Training Log Archive: PG

Bare ground in the woods, good weather for late December (mid-30s, sunny), so time to go orienteering. In fact, time for a doubleheader. :-)

First up was Ansonia, always a nice place, good woods but the orienteering can be difficult. One course, set by Joe, thanks!, 2.9 km beeline. Had a pretty good run -- yes it seems OK to actually use the word "run" since I did a fair amount of it, a fair amount of walking too whenever it went uphill. A lot of legs where I knew right where I was from start to finish. But also two (2 and 8) where I had lost map contact well before halfway to the control and only was sure I had it back when I saw the flag. Neither ended up costing me much, but still something better avoided.

Good social outing too, especially in these days. Charlie, Phil, plus Chin-Hua and Matt (and Tai and RockY). All well masked (though maybe not Rocky the hound?), all at a distance of course, also all really good for morale.

And then off to Osbornedale, 10 minutes drive to the hills on the west side of town. Hillier, rougher going, a good bit of barberry too. Short course here too, 2.5 km beeline, Orienteering was mostly OK, just small mistakes at 1 and 7.

The highlight, well, strike that because it was clearly a lowlight, was on the way to 2. Phil had started just ahead of me and missed 1 enough that I saw him leaving and that helped me find it. We were roughly together going down the hill to 2. I recall thinking that, as it was downhill, I was supposed to be gaining time on him, so I was moving quicker than good sense would have recommended.

And then there was a short section just at the bottom that got steeper and rockier and trashier, and I proved that I have not managed to expunge competitiveness from my psyche, meaning I kept up a good rate of speed. And crashed. Hard. I think I did two revolutions before I stopped, all on rocks.

Just really stupid. The kind of really bad judgement that when you see other folks, often young ones, also exercising really bad judgement, you just shake your head, and figure, well, hopefully they'll learn. Here I am at 76+ and it seems I still haven't learned.

By all rights I should have had some significant damage, but there was none. Phil had stopped just above me, was I OK? I did a short inventory, nothing hurt, so pick up the map and get on with the orienteering.

But still, such appalling judgment....

A check when I got home showed a modest welt on the side of one leg and a couple of small ones in the middle of my back. Essentially, nothing. Hard to believe.

C • How remarkable! 15

Ansonia WS#4 - Splits

Osbornedale WS#4 - Splits

Who knew loop. No snow or ice. North Mountain was lots of muddy spots (all avoidable), bike trail had standing water in the low spots (mostly avoidable).

Tried out my new shoes, Roclite 275. I've been walking in them for a few days, was worried they might be a cut a little higher than I like and rub against my ankle bones, but no problem at least in this short test. And they should be a little better on slopes in the woods than my Pegasus. Hopefully the good amount of heel drop and more than minimal cushioning will be appreciated by my legs. We'll see.

Got the bright red for Xmas colors, also I suppose the green, but only if you're not wearing them. OK, but would be better with the green on the outside too. Makes you more visible if you ever go headfirst into a snowbank.

The woods are improving by the hour, though still a little of that white stuff to get rid of. :-)



By late afternoon, just the remnants of plowing or shoveling. So fine.

C • White stuff 9

45, overcast. I was going to skip today, but then it seemed criminal to not go out when the weather was so benign.

There was a light wind from the south, supposed to be freshening, so I headed that way, figuring by the time I turned back, all I'd have to do would be to hold my amrs out and the wind would take me home. Except, after being in my face for the first bit, the wind just pretty much died. So coming back was not the free ride I was expecting, worked more than I expected.

With Gail, south of town. 37, sunny, light breeze, a little chilly on the face but really rather pleasant.

Upper 30s, NW wind 10+. Up in the hills to the east a bit, loop through Leverett and over Cave Hill. Figured it was warm enough that there would be no ice, but not so warm that there would be a lot of puddles from melting. Right on both counts. Best was that it's a really good route in a NW wind. Certainly had the wind at my back starting off and finishing up, but there was almost no payback in the middle. You do have to go over Cave Hill, but still, just about perfect.

And, hard to believe, I have now washed the bike two days in a row. With the advantage of the expected learning curve, the Super Soakers are now even more awesome. How can something that is a pain-in-the-butt bit of bike maintenance (that I therefore never did) be fun?

Is there some other gizmo out there that would make cleaning the basement fun? There has to be.

With Gail and Walter, to the north with a few ups and downs. Nice day for the solstice, mid-30s, not much wind. Pace was a little more mellow than usual because the conversation was so good.

The roads were wet, yesterday's inch or two of snow gone, credit the efforts of the highway crews, though their weapons against the white stuff (sand and salt) were still hanging around. At some point in the ride we asked Walter what he would do when he got home with regard to cleaning off his bike.

He is the expert in such things. I was expecting an answer that would certainly be good advice, also complicated enough that I would ignore it all, quite happily just putting the bike in the garage as is. But his advice was not so impossible -- spray it with some warm water to wash off grit and salt, then shake it a bunch (or bounce it) to get rid of as much water as you can, and then put it someplace where it will dry. He did add that he preferred to take his bike in the shower with him.

Hmmm, we could do that (except the shower part). Especially since a recent discovery would be just the gizmo we needed.

Good karma seems to generate good karma, something I expect Phil would quibble with, karma getting the same lack of respect from him as omens do. But that doesn't mean it's not true. The initial good karma in this case being the slow but steady pace we are making towards cleaning and organizing and simplifying (and often discarding) all the stuff in the garage and basement.

Obviously it has a positive effect on one's mental health. Plus, of course, you find things you never knew you had, or why you have them. In this particular case it seems the need was to discourage the woodpecker that insisted on trying to make holes in out siding.

So Gail had gone and procured a pair of Super Soakers, 5 nozzles, range up to 10 meters, and apparently legal thanks to the Second Amendment. And while the jury is still out on how they would do against woodpeckers, the Super Soakers still being in their original packing, there is no doubt that they are just about perfect for washing off a bike. Took about two loads per bike. Then bounced the bikes a bit to shake off the water. Then plenty of room to get by Gail's car in the cleaned-out garage, plenty of room for the bikes in the warm, dry and partly cleaned-out furnace room.

Good karma just about everywhere, though perhaps not yet in the rest of the basement which is in need of some major TLC. That is still to look forward to.

C • Bike cleaning 4