Man in the Arena

Ain't No Stop (Sign)ing Us Now

Jesse@Active — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:49:10 GMT

It's not unusual for me to get ticked off on my daily ride to or from work. Bad/ignorant/distracted/antagonistic drivers abound. Generally, those rides end with me calming down by rationalizing "At least my bike still works and I'm not in the hospital."

It's days like today, however, that can leave a lasting p.o.'ed pit in my stomach.

It all started when I stopped at a four-way intersection. The car next to me went left, I made to go straight. That's when I saw a cyclist approaching from the right. I had the right of way and continued on, but he blew through the stop sign, realized I wasn't stopping, swerved to avoid me, and then made a wobbly turn to the right. Only a few feet in front of me and struggling to stay on his bike and regain momentum, he completely ignored me as I rolled up beside him.

"You know you had a stop sign, right?" I said, holding back a lot more. He responded by turning slightly and with a smirk said "Yeah." Then he rode off.

Now angrier than before, I wanted to throw a stick in his spokes (the same feeling one might have if you were cut off on the highway and wanted to just give the offending vehicle a nudge with your own car). Then I started to laugh. Here was a big, pudgy guy on a mountain bike running stop signs and proud of it. He didn't fit the usual stuck-up-sponsored-cyclist profile that I usually see doing the same thing. He reminded me of the grinning buffoon in the Enzyte commercials. And then it hit me: maybe that's why he's doing it.

"Other ED pills not packing your suitcase of courage? Having trouble even attracting a podium girl of your own? Put a shove in your chamois by Running Stop Signs! Yes, that's right, the high of this meaningless display of living dangerously is also a natural enhancement--not to mention it's good for the environment!"

That wouldn't be the only incident of the day, however. After watching this jerk ride (not even roll) through a couple more stop signs, I saw a car beep its horn at him. I then stopped at an intersection only to have some silver-haired roadie in a Stagecoach Century jersey fly right past me and the car that had just beeped at the big mountain biker with the little gear.

That driver has now seen two cyclists blow through stop signs, he probably drives through that neighborhood often and will undoubtedly forever associate me with them.

In an interesting coincidence, when I finally boarded the train for the ride up to Sorrento Valley, I flipped open the May issue of Bicycling magazine to find Bob Mionske 's new column, Road Rights. In it he addresses the issue of cyclists running stops.

What stood out for me is this: "If you are injured in a collision, and your own negligence–-for example, failing to stop at a signal–-contributed to that injury, your ability to be compensated for your injuries may be severely curtailed, even if the driver was also negligent. In some states, you may not be able to recover damages at all. In short, the legal consequences for failure to stop can be quite severe, so it's in your best interest to stop."

That made me face facts. If I saw a cyclists get in an accident after blowing through a stop sign, my report to the cops/insurance company would begin "I watched him/her ride through the stop sign without stopping..." What choice do I have? That's not out of malice toward the offending cyclist, but out of respect for the law that would protect me as a driver should I be on the other side of the wheel.

The bottom line is: Drivers, please don't lump me in with flagrant riders. I don't do the same with you and drunk drivers. And cyclists, having a leg to stand on when confronting government about improving cyclists' rights means obeying the law.

