Babies and judges

I hadn't laked about Megan for while. The story i'm hearing that the seizure was messed up and it now has to go before a Missouri Supreme Court judge,. Sounds like it's going to be a drawn out affair,
I decided not to go to the J2ME class, which was a good thing since I got an e-mail stating it had been canceled.
I wound up on the 6:20 train, so I didn't get to hear all of Dr Sanders lecture, Darn! he was talking about the "Jesus' Bones" when I got there.
Biking: Its sound like some folks from the club are crazy enough to want to tackle the 508 . Glad I'm not the only Psycho cycler around

Dieting

I was e-mailing Bernie about the 300K route in Cayucos today. He complimented me on how I've lost . I told I'd lost 5 pounds. and it's been a struggle. Maybe I need to pay less attention to the scale....
I was going to ride this morning, but it started to rain when I walked out the door. Darn!
I'm still debating what to do tomorrow night. I'm leaning toward going to hear Dr. Sanders, as I'm begging to think that J2ME is a bit over my head right now.
You've may noticed more posts from Moi here. I'm trying to do a post a day thourgh lent. I've made it a week :)

back to the routine

I lead (taught) the Java Group in Pasadena. I think they're finally getting objects. Yea!. we didn't go as long as planned , because several people went to the Richard Stallman lecture at USC instead.
I could a lengthly Windows vs Linux blog, but it is 9:30.
Wednesday night I have to decide what to do again God vs Java.
Speaking of God, You've probably heard the "Jesus' bones" report on the news. I'd like to get more info , but right now it sounds like a rush to judgment in order to cash in on the "da Vinici code" craze. After all , there was only guy named Jesus, right? St, Marks is having James Sanders speak on Wednesday, which is why
I'm considering skipping the J2ME class. Granted, I'd rather hear a new testatment scholars opinion, but beggars can't be choosers

Huel Howser made me do it!

In case you don't know, Huell Howser is a Television producer for KCET in Los Angeles. He usually Does Travelogues on Various touristy type thing In California. He did on the Carrizo Plain National Monument. , so I went by, It was nice. In case you don't know what it is here are some Links
BLM
Wikipedia
Sierra Club
Nature Conservancy
I went to the visitor's center, and did the Soda Lake Boardwalk, I then drove the San Andreas Fault and the oil town of Mc Kittrick and Taft. Yes, Huell has been there too, But I didn't stop and take a photo. I then drove over the Grapevine.
So in a Day , I went from the beach, to the desert, to the mountains, and back home

Yet another brevet

Well , I've got Brevet #2 in the books.
I need to find a new job so I can move up here! It's too pretty.
Started early at 6:30 - Spoke a little bit with Bernie Barge from the 508. He lives up here. We pedaled in to San Luis Obipso. I remember that one section of road was imprinted with "built by the W.PA. - 1938, Unfortunately I missed taking a picture.
I also missed the First control. On brevets, you are given a Card, which have to have stamped at all controls to get official credit. It was at a coffee shop
We rode out of SLO and went back to Morro Bay. On the way there, I thought I saw my first California Poppy, more on this later. We then got back on Highway 1 - which is actually a freeway. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We got off Highway 1 to go through Cayucos. Saw more of the Flowers.
California Smallest Town - Harmony, Population 18. Noticed that the Episcopalians pick up trash in Harmony. We had to climb a hill in Cambria, and I stopped in San Simeon and had an Odawalla Bar.
We then pedaled through San Simeon and past the Hearst mansion. I wasn'tsure about riding on PCH. The Coverage on Versus when the Tour of California did stage here was "Cyclists - Don't do this road! The Crazy Drivers will run you over!" Shame on you Phil, Paul, and Bob! Nice shoulder until we got to the climb to The Ragged Point inn, and even then, the Drivers were courteous.
I had a turkey Sandwich at the Ragged point(pic below). I think I got penalized for eating healthy. Most People were having Burgers and Fries. It took me forty minutes, it should have taken me twenty. Most controls are at restaurant or stores (the first was at a coffee shop) and I usually like to patronize them to show my appreciation for putting with us Psycho cyclists. I made it back through Cambira and Harmony and Arrived at Cayucos at 4. Lots better than 6:30. Socialized with the gentleman running the control and some other riders. Talked about the flowers- they though they weren't Poppies - Darn! Had dinner at Taco bell- should have gone back to the Maya.
I'm still debating what to do tomorrow. I'm probably going back via the Carizzo Plain. Still considering dropping in on Church up here. I know it's no big deal, but is Lent. let you know in tomorrow's post....
Photos!:

