Jackson Hole 2008 - Days 1, 2, and 3

Day 1 - Waiting for the gondola to open. Had some fun in Cheyenne Bowl and multiple runs down Broken Goggles. Rode the double up to ski Rendezvous Bowl. This is the second year with no tram. Can't wait for the new and improved tram next year.

Day 2 - Excellent base of snow, but no new snow. So not much to report. Skied Ten Sleep and Expert Chutes. Also Alta Three and Bird in Hand. Met up with Bubba's neighbors from Carlisle and skied a few runs with them. The 16 y.o. followed our kids up and over Roller Coaster Rock, but had too much speed and flew off the top of the rock and fell about 10 feet flat on his back. No injury, but broke his rental ski in half. His Dad was PO'ed until he found he paid the extra $1 per day for insurance and wouldn't have to pay $500 for broken skis. Matt, the younger brother (13 y.o.) continued to ski with us and was psyched to ski so many double diamonds. He told his friend Chris, "You're family never stops. They ski everything."

Above are a couple of shots of paragliders taking off from Gros Ventre, right below where the gondola unloads. The pilots earn some money by strapping a paying guest rider in front of them and running down the hill to fill the sail and glide down to the valley.

Day 3 – Still no new snow. But after two blue bird, sunny days, there were some clouds today and a dusting is forecast for tonight. Boston and NYC got dumped on, but nothing here.

We hiked up the Headwall today. Nick was sick and didn't ski yesterday, so today he skied with his cousins M&M, while we climbed. The entry where we took off our skis and put them on our packs was tricky, as you can tell by Chris struggling up the first section in front of Frank (below).

Then it's just a long climb up the boot track to the top. The photo above is looking back at Chris and Frank. The photo below is looking up at Michael and the rock marking the top of the climb.

Chris, Frank, and Mimi approach the top of the climb.

Mimi crests the top of the climb.

Phillip on top.

The whole gang posing at the top of the Headwall climb, with Corbett's Couloir and Ten Sleep in the background. From left to right: Michael, Julie, Phillip, Bubba, Eric, Frank, Mimi, Chris.

Mimi and Bubba enter Casper Bowl, the prize after the hike.

Michael found the best snow by entering the chute from the skier's right (above). Below he makes a turn and enters the steepest section of the chute.

Below, Chris catches some air off a cat track. It looks like he's jumping for joy at surviving his first experience skiing out of bounds.

I also took the following videos, but the picture quality leaves something to be desired.


Mimi demonstrates that just getting to the start of the climb was difficult.



Michael drops into the chute in Casper Bowl. But first... Bubba falls into the chute.

Garfield Trail hike & ski with George and Rob

It took almost two months, but here are the photos from our hike.
I finally found a way to move photos from my phone to my computer.
The resolution is disappointing, but here they are.

from email sent Mon, Jan 14, 2008 at 10:51 PM

I am going to meet Rob at the NH Liquor Store on I-93 North near exit 11 in Hooksett, NH between 7 and 7:15 AM. I will leave the Mini there and go the rest of the way in Rob's dark green, old Chevy Tahoe 4WD. We will meet George at the Cannon Mtn ski area base lodge between 8:30 and 8:45.

We are hiking up the Garfield Trail to Mt Garfield peak and then skiing back down.
Plan is to leave the trailhead by 9:00 AM. Assuming it takes 4 hours up and we then ski down, 2 hours max, we'll be done at 3:00 PM. If we hike and walk down, we should be down by 4:00. It gets dark about 4:30 or 5:00 so we absolutely want to be out by then So I should be home between 7 and 7:30 PM.

The trailhead is off Gale River Loop Rd.
Directions and map - Take I-93 North past Cannon, then Rte 3 North until a small picnic area 0.3 miles south of its intersection with Trudeau Road. This intersection, often called 5 Corners, has signs for Trudeau Rd. Avoiding the right fork, follow the Gale river Loop Rd south for 1.2 miles then swing left and cross a bridge for the parking lot on the Right.

Extreme Backcountry Sledding

For Nick's 13th birthday, we went to the Mt Cardigan Reservation for some extreme backcountry sledding.

The sun was shining and the trails were covered with 8 to 12 inches of new snow. Life was good. Nick and his friend Mikey made good time in their snowshoes on the flat trails at the base of the mountain.

A couple of hours later, we were breaking trail on the steeper sections and the boys began to tire. Mikey said, "This isn't at all what I expected. I thought we would be walking up the mountain. This is HIKING!"

Near the top of the Firescrew Mountain, the Manning trail goes past a couple of huge boulders and you have to be careful not to slip and fall 20 feet. So Nick decides that it would be fun to slide down these rocks on our butts. Despite my reservations, he was right. It's scary sitting at the top of the drop, and on the way down you free fall for a few feet, but the snow cascades down in front of you acting like a brake and making for a soft landing.



Nick in the starting gate.



