San Dimas Prep

The year 2000 (for those of you who weren't already a grown-up at the time), was a very interesting time to be in the technology business. Everyone was working feverishly to correct software code that was presumed to be incompatible with Y2K (Year 2000). Lots of technology guys made their millions working toward this date. Thousands of programmers sat awake at their keyboards and watched the clock strike "twelve" on 12/31/1999 with their fingers crossed.

As it turned out, for the most part, it was much-a-do-about-nothing.

Around the same time, I felt like I was out on the bleeding edge of technology. We were digitizing and processing paper documents and extracting the data to use in ways that we didn't fully understand even as we were in the middle of it. I spent much of my time hosting seminars talking about the future of technology. I also attended several seminars presented by other forward thinking technologists who were describing a world were the computer would no longer be a computing tool, but instead a connecting tool. They talked about having a hand-held device that you could use to keep your "digital" calendar on and it would update other devices such as your home computer and even your...cell phone! You have to remember, back in the day, phones looked more like bricks then phones

Oh yes, I had a brick phone.

And also several double breasted suits.

Prior to the brick phone, I had a bag phone. It was considered better than a car

phone because it could be moved from car to car.

The whole idea of being "connected" seemed like such a novelty.

Flash forward less than 2 short decades and we have not only seen these visions come to pass but have more information and computing power at our fingertips than once filled an entire library. And what's even more important is that every 10 year old knows how to access it better than we do.

I once heard Shaquil O'neal say that there is no reason to memorize anything that you can access with a swipe of your phone.

I use the internet all the time. Every time Kyria and I are in a conversation and one of us asks "how does this or that work", the first thing we do is reach for our smart phone. And the best part is that I can't remember the last time one of us searched for something and could not find out more than we ever wanted or needed to know about a subject.

This weekend I am doing the San Dimas Stage Race. It's always been on my bucket list. I was planning to arrive a day early to pre-ride the TT and road race courses. The TT is a 4 mile climb and the road race has a couple of tricky hills.

This morning at breakfast, as I was surfing the Interweb, I did a quick search on YouTube, looky what I found:

San Dimas Stage 1 - Glendora Mountain TT Course

San Dimas Stage 2 - Road Race Course

San Dimas Stage 3 - Pro Criterium

Back to my technology story: At one of the seminars I attended just before Y2K, the presenter described a future where a Coke machine that might be located at a remote gas station in the desert. It would have a thermostat connected to a pricing table. When the ambient temperature in the desert would rise, the Coke would become more desirable and therefor the price would automatically go up. So when it was 70 degrees a Coke would cost $1.00 but when it was 100 degrees that same Coke would cost $3.00.

I found this retro Coke machine on Ebay. 

The "Buy It Now" price is $8,999.

I am old enough to remember .10 Cokes

The Ball is Rolling

I've been getting tons of random "friend" requests lately from people I don't know. In fact, I think many of the requests aren't even real. According the Facebook I have 750 "friends". Some of them aren't friends or even acquaintances but just people that I know who they are. Every once in a while I notice someone is my FB friend and I can't recall how I know (or knew) them, so I remove them.

I have another category of FB friends called "unfollowed". Wonderful people that I don't necessarily want to unfriend but who are like a broken record posting the same political crap over, and over. It's interesting to me how FB brings out the best and the worst in people sometimes.

Lately I've noticed people saying some really nasty political stuff. And pointing the finger at anyone that could possibly have a differing opinion. Then the very next day say they could never support someone like The Donald because he's too harsh.

Tuesday Arizona held it's primary. Nearly 40% of the AZ democrats voted for Bernie Sanders.

As I said earlier, I have 750 Facebook friends. The majority are cyclists. I'd estimate that the vast majority of cyclists are left leaning. So that means that 300 +/- of you either voted for Bernie, or would have.