BirthDay Blog

Yes, it's my birthday. I started out today with a Trim by my stylist, Albert. I checked the Internet and found that FedEx was going to attempt to deliver some Hammer Gel today. I waited and waited, and finally gave up.
I had lunch at Todai in Arcadia, it's a Japanesse buffet - but they have a variety of stuff, I carbo loaded on Sushi, and had some Kimchee and Sashmi(Raw fish - Sushi translates as "with rice") I then drove up to Cayucos. I thought about pulling off in Solvang and watching the TOC, but I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going tomorrow morning. It's real pretty up here.
I Forgot to bring some tights, but I found some at Rite Aid(hey, they sponsor a cycling team) for $5.99. Was going to eat a Mexican restaurant, but it was crowded, so I wound up The place next door to the motel. It looked like a dive, but it turned out pretty good(Maya's in Morro Bay), it was also Mexican - I had the Grande Burrito. Retired to the room to watch the boob tube until nighty-night.

It all works out in the end

I was going to watch the Tour of California - if nothing else to see the route for Saturday, but it rained here today. Normally, that doesn't mean much, but I take the train back and forth to work, and to get to work from the Train station in El Monte, I take a shuttle bus. well, the rain (L.A. Drivers "why are water puddles falling from the sky? It must be an Act o' God!(well it is)") caused traffic to be even more jammed than usual, which in turn caused Eloy to miss the 6:00 train. If I make that one, I can get home in time to catch the usual start of the coverage on Versus. We had to wait for the 6:20, so I thought I was going to miss half of it. It turns out that the show didn't start until 8:00. Happy Campers. Don't sweat the small stuff, Someone will take care of for you (think Romans 8:28)
P.S. They edit out most of what I wanted to see! They just left in the finish in San Luis Obpiso.

Ash Wednesday

Well, Anthony canceled the J2ME class, which removed one crisis. So made it to the evening service at St. Mark's. And we had birthday cake at work, which was a problems. my birthday is Friday, and as an Anglican type person , I was supposed to be fasting. I took a piece and ate it on the the train.
Speaking of Fasting (and Bicycling), remember I said the 400K was on Easter Weekend? Well, guess I get to fast again : Good Friday.
Seriously, I find interesting that Brevet Season and Lent are coinciding. My two passion,(well, I probably should work Java in there , too) all together. I've been discerning if should draw anything from this... I'm sure there's a connection that's I'm supposed to make.
You have noticed that there a bicycle race in California this week? I've watched two hours of it. all week. I guess I like riding my bike more than watching other people ride theirs. I'll probably tune in tomorrow, if for nothing else, to get a sneak peek at the course on Saturday.

Bicycling Content

I forgot the bike rides from this weekend!
Saturday - The club is trying some new ideas - specifically a fixed route for the Saturday rides, with a new starting point. I rode to the old starting point, picked up the people who went there and proceeded to the new point. Tom and Sue were going to lead the slow . er short, ride(will the world stop turning?), but they showed up with a broken fork on their Zona. I wound up with the lead.
Things went well. There were some complaining about the number of regroups, but I wanted to see how things were going, and we did have a new rider, so I didnn't want to make a bad impression. I got in to trouble for showing how fast big folks can go downhill, and we all had coffee afterward.
Sunday - some folk had complained about a turn on the long route, and we thought there was a route arrow left over from the Tour de Foothills. I pedaled my up Mt Baldy Rd (I don't go uphill nearly as fast as I go down... Darn!) and looked for it. It was there,but could stand a freshning.
Ubuntu - I got 6.10 up and running over the weekend. Lot better. the only boo-boo was that I installed a plug for Firefox that's supposed to help work with the LinkedIn website. It did want to co-exist with Gmail(kept on try to find a LinkedIn page for each mail), so I had to de-install it.
Tommorrow - I'm still on the fence on wether to go to class or not.

God keeps on getting in the way....

