(Spring) Breaking Away

Breaking Away is a coming-of-age movie about cycling. It includes a very young Dennis Quaid as part of an Indiana cycling team, the Cutters. It's shown every year at the LaGrange overnight stop on the MS150, but most riders (including me) are too tired to stay up and watch. It's a nice intro into this post about the Sun and Ski Sports Spring Breakaway ride, which was run this morning.

Nearly perfect weather (just a bit chilly) when I found Paddy at the start. We were pretty soon joined by Kenny, Jason, Mike, Dave and Gregor. It was quickly noted that Mike and Jason had shaved their legs, pro-style, so of course this was a golden opportunity for a bit of banter and a direct comparison of their shaving prowess.

On to the start and we run into Doug and Richard from work. The main group of Mules gets going but I'm stopped by a marshal and watch them disappear down the road. It's probably just as well, since I'm out of shape and still not 100% healthy. I eventually get going and ride with Richard and Doug for a while. The pace gets a bit hot for me though, so I don't try too hard to keep up on a corner and they quickly drop me.

These are very familiar roads all the way to Fulshear, from all the Bike Barn runs. The route to Simonton isn't quite so familiar but I've definitely been down here before. Pretty flat terrain and a modest tail wind make for comfortable riding. Once in Simonton the routes separate, 55 miles to the left, 37 to the right. I planned to ride the 37 but missed the turn. I quickly realized my mistake and for once had the sense to turn around and get back on my route. Not very long ago I would have just stuck with the 55 and probably hurt myself in the process.

Rolling north now with much less bike traffic. I spot a hawk on top of a telegraph pole and decide it was probably a bald eagle - if so, the first I've seen. Very impressive bird with a distinctive white head. We pass the Brookwood community, cross over I-10 and turn right for the run back along US90. I've been down here before, too - a boring, straight road with a fairly rough surface and nothing to block the wind. First, though, time for a rest stop.

I park my bike, fill up my water bottle and look for fruit - sadly only cookies were to be had. Back at the bike I decide to strip down a bit, so off comes the Mules cap and the jacket (called an anorak by my so-called friends at the start). I do my good deed for the day by showing another rider how to park your bike on a curb using the pedal. Back on the road for the slog down 90. The wind picks up and it's a bit of a grind. I'm actually feeling pretty good and keep my pace up well.

Into Katy and then it's a quick run back to the start. A lady wearing a Google shirt passes me without calling out, a flagrant breach of rider etiquette. I want to tell her to Google "manners while cycling" but chicken out. I get to the car, to find that the Mules are still on the course (they did the 55 miles), so I load up and head home. It's now a beautiful morning and I sit back and relax in the garden with the Times. Life is good.

Fog on the Tyne

"Fog on the Tyne" was a hit for 70's English folk-rock band Lindisfarne. Its catchy little theme was running through my head for most of my Sunday morning outing with the Mules, no doubt because we spent most of the ride in thick fog. I started out from home on a very pretty, if chilly morning, but once I got onto 290 heading west the fog descended and made for some uncomfortable freeway driving.

We're doing 0730 starts at present and I arrived at Zube just after Paddy, who made it slightly before the bloke who unlocks the park gates. Once parked up we caught up a little, not having ridden together for some time. He went on one of the MS-150 recommended rides yesterday, so was looking for a gentle run today, which pleased me no end, as I was just coming back from two weeks out of the saddle. In due course Kenny, Mike and Gregor arrived, and after the usual banter we headed out. I'd managed to forget my jacket, but Paddy (bless his cotton socks) had brought a spare.

I was reasonably comfortable in the early going but told myself very firmly that this was a day for drafting, not pulling, and tried to ride within myself for once. The guys were taking it easy too, but even so I struggled on a few sections, mainly when there was a climb. The cardio-vascular fitness needed to attack the climbs is what you lose first, unfortunately.

About twenty miles in, with the fog as thick as ever, we stopped for "un besoin naturel" and I took the opportunity to irrigate a very large placard promoting some red-neck wing-nut Republican candidate for county dog-catcher (or something similar). It turned out that they had changed the route, so now we didn't stop at the Exxon. I was a little taken aback as I always appreciate the break and usually stock up on water and carbs. Anyway, "Onward thru the fog" as the Oat Willie bumper sticker says (apparently, means nothing to me).

The changed route took us along a very pretty country road which wound its way into Prairie View. It's a definite improvement over the old run back (a straight slog along Business 290) but also had a lot more topography. Once again I was flagging a bit on the climbs. By now the fog had lifted and we had a beautiful morning. Riding past some homes, a Jack Russell terrier (or some other breed of rat dog) decided to take a look at us, and walked right in front of me. I swerved and braked to avoid cutting it in half and very nearly dumped Paddy who was drafting off me. These damn dogs will get you one way or another.

