The real deal.Photograph by ?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Monday, November 05, 2007
Journeys: The Move
Moving!Photograph by Chuck Bolte.
The trip to northern Georgia included myself, Paul, and Vegan Matt. We drove to Helen, GA Vegan Matt's six hamster powered Honda on Saturday where we enjoyed Oktoberfest in the small Alpine village, some enjoyed it more thoroughly than others. That night we camped in the vicinity of the top of a random small mountain on the outskirts of Helen. The stars were our night light, twinkling over fly-less tents and the mountain winds whipped with a crispness unimaginable in Augusta. It was a perfect mountain night with perfect intoxicated hiccups.
The next morning we awoke and dressed in our Sunday cycling best for a mostly chilly three gap ride in the mountains. Matt selected a route that began and ended in Helen and included Hog Pen Gap, Jack's Gap, and Unicoi Gap. The ride went off without a hitch, other than some mysterious wobbling from the Orbea on steep descents, and Matt took some great pictures of the whole event, but has yet to email them to me. I still like him nonetheless. The trip to northern Georgia was a wonderful way to spend my last weekend in the South, but it is time to move onto bigger and better things in the cold, cold North.
The last cycling related activity to occur in Augusta was a photo opportunity with mine and Nate's beautiful fixies. The intent is that these pictures will be displayed on the Fixed Gear Gallery (.com), but someone still has to post them. Below is a sample.
Papa's got a brand new bag!Photograph by Chuck Bolte.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Journeys: The Army Ten Miler
If you do not know, a few weeks ago I was asked to replace an injured member of the Fort Gordon Army Ten Miler running team. The Army Ten Miler is a 10 mile foot race that is held in Washington, DC every year in October and teams from around the nation, both military and civilian, compete in the event. I was a little bit uncertain about running a 10 mile foot race, only because I do not enjoy running for fun, but decided it would be a superb, and free, travel opportunity for at least one weekend this fall.
The team made the nine hour drive north on Friday so that we could rest and loosen up all day on Saturday and be primed for the race which was to be held on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I did not rest very much on Saturday, but stayed on my feet trouncing around DC until 2230. I did not intend to stay out that late, but I fell victim to infrequent public transportation that occurs after 2100. The only reason that I arrived back at my hotel at 2230 was that I called a cab to rescue me from a lifeless Pentagon City bus station after a stagnant hour.
To me, the conditions for race day were perfect, both the weather and the scenery were lovely. Others may disagree that it was too hot and too humid. I ran the 10 mile course in 1:00:15 to place 98th out of 17,641 entrants. Everything about the race went exactly the way I wanted it to go. I ran the first two miles at an easy pace and then picked things up for the subsequent eight miles. I really could not have asked for a better performance.
Unfortunately, immediately following the race, the team piled back into the van for the nine hour return drive south. We were supposed to stay at the hotel until Monday, but the team ran out of funding and packed it up early. Walking was difficult after that van ride.
Welcome to the off season!
The team made the nine hour drive north on Friday so that we could rest and loosen up all day on Saturday and be primed for the race which was to be held on Sunday morning. Unfortunately I did not rest very much on Saturday, but stayed on my feet trouncing around DC until 2230. I did not intend to stay out that late, but I fell victim to infrequent public transportation that occurs after 2100. The only reason that I arrived back at my hotel at 2230 was that I called a cab to rescue me from a lifeless Pentagon City bus station after a stagnant hour.
To me, the conditions for race day were perfect, both the weather and the scenery were lovely. Others may disagree that it was too hot and too humid. I ran the 10 mile course in 1:00:15 to place 98th out of 17,641 entrants. Everything about the race went exactly the way I wanted it to go. I ran the first two miles at an easy pace and then picked things up for the subsequent eight miles. I really could not have asked for a better performance.
Unfortunately, immediately following the race, the team piled back into the van for the nine hour return drive south. We were supposed to stay at the hotel until Monday, but the team ran out of funding and packed it up early. Walking was difficult after that van ride.
Welcome to the off season!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Arsenal: Sally Serotta
It is a little weird to be one of the few guys that shows up to a triathlon on his road bike. Most people have a supremely decked out time trial or triathlon bike that cost a small mountain of cash. My cash usually only amounts to a small mole hill so there were no sweet TRI bikes in my sights for the longest time until...
Paul got a new Orbea Ordu! Which freed up his old bike Sally the Serotta for sale to...me!
Needless to say, Paul hooked me up with a killer deal and I cannot thank him enough.
Thank you Paul!
Paul has always called Sally, "Sally", for as long as I have known him, so her name will be retained under my care too. Sally and I had our first true ride at the SC Half Ironman distance triathlon where we blasted through the field on the bike portion.
