My 2nd attempt at the Mt. Washington hillclimb, held yesterday, didn’t go as well as the first. I had worked up about the same level of fitness as last year, but my weight didn’t quite get down to the 68 Kg/150lb mark that I reached in 2008. I made up for some of that with a lighter bike (which I should write about sometime), with slightly lower gearing. I again went with the tiny 22-tooth chainring up front, but decided on a lower 13-29 cassette, with an eye toward keeping my cadence up. When training on our local hill, I noticed that I could put out more power over a 5-6 minute interval if I could keep my cadence at about 90 RPM, compared to grinding up the hill at 70-80 RPM. I felt pretty well-prepared going into the week before the race, until I started showing cold symptoms on Wednesday.
I spend most of Wednesday moping around the house with Andrew, who also stayed home sick. I had a little nasal congestion but mostly, I just felt weak and worthless. I perked up a bit on Thursday and Friday but I don’t think I quite reached 100% by Saturday.
The promised hot, sunny and humid weather materialized for the race. Not a trace of cloud in the sky, and not a breath of wind below treeline. Summit temps hovered in the high 50s, with winds around 20 mph. That’s absolutely perfect for racing, but we had to climb through three miles of stagnant air to get there.
I warmed up with my buddy Andy and took my place with the Top Notch wave. The Top Notch consists of pros, cat 1 or 2 racers, and anybody else who finished last year’s race in less than 1 hour, 20 minutes. That’s how I managed to work my way into such rarefied company. I chatted briefly with Tom Keane, a racer from the Crack O’Dawn club whom I met at the Okemo hillclimb a couple of months ago. I just barely nipped Tom at the line at Okemo, and he and I had similar finishing times at Mt Washington last year. He wrote his mile-marker splits on the back of his race number, hoping to push himself a little harder along the way. I had considered doing the same, but figured I couldn’t handle the panic if I found myself off-schedule at the first mile marker, so I left the back of my race number blank.
The canon boomed to send us up the mountain, and I entered the pain cave, trying to find that place where I can maintain maximal effort for upwards of an hour, without overdoing it and causing myself to have to back off and recover. I knew that practically everybody in my starting wave would go faster than I would, so I let everybody go and sought out my own pace. By mile three, I knew things weren’t going too well. I felt encased in a bubble of my own waste heat, and had to back off briefly at one point when I started gagging a bit. That quickly passed, and I found some relief once we crossed the treeline and the breeze started blowing.
I spent most of the latter half of the race swapping places with Nicole Marcoe and an NEBC rider that I didn’t recognize. We hit the six-mile marker in about 1:02, which I knew was about three minutes slower than last year. At that point I knew I would be close to a Top Notch finish, so I buried myself and lost the NEBC rider, but Nicole started putting distance on me. My left calf cramped around mile 7, and I used an uncomfortable toes-down pedaling style on my left side to keep going.
I hit the final ramp and saw Elise, Andrew and Maggie standing on a rock to cheer me on. I had virtually nothing left, but came around the final bend to see the clock tick over 1:20 while I was still a few yards short of the line. I hope the kids didn’t hear what I yelled as I crossed the line in 1:20:16. I try not take bike racing too seriously, but that was a heartbreaker.
In retrospect, the lower gearing probably wasn’t a good idea. I spent a lot of time in the 22×29 and 22×26, and even though my cadence was higher I wasn’t putting out the same power. Preliminary post-race analysis of the data shows that I didn’t lose time in any particular area; I was pretty consistently slower in every sector. Maybe the cold took the edge off my fitness, maybe the heat got to me, or maybe I just didn’t have it this year. I’ll never know for sure, but I’m going to do my best to make sure I’m better prepared in 2010.
links for 2009-08-13
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It was Monday when we arrived at Peloso’s small back street shop. He had no stock bikes. All were made to order. “Yes I can make you a bike. When do you want to pick it up?” he asked. “We would like to leave on Friday” I replied. “Impossible, I have to build the frame, have it chromed and painted and then assembled by Friday! Impossible.” Then I mentioned that Baron Smith had sent us. “Well let me see what I can do” was the response…
Don’t Say She Lost
So runs the title of the blog entry over on fatcyclist.com announcing the death of Susan Nelson from metastatic breast cancer. Elden “Fatty” Nelson is Susan’s husband. They have four children. Though I never met Susan, Elden’s gut-wrenchingly honest depiction of her struggle against cancer brought me close enough to care quite a bit.