Final Results - 2009 Amgen Tour of California

Jesse@Active — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:19:34 GMT

Stage 8

1. Frank Schleck - Team Saxo Bank 3:48:39

2. Vincenzo Nibali - Liquigas +0:02

3. George Hincapie - Team Columbia-Highroad +0:40

4. Rory Sutherland - Ouch Presented By Maxxis +0:40

5. Grischa Niermann - Rabobank +0:40

Overall Standings

1. Levi Leipheimer - Astana 31:28:21

2. David Zabriskie - Garmin-Slipstream +0:36

3. Michael Rogers - Team Columbia-Highroad +0:45

4. Jens Voigt - Team Saxo Bank +1:10

5. Thomas Lovkvist - Team Columbia-Highroad +1:29

6. Vincenzo Nibali - Liquigas +1:37

7. Lance Armstrong - Astana +1:46

8. Robert Gesink - Rabobank +1:54

9. Thomas Danielson - Garmin-Slipstream +2:24

10. José Luis Rubiera - Astana +2:48

King of the Mountain Standings

1. Jason McCartney - Team Saxo Bank - 39 points

2. Tyler Hamilton - Rock Racing - 22 points

3. Serge Pauwels - Cervelo Test Team - 21 points

Sprint Standings

1. Mark Cavendish - Team Columbia-Highroad - 36 points

2. Vincenzo Nibali - Liquigas - 22 points

3. Frank Schleck - Team Saxo Bank - 19 points

Best Young Rider Standings

1. Robert Gesink - Rabobank 31:30:15

2. Kevin Seeldraeyers - Quick Step +1:03

3. Bauke Mollema - Rabobank +3:50

Team Standings

1. Astana - 94:28:50

2. Team Saxo Bank +1:40

3. Garmin-Slipstream +1:49

Mancebo Crashes Out, KOM Jersey Goes to McCartney

Jesse@Active — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:14:14 GMT

Rock Racing's Francisco Mancebo crashed out of Stage 7, causing the King of the Mountains jersey to be awarded to Team Saxo Bank's Jason McCartney. McCartney leads Rock Racing's Tyler Hamilton in KOM points 29 to 22. Sunday's Stage 8 from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido includes four opportunities to earn KOM points, including a ride up the Palomar Mountain featuring a seven-percent average grade and 4,200 feet of climbing.

TEAM STATEMENT

From Michael Ball, Rock Racing Team Owner

Regarding Francisco Mancebo

Pasadena, Calif. (February 21, 2009) - "Following his unfortunate crash during today's stage, Francisco Mancebo is currently receiving medical attention at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. While we are still awaiting confirmation, we believe he has suffered a concussion as well as a broken hand and elbow. The fact he is unable to continue the race does not in any way diminish his accomplishments or those of the team. Attrition took its toll and we lost two incredible riders in Paco today and Victor Hugo Pena after Stage 4, but that's bike racing. This is such an exciting team and I am incredibly proud of everything we've achieved this week."

Will Levi Be Challenged?

Jesse@Active — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:58:32 GMT

Levi Leipheimer's time trial performance yesterday was the kind of statement cycling fans have come to expect from him in Solvang. In his past two Tour of California victories, Leipheimer cemented his hold on the yellow jersey after a dominating ride in the time trial. As Odessa Gunn, Levi's wife, told our own Bruce Hildenbrand, "This is one of his favorite days. Certainly in the race, but in general. He loves this stage. He loves this town. He loves time trialing."

But in the past there has only been one stage to follow the TT. Never two. And both Stage 7 and 8 have significant climbs. With Garmin-Slipstream's David Zabriskie only 36 seconds back and Columbia-Highroad's Michael Rogers 46 seconds back in third, will either attack for the yellow jersey?

In yesterday's press conference, Zabriskie was mildy pessimistic at his chances: "It would take a lot of screwing up on their (Astana's) part. With the experience that they have and the depth of the team, they know what they’re doing. Like I said, it would take a huge screw up."

His assessment of today and tomorrow left some hope, though: "Tomorrow's stage is the same as last year. It's not crazy. It's fairly gradual, so it's probably going to be a field sprint. Everyone knows that stage. We did go down and checkout the last stage; it's very challenging and things could happen. It will be interesting."

But for "things to happen", Zabriskie would most likely have to take out a sizable chunk of time from Levi today.

As for Michael Rogers, he was a bit more optimistic in his St. 6 press conference quotes: "I think the race is not over until Sunday. You've got some tough mountains coming up. I'm sure it's going to be tough. I think maybe the general classification is starting to open up a little bit more, but anything can happen.

"There are some hard climbs coming. I haven't been over the last two stages, but I have a few teammates that have been over the course, so I'm sure they'll keep me well informed. With the experience that Levi and his team has, it is going to be hard to do something, but we never say never. We are just going to take each stage as it comes. We're always on the lookout to do something, so if the opportunity arises, we'll do it."

