterday, and now I'm finishing off the week with grading and working at mfri. I'm excited for break and hope to make big progress on some research things that I'm working on. The Thursday night screenings are almost finished. I'll be excited not to have to stay at school till 8:30 anymore.

Almost ready for winter

I'm almost ready for winter. A kid on the cycling team decided to sell his indoor trainer so I took him up on the deal. Now I can bike all winter long next to Liz while she ellipticals on the machine we salvaged from the dumpster. The is a whole other story in itself that Liz can tell you about. She may have posted about it a long time ago on her blog.

I'm trying to figure out how to take pictures on my cell phone and get them on the computer. There is a ugly llama that I pass regularly that I would like to share with everyone. It makes me laugh.

That's all for now.

Riding is going well

I haven't been posting enough eye candy or funny stories of late. Thankfully, Miller High Life came to my rescue with a bike oriented commercial that made me laugh. Enjoy!!

 

Ride on

I won a prize in the bike race yesterday. I was the third most impoved person. I got a 5 dollar gift certificate to a really cheap local resturant called CeeCee's. I think its a buffet kind of place where 5 dollars is actually a full meal (minus drink). The main point is that I actually won something. I might just frame the gift certificate as proof of winning. Now that I dropped most of my time it will be much harder to place again because I can't always improve by large amounts, but that's ok. 

My time was 26:43. That's about 40 seconds faster than the first time trial.

On Thursdays I don't get to ride because I run experiments till 8:00pm. It's sad but still a good break. I'm looking foward to getting a ride in tomorrow. I am starting to realize that this great weather can't hold out forever. Winter is going to be long this year. I can feel it in my bones.

That's about all from here. Back to writing a proposal for Dr. Merritt. 

 

It's a hard knock ride....for me

I went on the Wednesday fast ride today with the Purdue team. They weren't kidding around. We did 40 miles in under 2 hours. With about 7 miles to go I just ran out of gas, and tried to drop back out of the group. They wouldn't let me drop. The leader (an undergraduate who is on some pro bike team based in Chicago) came back and told me to stick on the last person's wheel and to to pedal harder. I literally felt like I was holding onto the group by a piece of string that was just waiting to break apart.

I'm glad they made me stay with them since I made it to the end of the ride with the group. I'm sure I looked a little pathetic, but at least I finished. When I got home I looked at my bike computer and saw that our top speed was 33.8 miles per hour. On the flats in the country, the paceline was usually going around 25 mph. It's good to know that my bike can go that fast.

I also learned how to do a rotating paceline. Basically, the bikers go in a circle. Once you are at the front of all the riders, you pull to the side and fall back. It was pretty fun doing some technical things with good riders. I'm guessing that my lack of handling skills made them nervous.


Oh... I bought a new bike toy. It's a bike computer that has lots of little gadets on it (including cadence). One of the guys in the club sold it to me used for 10 dollars. When I went to look at equivalent models at the bike store (I had to go, to have them fix a broken spoke), they were 44 dollars. I feel like my Dutch sense served me well.

Ike is getting me down

I didn't ride today becuase of a weather front know as Ike.

The wind...it hurts

Today's ride was short and simple with a large serving of deadly headwind. I don't mind the wind so much, but when I'm riding into the wind sweat seems to get into my eyes, and that is annoying. I went biking during the Purdue game this week since the entire town stays indoors to watch it, and the streets are nice and empty. (Purdue lost in double overtime, so I'm glad I was home before mobs of agitated drivers took to the streets and decided to vent their frustration on me)

There isn't much else to say except that I have a truck load of work to do tonight and tomorrow. Blah. It tastes bad.

I also found this interesting gem

I also saw this on the Internet and thought it was interesting in regards to Time Trial equipment.