Some of us are very quiet about our politics. But it's easy to figure out just by noticing when comments move us to click the "like" button. Once in a while I'm shocked to learn how a particular person feels about a topic, but most of the time I have a good idea of a persons world view.

Below is an article that I first read a decade ago, which recently re-surfaced on FB. Personally, I think we are in the "From apathy to dependence" stage. The ball is already rolling. If The Donald is in the Whitehouse, the ball will keep rolling, maybe at a slower pace. If The Bern gets in, the ball will be pushed over the edge of the cliff. Either way I think it's what we "the people" collectively want.

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years ...prior: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."

By the way, The United States of America is NOT a democracy. We're a Republic. Our founding fathers noted a BIG difference in the two forms of government. In a democracy, majority rules. In a republic, citizens have God given rights which can't be taken away.

Rights can't be taken away, but they most-definitely can be given away. Unfortunately, in the "liberty to abundance" era, we have voted for people who voted to make certain amendments to our Constitution which have very effectively done exactly that.

The Donald and The Bern are the least of our problems. If Alexander Tyler isn't smoking his socks, then we have the undeniable history of civilization to contend with.




  

Bike Paths Are a Bad Idea

I've been reading and also copied in on a lot of email banter lately about Bike Path Etiquette.

We’ve had this debate for years back in Iowa. In Arizona, we Tucsonan’s don’t quite hit the mark calling these paths “bike” paths, when in fact they are “multi-use” paths. If they were limited to bicycles, the problem would be moot. Instead there are people pushing baby carriages, walking dogs on extending leashes, inline skating, loafing along on hybrids and beach cruisers, or people just coming on and off the path. In other communities, the intended use of a multi-use path is to provide suburbia with a place to enjoy being outside without walking on the roads. I always thought that's what sidewalks were for?

If we already have roads and sidewalks, my question is why do we need to spend public funds for a third chunk of blacktop anyway?

We don't need bike or multi-use path at all. Bikes should ride on the road and pedestrians should walk on the sidewalk.

But with that said, I think if a bike is on one of these paths, especially in populated areas like the Rillito, we should not be riding at training speeds. Even if the path appears to be clear. There are so many twists, turns, narrow bridges and blind entrances that we can’t know what’s ahead. The possible exception is a very rural path such as the Santa Cruz where it's mostly cyclists and you can see for miles.

Most “racer” types that I know use the paths to get to and from a training destination.

I think spending money on paths to move cyclists off of public roadways is misuse of public funds. Remember, fellow cyclists, we are not “in” traffic, we “are” traffic. We should be lobbying to use the entire lane where there are no bike lanes and not be forced to “single up” so that motorists think they can share the lane with us – putting cyclists in danger. Instead cars should be required to pass a group of cyclists just as they would another slow moving vehicle; by changing lanes. I drive a car more miles in a year than I ride a bike. Trust me, it's not hard to pass a bicycle, or a group of bicycles.

Somehow, here in Tucson cyclists are considered guests on the road. The only place we are tolerated is either on a path or in a narrow bike lane filled with gravel, glass, thorns and other road debris.

Once in a while I see a cyclist roll through a stop sign or fail to signal. So big deal. I see that all the time with motorists. How about we stop hating on cyclists for being human? Should we strive to be better than average? Yes. But why do we expect cyclists to be any more holy than the rest of the general public? Certainly no reason to relegate us to a multi-use path forced to navigate around some spastic Labradoodle on a 25' extend-a-leash.

Instead of building bike or multi-use paths, how about if we re-appropriate the funds and just fix the uber-crappy roads and bridges here?

Sometimes some things that seem to be "bike friendly" are in not very friendly at all.

Not sure why we needed to build another cement path when there is a perfectly good right next to it?

This is one of the bridges that were built to connect the North Rillito Path with the South Rillito Path.

Uhh, question: Why do we need duplicate paths? Was one not enough? And connecting bridges?

I wonder how many roads could have been fixed with these funds?