What to make a priority?
As you may know, Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. Normally not a problem, But I also have the Java ME(cell phone programming class) that night. As a wannabe Episcopalian, I 'm supposed to show up some where and get some ashes put on my forehead. Not to mention that I'm supposed to Fast that day. Normally, I would make back to St. Mark's in Upland. I looked at the Episcopal church's website (www.episcopalchurch.org) and found some congregations near El Monet, but none had a website. I 'll probably call the one nearest work and see if they a noon service. I can always pretend I'm still a presbyterian and skip the imposition.
As you may know, I'm trying to ride a Brevet series this year , the involves riding 200, 300, 400 and 600K rides (124,188,256 and 372 miles). If you've read this before, You know my initial attempt at 200K wasn't quite what I expected.
I'm going to try doing another 200K at Cayucos this Saturday. A lot less climbing, and I've some weight off, so it should easier. the 300K is on 3/24, so I'm going to for that right now. The problem is that the 400K is on 4/7. Easter Sunday. grrr. I;m debating this one. I could drop in a congregation up there and hope I don't fall asleep (I'll be riding for most of the night). And the club is doing my favorite ride (Glendora Mountain Road) on a Sunday.
Normally, most people do the brevets to get qualified to do a 1200K (768 miles) event. The only one this year is Paris-Brest-Paris. I really don't have the money to go to France, so I may do some thing here locally (my buddies are trying to get me to do the Hemet Double Century, which is in March.
Oh, what am I doing for a Lenten discipline?
well , two things
The first thing is I'm a wear a purple spirit wristband. You're not supposed to have negative thoughts for 21 days. I'll let you know how it goes.
I'm also going to give up on potato chips and Cheeze-its

Ubuntu to you, too!

I forgot ,
as part of the women in open source conference, Google gave away T-shirts.
The Bad news: The XL looks like it would fit a size 8! Apparently, they need to know what Real Girls(tm) look like.
Ubuntu -My Desktop was running 6.06 and I finally decided to upgrade to 6.10. The only problem was that the CD I burned was bad and I found out about when It had started to reformat my hard disk! So I'm downloadng another copy on my laptop right now. I thought being really kewl and doing Gentoo, but I don't think I would have enough time.
Java - going along good. I 've been doing some example for my class. More next time

SCALE

What's SCALE?
it's the
Southern
California
Area
Linux
Expo!
As you may surmised , I had a busy weekend
Friday morning, I had a Doctor's appt, Then, I drove to the Westin LAX, They were having a Women in Open source conference, Unfortunately, I missed the speaker I want to hear, but all the other Ladies were great! and It was neat not be only the person with Boobs at a computer meeting., I have Sharon and Betty set up the LinuxChix booth afterwards.
Saturday - I did the Tour De Palm Springs - see last post.
Sunday I went to church ,and headed to LAX again. I helped out in the booth, and attended a few conferences, Ran into my friend Jeff Lasman from Riverside. Was debating staying for a few more conferences, but I needed to type Bicycle Club meeting minutes, so I took off early
The pic: LinuxChixLA booth: Betty, Sharon, Moi(with my Palm Springs tan) (from LXer.com)

Tour De palm Springs

This was the first time I had done the same ride two years in a row, Nothing much had changed.
The start location is now in Downtown PS. I rode for a little while with CaliGurl from the Team Estrogen forums,
I took the picture when we were beside the 10 freeway.
The road is still bumpy going into Indio, but they fixed the section by the Indian casino in Cochealla.
I had two flats after the rest stop at mile 70, Ran into Caligurl again. Fred Roth stopped and helped fix the flat right.
When I got to the end , I heard my name being called. It was the Cycling Connection gang, wanting to know If I wanted to go to lunch. Naturally, I took them up on it.

Bicycles, Babies, and Java

What, you may ask, do these items have to do with each other?
Babies: Remember, back in June, when My great niece was born? Well, she's lost 5 pounds since birth, so the Missouri Department of Fa miles has taken her. My nephew and his basically didn't care for her.(I've already received several offers to use Chuck and Jessica Lingo as martial arts dummies) My brother and his wife are trying to get custody of Meghan, and I've offered to take Meghan as well. That will obviously impact Bicycling time. If you see a Fat lady on a grey Cannondale with a baby Trailer on GMR, Stop and say hello.
Bicycles, Nothing much, after leading every single Saturday ride for January, I get a brief break, The Cycling Club is now the Cycling/Triathlon Club, and I did the Tour De Palm Springs This Past Saturday. Another post on that
Java: I am now the leader of the San Gabriel Java Study group. I 'm having a bit of a problem getting my students(victims?) , long time procedural programmers, to get used to object orientation. I'm also considering joining a group that's Learning to use Java to program cell phones. And I did some networking this weekend by Attending Scale (So. Cal. Area Linux Expo). I'm seriously considering posting something to resumewiki.com, but that's another post, as well.
Now I have to decided if I want to play hooky at lunch on the 27th to see Richard Stallman at Caltech.

