i thought i had legs redux

The results are posted for the Rock Bridge Revenge. I finished 17th of 32 runners in the 20k. I prefer to think of that as not Middle-of-the-pack but First Place! in the second half of the pack. Also I finished 3rd in my age group (out of 8, if I counted right). Props to Bill Stolz for a great 3rd place finish overall in the 10k!

In other news: I am now a Cat three cyclocrosser. Middle-of-the-Pack here we come! Thanks Mike W. I did more CX races in my first year of cyclocross than I did road races in all my years of cycling (33).

In non-cycling news: The Columbia Business Times (which I haven't read at all until a few days ago) evidently has some very fascist leanings or at least it's columnists do. Some guy named Larry Schuster. A paragraph from his recent column in the CBT whining about the smoking ban:

Our brands of do-gooders are self-righteous souls who live under the narcotic delusion that they are the conscience of our community. They make exceptions to fit their playtime but not mine. In my opinion, their concentration in Columbia is akin to the goose population in Stephens Park, just a few too many in a small place. Maybe we should sponsor a roundup and relocation program. Surely scientists will soon discover these folks to be a new breed of hypocrites: “homo sapien goose poopalous.” (my emphasis)

OK. two things here:

1. The idea that people he doesn't like should be rounded up and sent elsewhere smacks a bit of fascist policies of the Nazi era. or perhaps more to his liking stalinist policies.
2. As my 13 year old son pointed out: perhaps there are so many of these "do-gooders" in Columbia because they are a majority.

2 questions arise...who the hell is Larry Schuster and how did he get elected to the city council?

While I am on the topic of CBT...Their cover story is about a "consulting firm" who (get this doublespeak) is,"known nationally for its creative mail, radio and strategic communications." Sounds like advertising to me. There is also a fairytale and another screed about the selfishness of the West Broadway folks against 4 lanes in the middle of town. (yes Providence should be made 2 lanes). Jesus! makes me want to barf.

Thanks for reading.

i thought i had legs

or...why can't I go any faster?

Raced out at Rock Bridge State Park Sunday...the Rock Bridge Revenge 20k run. Actually the revenge part comes the day after the race when you stumble upon getting out of bed because your legs are so racked with stiffness and soreness that they rebel against any notion of movement. Actually "soreness" is not the right word: sore is when you smash your thumb with a hammer, this is more like dropping an anvil on it.

It was a Beautiful run even through the ice-cold creek (twice). It was great to be out in the woods on a sunny morning in October. Trees changing colors, deer out to see why there were so many two-leggers chugging through the woods, and the occasional squirrel yelling in anger at the runners. The actual race for me was kinda weird. My legs were not cooperating with my heart. I never was anyhere near my limit aerobically but my legs wouldn’t go any faster. Everytime I tried to go harder and think I was really starting to push it and my legs would say, "Give us a break, we're going already, ok!" Then I would glance down at my heart rate and it would say, "nope, you are just huffing along on stroll." I guess that is the difference between HR and Perceived Exertion. Nevertheless, great race. Great run. Someday they'll get the results posted and I'll have an idea how I compared to the rest of the back-of-the-pack.

Although running this race was pretty cool, I really missed not racing the latest iteration of the Bubba Memorial Cyclocross series. Probably won't be able to make it to another one until Nov. 5 or 12.

And...what about that local cx scene? The Columbia Fun Times Cyclocross Race and Picnic? Down by the ROTC Tower? Picnic and bonfire to follow at Stephens Lake? Maybe we could talk Bubba into coming?

more nonsense

check this out from Trib Talk:

"...Now you’ve even made it a rule in Columbia that you can’t have dinner and a cigarette. I think it is ridiculous. This is getting to be more like Russia every day."

Ha ha hahahahahaha, that is so funny!

Let's see...I assume that by "Russia" this caller means the former boogey monster we were all scared to death of back when I was a child. Now there were (are) a few things about the way Russia was (is) ruled that leaves lots to be desired. But, BUTT!, smoking was not one of those things that was outlawed back in the USSR. There were the occasional political crackdowns, gulags, executions, mass murders and other governmental misdeeds but smoking was not something one had to be afraid of doing.