TBC Stage 3 Race Report

The main story of the 2016 Edition of TBC Master 55+ race was the 3-man team from Cali named ThirstyBear p/b Akamai, who executed with precision on all three stages. They opened with the yellow jersey, handed it off to a teammate on Stage 2 and controlled it on Stage 3.

I can only assume that they kept it after Stage 3 because I left quickly - thoroughly frustrated.

It was one of those weekends when nothing seemed to go right. Sometimes, especially when the competition is strong, you need a little luck, or a break. And it just didn't happen.

On today's stage the Master's 55+ got tangled with the Master's 45+. It was pretty tense trying to keep track of the 600 series numbers and the 800 series numbers from the respective categories. Everyone trying to sneak away on each attack. Nobody was going to allow a breakaway today.

Rounding the final corner both groups were all together. If you're familiar with the course, the final straightaway is a 1250 meter undulating climb to the line. In the past I have attacked right at the corner and up the hill to solo for the win. But not today. I sprinted out of the corner and got a small gap, but was swarmed with 500 meters to go. I stayed in the top 5 but when I stood up to sprint again, I was toasted and just sat up and faded to the rear.

A humbling weekend for sure. I reviewed my power file and it verified what I felt - it was a hard assed race. In fact, it was pretty much full gas the entire day.

I have some work to do between now and San Dimas in 2 weeks.

Almost Chicked

I've always said that if I ever get beat by a girl, that would be my signal to find a new sport - jokingly of course. But yesterday at the TBC Time trial it almost happened when Anna Sanders from Visit Dallas Pro Cycling clocked an 8:32.

Time trialing used to be my specialty. I've always been big and powerful. But over the years I've lost my mojo for solitary suffering. I can dig much deeper when I'm competing directly with a human instead of the clock. It also has a lot to do with the way that I train now. In the old days I was pretty strict about doing regular intervals. I used to do 3X20's every week - usually on the trainer. I remember sitting on the couch in my chamois psyching myself into climbing on the bike because I knew it was going to hurt so bad. But that is exactly what it takes to be a good time trialist. That, and spending time on your TT bike. My Trek Speed Concept has been hanging on the wall since 2015 TBC.

But with all that said, I felt really great yesterday. Extraordinary actually. I was kind of shocked when my time was 8:30. That's :30 slower than my best at TBC. Here are the numbers

My official time was 8:30. So I was within :02 of being chicked. Looks like I'll have to re-think my position because I'm not ready to dust off my golf clubs just yet.

And speaking of :02. That's exactly how far back I found myself on the GC after Stage 1. I was sitting in 2nd with a good plan for the Road Race.

TBC Stage 2
Max Thompson from Thirsty Bear San Anselmo, CA was wearing the yellow jersey and he had 2 additional teammates in the field to ride tempo. And they executed very well, with one of them on the front keeping the tempo high at all times.

On lap 1 a Tucson Master's guy went up the road and they let him dangle. I bridged up and we started rotating but were caught within a few miles. That's when things went south.

Riding at tempo just before the turn into the start/finish line I flatted. The wheel truck assisted with a quick wheel change but I was way back and the peloton was drilling it up the long hill.

The driver of the wheel truck did a world class job of motor pacing me back to the group but I was gassed by the time I got back on. Luckily I had a few miles to recover before the finish.

Master's racing is predictably unpredictable. Often times the field is full of guys who really don't understand tactics, as illustrated by what happened next.

On lap 2, two guys, including one from the yellow jersey's team rolled off the front just ahead of the long (8 mile) decent. I went to the front and started to chase along with Andy Hosterman from Landis. And then, instead of rotating, several other guys started to attack and then sit up. Of course this resulted in the group never getting organized, leaving the two escapees to put time on us.

I will never know if I/we could have caught them (or bridged across) because the next thing I know, my rear tire goes flat AGAIN! And my day was done.

At the time of this blog post, I am exchanging email with the Chief Referee to see if I can start tomorrow.

