RIP: GT zr 4000

Yesterday's ride was likely the last for the GT.

What prompted a visit to the Trek store was a problem with the rear shifter. The indexing stripped during a ride yesterday, rendering the entire rear shifting mechanism worthless. My triple-eight had effectively become a three speed: 53-42-30 chain rings. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst, I dropped if off at the shop last night.

The phone rang like a death knell this morning. At the other end, the bike mechanic is yelling in my ear, "Dude, you rode the piss out of this thing!"

Apparently, not only is the rear shifter hosed, but the chain is stretched beyond the capability of measurement and the teeth are stripped on the triple chain rings and cassette.

At first, I was proud of what my beastly side had accomplished. And then depression set in.

It was a nice bike! It was a joy to ride and it was cheerfully yellow. It brought me many places that I never dreamt of before. Well, Louisville, Nebraska is not much of a place to dream of, but it still got me there and back. And man, what a heroic sacrifice it made for me during its last race two days ago!

"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak, Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break." -- Shakespeare's Macbeth

Oh! The loss...the agony!! ***Gnashing-teeth sound***

I shall miss you, GT. Rest in Peace.

2007 Cornhusker State Games Triathlon Recap

Location:
Holmes Lake, Lincoln, NE
Conditions: heavy rain at the 7:30am start; overcast at the finish. 69F with 10mph winds. The last and only time I was here was at the 2007 Lincoln Marathon; it's the turnaround point for the second half of the race. Coincidentally, it was also raining on that race day.

1K Swim (13:17) Swim Rank:5
I wore a full wetsuit, and aside from my arms being fatigued due to its weight at the 750m mark, I can't really complain. Even the water tasted pretty good; could it have been the extra seasoning in the toxic green algae?

Transition #1: Swim to Bike
Struggled getting the wetsuit unzipped during the short run to the transition area. Finally, I got it unzipped by the time I reached the bike. Lost a little time running slowly and managing the near panic-attack of not getting the thing off on time. Whew! Didn't want to ride the bike with that thing on.

20K Bike (36:21) Bike Rank:25
The first loop was about getting the legs warmed up. On the second loop, I got passed by two people, but I was holding a steady pace. Katherine told me later that I was smiling way too much and that I didn't have a look of strain on my face like the other cyclists going by. In retrospect, I suppose that I could have pushed harder, but I wasn't sure how much I'd need for the run.

Transition #2:
This time, the transition was really bad. First, I locked up the brakes and nearly wiped out as I approached the dismounting area. Then, I racked the bike in the wrong spot and, after re-racking it in the correct location, I almost ran out of the transition area the wrong way. I got yelled at by the transition manager and heard a woman say, "Poor guy just did an extra lap in the parking lot." Needless to say, I was a running fool!

5K Run (18:50) Run Rank:5
The run was pretty steady~6:10 mile pace. When I was starting to feel miserable, I remember thinking, "why do I do this racing when it makes me feel so awful?" The things we do to ourselves for amusement. But, I forgot this feeling until now.

Here were the official splits:
Total time: 1:10:43 Overall Rank: 5
1K Swim: 13:17 (1:16/100 avg), Overall Rank 5
Transition #1 1:06
20K Bike 36:21 (20.5mph avg), Overall Rank 25
Transition #2 1:12 (ran the wrong way)
5K Run 18:50 (6:04 mi avg), Overall Rank 5

In summary, it was a great experience. I am definitely hooked on TRIs and now consider myself a "triathlete" instead of a "runner".

Congrats also to Dan, Jorge, Ryan, Andreas, Scott, Kelley, Russell and thanks to the many volunteers manning the race course.

John Mark Karr Reinstated to Tour

PARIS, France (AP) -- Tour Officials abandoned their case against schoolteacher John Mark Karr on Thursday, saying that both A and B test samples were negative, failing to prove Karr was guilty of doping.

The World Anti-Doping Agency vice president Jean-Francois Lamour suggested how the case against Karr was built -- and unraveled -- in a five-page motion asking tour officials to reinstate Karr.

