The Joys of Travel

So last week I was off with Jerry, Bunny, and others on a little vacation away.  We winged it down to Key West to stay at Shady Bill's condo right on the beach.  Like most vacations, it had it's ups and downs.  In particular, the traveling back from the trip was quite possibly the least enjoyable.  I booked my flights later so I was traveling solo on the return leg back to Pittsburgh.  So after one delayed flight and one cancelled flight I changed airlines.  

This was followed by an early arrival at a connecting airport and the anticipated early arrival back to Pittsburgh.  This was followed by about a three hour delay in the airport and about an hour and a half sitting on the tarmac waiting to depart.  

This final hiatus from departure led to a flight through a thunderstorm (which was both nerve wracking and fascinating all at the same time).  After arriving about three hours after I was originally expected to land, I was greeted by an hour and a half bus ride to downtown Pittsburgh where I met Jerry for a ride back to his house.  

The last leg of the trip was my drive back to the SC.  It was a lot of travels and I'm basically crushed.  I'll be sure to provide my assessment of the trip later, but for now, as you may expect, the traveling was not the highlight.  

Step by Step

So this weekend I decided to drop in on my friends Jerry and Bunny in their fair city of the 'burgh.  I'm not entirely sure why, but for some reason Bunny wanted to run a 5K in a ridiculously thick heat.  I'm not saying it was humid, but at one point I actually had to borrow a knife in order to cut through it.

I'm not a runner and have no intentions to run (unless I'm being chased) so I guess I don't entirely understand the mentality.  If it's anything like racing bicycles, then I suppose there is some degree of sense to it all, except it seems to be a lot more work.  Of course my personal feelings about running don't really matter because Bunny crushed the course and ran her fastest mile splits in the entire storied history of her running career.  

I guess it just goes to show that once again, I have a lesser degree of motivation than a lot of people; even those named after a small, furry, and big eared animal. Either way Bunny, you kicked some tail (pun intended...). 

Tchotchke-Fest

So part of last week and into the past weekend was the annual festival in the SC where people from all over the country come to town and try to sell their "art."  Fortunately for these people  two things hold true.  Art is very subjective and apparently a whole hell of a lot of people seem to like spending a lot of money on bric-a-brac.  

While I do enjoy browsing around the various booths to see what people have to display, the majority of these knickknacks are much more high-brow then my simpleton way of life will allow.  To put it another way, unless you're planning to spend between roughly $75 and $250 for a metal flower, a bird feeder, a wooden spoon, a purse made from an old couch, or a hand carved rock then you might want to stay away from this particular event (and that's just the low end of the price spectrum).  Sure, there are a lot of really great gewgaw that someone spent a lot of time creating, but about 98% of it is priced beyond what I'm comfortable shelling out (kettle corn not included).  

While there are some trinkets that I would consider buying, the biggest reason (aside from laying out the cash) is that I don't know what I would do with my purchase of choice.  Most of the bauble seems like something that I would just display on a table or in some corner of my house.  Then it just becomes one more item that I'd have to dust, and with all the mess I've been making in my house lately I don't need anything else to capture dust.  That would just be as foolish as spending $175 on an eight inch wooden plate.

A Tale of Two (Bike) Races

Now that I've reached the end of the week, I have a better perspective on my bicycle racing career.  As I mentioned previously, I had a road race and a mountain bike race occurring over the past week.  The following will be a recap of how things went and the lessons I've learned along the way.

First, the road race.  This occurred on Wednesday.  I had to drive a lot, wake up early, and bury myself trying to finish.  It was very hot, there was a crosswind all day long, and it was really exposed.  The temperatures were flirting with the nineties all day which made it difficult.  I started out well and was hanging with the lead group after the field spilt, but that didn't last long.  I got dropped but kept going and managed to at least get a result.  I ended up last, but at least that's better then the 22 people that didn't finish at all.

This race made me realize that it's entirely possible that I'm cut out to be a road racer.  It requires a specific type of training that I haven't done, therefore I typically crack early and have trouble hanging on.  Maybe this off-season I'll get serious and make a concerted effort to at least be competitive, but I'd say this year is shot. 

Advance a few more days to Saturday and there I was lining up for a mountain bike race.  Like Wednesday's race, it was hot, except it was possibly hotter.  I realized this shortly after the halfway point when I was coming unglued in a very exposed section of trail across the top of the ridge.  It was beyond uncomfortable as there was no shade, a hot breeze, and solid humidity.  After slumming for a while and cursing the fact that I was doing this race I found reprieve when I made a turn to do the final fire road climb and saw Jeff, hanging out, with a cooler of beer.  My race companion (Frank) and I stopped, sat down, and relaxed with a icy cold High Life.  It was quite simply perfect at that point in my day.

I managed to catch a second wind (and maybe a slight buzz) because I started feeling really good.  I cruised up the last road climb, got into the single-track, and started floating through like I had just started the race.  After a quick stop at the aid station I hammered out the last bit of single-track and ended up with this:

Granted, this was only a result in my class, but it was my first podium and it was kind of awesome.  It was my first taste of success on a bike and I liked it.  Now I know a bit about how Jerry feels with all his podiums, but I'm glad I don't know how he felt yesterday in his race.  At least this time I can't be held responsible if the bike is broken.

One Step Closer

So as most things go with my home improvements, this last round has been taking significantly longer than I've wanted or even hoped.  Fortunately though, this past weekend I finally got a nice reward for all the hard work I've been putting in lately.  My central air was plumbed, filled, and turned on.  And this was not a moment too soon as the entire weekend was blistering hot. 

Now that I was finally comfortable being in my own home, I was able to think about other things like all the cleaning I still had to do and a few races I have coming up.  I plan to compete in the Pennsylvania State Road Racing Championships in a few days and hit up a local mountain bike race over the next weekend.  I know what you're probably thinking.  "What has this clown done to earn a bid into the PA state road championships?"  "Is he that fast and talented on his bike?"  

The answer to those questions would be: any hack with a bike, and enough money to cover the entry fee can compete in the championships.  The only requirement for winning this prestigious distinction is to be the highest placed Pennsylvanian in your particular category.  You can technically finish DFL but if you are the only person from PA in that race then WOOPIE(!) you've just won a state road race championship.  The answer to the second question from above (remember, there were two) is no.  I am definitely not, but I met the requirements to question one so it looks like I'm in.

I'm fairly certain I'm not at all prepared for this road race but I'll give it a go and see what I can do.  Who knows, maybe things will work to my advantage and I'll be able to pull some magic out of my hat (or helmet in this case).  The mountain bike race will be a little more relaxed for me.  I don't know how much actual "racing" I'll do but I'll give it solid effort.  Fortunately it's in my backyard and I know the trails well enough to know how hard to go out.  Either way though, I'll have the satisfaction in knowing that at the end of the day, I'll be sleeping in pure air conditioned bliss.