Riding in Kirksville

I guess that I should start by saying that today was a VERY interesting ride.

Riding in town in Kirksville (KV) is almost always interesting.  It seems that everyone in town is either ignorant of the rules of the road, negligent of the rules of the road, or just down right stupid.  It's not uncommon for at least one person in a car do something stupid while either leaving town or returning to town on my rides.  Tonight was a good one.

So I roll out on to Hwy 63 which is right in near my place.  I pull up to the stopped traffic at the light and the guy behind me in the pick-up truck is honking at me.  I guess he was ignorant of the fact that I am traffic when riding in the road.......No big deal I get to the right and he passes as he should (with at least 3 feet).

On Osteopathy, I get passed by a TRASHY mini van with the back door wagging in the wind.  I see that they pull over about 1/2 mile up the road to fix the door and I pass them back as they are pulled over.  So about 1/4 mile further down the road they buzz me (~1 foot to the mirror) for no reason.  I give the obliged hand signal indicating that by law, I get 3 feet and that they are dumb.  I catch the guy at the stop sign and attempt to ask him what the rush is and if he knows the rules of the road (politely I might add).  He yells something (couldn't hear it) as he peels out (yes in the shitty mini van) and down the road.  Alright, 2 idiots tonight. 

So now I am rolling down Boundary which is a good route to get out of town to the South.  I am on the white line and I head check to see a truck coming up behind me and a large car approaching from the south in the oncoming lane.  I signal that I am taking the lane to "encourage" the driver behind not to pass as we would go 3 wide.  Well, he didn't get it and goes even further left causing the oncoming car to brake hard even though he should have only let off the gas to slow and then pass instead of gassing it for the pass.  Again the obliged WTF and hand signal about space.  Again, I catch up to the offender at a stop sign.  He is getting out.  I think "good" polite discussion time.  He is Pissed that he almost hit the oncoming car.  I try to explain to him that I am a car and he made an illegal pass and any ill fated occurrences would have been his fault.  He claims "you think you own the road" to which I politely respond that I do not think that and would be willing to explain my stance (and the rules of the road) in the gas station parking lot to our right.  He is still just pissed and yelling.  Oh well.

Anyone have any advice how to best tell/inform these ignorant and dangerous drivers how to drive so that they do not endanger my life, the lives of others (the oncoming car), and even their own (even though that would be a clear message if something did happen to them)?

That's not the end of the events.

Part 4 was an encounter with a horse and buggy.  South of town, they are always out all over the road.  I try to not make any sudden moves and get all the way right when passing them when they are traveling the opposite direction. Well again today, the horse of the buggy driven by a 16-18yr/old girl was spooked and went off the road.  Luckily it was not the steep ditch right there.  I stopped to make sure she (and the horse) were OK.  And asked how to avoid that in the future.  She didn't have any advice and said I did everything I could.

Any of you in internet land have any adivce?  Stamper?  Mr. Nature boy.......


I will post a CX early season race report from Herman and Buffalo Bills some time in the near future.

Tests and the Happs

Back when I was teaching B-Nut (basic nutrition) at KSU, I always hated giving the test. Was it too hard? Where the students “getting it?” How do we keep the better students tuned in while not losing the one who need more coaxing…… (that will always be something teachers deal with).  Students bombed them for no good reason?


Well I gave my first test in Sports Nutrition today. The class all got B’s or better with most getting an “A” and it was not an easy test.  Much harder than the KSU ones.

On to the highlight though:

So, I had a question on the exam today which was asking what happens to absorption of carbohydrates and fat when you take an enzyme inhibitor (carb blocker) or Alli (the fat blocker). Part two was what happens in the large intestine.

So I have a student reply to the second part “Bacteria in your large intestine love you for providing them an excellent meal of carbs and in return produce methane gas ensuring that you remain single and lose all of your friends even though you are likely taking the drug to improve your body image and dating prospects”.

I then had them explain the glucose -  insulin -  GLUT4 response using the door bell analogy I used in class. I asked them to also tell me what the name of the disease is when insulin keeps ringing the doorbell with no answer. This same student aptly put Type II diabetes, but went on to say tht "Jehova’s Witnesses do the same thing and are often more persistent than insulin".

I was truly laughing out loud at that one.

I was also told that students memorize what you tell them. I did at one time tell them that Bacteria have a “field day” when we give them too much fiber. I read that on 80% of the tests I graded. I will have to ask if they know what they mean, Or what I meant when I said that…….

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I wish I would have gotten a picture this morning, but the campus plumbers drive a gator with two plungers holding the tail gate shut. …..

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This weekend is the First CX race of the season. I am heading down to Columbia and then to Hermann to race Sat night and Sunday afternoon. Race report (pics???) to come.

We have an AWESOME CX course set up at a local park. Flagged and marked. We had 5 guys on Tuesday and they seem to be hooked. And this is KV. Our course is way better than the Manhattan one, but not as cool as the one Stamper took me to in Omaha. There is talk of starting a Truman cycling team as well!

