A long run

Got up at 5:30am this morning to make a pre-dawn 6:30am run with the UA Wildcat Running Club.

Today's mission was a 20 miler on the path along the river starting at St. Philips Plaza (corner of Campbell and River).

Temperatures were in the mid to upper 40s, overcast with a slight threat of rain. The normally dry Rillito River was flowing deep and fast. We've had quite a bit of rain in the last few days.

I was in survival mode in the 2nd half of the run as the Nike+ graph indicates:

I'm glad I managed to make the run. On my own, I doubt if I'd have the willpower to go the distance.

On the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed with my mediocre pace. I'm about 5-7lbs heavier than I should be. (The computed kcal figure is therefore an underestimate.)

I feel my carrying extra pounds is a big factor. Running is so weight dependent.

Arizona 200km Brevet (Mt Lemmon)

Yesterday, I attempted the hardest 200k brevet I've tried to date. See http://www.azbrevet.com/. Great route, I hope Susan Plonsky (the RBA) decides to make it a permanent fixture.

62.5 miles from Dove Mountain on Tangerine Rd to the turnaround point in Summerhaven at the end of the Catalina Highway and nearly to the top of Mt Lemmon - and back - makes for an epic 200k. A nice touch is that we got to mail a postcard (provided) at the (closed on weekends) postoffice in Summerhaven. Zip code up there past 8000ft is 85619.

As a local, I've done the Mt Lemmon climb many a time. However, I haven't attempted it after a 5 month layoff before - my last ride was at the end June after the transcontinental, so I knew I was going to suffer. I've been trying to become a runner exclusively this semester, so my quads weren't getting the workouts they needed. I didn't think I was going to have to get off my bike a dozen times though.

My stomach cramped up on the climb - I use Sustained Energy and dosing is critical for me: too much and my stomach rebels (as it did yesterday), too little and I bonk. Build up of tolerance is another factor. I switched immediately to plain water. That makes the stomach cramps disappear but then of course my stomach is not processing correctly and on a climb of this magnitude I ended up bonked anyway. That's when it got difficult: riding half mile chunks, stopping, and riding a bit more until I hit the Palisades checkpoint (mile 20 on the climb) where Susan was waiting with food and a drop bag. A banana and some brownies and I started to recover.

Five miles remaining to Summerhaven to mail the postcard and back down to the Palisades where I ate a sandwich for lunch. I then rode the rest of the brevet with Alan Marmostein, finishing at 4:40pm having started at 7am. We'd started off in the same group but Alan simply was too strong for me as soon as we started the Mt Lemmon climb. And he probably outweighs me by 50-60lbs. Ouch! He is clearly in excellent shape. (BTW, Carol Havrda from Colorado finished at 3:12pm.)

About 20 miles or so into the ride, the lead rider just a minute or two up the road got hit by a car exiting a road onto Sunrise. Separated shoulder and squished disc in the back. Paramedics were there even before our group arrived. Turns out it happened next to a firehouse. Rather sobering as always to see a rider down, but at the same time it was reassuring to see that he got immediate medical attention.

Some ride details now... I carried a Garmin etrex vista to record the route.

1. Mapsource:

2. Google Earth:

3. The profile, total 8700ft of climbing:

4. The descent from Mt Lemmon from my SRM powermeter.
It's a bit unexpected but I could keep up with Alan Marmostein here despite him outweighing me by 50%. Hey, I'll take anything positive given my rough day.

There was a 15 mile run scheduled for Sunday morning at 6:30am. Needless to say, I didn't make that...

Back on the bike

Tomorrow, I'm doing 200km brevet ride from Marana to the top of Mt Lemmon and back. 125 miles.

So today, I put the bike back together again. It has been lying in my living room in pieces for months. I've been so busy since the start of the semester in mid-August, I can't believe it's November before I'm actually riding again.

• First, I degreased and washed it. Charged the dead SRM PC V controller while I did all this.

• Threaded in a shiny new Shimano Dura-Ace 9-speed chain, my last one. Push the pin in. Break it off carefully. No more pins left, gotta get some spares.

• Installed new rear Michelin Pro Race2 tire (old one ruined on too-fresh tarmac in Delaware). New rear brake pads (Swissstop yellow) for the Reynolds Stratus carbon clincher rear wheel. Adjust the rear brake and pads.

• Swap the touring seatpost/saddle for the regular one (Selle Italia SLR and Bold Precision Ti seatpost). It's actually identical to the touring one except for the Moots Ti seatrack. Mount the underseat Blackburn bag with tools, 2 CO2 cartridges, Park patches and inflator.

• Put the fork back in. Adjust headset preload. Line up saddle nose, stem and fork. Put the Keywin pedals back in. Tighten cleat bolts on my shoes. Tighten waterbottle bolts.

• New stem mount system for the Garmin Vista Cx. Reset ascent, tracklog, and trip on the Garmin. It has been a while. Almost forgot how to do it.

• Connect PC V to Windows XP. Set the new date/time. Mount it on the bike. Hit Set + Mode to set the offset. So much stuff to remember. Get dressed.

It has been four hours. Finally, I'm ready for a shake-down ride. 12.6 mile loop around Rancho Vistoso. Nice sunny day and no creaks from the bike. About 533 ft of climbing.

