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Dodgers Game
SAT, 30 July 2005
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Is it a "Dodger" game or a "Dodgers" game? I say Dodgers, and I went to a game last Monday to see the Dodgers play against the Cincinnati Reds.
I haven't been to a Dodgers game in about three years, so when I was offered free tickets plus parking on a Monday night (a night I happen to not be riding), I said "yes!"
Traffic makes getting to the game the hardest part. Rush hour on L.A. freeways heading towards downtown sucks. But once we got there, parking was a breeze and we were off to find our seats and our Dodger dogs (or is it Dodgers dogs?).
 It was a good night. The Dodgers won and so did the concession stands in the battle for my money. $7 dollar beer! At least Dodger stadium lets you bring in some food and drink. We were smart and frugal enough to have gotten soda and peanuts and candy at the supermarket to bring to the game.
Check out my Yahoo! Photos from the excursion. They're posted here. |
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Crash Is More Damaging Than First Thought. Semena Nautica Crit Rant.
Tue, 19 July 2005
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It turns out Sunday's crash was worse than I thought. The Cannondale's top tube is dented. See the Sisquoc RR Crash page for more info and updated photos including top tube damage, seat damage, and destroyed helmet.
Yesterday I promised to go off about Saturday's Semana Nautica Criterium. Here goes.
My teammate, Chris DeMarchi, and I conferred Friday night about what time to leave Saturday morning. I said, "Let's work backwards from the race start time." My race flyer said the Pro/1/2 race was at 1:05 PM. Chris had a flyer that said 11:10 AM. Race scheduling changes aren't unusual. I've been caught off guard by them before so I've gotten into the practice of re-checking websites and flyers just before races. In this case, it appeared a scheduling change was made and we simply had to figure out which flyer was right. Neither flyer had a printed revision date.
I got my flyer from the official association website, www.scnca.com. Chris got his from www.socalcycling.com. I checked the PDF creation dates of both and my flyer had the most recent date, so I figured it must be the correct version. We decided that rather than rely on that piece of logic, I'd call the race promoter to get a definite answer. I called but got voicemail so I left a message asking which start time was correct and requested a call back.
Atfter leaving the message, I went to the race's presenting website, www.ridesb.com. It, too, had the updated flyer with a 1:05 start time. I called Chris, and he had done the same thing (gone to ridesb.com). Since the promoter hadn't called back, we were left to make the logical interpretation that the most recently updated flyer must be the correct one, especially if it's the one on the official website, and that socalcycling.com simply hadn't gotten or posted the update.
As we're driving out to Santa Barbara on Saturday morning, Chris' cell phone rings and it's another of our teammates, Frank, asking where we're at. Chris tells him we're driving up and should be there by 11:30, plenty of time before the 1:05 start. Frank tells Chris the race is starting at 11:10. After we realize he isn't kidding, Chris asks to speak to the promoter and an official.
Chris pushed for them to stick with the 1:05 start time since it's the latest officially posted start time and the one we were relying on. We wanted to race and we had this planned as a Saturday and Sunday race weekend, staying overnight in Lompoc for a Santa Maria/Sisquoc Road Race the next day. If we don't race Saturday, we wouldn't have needed to drive up early and get a hotel.
The promoter tried to turn the blame on us saying we had a responsibility to check for the right info, but that was quickly shot down because we did very diligent work to figure out what the right info was and he never called us back. The promoter admits to changing the flyer/start times but decided to go with the older flyer since he felt it was the one with the widest distribution via socalcycling.com. We think it was a poor decision to go off an older flyer and because it significantly altered the start time for the biggest race of the day.
The resolution was the official held off the race start time by about 30 minutes (and shortened it from 120 minutes to 90), allowing Chris and I just enough time to arrive, jump out of the car, into our clothes, and onto our bikes. We were greatly aided by Frank's associate, Christy, and one of the officials who helped us pin up numbers and pump tires, getting us to the line just as the race was about to start. This was great for Chris and I, but there were still racers who arrived anticipating a 1:05 start time and who missed doing the race.
After all the hassle to get there to race, Chris and I felt an obligation to ourselves and the other racers to put in good efforts. We didn't disappoint. Chris managed to get a box of Clif Bars prime and finish 12th despite a flattening tire at about 4 to go. I split a $100 prime with another ride in a breakaway that started around 10 to go. I recovered enough to sprint for a 9th place finish for another $50.
I like the race course and would do it again, but I really hope the promoter steps up by 1) sticking to a schedule, and 2) communicating well by getting out the correct information, changed or not, via websites and e-mail, and by returning phone calls. Lastly, 3) have the responsibility to own up to mistakes and make proper decisions.
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Race Enough, Crash Enough.