Elden and I have a tiny bit of history; way back in 2006, when Susan’s cancer was in remission and the Fat Cyclist blog was mostly about Elden’s two-wheeled adventures, he helped me reach my fundraising minimum for the Pan-Mass Challenge. That’s the generous, slightly impulsive guy he is. Since then he’s taken up his own cancer fundraising, and created the most successful team ever for the Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG rides. That’s the motivated, highly organized guy he is.
I realize people die from cancer every day. Heck, people die from all sorts of things every day. But cancer took Susan away from her family far before her time should have come. Thanks to Elden’s writing, we have a solid reminder of why it’s so important to do what we can to help others. Our individual efforts may not seem like much, but taken in whole, they can move the world.
Thank you Susan, and thank you Elden.
links for 2009-08-05
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Echoes something I read in Dan Coyle's "The Talent Code" – they probablly quote the same study – praising children for their effort had a positive effect, whereas praising for intelligence (an innate quality) had a negative effect. FTA:
The children were randomly assigned to two groups, both of which took an age-appropriate version of the IQ test. After taking the test, one group was praised for their intelligence – “You must be smart at this,” the researcher said – while the other group was praised for their effort and told they “must have worked really hard.” […] The final round of intelligence tests was the same difficulty level as the initial test. The students who had been praised for their effort raised their score, on average, by 30 percent. This result was even more impressive when compared to the students who had been praised for their intelligence: their scores on the final test dropped by nearly 20 percent.
links for 2009-07-24
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How twitter came to have its corporate guts spilled across the Internet.
links for 2009-07-23
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Ambitious: Philip Nagle wants to ride his bike through 48 states in 48 days. He started on July 20th.
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Looks like the result of some serious time with GIS…or a yoga-practicing photographer who's got all the drunk hangouts staked out.
links for 2009-07-17
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Flickr API library for Cocoa
links for 2009-07-08
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FTA: By analyzing a public data set called the “Death Master File,” which contains SSNs and birth information for people who have died, computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon University discovered distinct patterns in how the numbers are assigned. In many cases, knowing the date and state of an individual’s birth was enough to predict a person’s SSN.
About that June weather
Anecdotally, we had one one cold, gray, wet June. Seems like every morning we awoke to some combination of fog, rain and wind that persisted for most of the day.
Turns out it’s not just an anecdote. Below, I’ve quoted the entirety of the July 1 edition of the Blue Hill Weather Observatory daily discussion page. I don’t think that page is archived on a daily basis and really, this one should be saved for posterity. I added emphasis in a couple areas:
BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY[we had less than half the average June sunshine -JLS]
MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02186
ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA
DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2009
ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME
THE JUNE 2009 STATS
Temperature deg. F
Av. Max. 68.4
Av. Min. 54.8
Mean 61.6 [-4.1]
24-hr. corr. mean 60.6
Max. temp: 79 on 7th/26th
Min. temp: 41 on 1st
HDD units: 117 [+43]
HDD Season: 6238 [-133]
CDD units: 22 [-71]
CDD Season: 61 [-57]
Precipitation: 5.14 ins. [+1.21]
No.days measurable: 19
Total no. of days (with traces): 24
Wind: 9.1 MPH (corrected 9.8 MPH)
Prevailing direction: N @ 14%
Directions of N,NNE,NE @ 34%
Fastest mile: 29 MPH NNE on 21st
Peak gust; 44 MPH N on 21st
Sunshine: 27% of possible or 118.1 hrs. (sun card)
Long term June average: 55%
[2nd cloudiest June on record -JLS]
THE JUNE 2009 RANKINGS....
The list of high rankings for June is very impressive, though the
only new record is lowest wind speed for June. The corrected mean
temperature for June (60.6) was the 10th coldest on record. Note that
due to the cloudiness, the average maximum temperature was third
coldest on record (with -6.2 departure), but the average minimum
temperature was only a half degree below the 110-year mean for June.