Wheee!




Mikey's turn.



Woo Hoo!



Rejuvenated from our play in the snow, we pushed on up the trail. At the Ledges the trail comes out of the woods and opens up to some excellent views and large snow fields. We made two or three runs on our sleds and got some serious speed. We were amazed that we would sled down for a seemingly short time and then it would take us 5 or 10 minutes to hike back up, gasping for breath.

Then after eating our lunch at the Ledges, the real fun began. We rode our sleds back down the narrow, twisty, tree lined hiking trail we spent all day climbing up. By now, enough snowshoers had climbed up the trail that their track was packed down and resembled a bobsled run. This was extreme sledding and required deft steering and quick reflexes to avoid going off the trail and hitting a tree.

We went so fast and had so much fun that we don't have any photos from the steep sections. The only sledding photos are from the much flatter trail at the base of the mountain



Nick on his Swiss Bob sled. The Swiss Bob is easy to carry and worked great on steep and packed trails, but it doesn't have enough float for powder, and is so short that our backpacks dragged in the snow acting like a brake.



Mikey on his surfboard. Although more awkward to carry, the surfboard offered lots of options for sledding. In addition to the belly flop, Mikey could ride sitting or on his knees.

After six hours of hiking and sledding, the boys barely had enough energy to make it back to the lodge. Only the promise of hot chocolate and dry clothes got them back on their feet to walk the last 15 minutes back to trailhead.

The AMC Lodge was hosting a group Scottish musicians and dancers. I enjoyed listening to their music while I relaxed by the fire. But the boys were in a hurry to leave, so we loaded our gear in the car and headed into Bristol for dinner. Mikey confided that he had to get out of there because the music was making him sick. In fact, he did look ill so we gave him a plastic bag so he would be less likely to christen the back seat of our new car.

It began snowing as we finished our hike, so by the time we left the lodge there was a layer of new snow making the dirt road very slippery. We couldn't make it up the hill, the wheels just spinning until the car came to a halt near the top. I suggested spending the night at the lodge and hoping the road was cleared by the next morning, but Mikey said he'd rather walk home (120 miles). Fortunately, on our fourth attempt, we crested the hill and coasted down the other side. Of course, the downhill was equally slippery and even locking the brakes didn't slow our descent. Good thing we were the only car on this narrow road.




In Bristol, we ate at The Mill which serves excellent soups and veggie sandwiches. After a couple a couple games of chess, Mikey felt better and ate a artichoke sandwich. Then the band started to set up on stage and we beat a hasty retreat in case bongos make Mikey sick too.

It was still snowing pretty hard and the traffic on I-93 was crawling along between 10 mph and 30 mph. The boys promptly fell asleep and after half an hour, I was able to speed up to 50 mph and we eventually got home, safe and sound.



Below is a rare photo of the trip leader, driver, photographer, and journalist.

hike/ski Mt Cardigan

My son Nicholas (13 next month) and I went to Mt. Cardigan to hike and ski. Here are some notes (actually, lots of notes) about our day and some links I found while researching or trip. I also am attaching some photos, and the notes I printed out and carried with me.

On the East Side is the AMC 1000 acre Cardigan Reservation, including the Class 3 Holt trail which is considered one of the more difficult trails in New England.
The West side of the mountain is Cardigan State Park.

Here's what we did (times are approximate).

• 6:45 AM – Left Winchester.
• 8:45 AM – Arrived at AMC lodge, bought a map and futzed around with our equipment (e.g., figured out how to carry Nick's ski boots, and put on our crampons).
  
• 9:30 AM – Hiked 1200 feet (vertical) up Holt to Cathedral Forest to Clark Trail.
• 11:00 AM – While eating a sandwich at the top of Alexandria Ski Trail, watched another skier get first tracks in the couple inches of new snow frosting the trail. (Note to self: eat at bottom of ski trail, not at top.) Then clicked into our skis and realized that Nick's boots didn't fit the bindings on his skis. Using my Swiss Army knife, we were able to adjust the bindings and hiking downhill was averted. (Note to self: check all equipment the night before.)
• 11:30 AM – Skied down Alexandria (800 vertical). The trail was fun, narrow and twisty. It must have been heavily skied after the last big snow, because it was bumped up with a couple inches of new snow on top. As we skied down, we hit hidden rocks and ice lurking underneath the light cover of new snow. We met the skier who beat us to the trail skinning back up as we went down.
• 11:45 AM – Tried to traverse along Allieway Ski Trail to Manning Trail. Quickly realized that without cross country skis or climbing skins we were not going to make it so we put our skis on our packs and post holed next to the ski tracks; very tiring. Then we hiked up Manning (for a total of 1000 vertical) to some ledges where a large group of hikers was getting ready to head back down. They didn't know where the ski trail was, but they shared some brownies with us. Then we ate the rest of our food (of course we had reserves in case we didn't make it back before dark—you can survive on dried mango and bison jerky if you have to) and looked around for the ski trail.
• 1:45 PM – After failing to find the start of Duke's Ski Trail, we decided that if we headed down slope and kept to the right we should be okay. The first 50 yards or so was through an open field of snow and we had some really fun turns. As we approached the forest ahead, we saw some blue blazes and then a sign for Duke's Ski Trail. The trail was less steep than Alexandria but the snow cover was better and the run was longer (1300 vertical) and took us right back to the lodge. Near the bottom we discovered the remains of the old rope tow, and the rusted out car used to power it.
  
