It's holiday time. Winter solstice and Christmas and New Years

Happy events in the darkest coolest part of the year.  It all helps break up the shorter days where riding takes the most layers to stay both warm and dry.  But keeping it up, and now that the 3:1 day is over with, the next milestone is the 4:1 day, which should occur in early June 2012.

Getting ready for Christmas, and the end of the tax year activities.  Then onto 2012 planning and resolutions.  A new kitchen should be done by mid February.  Taxes by April,  may well need Turbo Tax to help out, again, as it saves a lot of grief.

Monday's over

Some follow up on the last posting.

Back at it.  Have cycle commuted 1,661 times.  The next milestone will be the 3:1 day, where the number of commute rides will be thrice the number of days remaining for my anticipated retirement.  That's now expected to occur on December 12, 2011.

As a follow up from my panic in Munich at not finding the Clear wireless USB stick.   After we settled in at home, I was looking in the car for something else, and saw it lying on the floor in front of the back seat!  I went to use it, and I got an error message that said that the stick would no longer work.  I called the 800 number of Clear, and they wanted the Serial Number, and looked it up and said that it had been disabled.  This is in spite of our hospital's providing high spot over downtown Portland for one of their antennas, which, to date is still unpaid for.  The stick I was using was one of several that we were given to prove they had decent coverage.

Back on the ground

Safely back home, again.  Read the mail, went shopping for food, turned on the hot water and the furnace, and went over to mom's for dinner, last night.  Today is raking and mowing the yard, as well as cleaning up some mouse evidence and laying more traps.  Balanced the checkbook, the only mistake was in writing down one of my pay deposits while we were gone by $0.01.
On our trip back, we took the train from Spittal to Munich and stayed at a hotel directly across from the Ostbahnhof. That was intended to make the next morning's trip with the SBahn easier, as there is a S8 that goes every 20minutes from Ostbahnhof to the airport.
Before going to sleep, I remembered to look for the Clear wireless stick that I hadn't seen.  I searched for it again in my bags before enjoying a good breakfast at the hotel, and then, right on time, we got out of the hotel, and 10 steps away is the stairs to the underground passage that connects to the train station.  The bi-directional escalators had impressed Helene the night before, as they go in the direction of the first comer.  This morning, we couldn't get them to budge.  I headed down the stairs with my bags and expected that Helene would stay up top, so I could fetch her 50lb bag and bring it down the stairs.  Once down, it can be rolled all the way to the elevator at the Schnell bahn platform and not be lifted until check in, on to the scales.  She was anxious about our missing the S8, so headed down and pulled something after about 4 steps.  I fetched her bag and she was able to push her's on its four wheels.  Once on the platform, we waited for the two minutes before it was scheduled, and then there was an announcement that it was suffering a delay.  That was only another 2 minutes and we were heading out the to the airport on the 7:04 departure with scheduled arrival at the airport at 07:33.  It was maybe a minute late by the time we got there.
There was a train load of people heading up the escalators, so I was happy to look around for an elevator, which we didn't find.  We used up some more time when a young man begged for our tagescarte, since he figured that we wouldn't be using it any more.  I asked Helene to give it to him, and we later realized that it was only a multiperson one-way ticket to cover our trip.  I'm sure he realized it eventually, and figured "dumb tourists"  Then through to check-in, with a preliminary passport check before you get in line, then again it's swiped at check-in.  Helene's bag was 23.1kg, and mine was 22.6kg, not enough to trigger overweight fees. The two yarn bags were both about 8kg.
Then up through the EU passport control, then security check.  That got us to a zone with food and bookstores. We headed for our gate and needed to go through another passport check (for all America bound flights), I'm guessing that the servers from the check-in were browsing for any record on my passport number that would give the TSA or whomever grief.   Then for good measure, one more passport check, for ?? reason, like we would have changed persons in the last 50 meters??
Nothing noteworthy, except our seat assignments were toward the front of the tourist section, so it was a bit smoother.  We started out in the aisle seats of the middle section, but the center person came, so I traded that seat for mine, so I could sit with my wife.  She was pleasant and kept getting the vegetarian meals that were meant for Helene, and gave them up.  Only negative was one of stewardesses didn't give a "rat's ass" so if she offered something, and you didn't immediately respond, it was too late.
Once in Newark, we faced a 7 hour layover.  The customs areas was well layed out and actually quite fast.  Helene needed to be fingerprinted and her photo taken (without glasses), and I just got a stamp.(after he'd swiped my passport).  The bags came soon theeafter and on the same level, was the declaration time, where they collected our customs forms and we went down a ramp to drop the bags off again.  Then a train service to Terminal C and going through the overwhelmed TSA screening took about 20min.  Once in the terminal, we had a Jamba Juice and walked around, and looked for a place to have dinner, in a couple hours, before departure.  The Starbucks did not have free Wi-Fi, just the Boing service at the airport for $7.95/day.  More waiting, then a really good dinner at the wine bar near our gate C131.  It was a bit expensive, but the quality was comparable to a in-town restaurant, so I did not feel gyped.
Then the flight to Portland was all on time, thankfully, and we started to get really tired.  It was around 2AM (for European time) after they served a snack   We did have three seats to ourselves, so Helene was able to lie sideways some of the time.  I got some sleep, from pure exhaustion, after some turbulence over Lake Michigan.  The sleep was relief from the butt soreness of sitting for so long.
Once in Portland, our bags were all together and they came out early!  The White Van service was out on the parking strip just before the car rental offices. Smooth ride, and good to be back home by 10:40PM
I did find some mouse droppings under the bathroom sink, and the next day found one trapped up in the attic.  So stocked up on traps at A-Boy and cleaned up the under sink area, and will do the same to the attic.