200 kilometers in a day

how not to do a double metric
I had decided that I was going to trying some brevet Rides in 2007. Brevet rides are unsupported, ultra-distance rides. The nearest place that offered them was San Diego, so I made plans to the 200 Kilometer(124 miles) rides
I woke up early on 20th and drive down to the start at la Jolla. I got there in plenty of time and get the registration taken car of. I usually like to start when it's first light, but under the rules, we had to wait till 7.
the first couple of miles were fine. The only problem was that I had lost my cue sheet. I had a spare one, so it wasn't that big of deal. Unfortunately, I lost it in Escondido. Which was not good, because the course got very tricky here. (2 blocks on one street, turn left , 3 blocks turn right, etc.) Thankfully, I ran into Jim and Mark from the Riverside Bicycle club. they gave one of theirs. Coincidentally, My club(Cycling Connection) and RBC were having a joint ride that day. we joked about we were going to Persona non Grata for doing the brevet instead of the group ride.
We had to do a climb to get into the first control. On brevet , you are given a card which you have stamped at various points called controls. This was by an AM/PM convenience store at interstate 15 and deer creek road , so I stopped and got some thing to eat. I was wishing I could convince Sheetz to build stores on the west coast, but I'm going to have settle for Am/PM and Circle K.
here the ride started to get interesting. the next 30 miles were some very steep and sustained grades. I can do Glendora Mountain Road at 7-8mph (it's about a 6-7% grade). I was doing about 4 and having problems at time with the front wheel coming off the ground ( In my experience, that usually happens around 20%). I was passed by some racers on a training ride, only to encounter them again on a downhill on Couser Canyon. They were waving at me to slow down. A couple of their riders had gone down, but they didn't need anything. they caught me and we rode together until I turned off to do some more climbing.
Eventually I reached the turnaround point at the town of rainbow(Interstate 15 and San Diego/Riverside County line) we crossed over the 15 and began climbing some more. When I was on Reche road, A woman who also doing the brevet got hit by a car. A couple of rides called 991 and the Brevet Administrator. She was conscious and moving, but had to be transported by ambulance. We did some climbing , and came to second control at a sandwich shop in Fallbrook. I stopped and had lunch, and was on my way again.
We were done with the climbing for the most part. However, I made a wrong turn and did not realize it for about 4 miles. I doubled back onto the route, and reached Oceanside about 4 pm. I seriously considered taking the Coaster (Commuter train) back in at this point,but I persevered. It was flat , but I was trying not to push a big gear at this point. I stopped in Enicinitas(about 5pm) to put on my reflective vest and ankle bands as well as to turn on my lights. But I did get to see the sunset over the pacific while riding my bike. Who could ask for anything more?
Those of you have done the Amtrak can figure what happen at 5:30 . Torrey Pines Park! For those of who haven't, it s a mile long climb that ascends about 500 feet. I then pedal through La Jolla and back to the start. About a block away, my cell phone rang. It was Tom, our club president wanting to know where I was at . we were having a part that night. I related my tale and drove back to the party. Would I do it again? Maybe If I do could a flatter series. I was listen to my George Gershwin CD on the way back, and remembering a quote. He was playing tennis with one of his friends and complaining that he could never be another (name composer). He friend said that he stop trying be somebody and concentrate on the best George Gershwin he could be.
“Life is a lot like jazz.. it's best when you improvise” GG
here's the route
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/San-Diego-200K