"One study published in the German Tour magazine Jan 2007

They put Uwe Peschel on a normal bike:

Needed Watts for Speed = 45 km/h :

Stevens San Remo bike with normal handlebar 465 Watts needed to go 45 km/h
Same bike Hands down the drops: 406 watts needed
Same bikeEaston Aeroforce bar: 369 Watts
Same bike Triathlon position (5.5 cm lower bar, saddle forwards): 360 Watts
Same bike Triathlon position (5.5 cm lower bar, saddle forwards) and
carbon Tri spoke wheels front and rear: 345 Watt

Cervelo (Alloy P3) + Tri spoke front 328 Watts
Cervelo + Tri spoke front + disk rear wheel : 320
Cervelo + Tri spoke front + disk rear wheel +Giro helmet: 317
Cervelo + Tri spoke front + disk rear wheel +Giro helmet + speed suit: 307
Cervelo + Tri spoke front + disk rear wheel +Giro helmet + speed suit +
saddle 3 cm further back: 293 Watts"

Here is a picture of mr. Uwe Peschel. I read that he is quite the legend.

By Special Request

This is a purely informational post about some of the differences between road bikes and time trial bikes.

The biggest difference between road bikes and TT (time trial) bikes is all the effort to become aerodynamic. In TT's, you are not allowed to draft so reducing drag is extra important. The biggest difference are the areo bars that stick out in front of the bike. TT specific bikes don't even have dropped handle bars that you see on typical road bikes. Also, the wheels are special to reduce drag. The seat posts (and other tubing) is often shaped in ways to be aerodynamic. 

I think that a TT bike has a little different geometry so that you can go faster for shorter distances compared to a road bike which is designed to carry riders for longer distances.

Other things that you often see TT racers use are....

areo helment

and skinsuit

Here is a website that gives a little more info about how much time you save for each piece of equipment you upgrade.

http://www.socalttseries.com/Training/Articles/AerodynamicsforTimeTrial/tabid/217/Default.aspx

That's all that I can think of, but I'm sure everyone will get the idea. Basically, I think it comes down to another reason to buy more toys.

Update on Time trial

The organizer sent out the results.

I took 22nd place out of 34 men. I beat all 6 of the girls (Not that I was worried(I was though))

My time was 27.23

The person behind me was 27.32

The person in front of me was27.03

The person who passed me took 10th place with 25.46

The winner was 21.48 (This means he was going fast)

Last place didn't get to finish due to a broken chain

The first five guys looked exactly like this only with different team jersys. I was intimidated. True story.

I think crazy looking helmets make for good gifts.

Have a good night

Individual time trial

Well, school is in full swing. I'm back to my old schedule of staying up late to get stuff done. This means that there has been a serious lack of morning bike rides. I'm ok with that. It's just so cold out in the morning. 

My knee has been getting better slowly. I've been taking it pretty easy over the last week to let it settle back into the rhythm of biking. I also take a lot of ibuprofen (I call it the Liz approach) and that helps everything out a little more.

In bigger news, I did my first official bike race today. It was an individual time trial. I complete the 10 mile course in 27:42. It certainly wasn't the fastest time, but it wasn't the slowest either. Some people came to the race with their special time trial bikes, tear dropped helmets, and shoe covers. I guess some people take this pretty seriously. The winning time was right around 21 minutes, so I have some work to do. I was afraid that I would be passed by a ton of people who started after me (one person started every minute), but in reality I was only passed by one person around mile 6. I kept up till mile 7, and then watched him bike off into the horizon.

There was a big hill at mile 5 that kind of killed me, so next week is get Nathan better at hills week. 

There are 4 more time trials this fall, so I'll post my times when I participate.

Back on the Bike

Due to my recent lack of posting, I'm afraid I may have scared people into thinking that I had given up on blogging my consistently boring biking adventures. This is not the case. I just haven't been riding my bike much over the last week. A combination of rain, a twisted knee muscle, and a kind of nasty cold forced me to take 3 days off the bike. Never fear, the ailments have for the most part subsided and I got out for a nice jaunt today. I did a short and slow 15 miles, but all systems checked out for a little faster ride tomorrow. 

I came to the conclusion today that I should never go out biking towards the end of a Purdue football game. Believe it or not, football fans driving home are not all that courteous to cyclists on the road. They really had no reason to be upset given that they crushed Northern Colorado by a gazillion and one points. Maybe they all happened to honk as they passed me to let me know that Purdue had won, but I doubt it.

Boiler Up!

