The life of a traveling bike riding monkey

First off, if you want to see what all this madness is about, check out the Cap City Cross website. Come out and watch, heckle, jeer, poke fun at or - *gasp* - even race!  http://www.capcitycross.com/
We look forward to seeing you out there.

The process of being a bike riding guy who has to travel for his job is one I'm trying to figure out. It means bringing the bike, several sets of bike clothing, some bike tools and such. Some days I work from dawn to dusk and don't always know the roads or trails near where I'm staying. So that means I'm bringing the bike trainer with me, too. (For those that don't know, a bike trainer is sort of like a treadmill for your bike. You're getting the workout in, but you're not going anywhere and it does get pretty boring).

Generally I pull up videos of other cyclocross races on the computer to watch while I'm on the trainer. Reminds me of why I'm on this self-inflicted torture item.

Traveling with all this... stuff had been an adjustment. I generally like to pare it down to the bare minimum of things to take with me. Now I am bringing more and more stuff along. It is certainly a learning process. Trying to figure out what I should be taking with me to stay on track for racing and what I can leave home.

Sometimes I end up on the treadmill, too. So I have to bring running shoes, shorts, shirt for that. I'm certainly not running in my work clothes!

It also usually means washing out my stinky, sweaty clothes by hand. Sure I could bring a weeks worth of stuff and have a huge bag of sweaty clothes baking in my car while I'm driving from place to place. But my car smells bad enough and space in the car is getting to a premium. practice seems to dictate workout in the evening when I can wash my clothes afterward, hand them to dry and hopefully all's good by morning so I can pack up and go. This means sometimes I have to get creative with the clothes-drying arrangements. Sometimes I even end up hanging clothes across my bike in the back of the car in order to allow them to finish drying. Yes, it does look weird to have socks draped across the spokes of a wheel or a jersey hanging from the handlebars. So it goes.

Let's see, what else can I stick in there?...

It was the best of times, it was... oh, geez, who are we kidding?

Couple of weeks ago, on a whim, I thought I'd try running a 5K. They were holding a race in a village (Baltimore, Ohio) near ours so what the heck? Let's go pretend to run! I can maintain a decent pace for 4 or 5 miles so I figured I should be able to run a 5K (3.1 something miles. Maybe it's dog miles).
After a half mile or so, I marked a guy who was running a similiar pace to myself. Turns out that staying with him had me run a bit faster than I would have if left to my own devices. Ended up with a time of 23:08. Not bad for my first-ever 5K.

Photo courtesy of Marianne Henderson

The next day was Cap CIty Short Track race #3. Again at Darree Fields in Dublin, Ohio. If the day before was a good race, this was the not-so-good race. It started good. Fought hard to be in the lead group from the gun. Second lap I went too wide going up the big hill, slid down the edge and let a bunch of guys go by me. So I get up and give it all I've got. One big effort, making ground on a couple of guys it seems and then G-GRRR-GA-GRR-GA-GRR >stop<!  I somehow managed to twist the front derailleur around enough to not let the bike be pedalled at all. What to do? Take the bike for a run! I didn't want to just toss in the towel so I kept going. After half of a lap Rich Hamrick saw me running and quickly handed his bike over the course tape to me. Whoah, back in the game! Which lasted for several laps until I got to the tight hairpin in the back section and... HEY! WHERE'D THEY GO? No back brakes. So I grab a handful of front brake and flew over the bars, through the course tape. I gathered up my wits and finished the race to the best of my abilities. In only a 20 minute event I managed to wipe out three times, and breaking two bikes. (On a positive note: Craig's front derailleur was easily fixed by Todd from Cyclist Connection, and Rich's rear brakes seemed to heal themselves when Rich was reviewing the damage at home).

photo by Jamie Clifton/Jamie Clifton Images

Yesterday I went out to my second Warrior Dash. I sort-of talked my brother into it and well, I couldn't really back out. With bad timing on my part I of course do what most people do - drive like hell to get to where you're going. Of course, this does indeed mean I got a speeding ticket. Now I'm REALLY late. Again, of my own doing. I miss my race time (my brother and I were supposed to run at 4pm). My wife is pushing me to get ready because there's one last race at 4:30pm and somehow we get parked, checked in and I'm on the starting line with less than 3 minutes remaining before the last race of the day.

Holy Wa. Just like last time, it was hard. Put in a couple of good efforts. I actually slid in the mud on my back across the finish line. I laughed at that point. But I didn't think I ran as well as last time until later that night when the results were posted online. Almost a full minute faster than my last Warrior Dash. So lessons learned (thanks to my wife): Don't ever ever ever EVER give up. Don't give up on getting to the line. Don't give up during the race. Keep putting in those efforts.