bike Mechanics 101

We were going to go and do Sunset loop in Redlands(on of the stages from The Races there), but the weather forecast was calling for Santa Ana winds. I was going to be charge of the longest option(70 miles), but no showed except for a Tandem couple(Tom and Mary Lou) who was going to do a shorter option. I asked I could hitch a ride with them back. The winds weren't bad in the Morning, but were supposed to pick up, and lot of the riding was through some very gang-infested neighborhoods(I Think they would still be sleeping in the morning), just As I was getting ready to take off, I heard some one call my name. Another rider from the club(Fred Roth) had showed up. We called the tandem couple and told that we would be going west instead of east(they told the wind was "very bad").
Things went fine until we got to the midpoint of the Ride (Bonelli Park in San Dimas), Fred had pulled ahead on a hill. I was descending and saw him standing in the middle of the road with his bike . The Rear Derailleur had broken . We tried to make an emergency Single Speed, since we were about two miles from a shop, but had no luck. Fred eventually called his wife to rescue him and I went on my way. I discovered that chain breaker of my minitool was missing a piece, so I went and got a replacement. Had a flat, Stopped by REI and got a rack trunk, and went home (not wishing to press my luck) wound up with 53 miles

The Salton Sea

I was supposed to meet some folks and do a double metric today(circumnavigation of the Salton Sea) I got to start and waited , and waited , after a half hour I took off. while I didn't have a cue sheet, this is the desert, so it's hard to get lost. Just remember which side you want the sea/lake on. Things went well at first. I maintain about 17mph and the border patrol waived me through a check point . I had a flat at mile 30 , but made to mile 50. I was getting close to the urban areas of Palm Springs/ Cochella valley, so I decided to turn around. My average dropped to 13 and stayed there. I finally ran across my group at mile 54. By then I was wondering if i could do 120, I went by an abandoned hotel/Night club where I took the pictures.:







I managed to get out the wind by the border patrol . but the the last 8 miles from Niland to Calipatria were something else. There was a 20mph crosswind. I had to stop get off the bike to drink for fear of being blown down! I decided to call it a day at 100. Calipartia was having a Christmas Festival when I got back. , So I browsed it for a while. I forgot to a photo the World's Tallest flagpole when I left town. Calipartia is 180 feet below sea level, and the flagpole is 181 feet tall(my maximum elevation for the day was about -54). I guess that way they can find their town when the Gulf of California or the Colorado river floods town

Tour De Tuscon

The final details first:
time 6:58, which put me in the Gold, which is where I thought I would wind up.
I got in to town on Friday, picked up my packets, and had dinner with some friends. Got up early on Saturday and lined up in the middle of the silvers (your supposed to choose three places to line up Gold, Silver, or Bronze, based on you abilities. The Golds start first, followed by the Slivers, and then the Bronze) Another member from my club showed up right after me, so I had some one to talk with for the hour it took to get started. Floyd Landis put in and appearance and tired to talk on my cell phone to a couple of other club members to see where they were at.
The "race" started. Frankly I was expecting Congress street to be lined with broken bikes and folks clutching their shoulders. There was one rider down, but a whole lot of dropped water bottles, Hammer Gel Flasks, and other junk that would put you down on the asphalt.
One of the unique features of EL Tour is the river crossings. Twice in the race, you have to dismount and carry your bike across a wash (Southwest American for dry River or Creek bed). I was told the first one helped to thin out the crowd. It didn't . Part of this my have been that I wore some very Ratty tights to the start, and discarded them there. I was having problems find a hole to pass folks without crossing the double line, which was supposed to be a DQ. But other folks were doing it, so I Did a couple. Also saw several folks on areobars with race bibs on thorough the day.
I was bypassing most of the rest stops, but I stopped at one to take my jacket off. before I knew It. I was at the second wash crossing. I started having problems with my jacket. I had bought when I weighed 300+ pounds, and it was too big for my jersey pockets. It would fall out, and then a Boy Scout/Girl Scout/ another rider would pick it up and carry it to me. It did this about 6 times.
We turned on to Oracle highway and stayed on it for a long time. I , unfortunately , saw the aftermath of a bike-car collision. we rode in to the city of Oro Grande and though sun city, when I got on tangerine, I had pacelines passing me on both sides, even thought I was about 6-12 inches from the shoulder. Got Stopped by a train at the 10 Freeway and turned onto Sliverbell for the run back downtown. I noticed a lot of folks cramping here. Part of is that El Tour is actually 109 instead of 100 miles, and people did not plan adequately(my guess). Also, The even does attract folk from all over, so they were not used to riding in the arid Southwest. I remember some folks asking me why I was not cramping, and I said "when in doubt, DRINK!" I had a 70 oz camelbak, and two water bottles with Hammer Preputum in them.My Jacket fell out a Final Time, and this time it got jammed in the cassette. I made back to convention center, turned in my timimg chip, and went to get my Gold medal, only to be informed that they all gone! Seriously, the only difference is a sticker on the back, and I'm planning on sticking in a frame. went back to my hotel, showered, Had lunch with some friends who had gotten platinum (The top award, <5>Plus, if you are plantinum, you get start ahead of the golds, and don't have to wake up at 3AM to get a good spot), and then went back to expo area to await the club's other members (The gentleman from my club that I was with at the start was 30 minutes ahead of me). we had dinner afterwards., I was supposed to call a guy from Bike Journal to arrange breakfast, but spazzed that one.
I'm still debating on doing it again. It was a very well organized, it just that's too many who are in over the heads. It's up to you to line up. I enjoyed it, It just having a summer of FallingOffTheBikeitis, I'm not sure I want to trust my body to 8,000 strangers.

