30 Dees

This past Saturday was the 30th running of a little known "race" up thirteen of the steepest hills in Pittsburgh.  The reason I put the word race in quotations is because the Dirty Dozen is only a race for about ten people and a day of survival for the rest.  This year was my third running and, in true DD fashion, there were cold temperatures, lots of windy spots, and snow.  Fortunately for me, because of road construction one of the hills was not on the route so we were down to only twelve hills, but that was still going to be about eleven more than I actually wanted to do.  

Like all good DD mornings I was a basket of nerves.  The day itself was going to be no different than the previous two years except I was on a new bike with different gearing, I was well under prepared physically, and the road conditions due to the weather were a general unknown (when a significant portion of steep riding is on slippery or icy roads, things can go seriously wrong).

The long and short of the day was this:  It snowed on and off almost the whole day and the temperatures hovered in the mid thirties (so it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick).  Riding as hard as you can to get up a hill makes you hot and sweaty.  Standing on top of a hill when you're hot and sweaty makes you very cold.  Slippery roads lead to lots of falls and wrecking (fortunately not for me).  

I learned a few things on this ride.  The first thing I learned was that I need to be in better shape if I plan to ride my current bike up these hills again next year.  The second thing I learned was that riding up really steep hills wears down your arms almost as much as your legs.  The third thing I learned was that mustaches are not as warm as beards.  The last thing I learned, and possibly the most important, is that if you're going to fall over in a slippery corner, make sure Jerry isn't there to see it because he'll yell at you loudly to go back to the bottom and ride the hill again.  After all, those are the rules.

T - Minus...

With time running out, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will not be in the shape I was hoping to be in for the impending DD.  Since the shape I am currently resembles a pear, I am going to change my plans and prepare for a more intense degree of pain than I want.  It seems to just make sense.

The way I figure it, I'm not going to be racing nor did I ever have plans to make it a race.  There are plenty of faster people than me to take care of that issue.  As long as I can keep turning the pedals over I'll be fine.  It just might take me longer than I really want.  Fortunately though, hill six is currently under construction so it's not in play.  That means I will only need to climb an even dozen hills.

I think I'm only fooling myself into thinking that twelve hills instead of thirteen will somehow be easier,  but I'll take any little mental breaks I can get.  In reality, I'll probably suffer more because of this little notion but only time will tell.  I just hope the weather is nice so I can enjoy some aspect of the day.

Train Wrecks

So I'm just under two weeks from my third installment of the DD and suffice it to so say, I'm a touch worried.  I'm worried about my bike, I'm worried about the weather, but most importantly, I'm worried about how out of shape I currently am.  This is supposed to be the year I get the dot next to my name in Chew's big book of DD's, but that only happens if I finish.  

See, earlier this year, before I went on my little junket to Florida, I was riding the hell out of my bikes.  I had spent the winter on my trainer trying to get in shape and had been logging solid miles for several months.  Some of my friends even thought I was too skinny; which was a compliment for me.  Then, after a week on the beach drinking margaritas and rolling a cruiser around the islands, I returned to reality and got both fat and lazy.  Yeah that's right, both (but at least my neck is still tight).

Now, I'm doing all I can to eek out some semblance of a training program in the last week and a few days before I embark on suffer-fest 2012.  With any luck I'll make it through this year's event without any significant issues but at this point I'm only 62% optimistic of that occurring.  Fortunately for me, this year there will only be twelve hills on the course as one of them is under construction.  This is beneficial in that I won't have as much pain inflicted upon me, but it might also mean that I don't get my dot.  After all, if it's not the full course, I didn't really do it.  That would be the most painful part of all...

Branching Out

So I've decided to start my own business.  While I'm not quitting my 9 to 5er just yet, I am in the initial stages of planning this little venture.  As with most good companies, the hardest part about getting the ball rolling is coming up with a cool name.  

I spent a goodly part of this past weekend trying to figure out what would be a good name for a business.  After all, there are plenty of bad names already taken and I want to make sure the name I choose has just the right amount of coolness, description, and room to play.  I'm trying to use words that aren't too boring but yet aren't so big that the overall name is difficult to say let alone spell (especially since I'm a terrible speller).  

Ultimately though, it's not just the words that are chosen for the name.  You also have to take into consideration how the name might appear in a logo and let's not forget the type of initials a name could end up with.  I would be willing to bet that the Sink Hole Investigation Technologies, LLC. or Delta Industrial Cyber Kinetic Solutions, Inc. would be okay with different initials for their letterhead.  

Maybe someday I'll be able to parlay this little venture that I'm considering into something big that will allow me to enjoy additional free time throughout my day and let me work my own schedule.  I'm not setting a timeline for this just yet because there is still a lot of initial work that needs to be done.  Someday though, I'll hopefully be able to turn this into the best job of all; an early retirement.