That biking... so hot right now

It has been a hot last two days here. I have gotten in some nice long and short rides. Today is a day off to let my body recuperate a bit. I've been going through my water bottles super fast. My rule is that the ride is over when you are down to your 1/3 of your last bottle. Hopefully that is enough to get you home without getting dehydrated.

I'm fighting the start of a cold right now. Right now I'm at the sore throat and stuffy head stage. Hopefully, I don't break out into to a full fledged cold. I'm quietly optimistic that this won't happen.

I don't have time for a picture this morning since I have to go to school and inspire young minds.

50 miles and pickle feet

I finally did a 50 mile bike ride. I was planning on doing only 46 miles but I got lost and ended up doing 4 miles of looking around. I've discovered that I most often get lost when I'm in a valley surrounded by hills. It was a little frustrating to go up the same hill 3 times simply because I couldn't find the right road. But eventually I figured it out and all was good.

There was one stretch of "paved" road that was really rough. My bike started going over the bumps and before I knew it my whole body was going numb from the vibrations. Luckily the road wasn't that long and once I got over it everything came back to life.

I finally got around to using one of those goo energy packets. I've never used one before and what a disaster. I got to much in my mouth at once and almost gagged. I just wasn't expecting that consistency of goo. Somehow I got it all over my face and fingers and that stuff is sticky. It wasn't horrible, but not great either. The goo did seem to give me a short boost of energy. The last 10 miles felt pretty good.

The pickle feet thing is strictly non-bike related. Liz and I went to the store for some stuff last night and a stocker boy dropped a jar of dill pickles in the aisle, but didn't put out one of those "caution pickle juice all over the floor" signs. I happily and unsuspecting went sloshing through it in my flip flops. I didn't not fall, but it is true that pickle juice is slippery. The stocker guy asked if I was ok, but didn't apologize (one wasn't really needed). I was hoping for a coupon, but we just kept shopping without making a big deal about it. All said and done I'm glad I flopped through a lake of vinegar (sterile) rather than liquid sugar (sticky). So my foot smelled of dill and happiness all the way home and for the rest of the night.


In honor of the fallen pickles here is a picture of a giant one.








And all you could ever want to know about pickles.

http://www.ilovepickles.org/

I would suggest navigating to the kids fun page.

Afternoon ride

I got home from school today and decided to go for a 20 mile up tempo hill ride. I did two of the larger hills that can be found in West Lafayette. Nothing all that interesting happened with the exception of riding past the Purdue Club ride. I think they were doing a slower paced ride today for new group members, because I passed them without any problem. It was still the highlight of the ride. Liz is mocking me for not doing my homework so I should get to work.

Rest Day

I want to quit school and sleep. I had a planned rest day to help the legs rest.


Picture of sleeping baby.

Not much here

School has started with a bang (in so many different ways ;), but I have still been able to get out both Monday and Tuesday. On Monday I surprised Liz and myself by getting out of bed at the crack of dawn to make a 7:00am group ride on campus. Over all it was really fun, but I was so cold. There were times when I actually thought that I wouldn't be able to ride safely if I didn't tone down my shivering. Luckily, one of the group members was over prepared and let me borrow a sleeveless wind breaker. I was still pretty cold, but I do think that it helped. I may be purchasing a cheap long sleeve jersey (also much to Liz's surprise) so that I can keep going to the morning rides.

Today I went for a solo 30 miles. It had been a pretty productive day (with some of those bangs along the way), and I wanted to reward myself by leaving campus a half hour earlier and getting a nice hard ride in. It was windy, so I went out 15 miles into the wind then came back. The turn around point was the craziest part since you go from the wind howling quiet loudly in your ears, to pretty much dead silence since you are suddenly going with the wind.


That's about all from the bike realm.

Liz and I both went to the dentist for some dental work. It's funny how much money we pay for them to inflict pain on us. However, now I have a new cavity free filling. The hygienist also gave me my routine scolding for drinking coffee (because I'm sure someone who I see once every six months is going to get me to change a habit that I enjoy...Bwahahaha)

Sunday ride

My ride schedule is all messed up. I was planning a big ride on Friday but it rained all day and I just had a rough day at school. I then thought I would do in on Saturday, but liz and I ended up sailing in a regatta at lake freeman (we did pretty well considering how often we practice and race). Anyway, I got out this afternoon for a quick ride. I was going to go 20 miles, but then I saw another cyclist in the distance and went into chase mode. I got so busy chasing that I forgot to make a turn and ended up only going 16.5 miles. I caught him after about 10 minutes of power pedaling. He hooked into my draft and kept up with me after I passed him. When I stopped and waited for a red light, he decided to run through it and keep going. I turned right and decided that I had won. I'm going to try and catch the Purdue club ride tomorrow to see if it will be fun or not.