Up Up and away!

Up at 03:30AM to get picked up with baggage at 04:20AM and got to the airport by 05:00AM. Good thing, as even with the special handling, to tie together a purchased ticket with a frequent flier flight at the end of the purchased ticket route. The bags originally got checked only through to Munich, but we didn't find out until the bags got sucked away on the conveyor belt to go behind the wall (pre-9/11 style) and then we asked about the airport codes on the baggage claim tickets. And got some human customer service assistance and the baggage expert was to find them and route them all the way to Istanbul.
A really new adventure, and I don't know what to expect.  We'll arrive sometime around 11:00PM tomorrow, but 10 of those hours are due to the lost time flying east.
Not to get too excited, the first is leg to Toronto is now 50 minutes delayed, so we can cool our 'jets.'

It's official! I got credit for completing the 400km brevet

And my inglorious time is posted on the OR Randonneurs website!  That was the only part of the whole experience that was missing, now I've got proof, in the documentary record, that I did it, not just making it up.  I learned a lot, but glad to know that that obstacle is not insurmountable.

Back to work on Wednesday

Rode in to work as flat a route as I can, and didn't try to push the effort, but still got too warm with the fleece jacket I'd gotten at WalMart on Monday evening.  During the ride that lateral quads were feeling a bit sore.  Now that I've been sitting here too long, the anterior quads are starting to stiffen and feel sore.

Have calculated the ride time based on the distance and the average speed I was keeping track of in the morning as I was approaching the end.  The Mavic ALTI has yet to behave as advertise, so I can't trust it to be able to record the data i'd like to.
Avg Speed of 13.7mph, leads to a rolling time of 18:24 and stopped time of 7:06
Longest stops were in Pacific Beach, Cape Brown, repairing  flat approaching Hoquim, getting warm and dry in Aberdeen, restocking water in Westport, and then a 'power nap' on the porch of the Sharon, WA Grange Hall.


Lessons Learned (in no particular order):

• do tie off the ends of the helmet light mount.  If not, they flap around making a clicking sound and irritate the scalp a bit.
• do rinse off the helmet after each ride, to ride of dirt, sweat, and sunscreen.
• I ate about 1/2 of what I'd expected to eat, i.e. I brought too much food.  The bagels were hard to chew on, as were the Fig Newtons.  The frozen burritos did better, maybe because I had to stop to eat them. 
• Cutting off the end of the closed snack bag is a good way to get the contents (like the Vande Valde bars) out without breaking them to bits.
• On more than one occasion, I'd get off the bike and realize that I had a full bladder.  Most embarrassing was outside my room door, I couldn't stop the flow and I actually created a puddle on the landing. This is of course after 25 1/2 hour from the beginning and a good 7 liters consumed.
• the Planet Bike Super Flasher logic got messed up, I'd had found it early turned on, after I'd turned them off in the morning.  The switch wasn't working, so I had to remove the batteries, and then the switch would sequence through the modes properly.  When I had the flat around 6:30PM, I replaced the batteries, and it still didn't work.  Good thing I had two, so I new I had at least one back there.  Checking the batteries back at home, all four were in good shape.
• Amtrak's baggage rules are that folding bikes are allowed only in  the storage area at the end of the car.  This counters the Station Agent in Centralia, who said that it couldn't be more than 28 in in any direction.  Those measures are 28x22x14 for carry ons.  The BF in its  bag is 38x18x32.
• Don't ride alone overnight.  the dark road with only the headlight spot to pay attention to is monotonous.  So either with someone else (to provide conversation) or with a rest time between about 03:00AM and 05:00AM
• The extra weight of carry a pair of thermal leggings is minor, I was glad to have had the long fingered gloves, and used them.  The REI screaming yellow jacket was just to porous, and only really kept the wind off.  Jeff mentioned not needing to use his Showers Pass Jacket, I'm thinking that along with the tights would have saved me a good hour searching in the WalMart.
• find a good way to keep that cell phone dry!  Or get a SPOT device.
• Between being mentally tired and physically tired the average speed went way down, and I stopped enough to have trouble keeping up to 10mph.