Furnace creek

As many of you know, I’ve been planning on doing some beyond century Rides for 2007. I was on the Forums section of BikeJournal.com and got an invite from “Homey”, Aka Bernie Barge, from Paso Robles, to be a part of his support crew for the 508.

His partner, Nicole Honda, was from San Mateo. The support was Jae Honda (Nicole’s husband), and Dennis Salguero from Pasadena.

On the 508, team use totems instead of numbers. Once you are assigned one. You have it for life. Bernie and Nicole had both done the race solo, as teams Basenji and Golden Dragon, so our totem was Golden Drasenji, Half Dragon and half puppy. I got to the Hotel in Valencia on Friday night. We had a “real” team meeting (vs. a couple of conference calls) and found out Bernie had pulled his hamstring playing softball. We then adjourned to our rooms and slept.

Saturday morning, I helped Jae get the Support van ready. He had customized a one-ton van for the race (helps to be married to a mechanic). He also had me drive it, so I could get comfortable with the beast.

Stage 1: Valencia to California City 82 miles

We started at 9:00. Nicole was the first rider off. We drove 24 miles and waited for Nicole to show up. I was the “feeder”. I was mixing drinks (Bernie use Perpetum, Sustained Energy, and Hammer Gel. Try Gatorade mixed with Cytomax, and Big dollop of GU thrown in. Yes, in the bottle) We would leap frog her, get out, cheer her on, asked if she needed anything and pass out what she asked for last time. We went up past the Willow Springs raceway, and past the Airplane Graveyard at Mojave, and arrived at the first stop. Time 5:06(keep in mind, the clock runs in these events, even if you are stopped) 16.4 mph average.

Stage 2 California City to Trona 70.25 miles

Bernie had decided to lower his saddle to help his hamstring. This backfired, as he got a saddle sore, and didn’t help the muscle pull. I was now driving the van. We went though Johannesburg and Randsburg. About 10 miles from Trona, we had to switch to follow mode as the Sun started to set. We drove behind Bernie, and He used the van lights to see. There was a loudspeaker on the front of the van, which we used to play music to keep the riders from falling asleep. Trona even has a bike Path! Time 4:40 Average 14.but Bernie claims it was 12. He normally does the stage at 22. We stopped and put gas in the Van, and got ready for the night. Dennis wanted some Red Bull, but the store only had Rock Star.

Stage 3 Trona to Furnace Creek 99 miles

I was back mixing stuff and rifling through the coolers. When I wasn’t busy. I tried to sleep. During the night, we handed stuff out the Van’s window. The stage climbs from 1600 feet to 2800, and then descends to 1500 feet before going over Townes Pass (4956). Nicole was going strong, and was dropping riders left and right. We started seeing a lot of the Solo riders here (they left 2 hours before us). We then went down into Death Valley and stopped at Furnace Creek at 3AM. The whole time, we would occasionally stop and massage Bernie. Time 5 hours 30 minutes average 18 mph.

Stage 4 Furnace Creek to Shoshone 74 miles.