Lowest June Bright Sunshine (1886-2009), percent:
1) 25% in 1903
2) 27% in 2009[And pretty dang rainy, too – JLS]
3) 36% in 1998
4) 37% in 1959
5) 39% in 1948
39% in 2006
Lowest June Bright Sunshine (1886-2009), hours:
1) 108.7 in 1903
2) 118.1 in 2009
3) 157.9 in 1998
4) 161.2 in 1959
5) 171.8 in 1948
Lowest Monthly Bright Sunshine (1886-2009), percent:
1) 21% in Apr 1901
2) 24% in Oct 1913
3) 25% in Jun 1903
4) 27% in Dec 1972
27% in Jun 2009
Coldest June Average Maximum Temp (1885-2009), deg F:
1) 66.1 in 1903
2) 66.7 in 1916
3) 68.4 in 2009
4) 69.3 in 1982
5) 69.4 in 1897
Lowest June Monthly Maximum Temp (1885-2009), deg F:
1) 78 in 1916
2) 79 in 2009
3) 81 in 1886
4) 82 in 1936
82 in 1972
82 in 1982
82 in 1985
Most June Days Measurable Precipitation (1886-2009), days:
1) 20 in 1916
2) 19 in 2009
3) 18 in 1922
18 in 1945
Lowest June Wind Speed (1885-2009), mph:
1) 9.8 in 2009
2) 10.3 in 1895
3) 10.6 in 2005
10.6 in 2008
5) 10.8 in 2003
Lowest Monthly Wind Speed (1885-2009), mph:
1) 9.5 in Aug 1996
9.5 in Aug 2008
3) 9.8 in Jun 2009
4) 10.0 in Aug 1899
The June prevailing wind direction of N has never before happened
in the years that are tabulated (1951-2009). A prevailing direction
of NE was observed in June 1954 and 1982. The last month to have a
prevailing wind direction of N was January 1998. Only five months
in this period of record (1951-2009) had a N prevailing direction,
and these occurred in January, March, October, November and December.
Today's observations:
7 A.M.
Weather: Obscured with heavy fog
Temperature: 58F, Dew point: 58F, Wind: NE at 10 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.81 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: 1/16 mile, zero past hour
6-hour minimum temp: 57F
24-hour rainfall: 0.03 inch
BHO SA 1155 W2 X 1/16F 096/58/58/0410/981/
VSBY 0 PST HR/ 8//// 53013 MANUAL 70003
ASOS 70002 10059 20057
10 A.M.
Weather: Obscurement with fog, rain shower past hour
Temperature: 58F, Dew point: 58F, Wind: NNE at 12 kts
Sea-level pressure: 29.82 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: zero variable to 1/16
3-hourly rainfall: 0.01
BHO SA 1455 W1 X 0VF 099/58/58/0312/982/ VSBY 0V1/16 WND 36V06
RB50E54/ 8//// MANUAL 6001/ ASOS 60001
1 P.M.
Weather: Obscurement with heavy fog, thunderstorm and
light rain occurring, occasional lightning in cloud
all quadrants
Temperature: 58F, Dew point: 58F, Wind: N at 11 kts,
Sea-level pressure: 29.85 inches Hg, rising
Visibility: zero
6-hourly max. temp. 60F
6-hourly rainfall: 0.05 inch
BHO SA 1755 W1 X0TR-F 107/58/58/0111/985/
TB1659 OVHD ALQDS MOVG N OCNL LTGICCC OVHD-ALQDS/
8////53008 ASOS 60004 MANUAL 6005/ 10060 20058
WEATHER SUMMARY FOR TUESDAY, JUNE 30
TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)
MAX.....66 NORMAL.....79
MIN.....57 NORMAL.....59
MEAN....62 NORMAL.....69
DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL...........-7
TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH.........-116 [-4.1 DEGREES/DAY]
HEATING DEGREE DAYS
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY.............3 DEPARTURE.......+2
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...........117 DEPARTURE......+43
TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON.........6238 DEPARTURE.....-133
TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE....5942 DIFFERENCE....+296
PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH)
PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY.............23 NE AT 3:06 P.M.
AEROVANE..............20 NE AT 3:06 P.M.
ASOS..................22 NE AT 3:06 P.M.
DAVIS.................21 NE AT 3:05 P.M.
FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY...............15 NE AT 4:51 P.M. *
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE............16 NE AT 3:07 P.M.
MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE...........16 NE AT 3:07 P.M.
AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION........8.3 N
ASOS.................7.9
DAVIS................8.4 NE [040 DEG]
* last of several occurrences...
PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST)
TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.03 DEPARTURE....+0.02
ASOS..............0.02
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR JUNE..............5.14 DEPARTURE....+1.21
ASOS..............5.10
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR..........23.64 DEPARTURE....-2.03
ASOS.............24.65
PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JUNE 2009 CALENDAR DAY DATA
DATA REPORTED:
AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust when significant
TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day)
....: Data not yet available, records not finalized
6/1 69/41/55/-7/0/706/78 29 SSW AERO 25 MPH SSW
6/2 76/53/65/+3/T/525/58 28 S AERO 24 MPH S
6/3 69/54/62/0/T/254/28 23 SSW
6/4 73/53/63/0/0/327/36 22 SSE
6/5 64/51/58/-5/0.05/000/00 21 NE
6/6 73/51/62/-1/0.01/428/47 25 SSE
6/7 79/56/68/+4/0/583/64 28 W AERO 24 MPH W
6/8 73/57/65/+1/0/529/58 18 ENE
6/9 59/51/55/-9/0.10/000/00 27 E
6/10 59/52/56/-8/0.00/000/00 21 NE
6/11 57/52/55/-10/0.17/000/00 23 NNE AERO 21 MPH NE
6/12 70/53/62/-3/0.43/119/13 30 SSE AERO 29 MPH SSE
6/13 75/59/67/+2/T/796/87 23 NNE
6/14 63/54/59/-6/0.34/101/11 20 E
6/15 60/52/56/-10/0.06/027/03 20 NE
6/16 64/51/58/-8/T/568/62 22 NNE
6/17 74/50/62/-4/0/807/88 28 S AERO 24 MPH S
6/18 65/52/59/-7/0.44/000/00 35 ESE
6/19 70/61/66/-1/0.47/000/00 33 SE AERO 31 MPH SE
6/20 76/60/68/+1/0/266/29 21 NNE
6/21 61/57/59/-8/0.55/000/00 44 N AERO 42 MPH N
6/22 60/58/59/-8/1.26/000/00 42 NNE AERO 39 MPH NNE
6/23 64/57/61/-7/0.33/000/00 38 N AERO 33 MPH N
6/24 62/55/59/-9/0.12/000/00 27 N
6/25 74/58/66/-2/0.02/156/17 21 SSW
6/26 79/62/71/+3/0.03/339/37 30 WSW
6/27 78/59/69/0/0.20/513/56 23 N TSTM
6/28 64/58/61/-8/0.03/000/00 21 N
6/29 74/59/67/-2/0.50/220/24 20 N
6/30 66/57/62/-7/0.03/119/13 23 NE
7/1 morning low temp: 57F; our normal low is now 60F
NEW DAILY RECORDS FOR JUNE 2009 TO DATE...
NONE
DAILY EXTREMES
Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and
wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):
RECORDS FOR JULY 1
HIGH 98F IN 1964
LOW 44F IN 1988 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PRECIP 4.46 INS IN 1915 [RECORD FOR MONTH]
PEAK GUST 52 MPH WNW IN 1974
RECORDS FOR JULY 2
HIGH 95F IN 1963
LOW 47F IN 1988
PRECIP 1.42 INS IN 1986
PEAK GUST 45 MPH SW IN 1999
TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Robert Skilling / Mike Iacono
Turning the calendar over to July hasn’t really helped much, but at least there’s one day in the next 5 with no forecast chance of rain.
Pan-Mass Challenge 2009: Please sponsor me
For the fourth consecutive year, I’m riding the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute here in Boston. When the calendar rolls over to August, you’ll find me in Sturbridge, awaiting the start of the two-day, 192-mile ride to Provincetown. I’m looking forward to it. Many people tell me that they think the ride sounds like a lot of hard work…but they’re wrong. The ride is my reward. The fundraising feels like work.
But, you can help me with that! I have raised only about $1100 of my $7000 goal. The uncertainty we all feel about our financial situation has, I think, put new limits on charitable giving. I can certainly understand that, but it’s not going to stop me from trying. While many causes qualify as worthy, I can tell you with certainty that PMC makes good use of all donations. For the last couple of years, every cent raised by riders has been given to Dana-Farber. We riders and other corporate sponsors bear the cost of the ride and the organization that makes it happen, and we’re proud and happy to do so. My affiliation with the Pedals for Pediatrics team means that all money you donate will go to pediatric-oriented projects. We team members decide how to allocate donations, and you can bet we’re careful about it.
As usual, the easiest way to donate is via >my page on the PMC website. Thanks for your support!
I’ll leave you with a thank-you video produced by some of the people who benefited from your generosity in 2008. This is not a tear-jerker, and I think it’s worth 8 minutes and 43 seconds of your time. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support.