Lamour said "no evidence has developed, other than Karr's own repeated admissions, to suggest that he is using banned substances in this year's tour."

Karr, who claims that Alexandre Vinokourov personally injected him in the buttocks on numerous occasions, was distressed at the motion and said that he would file an appeal.

Inspiration

I am also inspired by Fred, but I don't give a damn about his cycling.

Fred makes a mean sandwich, and that is something for which I owe great deal of respect.

Once, when my energy was nearly depleted at the end of a long ride, Fred says, "let me tell you about the sandwich I'm going to make: fresh deli turkey, onions, cucumbers, tomato, lettuce, mayo and sprouts on a baguette." For a moment, I forgot about the pain I was in during a full bonk as I hung on every word of that description. It was like Nirvana. So burning my last carb, I made a mental note to myself, "...if you can't be a great cyclist, you can at least strive to make an incredible sandwich."

After the ride that day, I went directly to Hy-Vee to begin practicing this noble art. That is to say, I showered first, then went to Hy-Vee.

As for Fred, it's the sprouts that make or break the deal. Once, he claims to have even eaten a sprouts-and-mayo sandwich, not even realizing until he finished it that the sandwich was meatless. It didn't matter, you see, for the sprouts and mayo were more than sufficient for my boy.

Now I like sprouts too, but that approach is too spartan for me. While Fred's a minimalist, I've never been a fan of modern or contemporary art. I prefer the classics. But I digress.

In regards to the sandwich, you just gotta have the rest of that stuff: crisp lettuce, red onions, sweet peppers, hot mustard, tomatoes, a touch of mayo, etc. to balance all of the tastes and textures.

And while the rest of the ingredients are very important, the bread is the lynchpin. It's like the canvas for a masterpiece.

Here are some tips on selecting bread. First, avoid grocery store bread in a plastic bag. There is absolutely no excuse for Wonder Bread® in your shopping cart. If you must buy plastic-bagged bread, choose a whole grained variety that is substantial in weight. This will not only withstand the tumbling in the backpack during the commute, but it will also absorb a good amount of fluid from crushed tomatoes.

A better choice is to go to the bakery/bakery aisle and select a loaf in a paper sack. A baguette is a good choice here: tough on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Lately, I've been buying whole loaves directly from Jimmy Johns®. Their bread has a nice balance of weight and texture. It tastes great and is baked fresh daily. Moreover, Jimmy John Liautaud agrees with my assessment that the bread is the key to a wonderful sandwich: "With a handful of cookbooks checked out from his local library, Jimmy perfected his award-winning bread." Now there's an artist with a passion.

After you've chosen your bread, make sure to get fresh deli meats, veggies and condiments of your choice. Pile it on liberally and carefully tuck it into a sealable plastic bag. I advise to make the sandwich the night before so as not to rush the richness of the experience before the mad commute to work. Add a bag of kettle chips and a piece of fruit and you're good to go.

Now I'm a rookie in both cycling and the art of sandwich making. That said, if I cared as much about cycling as I did the post-carb throwdown afterwards, I'd be a much better rider than I currently am.

Oh well, when's lunch?

Serottaology

I checked out the inventory at Olympia and Bike Masters today. Both stores told me that 51 cm top tube is going to be too small and that a 53-54 tri bike would fit me better. They're like, "Dude, I'm 5-9 and I ride a 56cm road bike and a 54 cm TT bike; 51's gonna be too small for you. Fortunately, we've got a few bikes in the 54cm size..."

But, the Serotta fitting strongly suggests that I'm a size 51 tri bike.


Is the Serotta fitting some sort of quasi-science quackery? While there were all kinds of measurements being taken during the fitting, I don't recall seeing an e-meter on the aerobars...

Heck! What to do?

I got to get that trash out of my head!! I paid good money for the Serotta fitting and it was a purely mechanical, ruler and tape measurement system. I can and will trust this system.

There. I feel better that I got that out. I'm sticking with the 51.

Wait 'till you see me spin on this little fella!