This was one of four target races this year. The first was Valley of the Sun. I was registered and got sick 2 days before the start. Now this. I'm 0 for 2.

This turning into an interesting year. I either win, DNS or DNF. Nothing in between.

Next up San Dimas Stage Race in Cali-Forn-Ia. Another target race. We shall see.

All Jacked Up for TBC

This weekend is the Tucson Bicycle Classic Stage Race. It's 3 races - Friday 5K TT, Saturday Road Race and Sunday Circuit Race. I've ridden it as a master and as a Cat 1.

In 2014 I didn't race it at all. I was registered, but the week preceding the race I became very sick. In fact I was passing blood in my urine and stools. Which is bad since those two systems aren't really connected or related.

Although I felt just fine, Friday morning before the TT I decided to visit the Emergency Clinic on Sunrise. Following a brief examination the ER doc left the room and returned shortly saying that he called ahead and had made an appointment at the local hospital and I was directed to go immediately there for more tests.

After a more thorough examination an appointment was made with a local gastroenterologist - Dr. Hudson.

It was recommended that I should refrain from any strenuous activity until the problem could be diagnosed and treated. I called my GST teammates with the news and received lots of supportive texts and emails hoping for a positive outcome.

Being a bachelor at the time, and also a very healthy eater, part of my daily routine was to make an afternoon trip to Whole Foods to select my dinner for the evening. I like the deli counter where they make some really great side dishes. One of my favorites is a recipe they call Nola Beets (beets, green pepper, feta cheese, organic spinach, tobacco sauce, apple cider vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil). In fact I liked it so much that I bought it every day for about 3 weeks, coincidently around the same time that I was stricken with this mystery disease of my urinary and digestive tracts.

When I met with the gastro doc I came prepared with a detailed description of my symptoms along with half a dozen camera phone pictures of my commode, graphically documenting the situation.

Dr. Hudson sat quietly as I explained my symptoms in detail just nodding his head. Finally he responded that the samples collected at the emergency room showed no blood. I almost spit snot out of my nose as I immediately pulled up the bloody evidence on my smartphone.

Dr. Hudson patiently looked on as I thumbed through the graphic proof.

Finally he asked " Lou, tell me, do you eat a lot of beets?"

Mystery solved.

I've won individual stages at TBC but my best finish in the General Classification was in 2013 when I finished 2nd. A fresh new 45 year old upstart master named Gord Frazer won. If you read the results it looked close, but it really wasn't. Going into the last lap of the circuit race, I was in the virtual lead. Gord, me and another guy were in a break, far ahead of the peloton. Heading up the feed zone hill, Gord waited for me to take a long pull, then looked at us both, shifted a couple of gears, stood up and rode away, winning the stage and evaporating the few seconds of virtual lead that I had. It was an honor to race with a guy who's career I have followed for many years. 

For the 2016 Edition of TBC I am registered in the 55+ category. There are around 30 guys pre-registered. It doesn't matter what race you're doing at TBC, there will be excellent competition.

This year again, I'm all jacked up on Nola Beets and expecting a better outcome!

A blistering 12.9 mph average day

It seems like I ride the same group rides and routes whenever I'm in California. For race simulation I like the Swami's Ride in Encinitas or the UC Cyclery Ride in La Jolla - both on Saturdays. La Jolla is closer, and I can ride to the ride (instead of driving to the ride) and, in some ways I like it for training better than Swami's. During the week, when I ride alone, I tend to ride the same 2 or 3 routes.

There are dozens of group rides in SoCal ever day and so this past Sunday I decided to pick one and join in.

Almost next door to where I live is a very cool development called Liberty Station. It's actually a Naval Training Center that was built in the 1920's. Then later fell into decay before it was recently renovated and repurposed into a great area that has residential townhouses, retail, restaurants, shopping and even a megachurch called Rock Church.