The climbs up Palomar Mt. and Cole Grand Road during Stage 8 are in the first half of the stage, early enough to cause many to say they won't be much of a factor. But if someone has the legs? Is it too early in the season to hope for some final-stage fireworks?

Astana is beast of a team. Zabriskie hit the nail on the head when he said "they" would have to screw up. It's not likely Lance, Levi, Chris Horner, et al are all going to have a significant lapse in judgement and tactics. But never say never. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in any of the Astana, Garmin-Slipstream or Columbia-Highroad buses as they plan their strategy. What wild cards will they have stashed in their jersey pockets?

Lance Taking His Lumps in California

Jesse@Active — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:16:47 GMT

It's been a rough road for Lance Armstrong in his return to American bike racing. The seven-time Tour de France winner hasn't found his first Tour of California to be a walk on the beach (not that such a walk in California would be all that fun right now anyway).

After learning that his time trial bike had been stolen in Sacramento, Lance embarked on the rainy, cold slog called Stage 1. Following the finish, Armstrong updated his Twitter with this: "Holy hell. That was terrible. Maybe one of the toughest days I've had on a bike, purely based on the conditions. I'm still freezing."

It can't get much worse than that, right? Well, Stage 2 from Sausalito to Santa Cruz wasn't much drier, warmer or safer. Lance's updated LIVESTRONG page revealed he had a crash with a photographer's motorcycle.

Yet despite all this, Lance sits just 30 seconds back in the overall standings. Levi Leipheimer has quite the domestique! Tomorrow's stage, from San Jose to Modesto, opens with the nearly 2,000-ft. climb up Sierra Road within the first five miles of the start.

By mile-60, however, the stage becomes flat with few turns. After watching on Versus as Lance put on a clinic on how to take off a jacket and put on a vest while riding next to a team car, I think this part of Stage 3 could be the perfect time for him to demonstrate how to Twitter while riding a bike. Lance is so proficient at the social networking phenomenon he's attracted over 100,000 followers and growing.

I think Bike Snob NYC put it best: "Lance Armstrong is a prodigious Twitterer. In fact, he's sort of the Lance Armstrong of Twitterers."

So I'll be keeping my eyes on the Texan whenever he's near his team car, hoping someone hands him a phone. Hopefully the photographer's motorcycles stay out of his way.

2 Days In and The Drama is High

Jesse@Active — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:19:20 GMT

If anyone thought they'd wait until Solvang before paying close attention to the 2009 Tour of California, they might want to start tuning in. After only the Prologue and Stage 1, the story lines are starting to develop.

Let's recap:

Fabian Cancellara wins the Prologue just two seconds ahead of defending champ Levi Leipheimer, then fails to start Stage 1 due to an illness. The absence of Cancellara, a strong contender for the overall, means there's more room at the top for someone to slip onto the podium.

Overnight, the Astana team is the victim of a robbery. Thieves get away with several bikes, including Lance Armstrong's time trial bike.

The race rolls out from Davis under inclement weather, bad enough to delay the Versus cameras from showing actual racing for about an hour. Cycling fans get pretty familiar with the network's bull-riding promos.

As we finally get to watch Francisco Mancebo makes his break, a chase pack starts revving its engines. Mancebo manages to hold them off to take the win and the overall lead. Will Rock Racing keep their man in the yellow jersey? Will they be allowed to?

Monday's Stage 2 across the Golden Gate Bridge and to Santa Cruz could be a doozy.

In the meantime, I'm going to rewatch Lance Armstrong's Friday press conference exchange with journalist Paul Kimmage. "You are not worth the chair that you are sitting on with a statement like that."

http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?aid=70159

How to Watch the Tour of California

Jesse@Active — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:47:37 GMT

Lance is back. So is Floyd Landis and Ivan Basso. Tyler Hamilton is ready to suit up in his new National Champion kit and ride in a race that banned him just days before the start last year. And don't forget two-time winner Levi Leipheimer, looking to make it three in a row.

