weekend update

busy but excellent weekend. started off by working on the house. almost all the studs are up and new front door and all the windows are in; next step the insulation and then the siding.



after working on the house mrs. dr. and i went out for dinner, but this was more than just going to a resturant, we borded a bus and headed out to an organic farm for a dinner put on by organza and the dandelion resturant.

mrs. dr and alberto on the bus

the farm

appetizers served on a board

the table

sunday was race day (see the mucr blog for details). the race was perhaps one of the toughest that i've had. after the preliminary sorting out of positions i found myself in about 7th place, behind olli, dave d, adrian, brian s, tom and don s. things became more interesting when tom went down because his pedal came out of his crank (seems like standing up on the pedals and cranking hard and then having you pedal come out equals catastrophe). dave d flatted and suddenly i found myself in fifth, the only problem was i was all by myself. the reason that was a problem was there was a train of death behind me working to catch me - which they were doing rather effectively.

the train

dj broke from the train and soon passed me. for once i managed to jump on his wheel as he passed me worked hard to hang on (luc and allan were still on our tails and not giving up). dj tried a couple of times to drop me, but i managed to stay with him, catching up every time. heading into the last lap i decided to see if i could pull ahead of dj and drop him with a short sprint - didn't work; dj stayed on my wheel.

dj and i going over the hill

because dj was drafting i decided to slow the pace a little not wanting to do all the work and have dj pass me on the final sprint - i had to have something in my tank. at the same time i had to keep an eye on allan who was behind us, i did not want to bring him into the picture as well. coming around the last corners and heading into the last 150m straight away i was planning on when to start my sprint when i heard dj shifting behind me. knowing that it would take him at least 1 if not 2 pedal strokes to get into gear i immediately jumped on my pedals and started my sprint and some how i managed to hold him off long enough to beat him by a wheel - my god, that was hard.

thanks to jonny g for taking my camera and capturing these pictures.

on a happier note

okay, maybe the last post contained too much detail, but hey racing can be ugly at times.

looks like the cross frame is done, now we need to find the powdercoat guy in squamish. i asked mike to have the frame coated out there but his guy has not been getting back to him. may just have it done here again - any ways, it should be here soon. yeah!

as the stomach turns

was wondering when it would happen: 24 hours of 9 mile, any one of the manitoba races, test of metal, buffalo pound.... every once in a while my gut decides to, well, kick me in the gut and make a day of racing less than pleasant; yesterday was one of those days.

the day started well and it was good turn out. temps were cool at the beginning of the race, but warmed up quickly. the course was a nice layout for an 8 hour event, a nice mix of challenging up hills (not too crazy), rolling flats, speedy downhills and one or two technical sections. for the single speeder there were three hike-a-bikes for the first couple of laps (or more if you have the leg stamina) which morphed into additional hike-a-bikes as the day wore on. the first few laps went really well, but this turned quickly. in these events your first two laps are fine, however i find laps 3 and 4 are usually quite difficult. laps 3 and 4 are not so much a huge physical challenge, more of a mental challenge because you realize that you are going to be doing this for the next 6 hours and it is going to be a phyical and mental grind. the reason it is such a mental grind is that you know what to expect on every lap and there are sections you qucikly begin to despise because they are phyisically tough and you know that your are going to do those sections over and over again. once you except the challenge you can get on with your ride, settling into your rythym - that is if your stomach decides to behave. upset stomaches and bowels are a challenge present in every endurance event, and yesterday i lost the challenge mid way through lap 6. what did it cost me? 1 velo artisan bread singlespeed cyclocross cycling cap (something needs to sacrificed when one does not carry TP (if you are riding at birch and you come across a vab ssc hat it would be best to leave it be). that was it, my day was done, having suffered these bouts before there was no need to try and continue on which was too bad because i had 6 laps in 4.5 hours, although the last lap was about 15 minutes slower than it should have been. c'est la vie.

the festival of belgian sports took place on saturday and mrs. dr. partook in her first 'cross event, no, her very first sporting event where she was not forced or obligated to particpate because of school. not only did she race cross, she bowled and competed in pole archery where she took down one of the birds.

here are just a few pictures of her cross participation.