I made it! I made it!

My 2011 New Years Wish is satisfied.  I actually completed a 400km brevet.  It was not without its challenges, not the least of which was the weather and that I was the only rider all day and all night.  Started at 06:05AM and completed by 07:20AM the next day.A good average rolling speed of 13.7mph, but the rain from about 11:30A to midnight and the 20mph headwind heading south from Pacific City to the jetty in Ocean Shores.  I was beat and missed the sign for the control, but took some pictures with the cell phone, before it became uselessly wet.  Worse, was that I was getting cold, and it was still daylight.  Once back in Aberdeen, I was trying to think of a McDonalds/Burger King to dry out things, a coin op laundry to dry my clothes, or look for a Target/Wal-Mart for some long underwear.  A Safeway came first and I used some paper napkins to dry out the phone enough to call Helene, the last contact.  Then I asked another patron, and she said the WalMart is just down the street, over the metal bridge.  That bridge had about 75feet of steel grating, and I was able to survive it without slipping at about 15mph and keeping a straight line.  Once in the Wal Mart, I asked the greeter about keeping my bike inside, and she got permission.
No long underwear, but they did have something in Sporting Goods, what turned out to be breathable waterproof pants, where one size must fit all, as they only had size XL for waists 40-48"  After finding them, I got back to the women's department and the nice salesperson had found some cotton/lycra tights that might fit.  As I came back after my pants find, I thought about getting a sweater, to provide some insulation for the uppper body.  There entire stock was t-shirts and dress shirts, though I did find a fleece pull over jacket.  I put those on, and it felt soooo got to have something dry on.  Then to pay for it all, $17.  I went to the bathroom, and tried to air dry the cell phone, but it was not to be.  I'e been getting messages since the Jetty, and wasn't able to see them, nor respond to them.   Then to the inhouse McDonalds for some chicken nuggets and a coke.  After this long interlude, I felt warmer and ready to go out again.  It was now dark and the lights went on.  There seemed to be no end to the gentle hills on the way out to Westport, besides there was a mild headwind the entire way.  Once there, bought a banana and a gallon of water to refill the bottles.
Helene must have texted me on my return trip to Aberdeen, I tried to respond, but the screen froze with some keystrokes only.  the reminder was bugging me, as I couldn't do anything about it, so I removed the battery, and thought about another dry stop at the WalMart in Aberdeen.  the Cue Sheet wouldn't have it, as we found a quieter way out of town than we'd taken in.
The Dinotte died all of a sudden after a rest in Montesano.  Search for some replacement batteries before I realized they were in the bottom of the rear bag.  I was lucky, as that set lasted the rest of the night.  One of the PB blinkies decided to not work anymore, I changed batteries, but that didn't solve the problem.  Earlier in the day, the switch or logic needed to be reset, and I'd removed and replaced the batteries, before it worked properly.
the absolute darkness, and lack of traffic, made it difficult to stay awake, and keep up the same average speed.  In Sharon, I saw, what looked like a school with a porch that was dry.  It turned out the be the Grange Hall, but that was good enough.  A power nap, probably from 04:15 to 04:30.  I did feel better for about 30 minutes, then I resorted to listening to Raggai on the MP3 player, until the sun came back up.  Good fortune that the return route came back along Harrison, where my Motel 6 was.  Since I'd started there, I had done the entire loop.

The hardest part is about over.

Carrying the Bike Friday folded in its bag on the left side with the strap over the right shoulder, the Rick Steve's bag as a backpack and the rear bag hanging on the right shoulder from the car into the station, to find the back of the seat assignment line, then slowly progress to get the seat asssignment.  Then directly out the gate and another 100 yards to make it to my car and into it to disgorge my load.  The BF and the Rick Steve's in the compartment at the end of the car, the rear bag overhead.  The netbook in lap and using the Amtrak Cascades Wi-Fi and we will soon be arriving in Centralia, about 20 minutes (despite a timely departure, on the dot at 18:15) late due to freight traffic getting out of the station and a Columbia River bridge lift for maritime traffic.  The sun should be setting as we arrive in Centralia.
Just need to offload all the baggage, and then use the BF  as the beast of burden to make my way to the Motel 6. then Dinner, set up the bike and get to bed

