Bama Cross - Heardmont Park

I desperately need a Trun-by-Turn GSP. It's hard reading Google-Map directions while driving at speed in a strange place. Sometimes the directions don't always jive with the signage or the signs are just hard to see. I guess multitasking isn't part of my skill set. With this in mind, I left home for Birmingham at daybreak so I could be at the race with plenty of time to register and warm up. This didn't quite workout as planned. First of all, I left my cooler at home and had to turn around about 5 miles from home to go retrieve it. Things really went awry when I missed a turn in Birmingham. Somehow, I ended up in the Vestavia Hills area, so I had to backtrack until I found my turn to get on Cahaba Valley Road. In any event, I arrived at Heardmont Park with just enough time to register and do a quick warm-up in the parking lot.

Since I was running behind all day, it seems fitting that I arrived at the starting area only to line up at the back. I raced CX4 in a mixed CX4/CX5/Juniors field, so I figured they would, at least, call the CX4's to the front, but this didn't happen. The juniors went to the back, and the race started right away. This forced me to fight my way through a lot of slower traffic and congestion for the first two laps. The CX4/CX5 group started to string out going into the end of the second lap, so I found room to launch a few attacks. As the race progressed, I would attack and bridge up to the next rider or group, rest for a short period, and then bridge up the next rider. I'm not sure how many people I passed, but I do recall lapping the juniors and not loosing a place to anyone I attacked. Going into the last lap, I spotted three riders strung out in front of me, so I went for it and managed to catch the wheel of the guy in front of me. I passed him going through a double barrier set and closed in on the remaining two who were now riding together. The course flattened out and I managed to catch them on a dirt section going toward a short hill/run-up not far from the finish line. Seeing my chance, I shot past the rider in front of me and closed in on the other rider who opened a small gap. I eventually caught and passed him just before the hill. Once I got over the hill, I gave it everything I had and went for the line. I finished my day with 8th place.

Cats and Curiosity

My cat is extremely curious and this often gets him into trouble. I’ve rescued him from high places on a few occasions, and he has gotten himself locked in more than one closet over the years. His antics have been rather amusing to a point. However, today my cat's insatiable curiosity scared me to death.

We were outside and I saw my cat looking intently at something. That is when I noticed a brown stinkbug crawling up the side of a plastic bucket and my cat walking over to investigate. Before I could reach my cat, he stuck his nose up to it and got a chemical blast in the face. He immediately backed off and ran around the corner like a bolt of lightening. When I found him, he was hunched over, eyes closed, and foaming at the mouth. This scared the living crap out of me. I immediately picked him up and ran inside where I got a wet rag and started wiping his face, eyes, and the inside of his mouth. He was in some serious pain, and I was close to a panic! After a good bit of wiping and cleaning, he started to feel somewhat better and was able to open his eyes. He sat in my lap for about an hour once I got him cleaned up and he even started purring, so I felt better and knew he would be okay. I'm not sure if the ordeal scared him more or me, but he did stay close for the remainder of the day.

Election Day

After hearing stories of long lines and waits up to 6 hours in many places for early voting, I decided to get up at the crack of dawn to be at my polling place an hour before the doors opened. I arrived at 6:15 AM to see a small line already forming outside the door of about 18 people, so I apparently wasn’t the only person with plans to beat the crowds. With good weather, the wait outside wasn’t too bad. I grabbed the 20th spot in a line that grew progressively longer with each passing minute. Once the doors opened, the line flowed into the armory rather quickly to a row of tables designated by different letter ranges in the alphabet. It only took a couple of minutes before I was given a plastic card for the Diebold voting machines. I spied a machine in the back of the armory and made my way over. When I inserted the card into the machine something happened and the machine failed to work. One of the workers came over and opened the machine, did something that made some funny sounds, and inserted the card only to have it fail again. He went to the registration table to get another card for the machine. When he inserted this card the machine failed to work for a third time. He opened that machine again, did something, and closed it. He then waived over an official of some sort and got yet another card for the machine. After inserting this card, the machine finally worked and I could vote.

I’ve never been a big fan of these Diebold voting machines. They have too many issues and there isn’t a paper trail should the election be contested. The really scary part is you don’t know what is going on inside that machine when you cast your ballot. This just seems fundamentally wrong to me.

2009 USAC Ultra-Endurance Calendar

I plan on doing some endurance races in 2009 and two of the events on my hit list are part of the USAC Ultra-Endurance Calendar. Any advice will be most helpful. ;)


Feb 14. "Mas O Menos 100k",
Terlingua TX.
www.desertsportstx.com

*March 7/8. "Spa City Extreme",
Hot Springs AR.
www.DLTmultisport.com

*May 9. "Dirt, Sweat, and Gears",
Fayetteville TN.
www.dirtsweatandgears.com

June 20. "8th Annual Cowbell Challenge",
Davidson NC.
www.cowbellchallenge.org

July 4. "Marathon National Championships",
Breckenridge CO.
www.mavsports.com

September 19/20. "24-Hour National Championship",
Payson AZ.
www.tucsonracing.com

October 24/25. "National MTB Oktoberfest",
Davidson NC.
www.NationalMtbOktoberfest.org

Trainer Season

Okay, so winter doesn't officially begin until December 21, but it sure feels like winter to me. There was a slight frost on the grass this morning for my bicycle commute to work, and I just can't get warm. The weather for tonight doesn't offer any relief with a frost warning and a low of 29. To make matters even more depressing, There isn't enough daylight to enjoy once I get home from work.

It's time to break out the trainer and the Metallica CD.

My New Favorite Website.

I have a rather goofy sense of humor. Okay, I have a juvenile sense of humor. I admit it. TV programs like South Park and The Daily Show crack me up, especially South Park. While I really don't watch all that much television, I do often surf the internet for entertainment. You just never know what you'll find out there. With this in mind, I offer my new favorite website. It's a spoof of Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia, only this site is a collection of famous people who are ... well, dicks.

Be warned and enjoy! :)
dickipedia.org

Black & Blue

The CycloCrunk race was apparently rougher than I first realized. I felt fine after the race and even felt good yesterday. However, today is a different story. I have a large bruise on my right shoulder and a slightly smaller bruise on my right elbow. My calves are painfully stiff and my thighs hurt.