XC aching

XC8 was a slug fest this year which saw over a 1000 feet of vertical climbing per lap, coupled with no real recovery sections (downhills don't really count because you can't sit and spin), making this year's event a very tough challenge. you can tell that paddy has benefited from the move to lethbridge (altitude and hills to climb) and is riding really strong finishing first in the singie speed category. dave persevered and put in another gutsy effort to finish third behind pat doyle and and paddy. i managed 7 laps in 7.5 hours (i think) which i was happy with considering the difficulty of the course that had anywhere from 5-8 hike-a-bikes per lap depending on the will and leg power, in fact a lot of the gear heads out there were pushing it also. greg had a really good race and there was a great manitoba contingent at this year's event: allan r, shawn z, mike k, bill a, seema, and young luc (am i missing someone?). photos and results will be up soon.

sweet finds

yesterday we had a great ride out in morden. tinker tim, jl, james, scott, ger ger, matt (not matt h but a local matt) and myself had great time in the heat, humidity and wind on the lake and trans canada trails. some definte happenings on the lake trail with new lines being marked and going into development soon (i would have some pictures but the new camera is in the shop for repairs) - as if they don't have enough trails. any ways, after the ride we stopped at the world's best trail head shop and i spyed a set of these on james' product board (but in the 9 speed variety). seems like james brought these in for a customer and they were never installed and ended up sitting on the shelf for some time. these were exactly what i was looking for. the plan is to set up the new cross bike with paul thumbie shifters on the top of the handle bars and to do this i needed a pair of bar end shifters. my plan is to run a solid housing from the shifter to the derailleur so i can easily switch from singie to mutli speed without having to remove the bar tape from the handle bars all the time. james gave me a sweet deal and in turn i took them off his hands.

this is the stuff

let me know if you want one

busy boy

been busy with little time to update the blog.

here's a question; who's going to XC8? it sounds like there will be a decent contingent of MB riders going - it'll be a blast, consider coming.

jaded or not

the olympics provides for some cool moments, so far my favourites are:

• the 105 kg class in weightlifting - the german dude lifts 7kg over his personal best to win the gold on his last attempt - his reaction is priceless, even more so because he promised his wife he would win gold at the olympics and then lost her to a car accident shortly there after.
• simon whitfield winning silver in the triathlon - it looked like he was done and rather than giving into the 'i'll settle for fourth demon' (if you race you know this demon) he makes an unbelievable charge and gets silver.
• the men's eights in rowing - these guys know how to put everything on the line and pain be damned.
  

yipee

well, things are starting to move again on the new 'cross ride. emails with mike truelove were exchanged this week and with some good luck i should be getting the new frame by mid-september.

started collecting parts and here's what i am going with:

• thomson stem and seat post
• chris king headset
• bontrager handle bars - morgan gave me his old ones, thanks morgan
  
• tektro brake levers - cane creek's without the cane creek price
• paul's brakes - neo-retro front and touring canti rear
• chris king hubs - these if i can get them, road if i can't
• mavic open pro rims - already have a set, with revolution spokes
• truvativ cyclocross cranks - 175mm
  
• crank brothers egg beater pedals

i'll be setting this up as a singie speed, but have left myself the option to run gears in the future (mike is going to weld a hanger onto the paul dropouts). will probably run paul thumb shifters when i do.

folkarama

another year another 'cross display working at the belgian pavilion. contrary to popular belief, one is not required to wear a skinsuit while working at this display. belgian beer and fries with mayo are pretty much the order of the day, that and explaining that cross bikes really do work better than mountain bikes for racing (people are quite dumbfounded by DVD of the 2006 world championships and watching the racers ride through the mud and sand).

life becomes a blur by the end of the evening

luc ready to answer the first question that comes his way

more 24 hrs

it was a blast doing the race with these guys. having a positive, fun loving group makes the show that more enjoyable.