• 2:30 PM – Put our skis and boots back in the car and sat around the fireplace in the lodge. Before hiking up for our second run, Nick wanted to do three or four runs. But after hiking up twice, I decided I wasn't carrying my skis and his boots another vertical foot. I was still up for snowshoeing the Nature Trail near the lodge or hiking out the waterfall and back, but after thinking about it over hot chocolate, Nick admitted his thighs were tired and he was ready to call it a day. The lodge was full of 60+ AMC members from the Boston Chapter who were there for a weekend of hiking. They shared their snacks and stories and made us feel welcome.
• 3:30 PM – Drove to Bristol for dinner at an Irish Pub called Cu Na Mara. We ate bangers and Boxti stuffed with lamb, garlic, and rosemary and drank Irish beer (Harp for me, Root for Nicholas).
• 5:15 PM – Drove home. Nick slept the whole way.
• 7:00 PM – Unpack then watch The Longest Yard on TV.

Below are some useful links I found while researching our adventure.

• Directions on how to get to Mt Cardigan Lodge
• First Tracks Online Ski Magazine
• summer photos
• more summer photos
• a report on BC Skiing Duke's Trail near Mt. Cardigan from MIT Outing Club
• another MIT OC report with videos of the skiing at Mt Cardigan
• Basecamp: Cardigan Lodge
• Snowshoe above treeline and summit Mt. Cardigan
• Skip the lift lines: classic backcountry ski and snowboard tours of Mt. Cardigan and Firescrew
• Down-mountain ski tour of Mt. Cardigan
• Cross-country ski or snowshoe Mt. Cardigan's lower elevations
• Stay overnight near the summit of Mt. Cardigan at High Cabin
• Winter Fun for Families week: spend February school vacation at Cardigan
• Learn winter skills: Cardigan mountain safety workshops and Sat. evening programs
• Cool photos from Mt Cardigan: rock in winter, trees in winter

what to wear

• thermal underwear
• wool socks
• fleece
• snow pants
• snow coat
• insulated boots
• hat
• gloves / mittens

packing list

• snow shoes
• crampons
• hiking/ski poles
• sunglasses
• skis (not this time, let's just hike and check out the skiing for another trip)
• extra clothing: including glove liners or mittens, hat, fleece, goggles, face mask
• food
• water
• camera
• binoculars
• compass
• map (but I don't have one)
• directions
• first aid kit
• emergency supplies

Michael wrestled in his 4th JV match yesterday.  He is 3-1 with 1 pin, 1 win on points, 1 win by default after the other grappler hurt his ankle during the match.  His one loss was a close one by points.
He wrestles in the same weight class, 152 pounds, as Jumper in the photo below.

from Sunday's Boston Globe

Winchester wrestlers continue to flatten opponents

Winchester's Mike Jumper (left) attempts to lock up North Andover's Derek Timpe in their 152-pound match, part of a quad meet that the undefeated Sachems swept. (David Kamerman/Globe Staff)

By Andrew Petrie Globe Correspondent / January 27, 2008

One might scoff after hearing Winchester wrestling coach Larry Tremblay describe his team's effort in a 57-9 victory as "flat." But that's where the laughs stop.

The team, led by seniors Miguel Tirado, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Charlie Hale, and Zach Gramlich, blew out Watertown, Foxboro, and host North Andover yesterday. The Sachems improved to 22-0, but what is more impressive is their 53-match winning streak.

"We've had long streaks before, including winning 56 league games in a row [1993--2001]," Tremblay said. "I keep telling these guys not to pay too much attention to stuff like that. Once you think about it too much, you end up wrestling not to lose, which never works out."

Even Tremblay, who says he hates to rank his teams, admits his current squad ranks as one of his five best.

"Last year was this team's surprise season, we kind of snuck up on a bunch of people," he said. "Personally, I'd rather fly under the radar. It's not too easy playing with a giant bull's-eye on your back."

One of the few men who could relate was in the building. North Andover coach David Castricone, a longtime friend of Tremblay, had his own impressive streak of 76 straight wins (2004--06).

"[Winchester is] one of those teams that comes around only once in a while," said Castricone.

Castricone's wrestlers had no reason to hang their heads. Outside of the defeat to Winchester, the Scarlet Knights beat Foxboro and Watertown. The victories improved their record to 17-6 and helped Castricone move within 10 wins of the state record of 608 held by former Lowell coach George Bossi.