Back in lovely Waller, and we picked up the familiar route back to Zube. Gregor told me to take second wheel for the run-in so that we could keep together, and I velcroed myself to Kenny's wheel as we rolled along at 19-20 mph. With only a few miles to go, Kenny began to ramp up the pace. I hung in there for a while but eventually dropped off the back and made my leisurely way back to the start. A bit more chat with the boys and then I headed back to pass the rest of Valentine's Day with my lovely and very understanding spouse.

Pining

Unlike the Norwegian Blue parrot, I'm actually pining rather than passed-on - pining for the byways of south-east Texas, that is. Last weekend's chilly outing unfortunately aggravated a cold, and as usually happens with me, it turned into mild bronchitis. I coughed all the way into work on Monday and Tuesday morning but had to bail out by lunchtime, and didn't make it in for the rest of the week. And of course in a week when the rest of the country is gripped in a winter storm, the weather down here is perfect for riding. I'll take it easy for the next few days but aim for a solid ride at the weekend.

Frozen in Fayetteville

Off to Fayetteville this morning for the Club 300 ride (courthouse shown to the right). Pretty chilly when I set out from Houston, but the forecast said it would warm up to the 40s or even 50s during the ride. Fayetteville is about 90 minutes drive, so I assumed I'd see a gradual increase in temperature as I drove. But no - if anything, it got colder, and my car was showing 34 degrees as I parked in the town square.

I had invited David, Susan's sister-in-law's brother (got it?) to be my guest for the ride and we quickly hooked up. David lives outside Austin and is doing the MS150 with the BHP team. He was well prepared for the cold with a variety of fleecy garments and a balaclava. As we saddled up he mentioned that he's already completed two 200km rides this year. He's clearly much better prepared than me, not just in the cycling apparel department.

It was definitely a morning for all the gear. I'd been given a pair of knitted arm warmers as swag when I registered and wasted no time in getting them on. I had also brought along my rubber booties, purchased by Susan before the aborted first day of the 2009 ride (followers of this blog will no doubt remember the footwear in question). I'd never actually used them but how hard can it be, right? They slide over your shoes and zip up at the back, and there are holes in the bottom for your cleat and heel. I picked one up and noted the large letter "L" printed inside - clearly for the left foot, so on it went. The other was obviously the right, but it had an "L" on it too! Bugger, had I been given two lefts? And would it matter anyway? Confusion reigned for a second or two until I realized that the "L" actually meant "Large". Hoping no-one had seen this episode, I pulled the second bootie over my shoe and rolled off to the start.

Quite a small group for the ride this year. One hero was actually wearing cycling shorts without tights, prompting someone to ask him where in North Dakota he came from. There were two routes, both loops - one was 17 miles, the other 28. Everyone rode the 17 mile first and you could choose your poison after that. We set off, with David's bike computer showing 33 degrees. The route took us down some pretty crappy roads, with gravel flying off everyone's tires, but we eventually got onto asphalt and enjoyed some pretty good scenery, at least for Central Texas. A few climbs to deal with but I was doing OK, as was David who was clearly feeling very comfortable. After about ten miles we got separated when my chain jammed up and I had to stop for repairs. Back in Fayetteville, David was tucking into a barbecue sandwich as I arrived. I settled for a bag of cookies and a water bottle top-up and suggested we push ahead on the longer route.
I was starting to flag a bit, due primarily to lack of training, but tried to keep the pace up. A few of the climbs had me in my granny gear and fighting for breath, but I got to the top. We passed another group who were taking a pit stop, but it wasn't long before they caught us. David rode ahead with them for a while, but they turned back for a straggler (who was still ahead of me!) and David came back too. We rode the rest of the way together, the temperature having climbed to a balmy 34 degrees, and headed straight into the shed to get warm and sample some outstanding barbecue from Orsak's Cafe (highly recommended!)

With a belly-full of brisket and all the fixin's, I thanked David for his patience and set out for home. 11 weeks to go to the big ride -

beggars can't be choosers

Just finished sending out begging e-mails to all my friends. No, I haven't blown the family savings on a new bike, I'm kicking off my fund-raising for the MS150, and everyone has been incredibly generous in the past. If you're reading this and considering a donation, please think about all the people with MS in Texas that get help from the society, and dig deep. Here's my virtual begging bowl -
And here is my online donation page. Thanks!

Naughty or Nice in the Noughties

Here's the Brickell's 2010 New Year's Day quiz about the last decade. See how much you can remember!


Sports

Nice: who was the winning pitcher when the Astros beat the Cardinals 5-1 to win the 2005 National League Championship series?