Then there's the slugfest that could ensue between the teams of Saxo Bank, Astana and Garmin-Slipstream. The Argyle boys won the team overall last year, just 16 seconds ahead of a Lance-less Astana.

All in all, the 2009 Amgen Tour of California is shaping up to be an exciting nine days.

So how can you catch the action?

First, Versus will be televising all the action live and on replays throughout the day . You can find preview video on their Cyclysm page .

For those with jobs (and internet connections), Cycling.tv is showing the race for free! Not sure what feed they'll use, so if you need your daily dose of Phil and Paul, you may have to stick with Versus.

VeloNews.TV will have behind-the-scenes video, features and stage highlights.

For those of you who like the metric system, Eurosport will be showing live broadcasts of the race. You can also listen to their live audio feed, found under the Related Video box on their cycling page .

And when the race is over but you're still finding it hard to concentrate without knowing where a peloton~~any peloton~~is, head over to Steephill.tv, which has listings for coverage options for the entire season of racing.

Brace Yourself People, Because It's Going to...Rain!

Jesse@Active — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:13:23 GMT

"Never judge a day by its weather. Sunshine is uplifting; rain, nourishing; wind, exhilarating; snow, cleansing; hail, stimulating. Any weather is better than none."

-- author unknown

This optimistic quote appeared in my inbox this morning, courtesy of Adventure Cycling's Bike Bits newsletter (which anyone who likes bikes should immediately < a href="http://www.adventurecycling.org/bikebits/index.cfm" target="_blank">sign up for</a>, toot sweet!). But it just served to remind me, however, how soft I've gotten after living in San Diego for two years.

Case in point: last night, channel 6's Aloha Taylor warned me that impending rain that was going to hit the county. Now I've ridden in the rain plenty of times. Like the quote above suggests, I find it kind of nourishing. But lately, I'm beginning to think it's not such a good idea in San Diego. The roads get super slick from all the oil that hasn't been washed off and, quite frankly, people out here don't know how to drive in the rain. I'd feel safer riding in a snow storm in Boston.

So I postponed plans to commute to work. This morning I awoke to clouds in the distance. Flipping on the TV, I couldn't find Aloha (who, incidently, named her daughter Taylor. Hmm...Do you think her daughter's full name is Taylor Taylor?), so I listened to Chrissy Russo on channel 5 tell me that the rain wouldn't come until later today. She seemed truly excited by this, bouncing around the set and pointing her legs out in a sort of slow-mo version of Elaine's dance from Seinfeld .

Thanks to Chrissy, I hopped on my bike and headed for the train station. (Chrissy, incidentally, when asked who she'd want to be stranded on a deserted island with, replied "[David Duchovny for obvious reasons | http://www.fox5sandiego.com/pages/anchor_reporter_bios]." What reasons, exactly? His monotone voice or his admitted addiction ? There's a Lost plot thread waiting to happen.)

Fast forward to now. Rain's comin' right? So I made arrangements to get picked up from work at 7:15 by Emmy. I'll stay later, get some work down, stay dry. Well...Chrissy! Aloha! Where's my rain?!? It's bone dry out there. If I get lapped in my next bike race because I skipped a day of riding I'm holding both of you responsible. This was supposed to be Big News! Sigh...it wasn't like this back when Brick Tamland was doing weather.

And now I have to live with the fact that I've turned into a weather riding wuss. Gol-durnit!

Cross Chain Traffic

Jesse@Active — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:23:16 GMT

Turns out I made a New Year's resolution but didn't realize it until today. After learning that train fares were being increased to $5.50 each way starting on Jan. 1, I decided to commute by bike more. Though I'm a big supporter of public transportation, I'm also a big supporter of going out to dinner more than once a month. Additionally, I also have some bike races I'd like to do, and this would be good training for them.

So last week I rode to work twice. This week, I'm determined to ride in Monday through Thursday. Two days down, two to go. It's still too dark to ride home, though. The trip is about 18 miles on city streets, bike paths, highway and sometimes a dirt service road.