"I knew we had a strong squad heading into this season," Castricone said. "I wanted to go after the heavy hitters this year, and most of our losses are against top-notch teams."

That being said, don't expect Castricone to rush into facing Winchester again. "I'm just happy they're in Division 3 and not Division 2," he said with a chuckle.

In other wrestling action:

Lowell, the 2007 New England champion, hosted a quad meet that featured a battle with Timberlane, the defending state champions from New Hampshire. Lowell edged Timberlane, 28-27, behind strong performances from Christian McCarthy at 125 pounds and James Downing at 160. Victor DeJesus at 130 and Evan Connors at 140 both went 3-0 on the day.

The Slasher

It has been an interesting year for Michael's wrestling team.  Someone has it in for them.  Just before the holidays, someone slipped into the wrestling locker room during a school assembly and used a knife or scissors to slash all of the wrestling clothes.  They cut up all the shoes, headgear, warmups, singlets, and anything else that was left in the room.  The damage totaled $2800, and the police are handling it as a felony.

Then on Saturday morning, someone sent an email saying that Saturday's quad meet was canceled.  The email was apparently sent by a captain's parent and so some boys went back to sleep and others ate a big breakfast.  Someone detected the hoax and so calls went out to all the missing wrestlers, but one of them ate too much and couldn't make weight for his match.  Fortunately, the team was able to defeat all three of the other teams in spite of the turmoil.

Sunday the wrestlers and their parents met at the high school to get an update from the school officer about the harassment and to make plans to prevent further attacks.  The police are using their "elite high tech team" to track down the email sender.  The school is changing the lock on the door to the wrestling room and going to have an adult posted outside the door with a portable radio.

Michael pins his man

Michael is wrestling on the high school team this year.  Last year the varsity team was 31-0 and won the state championship.  Half way through this season they have won every match.

So far Michael has wrestled two JV matches and won them both.  On Saturday he pinned his opponent in the second round.

A few people have wondered whether Michael could out-wrestle me yet, and after he showed me some of his new moves in the living room last week, I wondered that myself.
So this morning I joined Nick, Michael and a couple of friends wrestling around in the snow in our backyard.  After thrashing around with Michael for awhile, it appears my extra experience (and extra pounds) give me the advantage, at least for now.

It's snowing

Schools were closed today, so I spent an hour shoveling with the kids.  Then Nicholas went sledding with some friends and Alexa and I went cross country skiing around Horn Pond for an hour-and-a-half.  It was almost magical; totally silent, trees bent under the snow and everything white and fresh.  Michael stayed in and did homework.

Unfortunately, no one considers cross country skiers around here.  The plows clear the paths leaving nowhere for the skiers.  And by the time we returned, people had tramped over our parallel ski track instead of walking next to it.

Tomorrow I'm going backcountry skiing with George and Rob at Mt Garfield in NH.

Fwd: Rats!

For the last month or so, there has been a gnawing noise in the kitchen.  Then we came down one morning and the throw rug by the refrigerator was all chewed up.  Phil the bug man, a patient of Julie's who happens to be an exterminator, came and pointed out where the critter had tunneled  under our patio and into the crawl space under the kitchen.  I removed the bricks and filled the space with gravel and then replaced the bricks.  Phil also put some poison and glue traps in the basement near the crawl space.  Over the next couple of weeks, the glue traps disappeared but the gnawing continued and every couple of days we had to clean up more of the gnawed up run.  When the snow melted, I checked and saw that the rat and dug all the gravel out from under the patio and more bricks were caving in.

So today, the boys and I took advantage of the warm weather to take up about 1 foot square of the brick patio.  We repaired the hole in the railroad tie border with hardware cloth (basically wire mesh) and a piece of 2x6, then filled the hole and the tunnel under the house with concrete.  We spread concrete where he had dug out under the bricks.  After the concrete cured, we put sand on top and replaced the bricks.  On the inside of the house, I pulled the refrigerator out from the cupboards and filled the gaps with rat poison, wood blocks, and foam insulation.  Then I nailed strips of wood along the base of the wall to seal the 1 inch opening between the wall and floor.  Finally, I used acrylic caulk to seal the tiny seams.

No way the rat was going to be able to get back in the house through his old tunnel.  After several hours of rat proofing the house, we sat down to watch the Colts vs. Chargers.

But what's that noise from the kitchen?  Sounds like gnawing.  Oh no!  I sealed everything up real well but I must have sealed the mouse into the house instead of out of the house.  Aargh!

Fwd: Commute through the Twilight Zone

For the past few weeks, I've been getting up at 5:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a quick 20-mile ride with a group of local cyclists who call themselves the "rippers".  Then I go home, change into fresh bike clothes, eat breakfast, and ride 10 miles to work in time for my 8:30 conference call with the team in India.  Today's ripper ride ended with a beautiful sunrise and all was well with the world.