My brother Jeremy had a pretty good race, too. I am really bummed I missed him finishing by getting there so late and having to be at the starting line. This was a race we were supposed to do together and my mistakes prevented that. On the flip side, he's jacked up and ready for the next one which is next year. So next year we'll have another go at running, swimming, climbing and just getting really, really muddy.

Thanks for reading.

The speed of human movement

Last week my bride Catie and I were out in our kayaks paddling around a couple of times. As usual, she seems to be just cruising along and making good time while I keep falling behind. Then I have to really put some effort into it to catch up to her. It is sort of frustrating at times that I have to work so hard to keep up with her seemingly effortless gliding around on the water but I've begun to realize it's probably more to do with technique than brute force. Somehow she naturally has a much better manner in the kayak than I do.

In any event, paddling around got me to thinking: We do manage to make decent time in the kayaks. It's fast enough that you really see and feel like you're covering a pretty fair distance. Yet not so fast that everything off to the side is a blur. Slowing down to look at something, like a heron, is easily accomplished and we can get much closer than if we were in a boat with a motor. It seemed the right speed to be going. The speed of self-propulsion.

Of course I feel the same way about riding the bicycle. Whether I'm trying to prep for a race or if I'm just coasting around the neighborhood, the speed in which I'm able to push myself along seems to be about right.

Which is not to say I'm anti-vehicle. In fact I'd be a hypocrite of the largest order if I did say that. We own several motorcycles as well as my job depending on me driving all over several states. I grew up in a family who worked on, built up and raced vehicles in several venues. Yes I had a great time going fast in motorized vehicle. But when going at the speed at which I am responsible for just seems to be the right speed.

A case can be made for the kayak and bicycle being machines, or tools if you will. If I were to truly mobilize at the speed of human movement it's be by walking or swimming. 

Regardless, the speed of which I can propel myself satisfies my speed desire as well as being relaxing. I'm sure it's not the same for everyone else, nor for anyone else for that matter. It just works for me. Feel free to comment on what goes best for you.

Thanks for reading.

Not a simple man

I'd like to think I'm a simple person. Not simple as in "stupid" but I'm sure that depends on whom you ask. Simple as in not needing much, not much to explain.

If I were honest however, I'd have to say I'm not. I'm a mass of contradictions, fallabilities and insecurities. But I do not think I'm alone in this qualification. I don't know if it's good or bad. I just know that I, and most people, have many many facets. Sometimes we don't see how or why seemingly different pieces are part of the same entirety. We don't know the reasoning, the back story. We just see some oddities. I also think that the older we get, the more pieces there are. Unlike pebbles in a stream that get worn smooth with time I think people get chiseled a bit more and more.

It's not a bad thing. It is just something we have to hold in our mind as we get to know more and more about one another. I believe it is a good thing. Gives people more to talk about. More to discover about themselves.

Nonetheless, I'd like to be a simple person. Honest, direct and always acting in good faith. Guess I need more work.

Recent results, where to get those AWESOME SHIRTS!

It's been a while since posting. No good excuse except the usual - work, work and more work. It's summer time so guys are taking vacation and the remaining folks have to pick up the slack. So it goes.

I'll start with Warrior Dash. Having talked with several bike riding friends and some co-workers about this event I decided that "sure, why not?" was the way to go. It was fun, hot and very muddy. Challenging as well. I wasn't sure how to pace myself for such an event so I think I ran a bit conservatively in some parts but it worked out. I placed 29th out of 620 in my age group on Sunday, 3-June-2012. Which put me the overall standings as 219th out of 6,774. Not bad, I'll take it!

Two weeks ago was the Lake Hope Mountain Bike Race. My first MTB race ever, and I was indeed the only monkey to try it on a cyclocross bike. I cued up with the Novices and took 9th overall with a 5th in my age group. Not bad, I'll take it.

While the results seem pretty decent I also see that I have many areas for me to work on so I'll keep this short as I need to get work and riding done. Well, there'e the coffee-drinking to be done as well.

Last bit of info: Several people have seen me at races or whatever with my "Die First Then Quit" shirt & have asked me where someone would get such a thing. I had them whipped up at CafePress so here's the link:
http://www.cafepress.com/hughjasseclothing . There will be several more designs coming out in the future. It's an idea I've been knocking around for a while. If you need a reminder to get going, or you think other people need a direct form of motivation, then here you go!

Thanks again for reading. I look forward to your photos of what you're doing when wearing these shirts.

Not good enough?

