All Three?

All Three?

Happiness or Holiness?

Happiness or Holiness?

Please Forgive

I was never a good mechanic. My automotive troubleshooting is so hit or miss that I might as well surf Craigs List at the first sign of trouble. Anything deeper than a jump start usually means, failing that, we are in for tow, repair and bill. I currently have three vehicles all in need of repair, maintenance and/or shop time. Worse, with gas at three and a quarter, I need to make some hard decisions. Disclaimer: I would LOVE to have an all electric car or Hybrid, but last time I checked no one was offering theirs for the best solo rendition of Unchained Melody. So today is day two of wrenching.

Day one wasn’t so bad. Yesterday I vigilantly marched down the drive to where my RV has been parked for almost three years armed with my socket set, an adjustable wrench and Macbook. I figured that a podcast or one of my juicy spin sets would ease the pain surely in store. My knuckles immediately recoiled at the thought and I inadvertently scraped my soon to be soiled fingernails. Trying to be a diligent grease hack I took some ‘before’ pix with the cheap Samsung Galaxy holding a small flashlight in my teeth. Just in case I need to remember where everything that I was about to disconnect, remove and replace was designed to be once the disconnecting, removal and replacement process is completed. I have found this helpful with past projects and especially when all is done and there remains a few parts left over. It is what the mechanical messiah Robert Pirsig calls an ‘out of sequence gumption trap’. Anyone who has ever witnessed this devastatingly demoralizing drama knows of what we speak. So I got the pix. 

The chores today, the rest of it anyway, as our traditional Saturday spin session ended at 0830 and my trip to the parts store, Home Depot, Safeway and Rite Aid (gonna needs some beer for this one) all accomplished, as soon as, the very moment that I finish up with the blogging phase of the day, it is back out to the RV and hope like hell that the alternator/generator that I paid dearly for ($100) is what kept that little Chevy 454 from purring. 

If not I am hosed. I will have to remove and replace every fuse in the Blue Whale’s three fuse boxes. Good Karma will surely keep that from happening, no? 

Once the grease has been successfully cleaned from hands (arms and elbows), the new filter on the pressure washer will test the detergent flow system. This of course to wash the Whale once I can drive it the half mile to the hose spigot. 

If I fail on both, all is not lost as I have a new roll of wheed-wacker nylon that needs to be spun onto the plastic pulley of the head unit. I can then hack weeds as long as I like. Assuming it stops raining.

Lastly today, speaking of good karma, or the lack thereof, for the second night in a row I committed a social faux-pas, using a racial slur unwittingly. Which of course is the worst kind. Thursday’s nights error of judgment pales in comparison to using ‘Indian’ to describe a Native American when it really means persons from India and not The Pacific Northwest. 

I apologize wholeheartedly to the two ladies present who immediately reprimanded me for my mindless, but no less wrong, choice of words. I still feel horrible and swear on the jersey of Sonny Sixkiller that it will never happen again. 

Please forgive. 

Respect

Respect

WHAT?

WHAT?

Baseball as Metaphor

Baseball as Metaphor

East Creek and Beyond

East Creek and Beyond

The Courage to Do

The Courage to Do

A Perfect Fit

A Perfect Fit

ALL of the Above

All of the Above

More Magic

More Magic

The Magic Works

The Magic Works

Why 212?

Why 212?

A Small Price To Pay

A Small Price to Pay

Oh Black Water

Black Water got me. It was approximately 40 minutes into the morning class I was subbing, which is my old slot at 0530, when I felt the now familiar glug, plop and throb in my heart. It feels like what pumping air into an inner tube and watching it expand irregularly looks like. You can feel the potential for the building pressure to find the tubes weak point and burst through it. This is obviously problematic and the main reason anticoagulants are so common these days. The thinner the blood’s viscosity the less likely the chance of clotting. 

I am dealing with all of this as we power through this morning’s protocol. In it, 30 second sprints are always lurking in the very near future, and despite the 90 seconds of recovery earned as a result of high intensity, today it appears that I suffered a (another?) bout of exercise induced atrial fibrillation. I silently curse the crazy 0-225 heart rate readings on my heads up display, pathetically trying to assign blame to the data and not myself, and try to work through it by leveling off the intervals and keeping steady output. I drink and I try to relax but my legs are heavy from yesterdays 2 hour session and I am sinking fast. I silently curse louder to express my frustration and decide to ride it out, keeping resistance lower than the protocol requirement. We call this fakin' it and I plead the fifth. 