Monday, 18 July 2005
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If you race enough, you'll eventually crash. If you race a lot, you'll get even more of your share. I picked up my share this Sunday at the Sisquoc road race. Read more here.
I almost forgot to share these photos of me tricycle racing in my backyard.
Quick story: Saw kid's plastic trike in yard. Mounted with drink in hand. Sprinted. Funny photo. Decided to get serious about the sport, so geared up in helmet and glasses. Excellent. Sharp turn ahead, draggin' knee motorcycle style. I've found my calling.
I have a lot to say about the messed up way the Saturday Semana Nautica Criterium went. I'll be back to tell you more later today...
-adm
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Never Like Lance.
Thursday, 14 July 2005
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Lance is kicking ass in the Tour de France, as usual. Great for him.
Today, as I was staring at my lunch's "Nutrition Facts", I came to realize why I'll never be like Lance. Let me count the ways:
- 8 ounces of Starbucks ice cream
- 1 IHOP Funnel Cake with stawberry topping
- 1Banquet Corn Dog Microwave Meal (490 calories, 19g total fat, 890mg sodium!)
- 100 or so M&Ms
- and many, many more!
The point: I like to eat, and even though I try hard to manage my intake, I can't cut the bad stuff entirely. I imagine if it weren't for cycling I'd be a grossly obese little man. Yucky.
-adm |
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Race Rut Continues. Everybody.
Wednesday, 13 July 2005
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Slept in Saturday recovering from our party on Friday night. I don't think it impacted my performance at Sunday's Ontario Grand Prix race but it didn't help, either. I raced a good race, overall, but when it came time for the finish, I did a piss-poor job of getting position and sprinting. I was officially 18th, but that pays the same as last, so it's what I felt like I got.
Philisophical lyrics moment, brought to you by the Blues Brothers:
"...please remember people, that no matter who you are, and what you do to live, thrive and survive, there are still some things that make us all the same. You, me, them, everybody, everybody. "
-adm |
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Miss Me? Mr. DVD. Miss $.
Friday, 08 July 2005
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1. Yep, haven't been blogging lately. Why? Plenty of projects going on. I've been on a tear backing up files, disks, organizing stuff, and simply making my office and home better places to be. I've also been riding and spending a lot of time catching up on magazine reading and movie watching. I can see my office floor!
2. We've been on Blockbuster's Movie Pass in-store rental program for about three months now. You can have 1 DVD out at a time, as many times as you want, for as long as you want. It's $15/mo. We did Netflix and Blockbuster's DVD-by-mail programs but always felt like we were waiting a day or two for what we wanted to watch. The selection in-store isn't always the best but it's pretty good and now we're catching up on many of the movies we missed. Here's a rundown and my ratings:
- Spanglish - B+
Paz Vega is a cutie, Shelbie Bruce and Adam Sandler do great jobs, and I want Tea Leoni's character to just go away. A good story but not the fantasy Hollywood ending...and it works out great!
- Hide & Seek - C
Dakota Fanning and Robert De Niro are both good but this story is frustratingly slow and reminded us of "Secret Window" with Johnny Depp.
- After The Sunset - B
Action and scenery! A beautiful tropic setting and beautiful Salma Hayek. Pierce Brosnan is his typically charming and intriguing self and his comedic interaction with Woody Harrelson is fun.
- The Pacifier - D+
Vin Diesel, please stick to action only. Adding frustrating kid moments and lame action just about killed us. We stuck it out and finish the movie 'cause it did have funny moments, but most of the time we were laughing at the movie, not because of it.
- Ocean's Twelve - B
It wasn't as good as Ocean's Eleven but it was still entertaining and we didn't feel like we wasted time watching it. Jule likes Matt Damon so it was worth it for her all the way.
- White Noise - C-
Michael Keaton gives a good performance but he can't make up for a lame plot and even lamer ending. The funniest part of the DVD is the Special Features where people talk about really believing this crap.
- Be Cool - C+
This reinforces how much better Get Shorty was. Entertaining but only just above average.
And, we saw Mr. & Ms. Smith at the movie theater on Saturday. I give this a B+. I liked the action and funness of the plot. Sure, it's all unlikely but I was willing to suspend belief to enjoy and the movie made it easy. It also helps that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have great chemistry in the movie. And they're pretty people.
3. Racing hasn't been great lately. I've been out of the money for three weekends straight now and I'm frustrated. Some of it has to do with my peaking for state championships and then needing recovery time. I also think some of it has to do with me being in a mental funk and just needing to feel more confident. It's been a drag finishing 11, 12, 13, and 13 in my last four races. In them all, I've been fairly aggressive and in control up until the last few laps. Normally, I'd find a way to make it through the muck, but lately, I seem to get mired in it. I hope to turn my fortunes around this weekend and break the top 10 again. Better yet, top 6 for upgrade points.
-ADM |
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