One of the shops in Liberty Station is a bike shop called Moment Bikes. It's a high end shop that caters to racers and triathletes. When I stopped in there on Saturday all of the staff seemed a little on the "stuffy" side. 99% of the shops that I go to across the country are all super friendly. I mean, your working at a bike shop, what's not to be happy about? But that was just my 1st impression, and 1st impressions can be wrong. Plus, everyone seems to be friendlier once we have an opportunity to ride together.

Anyhow, I visited Moments website and learned that a group ride leaves every Sunday's at 8:00am with a changing route each week. This weeks' route is called the 7-11 Ride because it passes a bunch of 7-11 stores along the route. It goes east, inland through areas called Mission Gorge and El Capitan Reservoir - 65 miles round trip.

I showed up a few minutes early with a Grande Starbucks in hand. There were a handful of young guys all sitting around the patio furniture - all with their noses stuck to their smart phones - nobody chatting - nobody saying hello - same vibe as the day before in the store.

Digression time
[Last week, Kyria and I were having dinner at a Mexican restaurant. There were a pack of 8-10 teenage girls sitting at a table by us. We noted that not one word was spoken for several minutes. Every girl had their head down with the glow of the smart phone screen lighting their faces. We have an entire generation who no-longer understand how to communicate. How will they survive? Who will save them? These are the people who will be voting for Bernie - no doubt.]

A few more people rolled up, a couple of them wearing tennis shoes and t-shirts. This is when I started to plan my exit strategy. After a couple of instructions, we were off. There were 2 ride leaders; Both wearing Moment Kits. One guy was leading the short route, the other leading the long route.

Most of these ride start out 2-abreast. Whenever I attend a new ride I make it a point to strike up a conversation with the person next to me. It seemed like we rode about 90 minutes getting out of town. This gave me lots of time to chat with several people. This ride had become a social/recovery ride, which was perfectly fine with me. I had a great Saturday ride and a wide-open schedule this week to prepare for Tucson Bicycle Classic Stage Race next weekend.

Once we entered the Mission Gorge area the road opened up and the terrain became more challenging. Most of these group rides are "no-drop" which usually means that if the group splits, we re-group regularly. But today, it was survival of the fittest. I didn't see any t-shirts or tennis shoes after the first 30 minutes, and by the time we did stop, there were 3 of us who waited for 10 minutes for the balance of the group. This turned out to be where the short ride turned around and the long ride continued to El Capitan.

There were 5-6 of us who did the long route and we continued riding 2-abreast most of the way. I had a chance to chat with each guy for quite a while. Our ride leader was JT - the owner of Moment Bikes. JT turned out to be a super nice guy. Really passionate about the sport and his shop. He's a former engineer and used to fabricate carbon tubing. His big push is bike fits and service. I wanted to find a good way to offer my suggestion that his staff could be more engaging but it never came up.

Austin was a young guy who is also an engineer and was in San Diego doing a project for the Navy. Once he found out that I was a retired business guy he was full of questions about business and finance. It won't be long until Austin has his own firm and will be employing several Americans. Austin was NOT one of the guys with his face pasted to his smart phone before the ride.

Anyhow, heading into El Capitan Reservoir we had a chance to hit the jets up a 2-mile long climb to past the damn. We stopped for picture, a nature break and to fill water bottles before heading back to civilization.
.
I made 5 new friends today - JT, August, Austin Jose' and another guy from Canada (name escapes me). Sometimes that is more important then recording a KOM on Strava.

After high-5's at the shop, I arrived back at the boat with just under 90 miles and over 6 hours of saddle time. Not the most challenging day on the bike, but a really fun one, and one that I would recommend. At the end of the day, 90 miles is still 90 miles.

My Garmin route to El Capitan and back.

El Capitan Reservoir

A very different picture from the ocean

These two little dudes show up like clockwork every

afternoon around 5:00pm begging for Cornflakes.

I can only throw 4-5 handfuls to them before the

seagulls show up and turn the place into a shit show.