We decided to have Nicole ride this stage, even though we were not sure if it was permitted by the rules. We were going to get clarification, but the officials at Furnace creek were not sure, and we had no cell service to call Twenty-nine Palms. I was the navigator. I sat in the front passenger seat, and Jae would poke me to wake me up when Nicole needed something. Nicole had almost DNF’ed at last year 508 with knee problems, so we stopped and massaged her knees several times) Right before the ascent of Jubilee (1285) and Salsberry (3315) passes (6am), We stopped. I got to sleep in the bed. I woke shortly before Nicole summited. She was having problems with the crosswinds on the descent. We arrived at the next rest stop in Shoshone in the morning. We had run out of Rock Star during the night, and the store had none. It was also Bernie’s time to ride. Still had no cell service.

Time 7 hours speed 10mph. It was late, but we had no choice but to get Bernie ready to ride, and we need to make that Nicole was still able to go.

Stage 5 Shoshone to Baker 56 miles

I was the Navigator again. Bernie was doing considerably better. This stage is almost all down hill. He did have to stop and throw up. We leapfrogged him at first, but after his stomach problems. We went back into follow mode. Baker has bike paths, too! At the time station, I ran across the road to restock the groceries. More Sprites, more lunchmeat and condiments, more Red Bull, and we were ready to go. We got the Ok for our strategy, provided Bernie would ride the last two stages. Time 3 hour 15 minutes average speed 17 mph

Stage 6 Baker to Kelso 56 miles.

This stage featured a 20-mile false flat with 2500 feet of gain followed by a 1500 feet descent. The main problem here was the Moonscape like pavement. I was the Navigator, as Dennis drove and Jae got Bernie ready. time 2 hours 45 minutes average 20 mph.

Stage 7 Kelso to Amboy 33 miles.

I was driving again. We followed Bernie up a 12-mile – 2000 feet climb, and down a 50 mph descent. The traffic picked up. All Riders who make to Amboy get a lei. I got a can of Pineapple Juice. Time 2 hours 30 minutes. Speed 13.2mph

Stage 8 Amboy to Twenty-nine Palms 56 miles

Per our agreement with Chris Kostman, the organizer, Bernie rode the final stage. I was 6:00 when we left Amboy, and the highway was surprisingly busy. I was driving again. Bernie had to ride up Sheephole Mountain (1500 feet in ten miles) in the dark. The plan was to swap drivers on the descent, as it is harder to drive the van close enough on the curves, but not to drive over the rider. Bernie was feeling very good at the summit, and wanted to push on. At 10 miles from the hotel, He bonked. We stopped and got him going again, and swapped drivers. At 11:30 we finally arrived! We had pizza and champagne, and piled in to one motel room at 1:00. I got to go to the Bathroom without finding a large bush first! Nicole was smarter than moi and wore a large skirt (Maybe our Great-Great Grandmothers were right with their Fashion sense) Time 5 hours 20 minutes. Speed 11.8

Monday morning. we watched the final riders arrive. Among them was Emily O’Brien, who rode the entire event solo on a fixed Gear! On our way to breakfast with the other teams, we saw several riders sprinting to beat the 7AM deadline for official finishers. We all talked about what we would be doing a year from now before heading home.

Would I do it again? You bet! I had been an official at an Ultra race before, but this my first time working as a crew. Who knows, maybe next year, Team Thunder Chicken could be showing up at best Western parking lot at 6:50 am on Monday….

Life in a sling

Well, it’s been a while.
On the 12th, I fell while I was in a pace line on the Santa Ana Trail. I’m not going to get in to the dynamics; aside from there was probably enough stupidity to go around. Wound h up fracturing my Humerus. Has to drive myself back to San Antonio Hospital in Upland. Currently, my left Arm is in a sling. It supposed to take 6 weeks. I’ve been doing walking to keep with the exercise. Tried riding a stationary bike, but that didn’t work.
Computer stuff – I’ve been leaving the laptop at home. It’s less stuff to lug on and off the train. And I haven’t been to type with it on a desk. I may try using as a laptop tonight and see how it goes, I’ve been back at studying my SCJP stuff. Haven’t touched my other Java stuff or the fiction.
Speaking of Java and writing, I got an e-mail from a headhunter, He noticed that I knew Java and COBOL, and could writing. He was looking a for a tech writer, but My résumé is fairly outdated. I’ll be working on it the weekend