Come to think of it, "this is getting to be more like Russia every day." Maybe I'll start smoking.

I'm number #1

Cross practice was way fun! Nolan and Ethan showed up. Nolan practiced bunny-hopping most of the time (something I need to do). I rode a good hard 30 minutes then had to scoot home to get Sam to a school dance. (his first). They were both impressed with the course and excited about the possibilities. We set up some cones to make several turns and break up the long straightaways. Ethan said, "Since Butthead won't be here next Wednesday I am going to move practice here."

In other news: I am the top-ranked Cat. 5 in zip 65201 (oops...you gotta be logged in under my name to see that) but you can see that I am one of only 12 Cat 5s to be ranked 638 nationally. And I don't even have the oldest license!

Your USCF Road Race Cat 5 Standings
1!	Rank in your zip code (65201)
18	Rank in your state (MO)
22	Rank in your riding age (40)
112	Rank in 5 year age range (40-44)
174	Rank in 10 year age range (40-49)
638	Overall Rank

mighty mighty c's

Raced Sunday.









Everything went well;












I didn't fall over the barriers









or skid out in the gravel.









And best of all I won.

Let me tell you, it feels good to win, finally. I have been close many times but I don't believe I have ever won an athletic contest before. So even if it is the Cs race of a local series it is really nice. Back in grade school I couldn't (and still can't) play basketball or any of those damn sports; I always ended up getting hit in the face with the ball and bending my glasses. Really awkward. I tried track in 8th grade and came in dead last. Sucked, I tell you.

This Sunday will be a big test. 20k trail run. I have a feeling I may be slow on the trail. I don't want to roll an ankle or screw up my knees. Gotta Bubba race again the next week.

Buddy, the USCF official, said, "I'll guess we'll have to move you up to the Bs now" So that's where I'll go. Back to the middle of the pack.

A huge amount of thanks goes to Karl at Klunk for all the help he provided getting me set up on my bike. It worked great!

1/3 marathon

Update of recent events:

Ran my legs off Sunday October 1, doing two legs of a 3 leg relay as part of the Columbia Half Marathon. Our team finished 9th overall in the teams division. There were 36 teams so that is really great! I ran for 1 hour and 7 minutes but I don't know how far. Sometime I have to get out and ride it with my bike and see what the old odometer says. Next year I'll do the whole thing on my own.

Next (foot)race is in one week at Rock Bridge State Park. Should be a cool trail run. I think I'll do the 20k option.

Next cyclo-cross race is Bubba #1. Sunday Oct. 15 at Creve Coeuer Park in St. Louis. Photos and results soon. I heard there was to be a Bubba race in Columbia but that was shot down by the parks dept. dimwits. I'll take my cash and go somewhere else. Hey Josh, what about the field down below the Alpine Tower on the MU campus? It's better than Stephens Lake. Speaking of cyclocross I went out last night with Seth to said field. Had a good hard workout there. The Redline is working great. If I don't do well Sunday, I have only myself to blame.

Sept. 10 Sam and I took the road I course here in town. We are both now officially licensed road cyclists.

Nora has biked to school every day so far except one and that wasn't her fault. It was raining or Bridget had to go somewhere. Something like that. Sam too. Now that he is a certified cyclist he can (and did before) ride to school everyday. He even takes the busy route by choice. Go figger. Give him 30 more years of riding to work and school and he'll look for the quiet streets.

Speaking of Nora, she was elected president of her homeroom. She has to chair class meetings every Monday and Friday. I don't know what all she has to do but she does it with great aplomb I am sure. Now she wishes she had gone for bigger fish and ran for 3rd grade student council representative

Tonight? Tonight we are going to go sit in the cold, drink hot chocolate (we may have to have two thermoses: one adult and one kids) and watch the MU soccer team get beat again. They started so well! What happened?