Here is the fictional medal that I won in my head by getting to the red light first. The other cyclist was disqualified for not following the rules.

Deer in the road

This morning I went for a relatively short ride. I think my legs may still be recovery slightly from my fun with the undergrad cyclists. I also am hoping to put in a longer distance tomorrow. Anyway, I went 15 miles which means I was only out of the apartment for 45 or so minutes. This means that I left after Liz left for her run and got home before she did. She's convinced that I never really left the apartment.

The only fun think that I saw was a deer in the middle of the road. I had to yell and make clicking noises at him to get him to wake up and move out of my way. I got pretty close to him. He had no friends. Also as a garbage truck was driving towards me it decided to pull onto my side of the road and park right in front of me. At first I thought it was going to run me down, but then it stopped. I had to stop too since I couldn't see around it and that annoyed me.

Picture of deer crossing road (West Lafayette doesn't have that many trees. In fact, I don't think that central/north Indiana has that many tree total.)

Oh the irony of it all

Of course the minute I break down and make a new blog they give me my old one back. I guess the 7th time I complained to them made the difference. Now I have to figure out which blog to continue to update. Please see the poll on the side and vote if you have a preference.

for everyone's viewing pleasure:


http://ironlegs85.blogspot.com/

No one owns me

Pictures from August 4, 2009 hidden so that not all must see them.

Here is a picture of my biking shirt. I have a blue and red one. Notice that there is no huge logo across my chest. This is really fine by me. I'm certainly not passively claiming to be on some pro team when I'm obviously not.

However, if someone out there did want to sponsor me, I'll gladly paste their logo all over my body. Seriously, I'll paint my face and claim their product tastes great even if it tastes like wet cardboard. Until that happens (or until someone buys me a jersey as a present someday), I remain a tabula rasa.




Tabula rasa means blank slate and often used by behaviorists in psychology. See John Watson

The Purdue Cycling Club

Today I took a fun little step forward in my biking goals. I showed up for the Purdue Cycling club rides. There were three other riders who were decked out in Purdue cycling gear. Thankfully, they were doing a recovery ride so I was able to keep up. I took second place on the hill sprint and fourth place in the flat sprint. For the flat sprint I kept up for about half of it, but they all of a sudden they switched into some extra gear that I certainly don't have. I ate their dust and had to work pretty hard to catch back up even after they had slowed back down. I was able to take my turn at the front and take some few pulls. Overall, it went really well (my legs are super tired and a bit sore now). They tried to recruit me onto the team and I basically said no. I don't think they believed me, but they were super nice about everything. I was glad that I got to ride with three riders who were all obviously stronger than me.


Here is the Purdue bike jersy. I don't find the design all that intimidating. I guess the rider in the jersey takes care of that. I couldn't find a picture of the corresponding Purdue bib/shorts but they exsist.

New blog

This is the new, almost as good, blog in the face of the losing my old one (a pox on blogger spam bot). Even though many of my posts have been lost, I'll just start from today and see what happens. I'm not sure the name is as good. It seems a little like a newspaper to me, but I really couldn't think of anything better. I'm really biking in West Lafayette, but that seemed a bit to long. Not being creative enough to generate a new title is partially why there was not a new blog sooner. The other was the chance that my other blog would be restored (a pox on the blogger spam bot).

Well I'm all out of poxs for the moment. I haven't ridden yet today, so there is a chance that there will be a followup post later in the day or tomorrow.

For those that were following my previous blog:

- I did make 300miles in one month
- I rode with a group of cyclists and had a fairly good time
- I've gotten up to 35-38 miles for my longest Friday super-long rides (at least that what I call them and how they feel to me)
- I joined the Purdue cycling email list but haven't gotten up the nerve to go ride with them yet