Recreation Through Endurance

VORS Finale/Twisted Tire Fall

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:32:08 -0500

The race season is officially over. The finish line for the Virginia Off-Road Series has been crossed and Woody and I are overwhelmed with how successful it turned out to be. Over 1000 competitors from Virginia and Maryland and perhaps other places were ranked, scored, and awarded points after racing in 20 races.

Sunday was the Twisted Tire Fall Cup and the VORS Awards Ceremony with a big cookout. If you weren't there, you missed a good time and some VA-famous Scud Fries. Honestly, I'm just glad that I live in a place were something like this can exist and I'm glad I could help bring some excitement to the race scene and look forward to doing it bigger and better next year.

Also, not racing because I needed to add up the final race's points gave me more time to play with our new camera. Some of my favorites are here, while Liz put all of them on Picasa.

This weekend's the Richmond Marathon, which I'll be participating in, only photographically, with a new lens.

D-SLR

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:03:00 -0500

What is a photograph, but a moment in time capturing light from a specific angle. My new camera came in today in just enough time to catch some daylight. 258 photos later, some were good.

Another Day To Die

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:04:00 -0500

You Only Live Twice

Live And Let Die

Tomorrow Never Dies

Die Another Day

...and now, Another Day to Die.

Tour de Varina

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:13:31 -0500

Despite some rain, a beautiful day to be on the bike. Finally, I remembered to take my camera with me before the leaves were done changing. Lots of bad shots taken at speed, but some turned out. A little photoshopping later:

Also, individual photos here.

Selective desaturation is my new favorite thing. At least until Monday when my new camera arrives.

The Morning After

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:38:38 -0500

I suppose I should say something about the election. There's lots of talk about "change" and a "shift is politics", but how much, how soon, and what that will entail is still to come. What is clear is how much this electoral process is different from previous elections. I heard that 82% of American feel this election cycle was too negative. Personally, I don't see it compared our previous elections as long as I can remember. One can't help but wonder if Obama could have stood up to Karl Rovian tactics.

McCain's concession speech is full of dignity, respect, and servitude, much more than his audience showed. (I think McCain's speech is much more important than Obama's victory speech as it's easy to say "We did it!")

Also, Bush may take this as a personal defeat, but still shows gratitude and commitment to the new President-elect:

8 years ago, the Republicans had the White House and Congress, and there was a dramatic right shift is American policy from Clinton's more centralist record. With the Democrats holding both the White House and Congress, will they show the same respect to the Republicans that they received from 2001-2006? Whatever change is made, I just hope it's controlled, well-thought, and in the best interests of the country as a whole. Power from the people.

More importantly though, this election does something that hasn't been done since maybe 1960 or 1932. It's inspiring millions of Americans in new ways. From a policy standpoint, does it matter that the president is (half) African-America? Policy decisions are policy decisions and it was a WASP who signed the Civil Rights Act. From a policy standpoint, LBJ did more for minorities than BHO can imagine. Besides, there have been other blacks in the White House (Colin Powell, Condelleza Rice) and seeking the White House (Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988 and Alan Keys, Republican who got 14% of Iowa in 2000). In my 90% African-American neighborhood, I waited over 2 hours to vote. That didn't happen in 2004.

Still, 98% of the President-Elect's job won't have anything to do with race. He'll deal with Iraq, Afghanistan, deficits, financial industry turmoil, energy consumption and emissions, growing international economies, Social Security, health care, and other problems we don't even know about.

Race is easy to talk about in this election because it's obvious, but it's only important because of it's inspirational effects. The problems our country faces are the same as they were on Monday and no matter who got elected, he'll have to solve them.

Now, time to go ride my bike.

Election Debate

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:28:28 -0400

John McCain:

Barack Steve Obama:

Close, very close, but I think John has it.

Monkeys Vs. Bears

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:52:27 -0400

Who knew?

http://view.break.com/518545 - Watch more free videos

'Cross Is For Yuppies

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:00:30 -0400

A friend emailed this link to me today. Written in 2002, there's been half-a-dozen years since the author thought it rang true. I don't know much about 'cross, but I can see parallels in my own cycling world.

'Cross Is For Yuppies

Excerpt:

There’s a class war going on in America and I’ll be damned if I’ll let it kill ‘cross like it has killed mountain bike racing. One of my best friends, a guy who makes his living writing about cycling and should know better, is showing signs of the disease. After every ‘cross race this season, he’s in the bike shop the next day, tweaking and freaking his rig because he can’t admit that he’s getting beat because he’s friggin’ slow... He’s not buying speed, he’s investing in excuses.

Don't Waste Your Time

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:50:51 -0400

...watching this video:

Now, be honest, how many of you watched the whole thing?

Main Street In October

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:58:16 -0400

Warm colors and chilly air. A Saturday afternoon during the changing of the seasons. Special thanks to teenagers who let us try their skateboards, pedestrians, and those who like showing their colors.

Human, The Killers

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:46:39 -0400

Who else is eagerly awaiting The Killers' new album? Each album they've released, I've thought was ok, then after a couple of listens, couldn't get enough of. You can listen to the new single or watch a clip of the new video. In the meantime, you can enjoy some of their Christmas music.

No news on another The White Stripes album, but Jack White and Alicia Keys have a new single for called Another Way To Die.