Ride Sally, ride!
P.S. Yes, those are 650 wheels.
My new girl, Sally.
Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Paul got a new Orbea Ordu! Which freed up his old bike Sally the Serotta for sale to...me!
Needless to say, Paul hooked me up with a killer deal and I cannot thank him enough.
Thank you Paul!
Paul has always called Sally, "Sally", for as long as I have known him, so her name will be retained under my care too. Sally and I had our first true ride at the SC Half Ironman distance triathlon where we blasted through the field on the bike portion.
Ride Sally, ride!
P.S. Yes, those are 650 wheels.
My new girl, Sally.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Nonsense: SC Half
Polar bears.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Well, I was writing a very in depth post that described my participation in the SC Half Ironman distance triathlon, but, while I was typing, my Firefox web browser decided that it was ready to punch out for the day and go home. I lost all of my work, so now I will be short changing all of my readers.
My TRI geek buddy, Paul Kannady, and I went to Greenwood the night before the race and stayed in an Econo Lodge that was not very far from the race site. I had a lovely dinner at Outback Steakhouse that night and then dozed off into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of swimming, biking, and running. Well, I was dreaming until the little black insects that I was sleeping with started crawling on my face and woke me up. I suppose the Econo Lodge cannot be consider a "roach" motel, because there were no roaches crawling on me. Maybe if I had gotten one of the $59.99 rooms instead of the $49.99 rooms I would have been blessed with roaches.
Nope, just lowly un-named little black insects for me.
When I stepped outside at 0500 on Sunday morning, it was cold. So cold that I stepped back inside to mentally prepare myself for the cold. Of course both Paul and I forgot to pack jackets, but I was fortunate enough to have a long sleeved "SC Half" T-shirt that came in my race bag that I picked up on Saturday.
It kept me warm while I set up my transition area.
Unfortunately, triathletes do not swim in long sleeved cotton T-shirts, they swim in wetsuits when the water is cold. If you are me and you do not have a wet suit, then you still have to swim in your little bitty lycra TRI shorts. The big orange ball in the sky peeked over the horizon just before the start of the race to perk my confidence that I would not freeze and drown during the 1.2 mile swim.
Bang! And they are off!
And so we were. All 500 of us TRI geeks. I was in the third wave and decided that I would swim on the outside of the pack, because I know that I am a slow swimmer and I did not want to get punched in the face. The swim went exactly the way I wanted it to. Slow and easy. After 44 long minutes I climbed out of Greenwood Lake and raced off to the transition area to mount my new TRI bike, Sally the Serotta.
Chuck in transition.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Sally and I killed the bike portion of the event. At least, we did in my opinion. Sally and I averaged 21.8 miles per hour over the 56 mile course, turned in the 36th fastest bike split, and we were only passed twice. That is a good Sally.
After two legs of the event, things were going just the way I had envisioned them the night before with little black insects crawling on my face. Then I arrived at mile 7 of the run. I did not feel anything close to an energy bonk, but my calves and quads decided that they had had enough and demanded that I start walking through every aid station. And, eventually, walking up all of the hills. My sights had been set on running no slower than a 1:30 half marathon, but that dream was shattered as I watched countless other triathletes breeze by me like I was standing still for the next 6 miles.
When I finished after 5 hours and 18 minutes, some old man gave me a medal and Paul took a picture of my crotch.
Number 64.Photograph by Paul Kannady.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Nonsense: What The Chuck?!
Chuck Bolte represents the Augusta Cross Coalition.Photograph by Chuck Bolte.
I know, I know. The blogging of late has been bizarre and unfamiliar. What is this nonsense about beauty queens, T-shirts, and television shows? Quite a deviation from the typical ramblings in which I partake, but sometimes, a break from the typical is necessary. So, what the Chuck has Chuck really been doing these past few days?
Well, I can tell you exactly what I did for the dates of August 26th to September 6th because, for no apparent reason, I began jotting down training notes for those dates. For these 12 days of training, my goal was to increase my running mileage from previous weeks and to focus on doing two events a day. Typically, I run twice a week for a total of 10 miles and I normally only focus on doing one event each day. My calculations show that, from August 26th to September 6th I spent 8,900 meters in the pool, 220 miles on the bike, and 43 miles with the running shoes laced up and seven of the 12 days were two-a-days. I felt like the training was going well until the evening of September 6th when I experienced muscle cramps in my legs as I walked up the three flights of stairs to my dorm room after a ride with Drew Jordan.
In response to my ailing over trained body, I took the 7th to the 9th of September off from training and focused on work and painting a new T-shirt.