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go; PoorMans 400km brevet tomorrow

RACC report

I was going well last Saturday, starting off from home at 05:30 to the start of the RACC, at Clark County College in Vancouver.  Left at 07:05 and by 08:45 had gotten around Lacamas Lake.  Had a blowout and examined the rear tire, and there was a see through hole in the tread, just where the round hole was in the tube.  Surprize.   Booted the hole with a $5 bill, and also noticed a gash, also on the tread.  Inflated just fine with a 12gm CO2 cartridge, and then mangaged to mount the wheel picking up the chain coming from the bottom of the rear derailleur.  So off again,and back on, and off riding. About 15 minutes later, another flat, so I decided to wait for the SAG support.  It took awhile, but got a ride with the truck that was picking up the Lacamas Rest Station and would be going back to Clark College.

Last weekend's Monster Cookie Ride was a great success.  Warm and sunny and fast times on the flat route, with 3 others that pushed each other.

Getting ready for the Edens Gate 400km brevet, the 2011 New Years Resolution

If this works, here's the route on Google maps.
 http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&vps=3&jsv=331c&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=205583683732563108609.0004a0aef6182ec4bdb8a

20% done with being in charge

But did the Birkie 200k on Saturday, and got my ANSI Class 3 vest today.  The vest is not stylish, but the cars seemed to notice it.

The wife's back, so less housework! But got sick.

The night before work began, I woke up all dizzy.  Was able to sleep some more then had to get up around 05:30 due to the intense nausea caused by all the dizziness.  Stayed home on Tuesday, and saw the doctor, who ruled out the more serious causes of vertigo, and gave Rx to relieve the symptoms.  The meds helped, and today, Wednesday, I felt better and good enough to search it out on the web.  BPPV is Benign (not harmful), Paroxysmal (all of a sudden onset), Positional (just what is says), Vertigo (dizziness).    I also tried out a technique for moving the fluids around in the semi-circular canals of the middle ear called the Epley maneuver.  I could feel stuff moving around in there, so hopefully that will do the trick.  It did seem like the vertigo was quite severe on the right side, good thing the associated nausea's not around, and not on the left side.

Housekeeping tonight

Three loads of laundry, three zones for the Roomba today, and applied Moss-out to the front lawn, to preserve the grass. Oh, and it was a garbage night, with the bonus of being a yard debris pick up tomorrow, as well.

Three more days of work, before four days off, because of the President's Day Holiday Monday fall on by normal compressed day off. Very busy, there, as we've lost 5 of 14 staff in 2010 and are expected to retire another 4 in 2011, and a younger one saying there physically unable to do the job.

Income taxes coming up, too.

Bachelor for 3.5 weeks

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinnner all mine for a few weeks. Starts today

Oh, and work, too. At least for another 719 days.

Next to sign up for the Worst Day of the Year Ride, next Sunday.

Oh, hopefully find my lost items, too.
$20 coffee card
rear fender support for the Buzz
a MP3 player
and a few other things, too.

Good night

Testing 123, if it works

Got an email that Word® 2010 can post to Blogs, maybe even Google's Blogger?

Haircut day and a day of no rain on the Oregon Coast

Happy Wednesday, Yesterday was drizzling all day, to reveal a little fog off the coast here at Gleneden Beach, between Lincoln City and Newport. With the rainy weather, we've explored the shopping possibilities in Lincoln City Outlet Mall as well as Newport's fishing harbor and a pleasant discovery of Nye Beach neighborhood.
After 20 minutes of watching the storm whipped waves crash against the rocky shore at the Boiler Bay turnout, I got soaked and cold, but saw some spectacular wave action.

today, a Haircut, and we're planning to get out to Agate Beach to check it out at the very low minus tide that occurs at 6:08 tonight.

Drinking coffee and counting fiber gms. Good to be on VACATION, wherever it is.
Going back in a week from now.

Take care.

Haircut Day today, and the rain stopped here on the Oregon Coast

After yesterday's wetness got me soaked on one stop at Boiler Bay turnout to watch the crashing storm waves spray against the rocks, we went on to explore

Looking forward to meeting my 2011 resolution

Make that resolution a 400km brevet. That will be after a 200km and a 300km this spring. And the freezing weather is easing up after a 3 day stint below 32 and continuing buildup of ice.

And tomorrow's Hump day. Friday's a payday! And Thursday, I'm off being on-call for as long as the schedule continues through February 2011. And 729 more days until the big day.

Ah ha.