This has been happening way to often. My last visit to the cardiology department at UW in July was interesting in as much as my favorite electro-cardiologist, after translating the downloaded data from the pacer into layman’s English announced that if I could live with (nice phraseology doc) going into A-Fib just 4 times in a year (as was the actuality) then no additional ablation work would be necessary. I said sure not a problem, done deal. 

I have, according to my notes and this log, gone in twice that in the last 2 weeks alone. I would never say this to her, but I will to you, WTF?

As if that wasn’t enough torture for one day, my second class allowed less than an hour to recover and head back to the club. All the way I considered the option of teaching out of the saddle, something I almost dislike to the point of hatred. So I fessed up with the class announcing that we might try something completely different today so be ready for change and a challenge. Oohs and aahs erupt. The plan was to go as long as I could and then bail for the relative safety of the floor. 

Off we go in set number 2, my heart still ping-ponging like a tweaking chimpanzee. I pledge to keep a handle on the intensity and ride a smooth and groovy hour leading the class in the same protocol as the earlier session. I get through warm up and we begin. And even though I can see the numbers bound and rebound, it is OK. Sure I feel terrible and a little light headed, but we are getting through. 

And we make it. I had to ask for help a couple of times as to where were were in the progression, but we rode it out. Nobody died, there were no 911 calls and no one was required to preform CPR. 

And I am here talking about it. 

My treatment has been to lay down in that safe, quiet and warm place and relax into deep meditation. Essentially to STOP THE MONKEY GO ROUND powered by the pair of cohorts in crime responsible for this felony, my head and my heart, and allow the pacer to kick-in at 70 beats per minute as programmed. The idea being that once that rate is reached the pacer simply emits an electronic pulse to re-establish sinus rhythm. 

Oh black water keep on rollin. Wish me luck. 

A Day in the Life

A Day in the Life

I'm Telling You Now

I'm Telling You Now

PowerBarn 2018 ToC Adventure

The Tour of California is one of Cycling’s truly magnificent events. While not a Grand Tour in the TdF or Giro tradition, it is a week of spectacular scenery, fierce pro racing, epic climbs, warm weather (mostly) and blue skies (mostly). I have been fortunate to have covered four of them since the inaugural running in 2006. And here we are one month from the start of the 2018 tour.

I say let’s go!

Taking a bit of the experience from past stages and the logistical challenges that the expansive Golden State presents, following is my proposal. Please be advised that this tour, from my end, is a three in one mission not simply a go and watch affair. My primary directive is video capture. That comes with the additional challenge of advance route intel, access to and egress from the individual stage start and finish locations (and sometimes route changes, detours or limited access roads). NOTE: This is a partial tour picking up the race at Stage Four in Stockton. We would be filming, riding and watching three stages, finishing in Sacramento on Saturday.

Secondary mission two is cherry picking the juiciest portions of the stages to ride ourselves. This represents additional support and gear issues adding to the complexity of the adventure. Anyone who has flown with a bike knows of what I speak. 

Number three is a combination of being in the proper place at the precise times to witness the racing action as fans, housing and travel logistics and anything else (side trips, dinners, communications, cross training) that can be crammed onto this already overflowing plate of adventurous delicacies. 

But there is nothing like a challenge!

2018 PowerBarn Tour of California tentative itinerary:

Wednesday, May 16. Depart Seattle: Alaska has a 0900 flight for $90

     Enterprise RAC, Full size Ford pick up for $45/day.

Drive to Stockton. AirBNB ranch house, $100

     Thursday, May 17. ToC Stockton to Elk Grove. 109 miles.

     Ride route to be determined.

     AirBNB near Folsom.

Friday, May 18. ToC Folsom to South Lake Tahoe, 122 miles.

     AirBNB near SLT.

     Possible Emigrant Loop ride, 52 miles with 4,600 gain.

     Saturday, May 19, ToC Finish in Sacramento. 

AirBNB in Sac.

     Possible final ride on Rock Creek Rd in Placerville.

     Closing ceremonies in Sac brew pub.

Sunday, May 20, Depart Sacramento: Alaska has an 0600 flight for $89.

Details, and there will be many, to follow. If you might be interested in this little slice of cycling epicness, please let me know asap. 

Operators are standing by. 

Humble & Happy

Humble & Happy

New and really important

New and really important

Tactical

Tactical

Proper Octane Mixture

Proper Octane Mixture

Knock

Knock

Say Yes

Say Yes

Better Finish

Better Finish

Put the Candle Back

Put the Candle Back

Compliment Them

Compliment Them

You Know the Rest

You Know the Rest

This is a test

This is a Test

It Will End

It Will End