NYC TRI highlight vid

Final installment from the New York City Triathlon, the highlight video. Hope you like it. I am out tomorrow for the sold-out inaugural Calgary 70.3. The only comment I will make about the vid is this: You need to PAY ATTENTION when on the bike. Watch and I think you'll see what I mean. Next update from Alberta.

More Apple

I am furiously (actually the big G5 is) rendering the video from Sunday's main event in the Big Apple. From what I have seen so far, you are gonna like this one. It has it all. Another crash, every conceivable riding infraction known to man, some seriously cool shots of the Henry Hudson Parkway and 3,500 triathletes going after it. Estimate render time is still another 24 hours, so I am shooting for a Thursday evening posting of the highlight video. Thank the Lord this isn't TV! Yet.

Heading out Friday for the Calgary 70.3. Reports from Canada as the host hotel allows free WiFi. I am so cheap. Maybe one day (when we go live perhaps) we'll actually charge for this incredible service and then I won't have to run around Canada looking for free hot spots at midnight to post updates and commentary. Does Twitter do video?

In the meantime here a couple more shots form the NYC Tri.

CompuTrainer athlete, and all-around nice guy, Andy Potts, signing autographs at the Toyota booth.

Wonderful statue on the Fordham campus in Midtown.

Madison Square Garden. Penn Station is underneath.

Trigeeks invade Manhattan. RCVman suggests actually WEARING your helmets, guys.

(You may click on any photo to enlarge)

Not the Biggest

The New York City Triathlon is big. Like they are fond of saying here, "Hey, it's New York.", like that somehow satisfies all questions or comments. It is a race on a grand scale, although 'only' the Olympic distance. I fully plan on providing the VBA with plenty more column inches of commentary once we get home, decompress and start the download. Until then, here are few images from this mornings event.

Not to be outdone, Mellow Johnny did us all proud with a stunning 3rd place finish in this year's TdF. I am very proud of his effort, and when I saw this comment in this mornings Seattle Times, I almost screamed out loud (I was on a train headed for Newark out of Penn Station). This sums it up folks. And I expect every man, woman, child, athlete, longshoreman, librarian, student, dentist, felon, politician (is that a redundant?), sinner and saint withing the reading distance of this blog (go to work VBA) to HEAR WHAT HE JUST SAID!

Because by comparison it makes the NYC Tri look very small. Here is his quote:

"I'm realistic, I did everything I could," Armstrong said before the final stage. "For me, and even more for my kids, it's probably a healthy thing for them to see, because they saw their dad that never lost, and the kids in their class (say) 'your dad never loses,' so it's good for them to see dad get third and still be cool with that and still be happy."

Here is the rest of the story: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2009541946_apcyctourdefrance.html

That's Big.

Practice, Practice, Practice

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?




Same way you get to Kona or Clearwater.
Coach Dave at the CT booth shows off the IM Canada RCV to one of his many greateful clients. And the hallowed halls Andrew built with philanthropy and music appreciation.

Bathos, you say?

Alright, now we're on to somethin'! Yesterdays post about my former life as a migrant farm worker, and the subsequent comments, created a whole new opportunity to test some theories, in real time. All we know for sure is that if you enter the HOP at 0530 on Wednesday mornings this summer, YOU WILL PAY A PRICE. You will also get a return on your investment. This we know to be true. Everything else is subject to testing. So I set out after class to visit CompuTrainer HQ in the U-District and decided to take my old fixie. After all, the weather has been superb and I was not feeling like stimulating the local economy during "peak" season. Gimme a break, it was the 10:20 boat and half full. Still the bureaucrats tagged me for $7.70 (with all the lawyers on the Island, there is still a bike SURCHARGE???) If ever there was an appropriate time, place and cause to acronym, this might be it. Yo, WSF: WTF? Regardless, and hour later I was mixing it up with the busy commuters and tourists downtown. Where did all these people come from? At 3rd & Pine (a detour because of construction) a city bus (the 40?) left me with all of 2 inches and as I looked right to gauge ped flow my tire caught the sewer grating and down goes RCVman. Embarrassing. I do a quick little shoulder roll and get the heck out of the street for fear of getting a free ride UNDER the aforementioned number 40. I eventually find my way to Dexter and cruise the bike lane to Fremont where I pick up the BG and sail into HQ, a block off the trail near the U-Village.

Good chats with Ray (sold 38 CTs today), Kurt (see you next week in Calgary) and Chuck (Kona promo is a go) when I start to feel a pain in left side. Immediately I know what it is (been here before) and I know I cracked a rib (or two) on the sordid streets of Seattle. Bathos? A little dose of humor? Try to save gas and not pollute? Get in another little workout? Enjoy the bike friendly Emerald City?

Right. Go ahead and laugh. I can take it.

Pix:
Phase 126 project as mentioned yesterday. It's a Zen thing.
Proof that all this really happened.
Bridge to another world (Fremont).

Them Apples

As most of you know, RCVman HQ is under construction. Has been for a while now because he insists on doing all the labor hiseff. The jury is out as to why this is, with six saying it's because he is tight, and the others saying it's a Zen thing, and we will never understand, so why try? Regardless of intent, the effort plods along between race assignments, long rides, video projects and runs in the park. In the 'cleaning out the shed' stage of the current studio expansion project (Phase 126), the demo crew discovered this little gem from another time in space.

The year was 1974 and the place was Brewster, Washington. We raised some pretty fair apples at Crane & Crane, http://cranefamilyorchards.com/index.php?page_id=28 where I rose to the exalted rank of tractor driver for the apple, pear and cherry harvests. It was a wonderfully innocent time as well as an important one, connecting dots from a failed baseball career in Southern California to the trek over the big hill and into Seattle a few years later. There came some great stories from this era, a mere 35 years ago. The demo boys (me) found this apple crate in the shed from Crane Orchards, circa 1945 and I gawked at it while the way back machine played myriad images of sun, sweat and beers. I wonder what has become of Francis, Johnny, Leonard, Tim, Phil, The Hulk, Max & Maureen, Sterling Maguire and the Bohemian Tavern.

And speaking of apples, RCVman will be in Manhattan this week for date with the New York City Triathlon on Sunday http://www.nyctri.com/site3.aspx . The bike leg is along the WestsideHH Parkway, which is closed to traffic, meaning that the only way you will be able to ride this course on the other 364 days is to watch the RCV. Prompting the question:

How do you like them apples?

Chimicum like Orange

We finally got out for our long ride yesterday. It was a beautiful mid-summer day and although we changed the route slightly due to a fresh layer of recently laid chip-seal, six BAC clubbers took it to the streets of Kitsap and Jefferson Counties for an 80 miler. The title reference (if you haven't got it yet) is to Tom Robbins from Another Roadside Attraction where Plucky Purcell finds deep mystery in the fact that there is no word in the English language that rhymes with the word orange. Ditto Chimicum I suspect. BTW, this video clip has already been subtitled: Bernie Bakers Butt (sorry couldn't resist). Here are the metrics as gathered and posted by VBAer FW. http://bicycling.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?tripId=470097