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Maybury Lungbuster Cyclocross (CX) Race

Published October 25, 2009

Today I participated in the Maybury Lungbuster Cyclocross Race at Maybury State Park in Northville, MI. Racing class C I did four laps in just over 30 minutes and was right on the edge of vomiting once I was done.

In cyclocross one has to frequently dismount the bike and (ideally) run up hills or hop over intentionally placed obstacles (barriers and logs, in this case) before hoping back on the bike; all while not stopping. I generally didn’t have a problem getting off the bike, but because of the fine clay-bearing soil at Maybury my cleats kept becoming packed full, making clipping in difficult. Being particularly ungood at running and not in that great of shape, the running up hills was particularly challenging as well.

Now that I’m back at home, I’m feeling absolutely exhausted. My right tricep is also sore, which is likely from picking up the bike to hop over the barriers. I think a bath and beer may be in order, but only after eating the Apple Crumble which Danielle currently has in the oven.

If you’d like to see a few more photos from today, here they are:

· Geocache unexpectedly found near the long runup at the Maybury Lungbuster CX race.
· Looking up at people from previous races waiting for Class A racers at the Maybury Lungbuster CX race.
· Two Class A riders from American Cycle and Fitness running up the runup at the Maybury Lungbuster CX race.

I must say, I particularly liked that a race named Lungbuster was held on the grounds of an old tuberculosis sanatorium, Maybury Sanatorium.

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Masala Dosa, Race Across The Sky

Published October 22, 2009

Here, have a photo of the Masala Dosa from Rangoli Express that I ate for dinner before meeting some friends to see a mountain biking movie called Race Across The Sky. While the dosa was excellent, too large to easily fit on the tray, and requiring some 16:9 cropping to look passable, I thought the movie was just okay.

I really enjoyed the footage of people riding through interesting and beautiful places, but much of the fanboy / celebrity worship bits wore on me. In particular, during the panel discussion portion before and after the movie the presenter’s strong desire to talk about Lance Armstrong whenever possible wore on me. Although, I guess he is a brand to be sold, and one which brings lots of attention to the race…

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Temporary Illumination

Published October 20, 2009

After breaking my normal biking headlight I fitted Danielle’s bike light, a NiteRider MiNewt Mini-USB Plus to my bike. At 110 (stated) lumens it’s probably not going to be enough for riding single track, but at least I’ll be able to go ride around the normal paved loops, as long as I pay particular attention to cars, since they won’t be able to see me as well.

This evening I sent my light off to NiteRider for repair via UPS’ 2-Day Air. It cost $23 to ship, but if I get the light back two days sooner, it’ll be worth it. After talking with a customer service person on the phone I expect the repair (and new helmet mount) to cost US$60 – US$80 with a five day turnaround. While not cheap, it’s still cheaper than a new, comparable light.

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My NiteRider TriNewt Is Broken

Published October 19, 2009

Tonight was a perfect night for a ride. Beautiful clear skies, upper 50s, and a light breeze greeted us as we rode from my house to River Bends Park to poke around the new limestone path and some unofficial single track. Not long after entering the park we even ran into some other people we knew who were out enjoying the same trails.

Heading back into the woods things were going well, until I ducked some overgrown brush and caught my head light. While I stayed on the bike, my NiteRider TriNewt stayed with the brush for a bit, breaking off the mount and apparently stretching the cable to uselessness. I was then left holding a non-working head light, roughly two miles into overgrown single track trails which were frequently bench cut along ponds. Thankfully the two people I was with rode behind me, so I was able to see well enough to make it out, even if some of those points involved ensuring that the front wheel was pointed at the narrow, dark shadow in front of me.

Once we made it back to the wider limestone / paved paths in River Bends things were much easier, and I was generally able to ride along next to people, using overflow light to see by. We were then able to finish up a nice loop, totaling ~17 miles. I’m quite lucky that I wasn’t out alone tonight, as a broken light six miles from home on trails would have meant lots of walking and not-safe riding.

Tomorrow I’ll try contacting NiteRider about getting the light fixed. Per their warranty website this should cost $30 in bench time, plus a new cable and light mount. I opened up the light briefly to check for broken solder points, but everything looked fine, so I suspect the cable. Since the cable and its strain relief is not something I can easily remold myself, I think I’ll just pay them to do it. Hopefully I can have it back quickly. Until then I will probably be using a borrowed HID, which should be interesting. There’s a reason why people are moving in droves to LEDs for bike headlights.

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Ride Log

Published October 18, 2009

Today I headed out to Stony Creek and rode a 9.15 mile lap, non-stop. By the time I got back to the parking lot I was a bit winded, but felt like I could ride quite a bit more. I’d considered more trails, or possibly doing a lap or two of the park’s paved road, but there are some shifting problems with my bike and the chain was squeaking over its need to be lubricated, so I figured it was best to head home instead.

Taking after Bob’s example I’ve also started logging my riding to a spreadsheet. Having a bike computer makes it easy to know how far I’ve gone, so I’m now just entering these numbers and random notes in a Google Spreadsheet. This should make it easy to track things long term, and provide a concise historical record. If any of you would like to view this spreadsheet, it’s available here.

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Corroded Bryant CES0110057-01

Published October 16, 2009

My coworker Brian’s furnace went out and during troubleshooting he came across a bunch of water deposits on the Bryant CES0110057-01 control board, as seen here (full res). I first suggested that he clean the deposits off with vinegar, but after doing so he found that one of the jumper wires on this single sided PCB seemed to have corroded in half, as seen above or here (full res).

He asked that I take a look at it, and in doing so I decided to replace it and the jumper next to it, as seen here. I touched up one other iffy looking solder point near the bottom of the board, but otherwise everything else looked good. He’s taking the board home to try now and hopefully this will fix the problem. A new control board for the furnace is $140, and it’d be best if he didn’t have to pay that.

UPDATE: I’ve been told that repairing this jumper fixed the problem. Yay!

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CO2!

Published October 16, 2009

Danielle brought me a box 1/3 full of dry ice today, as it was left over from a shipment they received at the lab. Thus far I’ve placed it in water, put it in soapy water to make a bubble tower, drowned it in apple juice (and drank the juice), and lowered burning magnesium into a sink full of CO2. The magnesium sputters a bit before going out, and the juice tasted nicely acidic with a bit of carbonation. Now to figure out what else to do with it.

It’s being stored in a foam box, in a cardboard box, on the front porch. I imagine there will be plenty left to play with tomorrow after work. Now to think of things to do. Ice cream is an option, although I’m not sure of that one yet…

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All Aboard!

Published October 15, 2009

I just booked a one-way train trip on Amtrak, from Birmingham, MI to Emeryville, CA. Danielle will fly out a couple days after I arrive, then back just under a week later, with me flying back home a few days after that.

This is going to be an interesting ride. It’s a bit over six hours to Chicago on the Wolverine, a couple hour layover, then another 56 hours or so to Emeryville on the California Zephyr. To Chicago I’ll have a business class seat, and then beyond that I’ll have a private Superliner Roomette.

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