1. Roger Clemens
2. Roy Oswalt
3. Chad Qualls
4. Andy Pettitte

Naughty: who was the losing pitcher in the last game of the White Sox four game sweep that followed?


1. Brad Lidge
2. Wandy Rodriguez
3. Ezequiel Astacio
4. Brandon Backe


Nice: what was the score when the Texans beat the Cowboys in their first regular season game in Reliant Stadium in September 2002?


1. 14-3
2. 10-0
3. 17-14
4. 19-10


Naughty: how many regular season games did they win that year ?


1. 4
2. 5
3. 3
4. 2

Entertainment

Naughty: match these one-hit wonders from the Noughties with their song


1. Inside your heaven
2. Bad day
3. Lollipop
4. Butterfly

1. Daniel Powter
2. Bo Bice
3. Static Major
4. Crazy Town


Nice: match these Oscar-winning movies with the year they won:


1. Chicago
2. No Country for Old Men
3. A Beautiful Mind
4. American Beauty

1. 2000
2. 2002
3. 2003
4. 2008


Politics

Nice: who put "about 18 million cracks" in the glass ceiling?

1. Michelle Bachman
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Sarah Palin
4. Nancy Pelosi

Naughty: who, according to Politifact.com, told the "Lie of the Year" in 2009?

1. Michelle Bachman
2. Hillary Clinton
3. Sarah Palin
4. Nancy Pelosi

Nice: which of these "statements" are genuine Bushisms?


1. "There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on --shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."
2. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."
3. “If the King’s English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for the children of Texas"
4. "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."

Naughty: which of the following are accepted modifiers of the term chad?

1. Hanging
2. Swinging
3. Dimpled
4. Tri-


Science and Technology

Naughty: How did a baguette break the LHC, the world's largest machine?

1. A bird dropped a piece of it into the power supply
2. An engineer chose the wrong place to eat his lunch
3. Re-starting the machine disturbed the earth around a forgotten French resistance food store, which then needed to be examined by archeologists

Nice: Around the time of that bread-related incident, interest resurfaced in a paper by theoretical physicists Holger Bech Nielsen and Masao Ninomiya suggesting what?

1. Creating the hypothetical Higgs boson particle, the aim of the LHC, will both explain how all particles get mass and attract carbs
2. The sheer size of the LHC - which includes a 16.8 mile circuit - means even the very small statistical probability of fault becomes significant
3. All such machines will be sabotaged from the future

Naughty: what was hit at 5,600 mph during the LCROSS experiment?

1. the Sun
2. the Moon
3. North Korea
4. Antarctica


History

Nice: Three Somali pirates were shot dead in the rescue of US captain Richard Phillips, a use of force authorised by Barack Obama. This made him the first US president to kill pirates since who?

1. Washington
2. Van Buren
3. Madison
4. Theodore Roosevelt

Geography

Naughty: What became Greenland's official language in June when it took control of its own natural resources, judicial affairs and law enforcement from Denmark?


1. Danish
2. Greenlandic
3. Icelandic
4. Inuit


Nice: How else did Greenland mark home rule?


1. Announce a referendum on changing its name to something more realistic
2. Distributing two tonnes of whale meat among the people
3. Register a bid with the International Olympic Committee for Nuuk to host the 2020 Games

Duck!

Off to Zube again this morning, a bit warmer than last weekend but pretty thick fog on the way out. I park up, unload, pump up my tires, put on my gear, stretch - where the hell is everyone? It's 7.30 and I'm all alone. I head out rather grumpily and then remember that yesterday was the company Xmas party (Susan and I didn't go, it's usually a dud). Paddy, Jason, Gregor and the rest are all probably sleeping off their hangovers.

One advantage of being a lone wolf is that you can pick my route and set your own pace. Obvious disadvantages include being much less visible in the fog, and there's no-one to drag you along when you get tired. Anyhoo, I opted for the route that goes north on Hegar road, then follows the regular route, for a total of about 43 miles. I felt a bit exposed in the fog but the few vehicles that passed were very considerate.

Turning off Kickapoo and onto Castle, I passed four Muscovy ducks who were splashing about in the ditch. I spooked them and they decided to run for it. Unfortunately ducks aren't the best fliers and I was keeping pace with them quite well. It occurred to me that if they veered across the road in front of me I'd be looking at a rare case of a duck strike - probably less painful than the more common deer strike. They managed to get enough speed and elevation to leave me behind but we were quite cosy for a while. Apparently any duck with this much white is almost certainly domesticated, which is probably why I couldn't find this dude in my bird book.

My encounter with the waterfowl was probably the most exciting part of the ride. I got a tail-wind for the run in down Business 290 and got back to my car pretty comfortably. As I pulled out of the lot I imagined Paddy rolling over in bed for another hour's doze - he hasn't heard the last of this.