weekends dealing with demons

24 hour racing is a curious creature; attractive to some, cruel to all, and satisfying to those who participate.

on thursday cam, dallas, luc, colin, laura and i left for wausau after work. after a quick stop in grand forks for dinner at burger time (it was going to be subways but someone forgot to tell colin's gps unit that the subway programmed into the map had recently been moved).

the crew getting dinner

after a bite to eat it was off to minneapolis where we were going to crash for the night. because of our late start we only rolled in to our hotel around 1:30 in the morning which meant that it was going to be short night, not a good thing to do prior to a 24 hour race.

mrs. dr. and i shared a room with the bikes - the boys got to fight over the two double beds in the other room

after a quick breakfast at denny's it was off to wausau

after we arrived in wausau we set up our camp and then it was off to town to buy supplies for the race. buying the food can be a tricky thing, you need to find something that tastes good, gives you the calories you need (about 250-300 an hour), and is something that is so easy to take and that won't repulse you later on. one of the hardest and most important aspects to 24 hour racing is nutrition; you need to stay on top of it or you will bonk or get an upset stomach which is a sure fire way to knock yourself out of the race. the foods of choice this race were boost, tapioca pudding, cherry strudels, and the odd banana which was washed down with water and some gatorade (got be careful with that stuff - too much and you'll get an upset stomach because of the sugar content). after the shopping it was time for a ride.

by friday afternoon we were on the trails for the pre-ride


colin coming out of the technical singletrack

after the pre-ride we registered, had dinner, and settled down for the night.

the next morning we set up our station on the course and got ready for the race. i decided to keep an easy gearing for the race and ran 34X19 and swapped out the rigid fork for a suspension fork hoping this would make for an easier race. with the food and water station set up it was time to race.

just before the start of the race; it was too hot to wear the dark jersey which was saved for the night laps.


the start line

finding alberto


speaking of sweet jerseys, i got to get myself one of these

the race started pretty well and i got towards the front following the le mans start. this was good because it meant that i could ride the first sections of the single track rather than walking through it which most of the riders have to do on the first lap until the group spreads out. cam and i started out pretty hot in hind sight (our first 3 lap times include 2-10 minute breaks during each lap as we stopped at our support tent for food and water) and it caught up with us quickly as we both experienced cramps on the 3rd lap - cam's more serious than mine.

dallas loading up for another lap

dallas had the better strategy; slower more even paced laps with less breaks in between each lap. dallas would come in after each lap behind me and leave before i would be ready to start the next lap; i would catch him, we ride together and then get separated on some single track later on the lap. if i would have been smarter i would have pace myself better as i soon started to spend more and more time between each lap getting ready for the next one coming up.

by 6:00 we had to get our lights on the bikes

as night came i was starting to get beat up. it is one thing to do a 24 hour race as a member of a team where you get a chance to recover between each lap, it is another thing to go out there lap after lap and get beat up by the roots and rocks that wait for you on the trail. riding the laps becomes especially difficult at night as the smoother lines you ride during the day are harder to find because of the artificial light changes the way everything looks and you are getting more and more tired, making it difficult to control your bike and pick those good lines. it is also the night time when the demons start to creep into your brain.

me dealing with the demons

it is also at night when you start to play mind games with yourself: how many laps you can do, when and how long you should rest, 'maybe i should lie down for a little while...,' i'm not hungry so i won't bother to eat; stuff like that which takes laps out of you. i finally succumbed to the tired demon at 5:30 and lay down for a short nap complaining to no one in particular that i lost my soul somewhere along the way.

in the morning wondering if i still had it in me to go out for another lap


dallas - the king of this stuff - knows how to do these type of events. here is with a cup of joe that mrs. dr. kindly picked up for us when she came back to the race site in the morning.

cam and i finally fought off the demons and managed to get our gear back on go out for one more lap. i am glad that i did because i would have been disappointed if i had not managed to do at least 13 laps this year. i completed 13 laps last year, but apparently the course was 2 miles longer this year (?) which means i covered more distance - a goal that was important to me

it really hurt to get back on the bike

many, many, many thanks to mrs. dr. and colin for their help during the race. support is important to doing these races. without them it is so hard to keep going because there is so much more to do and think of other than riding your bike.