SRM:

I see I pushed the wattage close to 400W near the end. Couldn't resist. It's good to be back on the bike.

Garmin Etrex Vista Cx

Tried my almost new but nearly obsolete Garmin Etrex Vista Cx on a flight to PHX today.

The Vista Cx is being replaced by a more sensitive model with poorer battery life by Garmin.
(See May 31st 2007 press release titled Garmin Adds High Sensitivity GPS Receiver to eTrex® Series here.)

I can confirm it cannot pick up satellites inside the aircraft (A-320) unless it's placed right next to the window, as shown above. The window shade and the rubberized case cooperate nicely. Then it happily tracks the flight. I wonder how much better the model with the newer chipset performs.

[I turned on the GPS somewhere before the plane got near Chicago and turned it off shortly before landing at Phoenix.]

Since the Vista Cx also has a barometer, it is fooled by the cabin pressure to report (incorrectly) merely a mile-high altitude. However, the location seems correct, as the map features seem to match up perfectly with what I saw outside the window.

July 4th in Boston

I ran the Longfellow to Mass Ave bridge loop today.

First time I've run for about a month. Got a steady rhythm going the whole way. I felt good.

It was also July 4th. A small flotilla of boats on the Charles River. Lots of people picnicking on the Esplanade. Even Storrow Dr. was closed. Felt good to run along there car-free. Temperatures in the 70s, overcast skies.

The route. Just under 3 miles:

Surprisingly to me, this is less distance than a run around the main section of the University of Arizona's campus in Tucson.

Delta Airlines is a nightmare

Two days ago I was scheduled to fly from BWI to Boston on Delta Airlines. I was due there for work. See my boarding pass above.

A total nightmare ensued from the customer service point of view.

I am not looking forward to flying Delta again. Even if I have to pay more, I will avoid them in the future.

Unfortunately, I still have flights on Delta to come this summer.

Anyway, here is the story:

1. Flight DL 5414 to Boston is delayed from 6:50pm to 7:25pm.
2. It's not exactly a long delay. We all get on board. Ready for take-off.
3. Announcement comes over the PA. Hang on says the flight attendant. The flight might be illegal.
4. Everyone has to get off. Flight is canceled because the FAA has rules about the maximum number of hours a day.
5. People are not pleased. Shaking their heads in disbelief. But they have no idea what is going to happen next.
6. Back in the terminal building. Bad news. There is no room for us on the remaining flight out tonight.
7. They are flying a reduced schedule on Saturday. That's tomorrow. More bad news. No room for us on Saturday either.
8. Long line, all the people from the plane. Two customer service representatives only, so a long wait.
9. When I get to the front of the line. Sunday is offered. Two nights stranded at BWI waiting on a flight to Boston! 2 nights! Unreal.
10. No compensation is offered. No other airlines are offered. I don't want to spend two nights stranded at BWI.
11. I asked for a refund. They can't do it for me on the computer at the gate. Told me to go back out through security to the check-in area and line up there.
12. Go outside. Line up again. Line #2. Very slow. Only two people working.
13. Nearly to the front. Customer service representative asks me why am I lining up? I need to call Delta Direct to get my ticket portion refunded. I said I was told to line up!
14. Go over to courtesy phone. All representatives are busy... About half an hour on the phone. Eventually, I'm told my problem is fixed.
15. Go downstairs. Pick up my two checked bags. Wait for shuttle bus service to rental car center.
16. It's 9:30pm now. Rented a car from Budget. $126 + gas + tolls.
17. 410 mile drive. An all-nighter. From BWI up I-95 to Boston. Heavy traffic in parts.
18. Dawn arrives. 6:30am next morning. I arrive at my hotel in Cambridge MA pretty exhausted.

Delta Airlines? I'd still be stuck in BWI. And Delta never brought out any more customer service representatives to help out. I've never been treated so poorly.

The Pleasure of Cycling

Yesterday, I went for a simple 35 mile with my friend Jim Montgomery in Maryland (adjoining Delaware). We did 14 miles to the town of North East in Maryland. Billiard-board smooth roads. Had lunch at Woody's Crab House. Famous for blue crabs from Chesapeake Bay.

Then rode 21 miles back. Jim got lost in his own neck of the woods a couple of times.

Average speed under 15mph. Maybe 1000 kcal. Jim wanted the ride stats, but I really didn't care.

Back to the fundamentals. The pleasure of pedaling a responsive, custom-fit race machine. Enjoying the beautiful back country roads on a sunny day with a good friend. Moving along effortlessly, this is the way cycling is meant to be.

Perhaps I am mellowing, but if I had just one ride left and had to choose: the Elite Southern Transcontinental (I just completed), or one lazy summer's day with friends, Lazy wins out every time.

Fortunately, I don't have to choose :-)

Similar thoughts hit me during the last two weeks
I was toying with several hypothetical situations during some of the more boring miles of the Transcontinental. One of them goes something like this.
If someone said to me: "Sandiway, you can quit your job. All you have to do is ride 100 miles before lunch every day. You can do whatever you want (in addition) after lunch but you have to put in those 100 miles first," would I do it?
The answer is emphatically NO. I love cycling but I guess I'm just not RAAM material.