Then everything changed.  Instead of breakfast at home, I stopped for coffee and a maple nut scone.  When I left the coffee shop thirty minutes later fueled with caffeine and sugar, the sun was hidden behind the clouds and the sky had turned a drab gray.  Rather than backtrack to my house and take my normal route to North Reading, I decided to take a shortcut, and that is when I entered the Twilight Zone...

Things started off well enough, I headed north and then took some back streets that led to Winn Street.  I turned off Winn Street and rode until I ended up in a parking lot with no option other than back track to Winn Street.  This time I took the correct turn onto Peach Blossom Rd, but when it ended at a T intersection, I turned right instead of left and after awhile was back at Winn Street.  I rode to the T intersection again and this time took a left putting me on vaguely familiar roads.  After awhile I entered Wilmington, so with a bit of luck I would get to work in time for the conference call.  Up ahead I saw Hillside Road.  I remembered riding on that road in the past, so I took the turn.  Twenty minutes later I am back on Winn Street.  What the...???  I retrace my route to work for the fourth time and this time, through trial and error, I finally get to the office.  The short cut turned my 10-mile commute into a 20-mile misadventure.  I got to work at 9 AM, just as the conference call was ending.

I wasn't the only one who took a detour through the Twilight Zone.  A colleague wanted to get into work early today so he avoided the congestion on the highway by taking some back streets, turning his normal 1-hour commute turned into 2 hours of frustration.

...and now it's snowing.

a USB Flash Drive built into a Hot Wheels model of a Mini Cooper

a USB Flash Drive built into a Hot Wheels model of a Mini Cooper: http://www.trevorshp.com/creations/minidrive.htm

TOMORROW is Red Sox Nation Day at Teradyne!

Here are some images of the Boston Red Sox winning the Major League Baseball World Series.  Unfortunately, not all the images are flattering.
--Phillip
 

from the Teradyne's Human Resources Department            

TOMORROW is Red Sox Nation Day at Teradyne!

Whether you're a fan or not, join in the fun and support your favorite Red Sox team.   Wear your favorite Red Sox gear tomorrow to work.   At lunch time we will  broadcast the local feed of the parade celebration live via the cafeteria monitors.  The parade is scheduled to start Tuesday at noon.
We will have novelty ice cream bars to give out during lunch.  We will also be taking pictures of our Red Sox fans during the lunch period in both cafeterias.   That we can put in the next In-Site article.
So, be a sport and show your Red for the World Champion Red Sox?

from http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnEfSTzBRViGS92K-7B7wMZ98qqA

Red Sox claim second World Series in four years with 4-3 win over Rockies

DENVER - Perched high above his raucous teammates, David Ortiz sprayed bottles of bubbly in every direction, dousing everyone in sight, including himself.
Then it was time to deliver a message. "When you wear Red Sox on your shirt," he hollered from atop a clubhouse table, "you're good at something." There's a new monster, and this one's in Boston, too.
Overwhelming in every way, the Red Sox swept to their second title in four years Sunday night. Jon Lester, Mike Lowell & Co. left little room for drama with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in Game 4.
This was hardly a repeat from 2004, when the Red Sox ended their 86-year championship drought by beating St. Louis. Boston is a major league bully these days, playing in rarefied air before crowds who demand to win.
"It doesn't get old," manager Terry Francona said.
Gone are those pleading, pathetic days when the Red Sox were practically begging to win a title. They've got this down pat now.
After trailing Cleveland 3-1 in the AL championship series, the Red Sox won seven straight games and won their seventh World Series crown.
The wild-card Rockies, who won a remarkable 21 of 22 games to get this far, were a mere afterthought by the end. Brad Hawpe homered in the seventh inning and Garrett Atkins hit a two-run shot in the eighth that came too late.
Lester, undergoing chemotherapy at this time last year for cancer, pitched shutout ball into the sixth inning and Jonathan Papelbon closed with his third save of the Series.
Lowell won the MVP award, though Boston had plenty of candidates. Especially in a year in which Japanese stars Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima helped put the world in World Series.
Coors Field was filled with Red Sox fans, many of them brazenly waving brooms they might have brought from the Green Monster seats at Fenway Park.
This time, Jason Varitek caught the final pitch and tucked it in his back pocket as Papelbon threw his glove high in the air after striking out pinch-hitter Seth Smith. The Red Sox spilled out of the dugout to party between the mound and first.
 

from http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ip_FgKPzJAttQc42K_FPJYzrGcSwD8SIQQV00   

Boston Celebrates World Series Win          

BOSTON (AP) — Boston police in riot gear worked to clear several large crowds gathered around Fenway  Park after the Red Sox won their second World Series title in four years.
Police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said 37 arrests were made overnight in the city, mostly for disorderly conduct.
An unruly crowd flipped a pick up truck to its side near Fenway Park and at least one car fire was reported.
Police shut down access to Kenmore Square as Game 4 neared its end in Denver. The Red Sox won the game 4-3, touching off celebrations around New  England.
Customers in bars and restaurants around Fenway Park were told they would not be allowed to return once they left.