Yes, highway. It must have been a proud day in the San Diego transportation authority's office when they realized there weren't any feasible bike routes connecting Sorrento Valley with the rest of the city and that they'd have to open up the freeway (as they call it here in Cali...take that Fast Lane owners!) to bicycle traffic.

Actually, it's one of the safer sections of my ride. The shoulder is wide enough to give me ample room away from the 70+ mph traffic. This is in stark contrast to some of the other roads I ride on, where cars go the same speed, but there is barely a shoulder to cry on (I'm talking to you, people who work at the Anheuser-Busch Distributor on Santa Fe St. One might think your job was to taste the different batches of beer all day; in which case I'd drive 70 mph to work, too).

One benefit to riding on the freeway allows me to see how fast I can go. With my new Treck ACH bike computer now finally installed, I try to hit 40 coming off the Genesee exit. It's a slight downhill, but I've got to get into the big ring and peddle as hard as I can to reach it.

My bike computer is definitely an upgrade from my old one. In addition to an odometer, speed reading and trip time, I've now got cadence, heart rate (which I have yet to use), temperature, altitude (which I can't quite figure out what it's telling me) and percent grade. It took me over an hour to figure out how to set everything, even though there were directions in about a dozen languages. It had me wondering if, at that same moment, there was a confused Dutch cyclist doing the exact same thing.

Speaking of temperature, my ride started at 6:50 a.m. with a temp of 48 at my house. In Rose Canyon, the temp read 42 degrees, though I imagine the wind chill of going 17 mph made it slightly colder. By the time I hit the office around 8ish, my bike was telling me it was 60 degrees out. (Sorry mom, but today is supposed to hit 82. How's Connecticut?)

Photos From Sequoia National Park

Jesse@Active — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:35:42 GMT

Over Thanksgiving Weekend, Emmy and I braved the rain and holiday traffic (on California freeways each of those elements is dangerous, especially between SD and LA. Stop snickering, East Coasters, life is hard out here) for a trip up north to Sequoia National Park . We arrived at Horse Creek Campground just before dark, leaving enough time to set up and start cooking.

In the true spirit of our pilgrim ancestors, we cooked over an open fire--though I'm not entirely sure they had pre-cooked turkey legs. I'll have to check wikipedia.

On Friday we drove to the park and bought a National Parks Annual Pass! Since none of our East Coast friends ever come out to visit us, we decided we'll have more time to see our nation's natural splendor (before the oil drilling starts).

It was still cloudy and slightly damp that morning...until we started ascending. By the time we got to (about 6,700 feet above sea level) we were above the clouds.

Back on the road, we drove through the Tunnel Log on our way to do some more hiking.

Here's Emmy in front of a fallen sequoia's root system:

And another of Emmy coming out of a 100+ year-old cabin that some lonely rancher built into a tree (his place is about the size of our apartment):

Why is this bear crossing the road?

On Saturday, we awoke to a sunny morning, ate our oatmeal, then headed back into the park. We went straight for the big bopper: General Sherman . This tree is the largest living organism in the world (not the tallest, but largest volume-wise).

It's too big to even fit in the picture...sigh...so many "That's what she said" jokes, so little time...

Throughout the Park are trees with burned out hollows in their trunks. I think I saw Gollum in this one.

The Park is also packed with beautiful redwoods (though in sepia, everything is beautiful).

Our final hike took us to the roaring (at least in the spring, I'm told) Kaweah Falls.

"This would have made a nice spot." Yeah, thanks Emmy. I appreciate the reminder.

On our drive out of the park, we saw one this big fella.

Emmy didn't sleep so well that night...

Getting Fixed

Jesse@Active — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:11:49 GMT

Last night was my first track cycling class! I spent two hours with about seven other guys learning the ins and outs of riding a fixed-gear track bike at the San Diego Velodrome . While a few guys showed up with their own wheels, I had to borrow a bike. Riding a fixed gear is~~to use a well-worn phrase~~like learning to ride a bike all over again.

The class was made up of a mixed group of riders. Some mainly commuters (like me), a few early-20's racers and a few guys who've probably ridden fixed gears for awhile.

