Panic! At the Disco

Sometimes my mad geek skills get me in trouble.  Like this morning, for instance.  All was well in my little world of being super dooper research nerd.  My subject?  Lake Tahoe.  It's all I've been living, breathing, dreaming and focusing on for the past two weeks.  I've kept an eagle eye on the weather and scoped out the course on Google Earth.  I've learned about the water temperature and clarity.  This morning I learn that it is probably going to rain on Sunday.  Well, shoot.  I can swim and run in the rain but I don't know the first thing about biking in the rain.  And what in the world am I going to wear?!  Quick run up to the coffee stand and I've got a plan of action.  Phew!  Pop over to the FB page for Iron Girl and, oh holy crap, there's a comment about elevation change.  Never. Ever. Thought. About. That.  My super nerdy alter ego (I really need a cape) hops on the internet.  Current elevation = 780 feet above sea level.  Future elevation = 6,225 ft above sea level.  Panic ensues and triggers another jaunt up to the coffee stand for more advice.  Luckily, our resident über athlete was also there and I got a lot of good advice, what its going to feel like while running/biking at a higher elevation and some new tips and tricks.  I feel a little better now but not as confident as I was yesterday.  I'm just glad there aren't any cliffs that I could accidentally ride off of...at least not to my knowledge.

Keep Paddling

And....we're in the home stretch.  Six days and counting until the Iron Girl Lake Tahoe triathlon.  I'm pretty stoked for this event.  Weather forecast last week indicated rain/thunderstorms but now we're looking at sunny skies with a high of 72 degrees.  Race starts at 0730 and I should be crossing the finish line roughly around 930 barring any unforeseen difficulties. 

Pretty much the same expression and thoughts I'll be having on Sunday

On Your Left

It truly is amazing what a pair of properly inflated tires will do for your Wednesday afternoon ride.  Last Friday I dropped Louise off at my LBS to see if they could figure out what was going on with her tires.  Before ChelanMan, I had a friend put in new tires, tubes and liners but ended up with a flat rear tire the night before the race.  I pumped it up the morning of the race and spent the entire 12 miles worrying that I was going to go flat.  Another ride a couple weeks ago was cut short because both tires were going flat.  Not wanting to run into this problem in Tahoe, Louise and I made a trip to Arlberg.

The super helpful guy in the repair shop took apart the rear wheel and blew up the tube.  No holes.  What?!  That tire was definitely not keeping air.  Further inspection revealed that it could have either been the spokes poking through the wheel in a few places or this open hole about the size of a jellybean in both wheels.  Hmm....guess maybe if I had ridden her sometime during the first year I owned her, I might have figured this out sooner?  Any ways...I left Louise there overnight so she could be sanded and patched and new tubes and liners put on her.  My new BFF also promised to do a quick tune to make sure Louise was in tip top shape for her CA/NV debut.

What a difference.  First ride around the loop in several years took place on Labor Day with my usual partner in crime.  We managed a pretty good pace for the 10 mile loop and I was impressed at how much easier it was.  Perhaps the tires?  Or perhaps all the extra work I've been doing over the past couple of months to get in better shape?

This afternoon's bike ride was all sorts of fun.  Locked my car keys in the trunk when getting my bike out.  Good thing the car was unlocked or that would have really sucked.  Got my heart rate going for a little bit, that's for sure.  Needed to keep a good pace tonight since I was racing the thunderstorms, maybe finish in under an hour?  Easy.  I think.  I wore a pair of biking shorts that I bought a couple years ago when us SAC Angels were plotting to do STP 2009.  The Pearl Izumi UltraSensor Short.  I swear I tried these on when I bought them.  The rise must have just grown about six inches while being stashed in the bike bag.  I could pull these suckers up under my armpits!!  Sheesh.  Well, at least I didn't have to worry about plumber's butt for a change.  Heh.  They were comfortable to ride in.  Slippery though.  My second heart rate increase happened when I shifted a bit backward on the seat and my slippery shorts kept on going.  Thought for sure that I was going to fly off the back of the seat and hurt myself. 

After all that, the ride was fairly uneventful save the fish on the bridge, the wind and racing the train just for giggles.  Reached my goal and finished the 10 miles in exactly 45 minutes (even with taking one wrong turn).  This weekend is the long ride, two times around the loop for an even 20 miles.  Anyone want to join me?

Video Killed the Radio Star

It's two weeks until my last triathlon of the season. I'm feeling way more prepared for the Iron Girl Lake Tahoe triathlon than I did for my very first triathlon this past July. My body is stronger, my biking is better, my swimming still sucks (but we won't talk about that) and I've got a pretty great group of people traveling to Tahoe to cheer me on.

I received a promotional email this morning asking me if I wanted a personalized video of me participating in the triathlon. Hrm....good question. So far, photography at the events I've participated in hasn't been the greatest. I've yet to have that "I'm totally rocking this event" look on my face...it's more a "Good lord, I think I'm dying" face. Do I really want to have this preserved on video for the low, low price of $24.95?! I'm considering.

Take a gander at the offerings and let me know what you think. Should I or shouldn't I?  Is it worth the price? Can they guarantee that they'll get enough footage of me?  Will my future political campaign come to a crashing halt when this video surfaces?