Fwd: Celebrating the Red Sox - 2007 World Series Champions

Like Papelbon, we were too tired to dance, but we still held a small celebration after the Red Sox won the World Series.
--pws

Fwd: "You should not drink and bake"

I nearly burned down the house last night.

Friends from Nick's soccer team invited us over for a raclette party.  The four families were from all over the world--France, Argentina, Armenia, and China--but united by their passion for soccer and fun.  Betrand started us off with Kir Royales ( 1 part Creme de Cassis; 5 parts Champagne) and also provided a variant made with Peche Blanc instead of Cassis.  With the raclette we had a variety of sliced hams, potatoes, pickles, and onions.  Oh yes, and a glass of wine.  I stick to my story that I only had one glass of wine, because the glass never seemed to go empty.

My plan was to come home from dinner about 10, bake bread and watch the Red Sox win Game 3 of the World Series.  Of course we had so much fun at the party that we stayed much, much later than expected.  We watched the 7th inning and then headed home sometime after midnight.  For some reason, I decided to stick to my original plan and bake the bread anyhow.  Not sure why my judgment was a bit off.

Anyhow, I put the bread in the oven, forgot to set the timer, and sat down to watch the end of the game.  Next thing I know, the smoke detector is blasting me out a deep sleep, the game is long over, and the house is full of smoke.

I pulled the baguettes, or rather, briquettes out of the oven and put them outside on the patio.  Then I opened all the doors and fanned the smoke for about five minutes before the alarms stopped.  Somehow the kids slept through the whole thing, but the house still smells like smoke this morning.  See if you can guess from the attached photos which bread I baked last night and which bread is from this morning when my head was clearer.  As Arnold Schwarzenegger said in the movie Raw Deal, "You should not drink and bake."

Fat Cyclist jerseys

All the Fat Cyclist jerseys are sold out.
There are 600 of the pink WIN jerseys in the world and 350 of the orange Fat Cyclists jerseys.
--pws


from http://www.fatcyclist.com/2007/10/08/how-to-talk-with-non-cyclists/#comments

1. Born4Lycra Says:
   October 8th, 2007 at 7:12 pm

   So FC if the Pink Top is all sold out can you tell us how many there are circulating around the world. 500, 1000 or more?Congratulations to Team FC and Twin6 on a job very well done.

2. fatty Says:
   October 8th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

   born4lycra - there are 600 pink jerseys in the universe, and 350 original (orange) ones.

Bike ride to the Cape

Race report for Bob Beal's Masters weekend

• Road Race - got dropped on the hill and finished 36 out of 46.
• TT - beat my goal of 9 minutes and finished dead last
• Crit - got dropped, lapped, quit, and still was listed ahead of 3 other riders
• Had a good time anyhow: camped in the rain in my hammock at Burlingame State Park; met a lot of nice people; and had a couple of good meals.
  

I analyzed my dismal performance at races this summer to figure out how to improve next year. Some of the mistakes I made include riding 350 miles two days before the Working Man's Stage Race, gaining 15 pounds in two weeks before the Blount Seafood Criterium, riding two-and-a-half hours of singletrack with no food or water and finishing just minutes before my MTB race was to start, camping in the rain before the Bob Beal's Masters weekend. Also my "training" consisted of commuting to work and doing long rides on the weekend. My conclusion is that to be competive next year I need a new bicycle.

In spite of being a lousy racer, I do get a lot of enjoyment riding my bike. Here is a description of yesterday's Cape-in-a-Day ride.

Yesterday, on the last day of summer, Jay and I biked 153 miles to Provincetown. We left Winchester at 5:30 AM and got into P-town 12 hours later. After dinner on the funky, artsy Commercial St (the food was only okay, but the people watching was excellent) we caught the fast ferry back to Boston and rode our bikes 11 miles back home. I was showered and in bed a bit after 10 PM and watched the Red Sox come from behind in the 9th inning to clinch a playoff spot.

