Thursday, April 25, 2013

Final Wishes Regarding My Bicycles

I have told some people, but figured that I can write it down to let everyone know what I would like to happen with my bikes if I suffer an untimely death.

It is fine if my friends want to make a ghost bike in the event that I'm clobbered while riding, but please do it out of junk parts that wouldn't make a rideable bike.  I would like all of my current bikes given to people who will ride them every day (or nearly every day).  Priority should be given to people who know me and then to people without other means of transportation.

Monday, April 22, 2013

An Incredible Hulk

I went running this evening with Andrew and his friend Tyler.  Afterward, Andrew asked Tyler if he wanted something that sounded like "a credible."  I had to inquire what was meant by that.  He was referring to "an incredible hulk" which is what you get when you mix mountain blast powerade with lemon lime powerade.  The resulting drink is green and delicious.  I had never done this mixture before, but I highly recommend it.  We had ours out of a fountain, which I presume is just a bit better than mixing out of bottles.  I hear that you can also mix the powders.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Pick #342

Ana Tijoux - "Shock"




Acabo de recibir un enlace a este vidéo en mi buzón gracias a Stephanie.  Siempre me manda música buena.  Decido escogerlo porque trata de una situación actual en Chile.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Triathlon Transition Practice

I volunteered at Red Hills Triathlon this weekend and part of my job was to staff the mount and dismount lines.  For those of you unfamiliar with triathlon, it begins with a swim then there is a "transition 1" aka T1 where wetsuits are taken off and athletes grab their bikes.  During the second transition, "T2," athletes put their bikes away and get ready to run.

I came to the conclusion that most triathletes can finish much faster if they can streamline the transitions.  Many athletes will expend a good deal of time and effort putting in another couple laps in the pool or on the track, but neglect practicing their transitions.  By my estimation, a roughly similar amount of time could be shaved off the race clock from harder practice in the disciplines or with transition practice.  If you really want to get faster, do both.  If you'd like to drop a few seconds, then practice transitions...it hurts a lot less.

Tips for transitions:
On the way out on the bike:
1.  Be methodical.  Rushing around will lead you to make mistakes.
2.  Practice transitions.  People aren't used to ending a swim by standing up and running.  It makes your head feel funny.  Get used to it.  Find a pool that lets you run on deck or go practice entry/exits in open water.
3.  Practice removing your wetsuit.  You might want to put some Body Glide on the bottom of the legs on the outside of the suit.  I recommend avoiding the Pam.
4.  Organize your transition area.  I currently keep my shoes clipped into my pedals (which saves A TON of time and is not as scary as you might think).  Before I started keeping them clipped in, they were the closest thing to me when I came in from the swim.  My helmet balances on my aerobars with the straps open and the forehead side facing me.  My sunglasses are open inside the helmet.  I put on the sunglasses then I can flip the helmet on my head easily.  My bike is in a low gear for easy take off.
[photos to come if I can remember]
5.  Learn to run your bike with your hand on the seat.  It's the fastest way.
6.  Practice mounting your bike while it's still moving.  You don't want to completely stop after you cross the mount line.  You can go slow and coast a little, but being stopped slows you way down.

On the way back in from the bike:
7.  Learn to dismount while the bike is moving.  I recommend taking your feet out of the shoes and placing them on top of the shoes.  I like to swing my right leg behind my seat and put it behind my left leg and coast toward the dismount line with my hands on the brakes.  I slow down but do not stop.  I keep some of the bike momentum to run into T2.  I did the same thing when I used to keep my bike shoes on until I got to my transition area, but I had to slow down a bit more.
8.  I wear socks for the run.  That slows down a transition quite a bit, but speeds up my run by keeping the blisters away.  I've tried to learn to run without socks and it's not feasible for me.  It might be for you.
9.  Get elastic shoe laces and a race number belt.  Those items will greatly speed up your T2.
10.  Remember that saving time in transition is just as good as saving it on the swim, bike, or run courses.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Una broma mía

Encontré esta broma en mi email...la creé.

¿Cuál es la bebida preferida de Japón?

-Zumo (Sumo)