The first step was learning how to get rolling. The bikes had cage pedals, but instead of coasting while you get your second foot in, the pedals keep moving with the wheels. So that was the first time I almost fell over. Then we rode around a bit before learning to stop. You gotta go real slow. That was the second time I almost fell over.

The third time was when we practiced starting from the rail on the side of the track, with both feet in the cages. The fourth time was getting used to stopping on the rail.

But eventually we got going, and the concept of "just keep pedaling" sunk in enough for me to keep the rubber side down and discover how truly exhilarating track cycling can be. Sure, you're just going around in circles, but the minute centrifugal force that you experience going around a corner must hit some stimulating nerve in the brain because I kept thinking "I can do this all night!"

At the end of the night we worked on pacelines and the spaghetti and asparagus dinner I scarfed down a half hour before the class began started to work its cramping magic in my stomach. But I stayed upright and in the line. The only disappointment of the evening was when our instructor, Sean Burke, said we wouldn't be racing until probably the fifth class (I'm signed up for six). The Level II people who were there that night looked like they were having fun doing pursuit and sprint races--though they were completely wiped out.

I can't wait for the next class. While driving home, the thought "Can I fit another bike in my apartment?" definitely crossed my mind. Don't tell Emmy.

First Time for Everything: 100 Miles or 30 Minutes

Jesse@Active — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:10:11 GMT

Summer time is Do Stuff time. It's always been that way, but for a guy with a full time job, I feel like I'm back in college again -- no time to just sit around.

After a mile swim last Saturday morning at La Jolla Shores, Airey, Emmy and I drove up to Cuyamaca State Park to catch Toby running his first-ever 100-mile race. It was nothing short of inspirational.

We caught Toby at a checkpoint 62+ miles into the race.

He jogged in looking strong, sat in his aid station throne and wolfed down some watermelon, Fig Newtons, root beer and a Snickers bar. Then he was off. His crew had the drill down pat. You can read his race report here (and see a pic of my weekend mustache!).

Sunday, Airey and I drove to Chula Vista for the 3rd Avenue Grand Prix. I signed up for the Category 5 race and under Airy-wan Kenobi's tutelage, gave my first-ever criterium a go! Crit racing is fast and furious. I made some rookie mistakes and eventually fell off the pack. However, I was able to stay close enough to the group -- me and another guy took turns drafting off one another -- to finish the whole race. It lasted about 30 minutes going around a .8-mile course that included a u-turn(!).

I had a ton of fun and learned a lot about cornering, pack riding, sprinting and racing in general. I definitely want to add a couple more crits to my race calendar.

Next up is the Battle at Midway on Saturday, June 15 in and around Midway, Utah. Emmy and I are flying to Salt Lake City tonight, then spending a couple of nights at Snowbird resort after the race.

We had a heckuva time packing our bikes last night. I managed to open a deep "do you think you need stitches?" kind of cut on my knuckle on my right hand, and we're still not sure we'll ship them. The expense that Jet Blue will charge us, not to mention the risk to the spokes, might make it worth renting bikes at the venue. Not a great idea, but we'll see. With water temps in the low 50's, I'll probably be glad to jump on a tricycle at that point.

Oh, and I still owe a wrap-up on Wildflower (one of the best races I've ever done).

Making a Point

Jesse@Active — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:56 GMT

Awhile back, I wrote a post titled Is My Bike Commuting Embarrassing You? about how I thought parents driving with kids in the car were some of the more annoying people on the road. They tend to ignore (or not notice) cyclists. Many of them are carrying cups of coffee and generally speeding along trying to get junior to school.

And while I understand that being a parent is tough~~what with little Suzy cutting a hole in little Johnny's shirt minutes before he needs to be at school~~I'm still convinced that "kids in the car" is not an excuse for unsafe and potentially reckless driving. (By the way, to stem any misconceptions about me, I'm a "polite wave" kind of rider rather than a "[flip the bird | http://www.active.com/cycling/Articles/Legally_Speaking__Is_Flipping_the_Bird_a_Right_.htm]" rider when cars get too close. But I'll definitely say something if I think you might hear me.)