Highlights

• The coastal detour off of Rte 3A through Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate. The rock formations, the saltwater ponds, the tidal rivers running away from the ocean as the tide rose were awesome.
• Duxbury was interesting because 1) we had an excellent breakfast at the Wild Flower Cafe in Duxbury; 2) just as we were starting to flag a cyclist caught us and towed us 8 miles into town; 3) he was riding the same Neuvation wheels as Jay and I have on our bikes; 4) he recommended the cafe where we had eggs, fruit, and homemade bread (and coffee, of course); Yum! 4) cyclists in a triathlon were racing past the cafe while we ate; 5) we left rejuvenated, ready to ride another hundred miles.
• Crossing the Sagamore Bridge via this, until now, undocumented route: At the end of Rte 3A, go straight through the traffic light onto Canal Street. Just before Friendly's Restaurant, turn right onto the sidewalk and follow it up to the bridge. Ride across the bridge on the sidewalk, careful not to fall off into the rush of oncoming traffic. On the Cape side of the bridge, cut through the parking lot of the Christmas tree shop and turn left onto Rte 6A.
• Riding the Cape Cod Rail Trail, 22 miles from S. Dennis to Wellfleet. Although it has many at-grade road crossings, the traffic all stopped and allowed bikes to cross. Michael's friend Grant called Michael and told him, "Hey, I think I just saw your dad riding on the CCRT." Jay's eponymous friend Dave, met us on the CCRT and towed us to his house on Gull Pond; again we got some help just as we were tiring.
• On our way to Dave's house inside the Cape Cod National Seashore (a U.S. National Park), we stopped at a parking lot atop a sand dune overlooking the ocean. People were surfing and playing in the water some 80 feet below us. The sand dune was so steep you couldn't see the slope past the lip. Really awesome.
• Dave's house is on a kettle pond. You walk out of the sliding doors onto the deck and can hang your feet in the water. We took a refreshing dip in the water and washed away 136 miles of road grime.
• Dave's suggestion that we stay on Rte 6 and 6A the 17 miles to P-town was a good one. The scenic route I was planning was longer and hilly and we just wanted to finish our ride and hang out at a restaurant.
  
• The tiny cottages along Shore Drive just before P-town made me feel like I had time warped back to the '50s.
• Commercial Street in Provincetown deserves a few hours to explore the shops and sample the food. Unfortunately, we made so many stops along the way for map checks, cafes, and swimming that we only had time for dinner before we caught the ferry home.
  

Downers

• Missing street signs. In Hyannis the sign for Ocean Ave is missing at the intersection of Marston Ave / Hyannis Ave, so we wasted some time scratching our heads and looking at our maps. Fortunately, a guy on a utilitarian bike (lots of racks and blinking lights) gave us directions and recommended
  Caffe E Dolci in Hyannis for our lunch of paninis (and coffee, of course). Unfortunately, he advised taking Rte 28 to the Cape Cod Rail Trail instead of the maze of backroads that I had mapped out. The cafe was good, Rte 28 was bad.
• Misleading street signs. Our route to the Sagamore Bridge was basically "stay on Rte 3A" with some scenic detours. At the rotary leaving Plymouth the signs for Rte 3A point the wrong direction, taking you under Rte 3. As soon as we made the wrong turn, I realized our mistake but not before Jay hit a jagged rock and flatted. While he changed the inner tube, some yahoos in a pickup truck made disparaging comments about our spandex shorts. The tire was quickly reinflated, but it took a couple of miles of riding to pump fun back into the day.
  
• The last 15 miles to P-town Jay was suffering knee pain and couldn't ride as fast as he usually does. I was happy to ease off a bit since I was hurting too, but I didn't like to see Jay suffering. Fortunately, Advil and a nap on the ferry seemed to restore him, because I could barely keep up on the ride back home.
• The Provincetown Chamber of Commerce recommended Bubala's for barbecue, but they don't serve barbecue. The food was only average, but it was great to sit on something other than a bicycle saddle for an hour, drink a beer, and watch the parade of people on Commercial Street.
  
• My knee really stiffened up after the ride, so Saturday night and Sunday morning it hurt to bend the knee and I limped up and down the stairs. Fortunately, after half a day of loafing around, it feels much better.

Who looks better in the Pink FatCyclist Jersey?

Who looks better in the Pink FatCyclist Jersey?


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Phillip Stern < phillip.stern@gmail.com>

After dinner with Julie's family last night, I picked up the new issue of Bicycling Magazine.  On the front cover there is a woman riding in the pink FatCyclist jersey.

From October 2007 edition of Bicycling:

THE COVER photographed by Mike Powell
Stella Hong rides the Colnago C50 in Corral Canyon, Malibu, CA. Twin Six limited edition FatCyclist.com WIN jersey (all proceeds go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation) and socks.

Twin Six has a blurb about it on their site: http://www.twinsix.com/news/

Pink Lemonade

After dinner with Julie's family last night, I picked up the new issue of Bicycling Magazine.  On the front cover there is a woman riding in the pink FatCyclist jersey.

From October 2007 edition of Bicycling:

THE COVER photographed by Mike Powell
Stella Hong rides the Colnago C50 in Corral Canyon, Malibu, CA. Twin Six limited edition FatCyclist.com WIN jersey (all proceeds go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation) and socks.

Twin Six has a blurb about it on their site: http://www.twinsix.com/news/

My results for the Fat Cyclist Weight Loss Contest

This is the blog post that started it all back on January 1, 2007.

