BDTT - Episode 2

Last night was my second attempt at the Dog. On the way down I stopped at Hollywood Cycles to get a pump adaptor (or a hash pipe as some like to call it) to make it easier to inflate my HED wheels. Jay was pretty busy at the time but went out of his way to get one for me quickly as he knew we were heading to the Dog. He really hooked me up on it too. I’m not sure the retail on it, but I know I paid 100% less than that. That dude is super nice and runs an excellent shop. Check him out sometime if you haven’t yet.

The race was less than great for me. My legs were super tired after a really long run on Monday and a hard bike workout that included lots of hill repeats on Tuesday. I ran into Ray, Trench, and Drew before the race so it was cool to see a growing Cat6 contingent. I took off and got up to 27mph and wanted to hold it there as long as I could. About 1000 meters into it I realized if I kept that up I would definitely record a DNF, or a time somewhere around an hour. I settled in to all I could muster which was around 23 mph. I ended up posting a time almost identical to my last effort, an average of around 24.5, or 17:57. So it makes me think my computer is really effed. I mean you can’t have and average speed that’s over your cruising speed. Wonder how fast I really started out, and no wonder I couldn’t hold that pace. I heard several people complain about their computers last night. I wonder if the power plant down there is the culprit?

Anyway it was a fun night. There were lots of people out and everyone seemed to be in a good mood and really chatty. The weather was perfect, so it was one of those nights that made me really happy that I live where I do. Saturday I’m racing the Minneman Tri, so it should be another one of those days, just with a different group of peeps. It looks like the weather will be great. I set a goal of breaking 1:07:00. It’ll be tough. I’ll either puke at the line or hit the wall and miss the time. Either way it will be a great way to start off the weekend.

A great quote to end the week

An article in this weeks The Economist talks about elections and how portions of the general US population are irrational in how they select their candidates. In it I came across a great quote that I’ve been sharing with people in the office. The article basically says that if uninformed voters would vote randomly, the candidate who wins the majority of the well informed votes would win. However, the uninformed voters do not vote randomly, rather they have 4 inherent biases. The article presents the 4 biases and then gives example of how they effect the uninformed voters decisions. The article is based on a new book by Bryan Caplan titled “The Myth of the Rational Voter”. I’m gonna try to pick up the book this weekend. I’ll let you know if I do and then provide a review later.

Anyway, I’m gonna be somewhat liberal with the quote but its something like this
“Surveys suggest that, the more educated you are, the more likely you are to share an economists view….”

That’s right beyotches, you all wish you were as smart as me and shared my views on all issues facing society! I have all of the answers, for the right price.

I’m not very tall, but now I feel like a giant in our kitchen.

Last year when we moved into our house, Gianna went out to Home Depot and bought a bunch of ceiling fans. She never really measures stuff, just went out and went crazy in the ceiling fan section. On top of that I’m not the most handy man around the house and I was always told that ceiling fans can be really hard to install because they need to be braced to the rafters and what not. So the fans sat for like a year. Sunday a friend of ours who is a Superintendent for commercial construction projects came over and helped me out. It turns out that we have the right J boxes (?) that they don’t need to have the support brace installed. After putting up one with his assistance I took on three others in the house solo. Well last night I installed the last one in the kitchen. I thought it would go smoothly like all the others. Ha! The installation was a pain in the arse, but that’s not the worst of it. The light fixture that is attached to the bottom of the fan is about 4 inches above my head. I duck instinctively every time I walk into the kitchen, seriously. And its not like we can just switch it out with another fan in the house, all of the ceilings are the same height. If we moved it into one of the bedrooms you would run the risk of getting your ass caught in the blades if you rolled over in your sleep. It would be like some crazy torture device you would expect to see in like Guantanamo. So consider this if we ever invite you over for dinner. Are we asking you because you are our friend, or because you are a suspected terrorist?

Smithers is way better at this blog thing

So Smithers beat me to the punch. Last week G and I rode up to the Lake Harriet Bandshell to hear some music. They have music there every night during the summer. I had G take a picture with her phone so I could show everyone how cool of a place we live in. And as Smithers points out, this stuff doesn’t happen out in the burbs.

The weekend was pretty great. Friday we rode to the 400 Bar in an attempt to see The National, but it was sold out. We met T3 and Carl at Grumpy’s for some beers and tots. It was also G’s first ride home in the dark after a few beverages. She loved it. Its cooler outside, there are little to no cars, and with a little buzz you really feel like a kid on a bike.

Saturday we rode to Anodyne Coffee Shop for brunch, and then had dinner at the neighbor’s house. We were outside almost the entire day, the weather was perfect. We were sitting at dinner and I made a comment how I loved the temperature outside because it feels like nothing. The temp. is such that you feel neither warm nor cold. Then once the sun goes down it’s a little cooler, making it perfect to hang outside and check out the stars.

Sunday was less fun. Cleaning the house in the morning and then landscaping the backyard all afternoon. We ripped out the weed garden and planted some lilacs and put down a bunch of mulch. I’ll post some before and after pictures later. My back is super red. I was smart enough to take off my shirt and not put any sunscreen on. At least it evened out my cycling tan. Last episode of the Soprano’s, I thought it was a perfect ending. Even though it wasn’t really an ending.

Wait, is that grass greener over there?