Hopefully all of this training will payoff in my upcoming scheduled events; the Greenwood, SC Half Ironman Triathlon on September 30th and the Army 10 Miler in Washington, DC on October 7th.
If you are the type of person that is into praying, pray for me, but, more importantly, pray for Vegan Matt, loyal cyclist and user of the adjective “jam”.
Vegan Matt was commuting to his morning class on Central Avenue in downtown Augusta last week when a car suddenly pulled out in front him from a side street. Vegan Matt suddenly had to make a quick decision, lay the bike down and take one for the team or T-bone the car at 25 miles per hour. Fearing that impacting with the car may result in an untimely demise, Vegan Matt laid his bike down in a valiant attempt to scrape up some road pizza. Unfortunately, Vegan Matt ate almost no pizza, but dislocated his hip, sprained his knee, and sprained his ankle. After a short stint in the ER, Vegan Matt was awarded a new set of crutches and an excuse to sit on his couch at home for hours on end.
Not a place he wants to be.
Let us hope that Vegan Matt is back on the bike in no time!
Finally, while riding the “Ghetto Loop” on Thursday the 6th of September, the AJBW group ride witnessed an event that was immediately added to Nate Zukas’ top five wildest things seen while riding a bicycle.
As the group pedaled to the top of Damascus Road to its intersection with Wrightsboro Road we saw two police cruisers attempting to box in a black Monte Carlo that was stopped in at the traffic light hanging over the intersection. While the police cruisers were maneuvering, the driver of the Monte Carlo motioned with his hand that he was going to cooperate with the law and pull his pimped out ride over, possibly onto Damascus Road.
Psych! Instead of politely pulling over as prompted by the police officers, the driver of the Monte Carlo nosed into the opposite lane of traffic ahead of one of the police cruisers and punched the gas, tearing through the red light and speeding off down Wrightsboro Road. Immediately, the police cruisers hit the lights and sirens and sped off in hot pursuit.
It was like COPS without the TV!
Well, I can tell you exactly what I did for the dates of August 26th to September 6th because, for no apparent reason, I began jotting down training notes for those dates. For these 12 days of training, my goal was to increase my running mileage from previous weeks and to focus on doing two events a day. Typically, I run twice a week for a total of 10 miles and I normally only focus on doing one event each day. My calculations show that, from August 26th to September 6th I spent 8,900 meters in the pool, 220 miles on the bike, and 43 miles with the running shoes laced up and seven of the 12 days were two-a-days. I felt like the training was going well until the evening of September 6th when I experienced muscle cramps in my legs as I walked up the three flights of stairs to my dorm room after a ride with Drew Jordan.
In response to my ailing over trained body, I took the 7th to the 9th of September off from training and focused on work and painting a new T-shirt.
Hopefully all of this training will payoff in my upcoming scheduled events; the Greenwood, SC Half Ironman Triathlon on September 30th and the Army 10 Miler in Washington, DC on October 7th.
If you are the type of person that is into praying, pray for me, but, more importantly, pray for Vegan Matt, loyal cyclist and user of the adjective “jam”.
Vegan Matt was commuting to his morning class on Central Avenue in downtown Augusta last week when a car suddenly pulled out in front him from a side street. Vegan Matt suddenly had to make a quick decision, lay the bike down and take one for the team or T-bone the car at 25 miles per hour. Fearing that impacting with the car may result in an untimely demise, Vegan Matt laid his bike down in a valiant attempt to scrape up some road pizza. Unfortunately, Vegan Matt ate almost no pizza, but dislocated his hip, sprained his knee, and sprained his ankle. After a short stint in the ER, Vegan Matt was awarded a new set of crutches and an excuse to sit on his couch at home for hours on end.
Not a place he wants to be.
Let us hope that Vegan Matt is back on the bike in no time!
Finally, while riding the “Ghetto Loop” on Thursday the 6th of September, the AJBW group ride witnessed an event that was immediately added to Nate Zukas’ top five wildest things seen while riding a bicycle.
As the group pedaled to the top of Damascus Road to its intersection with Wrightsboro Road we saw two police cruisers attempting to box in a black Monte Carlo that was stopped in at the traffic light hanging over the intersection. While the police cruisers were maneuvering, the driver of the Monte Carlo motioned with his hand that he was going to cooperate with the law and pull his pimped out ride over, possibly onto Damascus Road.
Psych! Instead of politely pulling over as prompted by the police officers, the driver of the Monte Carlo nosed into the opposite lane of traffic ahead of one of the police cruisers and punched the gas, tearing through the red light and speeding off down Wrightsboro Road. Immediately, the police cruisers hit the lights and sirens and sped off in hot pursuit.
It was like COPS without the TV!
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