Let's Make a Bet (Announcing the B7: Banjo Brothers' Big Bad Bulky Biker Bodyfat Challenge)

And now the contest is over and it's time to report my Final Time Trial Results (for August):

The short version is that I beat Fatty, 129 to 123, so he owes me a Fat Cyclist Jersey.
Unfortunately, I don't think my score will place me in the top three, so it looks like Ii won't win a Banjo Brothers Commuter Backpack. Read Fatty's review.

For the long version, read on...

Before Photos, 12/31/06, 178 lbs.:

After Photos, 8/1/07, 150.5 lbs.:

MY SCORE: 129

Weight Loss Score: 110 [Maximum Weight Loss Score Achieved!]
Time Trial Score: 19

DETAILS
Starting Weight: 178
Weight Loss Goal: 23
Current Weight: 150.5
First Time Trial: 11:40
Current Time Trial: 9:30

Date: 8/1/07 at 2:00 PM
Body Fat: 11%
Weather: 88°F, Mostly Cloudy, Wind: NW at 6 mph, Humidity: 37%

NOTES
Last month after my July time trial, I wrote, "I am going to taper my training so I am at my peak for the TT. My wife, the acupuncturist, has been giving me weekly treatments and my persistent calf and hamstring problems of the last couple years seem to be all better. Finally, I am going to stay well below my goal weight the whole month of July (no snacking!), so I can eat healthy and be well hydrated for maximum TT strength and still score 110% on the weight. My goal is to break 10 minutes."

So I was shocked when I crossed the finish line in 9 minutes and 30 seconds. I had my doubts that I could meet my goal since my legs felt tired on the hills while warming up. Moreover, my back was still sore from weeding over the weekend. But I went all out and turned in a great time. This was my hardest exertion since my initial time trial back in January.

Tapering: I didn't really prepare intelligently in July for my August time trial. First I went on a week-long vacation, with no riding. Then I rode home from from vacation in Ithaca, NY to the Boston suburbs (197 miles the first day and 144 the second day). I spent the next couple days lying on the floor watching a week's worth of the Tour de France. Then I was in a 3-day midweek stage race, spent a couple more days not riding before doing two hard rides on the weekend. On the 21st, I rode 55 miles to watch my son play soccer; I was trying to average 20 mph, so it was an all out effort for over 2.5 hours. Then on the 22^nd, I did a 68-mile ride which included two 1-mile uphill races against Jay (he won both). So by the last week of July my legs were totally shot. My "tapering" didn't start until the last week of July and consisted of riding easy to work and not riding at all the last weekend.

Injuries and treatment: The acupuncture treatment seems to have resolved the problems with my calves and hamstrings, but of course there are new injuries. My left hip and leg began aching on the second day of my 341-mile ride. With 70 miles to go, the pain was so bad that I could only creep along at about 10 mph. Ibuprofen and a 20-minute nap enabled me to limp the last 20 miles home. Acupuncture and rest seemed to cure the problem. But 5 days ago, I spent the morning weeding my garden instead of riding my bike. By the next day my back hurt so much I couldn't stand straight and groaned every time I stood up or sat down. Again acupuncture provided some relief (I even got a treatment today before my time trial) but my left leg feels weak, similar to the "pinched nerve" feeling I suffered during my long bike ride.

Nutrition and hydration: This almost went according to plan. My weight didn't get totally out of control during vacation, but I did splurge on banana boats, homemade caramel corn, and a chocolate eating binge on the last night before riding home from Ithaca. At home my weight was only 155, 5 pounds more than before vacation. But since I was doing long rides and racing, I decided to treat myself to seconds and thirds at meals and had a couple of GORP attacks before bed. (GORP stands for Good old Raisins And Peanuts, and sometimes chocolate chips.) A week after getting home from vacation my weight was up to 159 pounds, so I spent the remainder of the month eating veggies and fruit. Fortunately it worked and now my weight is back to just a bit over 150. I was able to have a couple of glasses of protein drink before my 20-mile warm-up ride today, and then drink two cups of my special pre-race energy drink (Starbucks dark roast with cream and two sugars) so that I was well hydrated and energized and could turn in my best time.

By the way, after my pre-TT warm up, I stopped in at Starbucks and the barrista said, "I'm sorry, but there is no way you are fat!" It took me awhile to figure out she was referring to my pink lemonade jersey with the Fat Cyclist logo.

Back from Finger Lakes Vacation

I'm back from our week in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. I'll write more tomorrow, but for now...

I rode 341 miles in the last 37 hours.
Day 1: 197 miles in 13 hours riding time with 2 hours off the bike ( 15.2 mph, 13.1 mph including breaks). Left Robert H Treman State Park at 6 AM. Made camp a few miles short of the Mass border at 9 PM.
Day 2: 144 miles in 10 hours riding time with 3.5 hours off the bike (13.5 mph, 10.7 mph including breaks). Broke camp at 5:30 AM. Arrived home at 7 PM.