In other news, I had a crazy dream last night about building a house on a Budget. It was a $300K house that we did for $150K. Instead of paint, they used colored construction paper stappled to the walls. The fire place tiles were that cheap kitchen linoleum. And there were gaps in the floor that were just covered with carpet and pad. But on a positive note, it was about 4000 square feet……..

At least I wasn’t saving people in a Waste Management Garbage can???????

The Good with the Bad

Today was a day filled with the Good and the Bad. That is often the story of my life.

The good: It's cross season
The bad: I can't for the life of me get my new Michlin Mud 2 mounted on my rear Ritchey wheel. And my bike STILL has a lot of dirt on it from last season.

The good: The weather is here and it IS Beautiful. Today was CX practice #1
The bad: I STILL cant get the tire mounted, SO I ran my road power tap wheel. A 23 smooth..

The good: I have power data from CX now. Pretty interesting to look at.
The bad: Road tires SUCK for CX, but I didn't crash. Although the steeps are tough on grass.

The good: CX Practice 1 followed by rice and bean tacos and a Single Wide IPA. MM'MM
The bad: CX is not CX (at least for me) with out BLOOD. I am bleeding from my left knee and right hamstring from........sloppy remounts. No crash though. Not sure what caused the blood. I almost have more scars from CX than road and the CAR

Another bad with a slight 'ok.' A cyclist was hit by a van last evening. He is in bad shape, but is responsive. The driver stopped, and it was a sun and terrain related crash. We all hope he recovers.

Now for real life.

The good is that life at Truman State is great. Great faculty and awesome students. I have an Ex phys class of 90% Rock Stars. I am challenging them hard and they are asking the "what next" applied questions. It totally Rocks.

I have a student who came in today to talk about her research idea and it is graduate level work. She had almost all the details worked out already. I am really excited to mentor her and get this study rolling this spring!

The bad. Carrie and the kids are back in Manhattan and I miss them dearly.

At least I get to Skype and or talk to them which makes it somewhat better.

All in all, life is pretty good.

I hope to update this more often now and add pictures and such.

Thanks for reading.

ToL

Tour of Lawrence Race report.......

Friday. Open street sprints (AKA race the pro's)

It was a 200m slight down hill held start drag race. 4 up per round. 1st round was for seeding, then each after was keep top 2.

I used the first round just to get the timing down as I have the power to do really well, just not the strategy. Took second with ease. Next round was keep top 2. I got a good start and just followed #1 in for second. Round 3 I had to hit it a little harder, but did not yet go all out and took the #1 spot. Round 4 was for the winner and loser bracket (top 10). I got a good start but miss-shifted/didn't accelerate well for ~1 sec and that's all it took for me to be just off second to get third.

I did set new power records with 1788 watts for 1 sec and 1651 for 5 seconds.

Saturday was a hilly circuit race. It was HOT. I was feeling OK in warmup, but not too excited to race. Rolling up to the start on the last row as they are giving instructions didn't help either. So now I am at the back of a very hilly (350 ft per 4 miles) with turns at the base of most of the realtively steep hills. I move up a bit on the first lap and settle in to 'pack slide' on the long hill back to the start finish. I slide just off the back at the top and begin to chase back on.

At this point I was contemplating quiting the race. It was hot, the course does not suit my abilities, and the Sunday race is one of my favorites of the year. I put in one pseudo effort and pulled the plug. Rode a lap on the tops just seeing the sights. I went back to the hill to cheer/give hand ups.

Sunday was an 8 turn FAST crit with almost no change in elevation. This is my cup of tea. I start in the second row and just settle in. The legs feel great. There are some attacks early, but nothing is going to stick on this course. I basically just made sure that I could move around at will and stayed in the first third. It was a relativley fast race at 26.5 avg, but not that hard. Until............4 to go.

I was up in the first 10-15 when the swarm and attacks started again and again. As well as the crashes. A guy went down right in front of me in corner 5 which cost me a few spots with 4 to go. Then on the home stretch, it swarmed on the right. I was right there and went with it. then the back stretch, I'm on the right and were slowing. Attack goes left, and we all go too. The pack is wide and someone crosses up. Takes out about 6 on the left. I'm still good sitting near the front. 2 to go, just covering/conserving my spot at about 8-10 back.

1 to go on the home stretch. The pack swells and I am on the right, when the left attacks. Sh!t, my side is not moving!!!! I'm stuck. I jumped hard through corner 1 and 2 to make up 4-5 spots. Tuck in and rail corner 3. Jump hard again to get into 12 back. Corner 5....corner 6.....

Move up 3 more spots.....corner 7 .....no time....corner 8 (hey buddy hold that wheel)...... hit the GAS.

Pass the remaining 3 that I could get for 6th. In retrospect, I should have gone all out after corner 6 (through 7 and 8). That or gone to the 3 -4 spot before corner 5. It didn't help that there was a gap between the top 2 and then behind guy 5 after corner 7.

I took 8th last year as a 4, so 6th as a 3 is not bad.