A collection of Vineman IM 70.3 race reports

Last weekend was the Vineman Ironman 70.3 triathlon here in Sonoma County.

As you might know, I am a not a triathlete. While I currently cycle a lot and run a little (the reverse was true when I was younger) I have never been an endurance swimmer, but have really enjoyed getting immersed in the tri scene and seeing others put their egos and endurance to the test.

We had a fabulous time providing host housing for

Stewielol
Stewie The Wonder Cat
and his parents, two of my favs @ncjack and @bigdnla last weekend, I have to admit I got more than a little caught up in the whole Vineman IM 70.3 tri scene especially with Twit bro @punkrockrunner in town.

I thought I'd compile the ones I found on Twitter for your Vineman reading enjoyment:

 Katie Morse 
Vineman 70.3 Race Report  
(Ed : From an young woman to watch, Katie Morse is going places - you heard it here...)

 YoungTri (Cait Begg)
Vineman 70.3 Race Review - By Waylon Christensen
 Beki 
Vineman weekend from an aspiring triathlete's view:   

  Triathlon Training
Vineman 70.3 RR (really long): The Vineman 70.3 took place on July 17, 2011. I had been training very well and ... 

 James 

my Vineman 70.3 race/recovery report....  .3 time to go ride my bike through the vineyards!

 beth gerdes walsh 
vineman 70.3 race report (sans pictures).will update with the (not so) pretty pics in a couple days.

 

Farewell to Scottsdale Ride

After another great day at Scottsdale Stadium watching the San Francisco Giants 
win again over a split squad Dodgers team,
 I had time to squeeze in one more ride.

Fortunately, our condo was right around the corner from a nice little half mile hill 
that enabled me to get in half a dozen repeats.

The hill was one block north of the beginning of the popular Cholla Trail in Scottsdale
and home to some *nice* residences with some *acceptable* views.

Like this
P1000375

And this
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And this 
P1000384

But then there are some *artistic* elements that caught my eye - behold:

Fountains
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Address markers
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Windmills
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And mailboxes
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I had another nice day!
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Thank you Scottsdale
 for your hospitality, cyclist friendly 
and easy going attitude. We thoroughly
enjoyed our stay here. 

 

A Good Winter Century

It was billed as "A Good Winter Century" consisting of 102 miles of some of Sonoma and Marin counties nicest backroads.

Goodwintercentury

The weather had been wonderful all week, but the forecast for wet weather on Sunday had been slowly creeping into Saturday evening, or so I thought.

Four of us met early in Santa Rosa and leisurely rode to the start, 12 miles away in Sebastopol.

The weather was ok, 45º, cloudy, dry, when we left, but with each passing mile going east, mist appeared and grew thicker.

The 20 minute wait at the start didn't help to stay warm, but a nice crowd of 45 riders showed up, including a couple on Fixies!

The mist grew ever thicker going south.  I wished I had put a new application of RainX on the glasses, in addition to having another layer to wear.

After about 10 miles the civilized pace gave way to a more spirited tempo.  Pain ensued until the first rest stop at mile 25.

I felt better on the second leg, but the moisture was starting to accumulate in the clothes making it hard to stay warm.

A blueberry and lavender scone and cup of coffee provided temporary relieve at the mid way point.

The next leg found me off the back for a while down Bohemian Highway in the light rain. No worries.

A fast pace line from Guerneville took us to a point where another rider and I decided we didn't need any bonus miles
today, so we said goodbye to the group and peeled off for home, glad to have a little respite from the rain.

Happy to be home safely, as the roads were slick, visibility hampered and the pace brisk.
Cold, wet, dirt, fatigue and hunger gave way to warmth, dryness, recovery and nourishment.

Third Century of the month and year in the books.

Grateful!

 

Today's mileage total
P1000037

 

Pace
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My View All Day
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My Formerly Virgin White Arm Warmers

 

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Temporary Winter Tan Lines
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Today's ride on a beautiful Sonoma County day, dampened by an all day headache, but still grateful to be able to ride..

P_00170

 

Post-HP career options

Voldy-can

 

8th Annual Holiday Food Fest and Wine Tasting.

We had a truly fabulous meal at Santi in Santa Rosa today.

Having these wines to taste blind made it even more special. 

The group did pretty well on identifying the wines! 

Not pictured was an '02 Pride Merlot and a Chehalem Pinot ("03?)

What a treat!

Allthewines
Barolo
Radio
Neuf
Monty

 

Saturday Gratitude

Sometimes we just need to stop, appreciate and say thanks...