the crew

more to come...

weekends not working on my house

hoping this is not a wisconsin death trip ....

dallas, cam, luc, colin, mrs. dr, and i are off to wisconsin today for the 24 hours of 9 mile (there is still time to join us). if you are under house arrest or quarantined because of suspected avian influenza and you have some time to kill you can follow the progress of the race here (apparently there are live updates with their new timing system).

have a good weekend - we sure will

weekends not riding my bike

the long drawn out saga of our house renovations continued this weekend with some actual progress being made. i've attached some pictures as well as a mock-up of what we hope the house will look like when we finish (laura hopes this will be sometime before we retire). i used a cool little program called google sketchup do the mock ups; it is free download and you can do some neat things with it.

removing the stucco took place in spring and we've lived in a tar paper shack since then.

the north wall stucco removal

removing the tar paper so we can start building up the walls. the plan is to put is to add 2" of insulation to the exterior and then cover this with hardie board (see diagram at the bottom).

the new window

tyvek - apparently it works better if you put it on upside down

mock-up of the back of the house. the hardie board siding will be cut into 3' X 8' sheets with the cut offs being used for the gable end. we hope to put a metal roof on - maybe in spring.

front view

friday food file

something a little different, some interesting articles about food; more political and economics with a fun one thrown in for good measure.

there was an interesting article in the new york times on the celebration of the slow food movement in the US. some time ago i bought the book by carlo petrini which is a collection of essays about the importance and need to slow down and enjoy food and relish in the social interaction, culture, and pleasure that food provides. if anyone wants to borrow this book...


also from the new york times, a link to and interesting post on food subsidies and other agricultural truths (or not) from the freakonomics blog.

finally, like the shedworking blog there is this one on cake disasters. blogs can be really cool.

more on robert lang's origami

last week' friday fun file prompted some discussion on the origami pieces made by lang. here he explains some the principles involved in making his pieces:



a quick search did not reveal what it cost to buy one of his works, but he does make a living off of it by selling books and his work on commercial projects

mudfest

race at pinawa this weeked was a wee bit of a mudfest, but that turned out to be a good thing. the mud brought some fun and extra challenges to flat and fast course. the rocks were also a challenge, causing a few flats along the way - that and a two seat post issues (snapped bolt for dr. h. and a snapped seat post for nathan weslake). one of the highlights for me was the last ditch stretch before the finish line when i heard some kid cheering me on from the road, turns out it was teagan algeo cheering me on as he rode his bike alongside me on the road - that was cool. way to go to leanne, for gathered up her first win of the season (i think), and just after moving up to comp.

thanks go to tom and luc for getting me wheels to race on as i am currently without because of hub changing project (hmmmm, maybe it would be a good idea to do something like that after a race and not the night before).

the rider was muddier than the bike

friday fun file - one day late

started this on the fgbc blog site before i took my hiatus - time to start it up again.

read about this guy in the new york times magazine some time ago. i have always admired people who enjoy craft and mathematics (which is really weird because i am so bad in this discipline). robert lang is one of the leading practitioners in art of origami. originally a published physicist and engineer, lang became a full time origami artist - go to his site and you see why (i particularly like the inscets).

tarantula made from one sheet of paper with no cuts

a wednesday night spazz attack.

another wednesday night race has come and gone. only 5 expert races showed up and i finished third, right in the middle. seems like this year is the resurrection of crash - my moniker before i took on the name of alberto; just as i was coming into the finish i took a look at my watch to check my time (like i wouldn't be getting that information any ways?!?) only to look up to find myself heading towards a lonely scrub oak. a quick bail to the right saved my ass. the last time i did something that bone headed was in my first year of racing at birch when i looked over my shoulder to see who was passing me causing me to veer off the path and crash into the bush.

on another note, our friend gianni has garnered some well deserved attention from this cool blog site.