Working With 2 & 4 Yr Olds

Fatherhood is the greatest joy I've known. I'm starting to understand why the the Catholic church teaches that it is the supreme gift of marriage and it's primary purpose. Recent high lites include:

-Going to the coffee shop and working on puzzles
-Going to the MN zoo
-Replacing sod (as seen above)
-Riding bikes just about everywhere

Duluth

This was our first trip away from all three rug rats in 2 and half years, and we were able to go race our bikes! I had the hardest time leaving work/career issues behind me. For some reason I thought about it and family all weekend and couldn't get into race mode. Heather, on the other hand, had a phenomenal stage race taking 3rd overall in the women's CAT 4. More importantly I think she had a super fun time and developed a lot of camaraderie with the other girls she races with.

My highlight of the weekend was working the feed zone while Heather raced the Lakwoods RR on Sunday. We knew climbing was her strength and that it would be a good day and sure enough she gapped the field with sizeable margins on the final climb for victory.

Marty

My race day started at around 2:30 AM when my 6 month old Reid woke up. I got up, fed him a bottle, burped him a little, and tried unsuccessfully to go back to a deep sleep. 5:30 rolled around and I hit the snooze until 6 which meant I would have a 7 minute warm up. That was a mistake because the Loon boys got on the front like they should and brought the small field to a single file line for about 25 minutes out of the gate. It was a complete surprise to me during the race that the course had changed. I wasn't angry since as a heavy rider I'll take crosswinds to hills any race so this suited me. Things eased up a bit as we hit the first headwind and I caught my breath. This course must have had 9 turns in it or so? It was interesting trying to position out of the wind on this one. On the western side leading into the tailwind section some guy got pissed at a slow pace and hammered off the front. 4 or so of us caught his wheel and we had a decent gap but it didn't stick all because we couldn't pace line correctly. I'll swear there's more power to pace lining than I have realized. The problem is that guys would get to the front and hammer so hard that I couldn't rotate in. This effort shelled 1 or 2 riders. I asked him a little while later why he got pissed and he said "I can't stand riding slow" I responded that he should talk to me in about 90 minutes about that. Second lap shelled one more and a third lap shelled me and silver boy. I tried to be disappointed about getting shelled but couldn't. I'm having fun out there, plus I knew I left it all on course so the only real regret I have is not getting a better warm up. Funny how I'll go to such great lengths to race and miss something so crucial as a proper warm up.

Wow. Danny M.

Durand

Got dropped in 25 minutes. Ouch! That was hard to take. This was my first time through the Durand rollers and I really didn't realise how difficult the rollers could be, especially if someone is at the front driving the pace hard between them.

I was fresh on a new bike fit last week so hopefully my body can adjust and do a little better at the rest of the spring road races.

Okay, I Finally Get It (chip timing)

For the most part I've taken the bad attitude of many racers in the area that chip timing is a waste. After reading JimmerC's post on the bikethrow thread I'm reconsidering. He gives a great hypothetical and realistic example. I can finally understand why we need this and why it makes sense for the promoters and the sport.

Here's what he wrote. Scroll to comment 50.

Chips don't provide much for CAT 2's and 3's (myself included). 2's and 3's want top 5 and not much else. Cat 5's are different though. They want to see how they finished and compare. Cat 5's are where the numbers are in this sport and it's the segment that will keep the sport alive and thriving. I fully trust it will pay us back in the long run.

New Bike!

I spent the whole weekend finishing up two projects: building up my 2007 Giant TCR composite and overhauling my wife's Giant TCR composite with new BB, and all new cables and housing. These are not easy tasks with three kids in the house. At one point my eldest son Ian came into the workshop and began disassembling his own bike. It was total bonding time and he was completely in his element. I would loosen the bolts and then he would do the rest. As a parent it is eye-popping just how much our kids emulate us. It was a reminder that I really do need to work on who I am as a person so that the emulation works out for their good.

I bought the Giant frame and fork off eBay and I'm very happy with it. The only thing I don't like is the super long and fat head tubes they put on bikes these days. Is there some technical advantage to it? They sure are ugly that way. At first I was nervous because the Giant was a good deal and I figured something must be wrong, but it worked out great.

Tom R. came over to help me put it together, Heather made fajitas, and we drank Surley Furious while the kids watched Curious George (the movie). My son Ian who is four gets scared during a couple parts of it.

I really like hanging out with Tom. He and I can get in some very deep conversations on just about everything. Can't wait to hammer a hundred with him on my new Giant this summer.