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The Climbs with views

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The Sonoma Coast

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Friendship

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Great weather
 

'stached away

Before: 
Chuck-norris1

After:
Ivejustseenaface

(download)

 

"How Far Does My Avatar Cycle in 24 Hours" _Contest Results

Those who follow along with an occasional interest may know that I sometimes get inspired to hold an impromptu contest on random things with the prize normally being wine, er, I mean olive oil in case I have to ship it!

I get lots of comments on my animated cycling "Mr. Bones" avatar - people seem to identify with it, and since it is grandfathered in by Twitter (they no longer allow animated avatars) I am loathe to change it, even though I feel prefer a real portrait.

So late last week this started the wheels rolling:

@bikerly @GregKnottLeMond I wonder how many miles your avatar has put on this weekend?

Since I love cycling, math & contests, I was spurred to this tweet: 

@GregKnottLeMond: How many miles does my avatar ride in 24 hours. You figure cadence. 700c wheels in 50x13 gear. Closest guess wins wine! 

In a later version of the contest I alluded to a 700x23 wheel (refering to a 23cm tire on a 700c wheel) I had a feeling this would come into play...it did.

So I got dozens of answers, ranging from "I have no idea" to "2,000." 

Here's the official math, using a 700x23 wheel/tire combo:

1. First off, you need to determine Mr. Bones' cadence. I got 60 RPM. This is a critical input. Unfortunately, I can't see what you see on your computer screen, so I counted mine three times, each for a full minute.

2. Next, using one of the numerous online calculators (or a slide rule for bonus points) enter in the 60 cadence, 50 x 13 gearing, and 700/23 wheel to get an MPH of 18 mph.

3. So 24 hours at 18 mph  = 432 miles (whoa - more than I thought!)

But since there was descrepancy between the 700c and 70x23 wheel sizes and being a fair and generous guy,  I am declaring all answers between 432 and 456 miles as winners!

Congrats to:

@JK12 (almost DQ'd for tampering with the judge);

@DavidNev

@dannywalters

@JaimeHull

Two of you are locals and/or I will see at LevisGranfondo, so you will receive your wine then

You other two should DM me with your mailing addy and the Sonoma County wine, I mean olive oil, will be shipped shortly.

Thanks again for playing.

@GregKnottLeMond

 

 

Centurios Interruptus (Some days are like this)

Today's ride was labelled Back In The Saddle Saturday - reflecting that it had been a month since the Terrible Two Double Century and it was time to get my sorry ass back in the saddle for some serious training again.  I envisioned 100+ miles of rollers - slow.  My training bud, KT, had other ideas.  108 miles and +/- 9000 feet of climbing.  Like this:

Backinthesaddle_satuday

I agreed - nothing like a good ass kicking to jump-start the training.

Meetup, 7am a designated spot - (OK 7:10 am-had difficulty locating my shoes this morning)

Nice cool marine layer. Feeling better than I thought I would.

Mile 18 - the first stiff climb begins - shift into the 25 tooth cog, and within a few pedal strokes - boom! Kinda like my chain broke! On a steep uphill!

I managed to clip out and stay upright. 

A quick inspection revealed it was something inside the freehub that had broken.

Crud - am dead in the water now - can't pedal.  We make alternate plans, I coast down the hill, call the personal Triple A Agent (my wife) who happily comes out and drives me to NorCal Bike Sport where they amazingly find the prob, fix it and 15 mins and $23 later, I am on the road again.

The plan was to ride to Occidental to see if we could meet up again and continue on the rest of the course. 

With the interruption past me, I have a nice ride, part two, and decide to time myself up the SRCC Speed Trap to Occidental.

At the base of the climb, my front tires acts like if picked up something sticky - that's big enough to hit the crown of my front fork.

I stop to find my tire had "bubbled up" like a blister the size of a stack of a few nickles. I knew I was riding fast, but not THAT fast. Crud again!

It didn't pop, and in fact went down.

Not wanting to double dip on the Spousal SAG Service in the same day, I decide to limp on back.  A couple of miles later the front tire blister bubbles up, I stop, let some air out, which seems to help, and cruise back to my fav NorCal bike shop for a new tire. 

The guys there wonder why I am back so soon, but a quick purchase, ride home, tire change, drop off clothes, eat and drink (and fight the temptation to stay home) and I am back out to ride north over Chalk Hill to deep in the Alexander Valley and back through Healdsburg, Windsor and the long way home.

I felt good, and managed to get the exact same miles in that I planned, just with about 7,000 fewer feet, and a faster average speed (of about 17+ mph.) So this 6:12 ride spanned almost 10 hours!

So, Century #26 for the year was hard to come by, but, in the end, very satisfying. Except getting my ass kicked, and catching up on life with KT. Well, there's next Saturday for that.

Lessons re-learned:  Shit happens, it's how one deals with it that counts, and so does perseverance, and a little help from the wife. Off to make dinner...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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