Anyway, today I stumbled on a comic strip called Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery by Rick Smith. It's definitely a print-out-and-put-on-the-cubicle-wall kind of comic (though I doubt most SUV drivers would get it).

Here's yesterday's amazing strip:

Exactly.

They Say It's Good for the Skin...

Jesse@Active — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:56:41 GMT

I did the San Diego Mud Run a few weeks ago (April 13 to be exact). A few of us from Active did the 10K run, which consisted of two laps around a dirty, dusty, muddy, up-and-down course in East County. The weather was in the high-90s, rare for that time of year. It made for a hot time.

Danny, Marc, Me and Bryan before the start (the cleanest we'll get all day).

After the finish.

Our shoes! Mine is on the left. Notice Bryan's shoe (to the right of mine) has no sole and part of his muddy sock is sticking out. He lost the sole before we even finished the first 5K. He then ran soleless for the rest of the run.

Marc's daughter, held by his sister-in-law Seiko, Emmy, me, Danny, Bryan, Marc.

Marc's wife Mine (who took all these pics. Thanks, Mine) took some video of us finishing (the lunges are in honor of Arch and ActiveX).

The race was fun, though to call it a race is pushing it. We walked a bunch in order to get through the mud, and also because pretty much everyone else was walking up the big hill, leaving no room to run. Some of the water stops also ran out of cups and started reusing them! It was so hot, it didn't really matter much (plus, we were covered in mud, how much more dirty could we get?). But still...

My finishing time was listed as 49 min. 48 seconds. Marc, Bryan and Emmy all had finishing times of 1:13 and change. Danny didn't even get one. Yet we all finished together. Marc even went through the chute before me (this was a hand-the-volunteer-your-bib-ticket kind of race, no timing chips). The only reason I can think of for the faster time is that my incredible good looks distracted the timers.

However, it's a good illustration of what to expect when doing races put on by different groups. This event was run by Skyline Church, and all proceeds benefited its programs. This makes it more satisfying when paying the registration fee. But at the same time, there's that risk that the event won't be run as smoothly as when put on by a professional event organization.

Besides the cup snafu, there were elements of the course promised on the website that were missing on race day, including a giant slip and slide down a hill that we were all looking forward to. Instead, there was a hill that was so dusty, you couldn't see when going down it. People had to cover their mouths not to breath it in.

All in all, it was a fun event. There were ample showers for cleaning up and they had a bag check for your stuff (a great feature and something the professionally-run Muddy Buddy should emulate...). The water cup problem might not have been as bad if it wasn't so hot. We had so much fun, we signed up for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run in October. It'll be interesting to see how different a mud run put on by Marines is from one put on by a church.

March Showers Bring Wildflower

Jesse@Active — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:34:44 GMT

Is it possible to get Honorable Mention in a competition that doesn't exist except within yourself? I attempted to do the B-Fit B-Day Challenge last week since my 27th birthday was on the 16th.

The Challenge called for a 2-mile swim, 27-mile bike and 7-mile run. I did the swim on Saturday morning with Carrie and Toby .

We did a Shores-to-Cove-to-Shores swim in La Jolla. After starting the excursion by passing a seal funeral (several seals surrounding one that didn't seem to be moving. A funeral was our best guess.), crawling over a veritable island of seaweed, and then rolling with 10 to 12-foot waves, we made it back to shore for my first open water swim of the year.

Tuesday, I biked in to work and then biked home for a total of 34.6 miles. But then came fulfilling the run portion...

I don't like that part. I ran for about 38 minutes on Thursday, but that's it. At my pace, that's about 3.8 miles.

So I didn't even make it to bronze level in the Challenge. I guess there's always next year. The real worry is Wildflower. I need to start doing some long jaunts if I'm going to have the stamina to do the 10K at the end of the race. It's hilly, could be hot, and will definitely be hard.

Oh, and I have to beat Luke. Otherwise, it's going to be a loooong drive home...