So I kinda had a revelation about my job today that may make it more bearable for me. If you don’t know I’m currently an environmental economist for a federal (pound you in the ass) agency. I do benefit cost analyses for project looking at water quality improvement, flood protection, etc. Before we go any further, here’s a little history.

Prior to coming on board with the Feds. I worked for a non-profit think-tank in Research Triangle Park. I was doing policy analysis there with a focus on economics, the environment, and climate change. Because it was a think-tank with all of the senior staff being research scientist, the scientific rigor behind all of the analyses was top notch. You know it was kinda like the whole Ivory Tower kinda thing, but with an applied component. I mean the EPA was really using the stuff we did to formulate national environmental policies. Anyway, the research that I was doing wasn’t being supported by the administration (it was before this latest craze where everyone and their mother have suddenly realized maybe we should start talking about climate change). All of this lead me to where I am now.

One of the biggest challenges with the new job was adapting to the way the govt. works. I found it to be a LITTLE bit slower, and a LITTLE less rigorous academically/scientifically. For the longest time that really bummed me out, and may have led to me make a few enemies in the office. They were all singing the tune of “This is how we’ve always done it and we don’t have the time or the money to do it your way.” So I was always like “If you want me to just effin make up numbers say it. Don’t make me try to hide the fact that this analysis is incomplete. The way you’ve been doing it is garbage.”

Today while I was brushing my teeth after lunch I thought to myself, if a new person was coming into our office for my current position, what would I say to them? I ended up with this. I’d ask them if they wanted to do economics or if they wanted to do conservation? You see I just finished a draft analysis for something, which if I would have had more time, would have probably come out with a little different result. Would the results have been so different that they would have led to an alternative decision on the project, who knows, but probably not. What I came up with was an analysis using the best data I had available to me. The result of the project is going to provide conservation, protect people in potential flooding dangers, and create recreational opportunities. It determined the best plan for a situation that I feel comfortable with. Could the analysis have been more detailed, absolutely. Would I have liked to have done the more detailed analysis, you bet. But at the end of the day it would have been an Ivory Tower type of exercise.

So, new job candidate (me), if rigorous analysis is what you are looking for, this is not the place for you. If you want to help people make informed decisions with the information you have, giving them a plan that actually gets implemented, then welcome aboard. I think I’ve finally made the change over from the prior to the later. Or I’ve fooled myself into thinking what I do matters.

Proof

First bit of photo evidence that I've been racing this year. This is right at the finish of Buffalo on Sunday. Thanks to Competitive Image for the shot.

Still alive, but just barely

Between working in La Crosse for the first part of last, or wait two weeks and traveling to Ohio for a wedding I haven’t had much time to update things here. So here is a rough recap to keep you up to date if you are interested.

La Crosse – Cool river town that I would like to get back to while it’s still nice around here with the bikes. Seem like there would be some great roads in the region with some solid climbs and great views once atop. The downtown was kinda cool. You couldn’t walk a few feet without finding a cool little bar or restaurant. I found and old fashioned soda shop with excellent homemade ice cream.

Ohio – 4 days of hard core drinking with the crew for Brett’s wedding. Seriously every night we were up till like 4 or 5. The night before the wedding and the wedding itself were the worst for the body. Friday was the rehearsal dinner and then bars. Gianna got sent home early because she was not fit for public. I apparently walked home, though I have no recollection of it. Saturday was a slow start, though we were all in good shape for the church. Once to the rehearsal we found the bar and set ourselves straight. We closed down a neighboring bar with lots of dancing on the bar, with clothing being shed at an alarming rate. Good times.

So over the course of the time in La Crosse and Ohio I got in about 2 workouts. Neither of which were on the bike or in the water. So needless to say I was less than prepared for yesterday’s race in Buffalo. So here it is, the first tri report of the season.

Swim – I was just a matter of survival. The swim to the first buoy was good. I was feeling good and I was starting to catch some of the folks from the wave that took off before mine. At the buoy we took a left hand turn, and with it came the wind. The wind picked up and the chop was coming right into my face for each breath (I can only really breathe on my right side). It sucked, but I managed. The next left turn we headed for home. We were kinda with the wind now, but it was more like a cross wind and it kept pushing me off course. I made it in at just over 27:00. I was thinking it would be more like 30:00, so I though hey, not too bad.

Bike – Well lets see, no time on the bike in over a week, no hoping for much here. Out on the course the wind was kicking pretty good. I eased into it and then started to crank. The HED 3’s really showed their stuff when the wind was coming at and with me at an angle. It was really weird to feel fast in a slight crosswind. After a long section in a really tough head wind and rain, I started to feel it. I did what I could to finish strong and still have something left in the tank for the 10K. I finished somewhere around 1:12, though I would have like to be around 1:07.

Run – Sufferfest, the first HALF of the run is uphill, with mile 2 to 3.1 being a really decent grade. On the way back down I tried to keep my quads in control so I wouldn’t shred them and be stranded on the course for the last 2 mile. Coming to the finish I was feeling pretty strong so it seems I could have pushed it a little more earlier on. I came in around 45:00, again a little slower than I would have liked.

Overall time was something like 2:27:00. Pre-Ohio and La Crosse goal was 2:24:00 or less. I’m thinking I would have been under that for sure. Looking at the big picture though, I would gladly trade those 3-5 minutes of the race for the time I had with my friends and family in Ohio. Next race is at the end of the month. Next post, sooner than two weeks from now, I promise.