Here’s my little secret for today: I’m not really that good at a lot of things. I was never a great athlete as a kid. Oh, I played a lot of pick up sports and wrestled in High School but I wasn’t great. I never was any good at wearing the “cool” clothes.  I really wanted to look cool and wear that stuff but on me those things just looked… not right. I was a decent student at school but not the best. When it comes to writing I am slow to get started and irregular (if you’ve been keeping up here, you know what I mean). As a person, I have a lot of faults. When it comes to racing bikes I will certainly not be any competition for Lance Armstrong.

In fact, by not thinking I was good enough was my mental block from doing a lot of things. I didn’t jump in to cyclocross or any bike racing for several years because I thought “I’m not good enough”. When I played guitar it took Nick Riff hearing some of my music and asking me to be part of his band – an idea I never would have approached before because I thought my guitar playing was not good enough.  There are a lot of things that I didn’t try or at the least, held off from trying for a long while because I thought I wasn’t good enough.

Don’t let thinking that you are not good enough stop you from doing something you really want to do. It’s been a gradual revelation to me. Once you say “So what?” and do it anyways, you will find out you will probably exceed your expectations. There’s nothing like throwing yourself in a situation where it’s sink or swim. Often times you find that you can swim. Many times you find that you can swim much better that you thought.

And if you don’t perform all that well, what then? Unless you’ve decided to go running with the bulls or naked skydiving with no instruction I think you’ll be fine. Decide to start a band and no one shows up? Or better yet, you start with a bar full of folks and after song number three they all have wandered off? I know that feeling. It’s definitely a bummer but it’s not the end of the world. You didn’t lose a limb. Decide to enter a mud run and realize you just can’t run that much? Guess what? Neither can a lot of people who’ve already entered. Coming in dead last is a blow to the ego but hey, YOU tried. Use it as motivation for the next event. Besides that, even by coming in dead last you are still way ahead of those who did NOT even try.

Don’t think you’re good enough? Need a push? Check out these folks:

Chris, who wrote the book “The $100 start up” that’s been changing many lives has a good starting point here: The Art of Non-Conformity - Qualifications

Need a kick in the pants? Joel is where I turn to when I’m feeling like hanging it up or saying “fuggedaboutit”: The Blog of Impossible Things

How about this? How about “How to stop sucking and be awesome instead”? (geared more toward software writers but as a general idea it’s great stuff)

You might need training or practice. So what. Quit worrying if you’re good enough to accomplish “X”. You already are good enough.  

My first bike

The first bike is usually one where you discover the world at a speed faster than your legs can take you. You can now go further as well. Almost like becoming the Six Million Dollar Man.

Mine was a Murray 20" single-speed designed like a "British three-speed" as we folks in the U.S. dubbed them. I liked it great for the first year (I was 6) but the next year I wanted a BMX bike. All the cool kids had BMX bikes. So what happed? The next year, my Dad made my rather pedestrian bike into a BMX bike. He spread the stays in the back so it had room for a big knobby tire, repainted it black, made me a number plate. He bought motocross (motorcycle) handlebars and cut them down to fit me better. Dad put a lot of effort into transforming this perfectly good bike into something his son wanted.

Bu I was upset when he first showed it to me. I did appreciate what my Dad did (sort of) but it just wasn't the same. I wanted a new bike. This was not a new bike. This was not much like the other kids bikes with the springs on the front forks and such. But as time went on I began to love that bike. It had a bit steeper gearing than the other kids' bikes so I could get a better top-end speed. It also made it easier for me to do wheelies with. I rode that bike everywhere, jumped it over any ramp we could rig up, learned to ride wheelies down the block. I eventually delivered newspapers on it for a couple years.  

We did a lot of tweaks and modifications to that bike. Dad thought it’d be cool to add a 3-speed crank thing to it. It was sort-of cool. Multiple speeds! Go faster! But I don’t think this device was ever designed to take the sort of abuse a boy who’s hero was Evel Knievel. It didn’t always shift right. I broke the right crank arm several times. My father had my uncle weld it together a couple of times but after the third time it was plain to see that we just needed to go back to the original crank. I also had a parade of banana seats, sissy bars, “motocross” seats and such.

When it was time to retire that bike I don’t think I really gave it much thought or appreciation. I had broken the crank once again (but some years later). By this time I had a “real” bike. It was a blazing yellow 10-speed. Hey, I was growing up, I needed a grown-up bike! I was also not far from driving, too. Who needs a bike when you have a totally awesome bone-stock rusty ’73 Nova hatchback? But looking back with all the benefits on hindsight on that bike that my Dad modified for me, that may be what lead me to my passion for being on two wheels.

Dad, I'm sorry I was ungrateful at first. I loved that bike.