DRAM This

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:41:53 -0400

Semiconductors is a cyclical industry, especially memory. You know that 4Gb USB stick you can buy at CVS for $20, someone has to make that. At equipment costs that can exceed $20,000,000 per machine, margins are thin or non-existant. Too many smart people base their careers on survival instead of progress and it sometimes it hits home with good friends and coworkers.

It's the economy, stupid, and it causes uncertainity and panic, and it hurts. It hurts me, my wife, but mostly people we've known for years and care about.

Change We Can Run Across

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:13:02 -0400

Now that it's completely dark when I get out of work, my options for running are diminished. So, I generally revert to my normal 7.5 mile loop around the Fan, through VCU, up Grace Street, along Monument, and back through Carytown. Some of the most interesting places in Richmond, though I was complaining to Liz before I left that I needed a different option for the future because it had grown stale.

Running along Main Street, I saw greater than normal foot traffic, then groups of excited students, then a group yelling and holding McCain signs, then giant American flag with the Big O next to it. It was an all out election campaign stop. You know, the kind with buttons and stickers and signs and Fleetwood Mac songs. I shimmied (not moseyed, that was in 2000) on over to check it out. I asked one police officer who was speaking, who then replied "Clinton." I asked "Which one?" and got a confused look back.

I saw the former President take the stage, doubt Bush, praise Obama, explain economics, throw out some one-liners, and talk about how we have an African-American mayor, elected the first African-American Governor, and were going to help elect the first African-American President. (Note: the mayor and governor are the same person, the president is not)

Regardless of your politics, it's more fun being in a battleground state. You never know what you're going to run across. Tomorrow: Palin at the Raceway, though I probably won't be running out there.

Lake Photog

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:41:56 -0400

After talking with Jesse Peters (click Photography, then Events Sales for local stuff) several times recently, my interest in photography has peaked again. In the past, I've cruised sights like Pbase for both the artistic value of taking pictures, but also for examples of what things can be photographed. We've all driven past scenes like this, but to really see it and capture it is what makes a good photographer.

Jesse has been known to run ultras with full gear, and use it. After talking with him a little today about his camera and lens, I found I didn't even know how to use everything our little digital had. Taking some test shots, essentially the same picture varying the settings, it'll do some nice stuff:

ISO Auto (80):

ISO 80:

ISO 100:

ISO 200:

ISO 400:

White Balance Auto:

White Balance Daylight:

White Balance Cloudy:

White Balance Halogen:

White Balance Preset (default):

White Balance Set (against island):

Interesting. Now, two questions: Can I use these properly? Am I going to take it any further?

Cross Examine

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:30:05 -0400

One can't underestimate the importance of having many interests. If I were just to stick to mountain biking and running and didn't know about other people's hobbies and activities, I would just be stuck in my own little world.

In order to branch out and explore other areas, different from our own, Liz and I went to watch a cyclecross race today. it's supposed to be like an all-out 45 minute sprint with no breaks or time to let up. I'll let you be the judge by the pictures.

Chimbarazo Cyclecross Race

New Writing, New Reading

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:59:12 -0400

Apparently, I'm not the only one in the family with something to say. Liz has started her own blog, visit her at ElizabethStangl.com

12/24 Photos

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:14:28 -0400

Photos from the 12/24 Hours of Momentum by Jesse Peters can be found here. Keep in mind him and his family also ran 5 laps.

Results from the event are here. My laps 2, 7, 12, and 17 for RSR. I couldn't ask for a faster team, since I was the slowest of the group.

Staring Into The Night

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:23:51 -0400

An object in motion tends to stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force, such as a finish line. It's amazing how, during a race, how once across that line you feel completely exhausted. Endurance racing extends that limit past what a person could think of as possible. During the 18 hour race in August, I rode more singletrack than I do in certain months. This last weekend was a similar experience.

RunRideRace put on the 12 and 24 Hours of Momentum, a team or solo running event of 5 miles laps. Run Sweat Repeat, my running team, put up a 5 person team for the 12 Hours and a soloist for the 24 hours. I was on the 5-person team, which mostly consisted of Blue Ridge Relay runners.

2nd in rotation, I watch Todd start RSR off and less than 40 minutes later come in 3rd to the exchange zone. Having requested not to go first to reduce pressure to do well, I now felt like I needed to hold the lead Todd built. I ran hard fending off anyone behind me and before the half-way mark saw the 2nd place guy in my sights. He charged a hill and I let him go because I remembered how long it was from the 18 Hours on the Farm. He faded and I passed him before he even hit the top. After 5 miles of technical, hilly trail, I handed off to Glenn who passed to Brittany, then Morgan, and then back to Todd again.

I thought about doing a double-lap for my 2nd rotation, but being fairly warm, I held to a single. My 3rd lap was in the twilight. Too dark to see well, too light for my headlamp to be effective. Slower, I did what I could. By this time, it was pretty clear that we were going to win the 12 hour category. By the time I started my last lap, there was 1:15 left on the clock. Needed to finish before midnight, I could either take my time and cruise it out or push hard hoping Glenn could crank out another. Already having 15 miles in my legs, I felt I should be tired and beat, but felt surprisingly strong. I pushed and ran harder that I probably ever have. Doing the math on the fly, Glenn could finish with a fast 37 minute lap if I finished in 37 minutes, 2 minutes faster than my first, fresh lap. I treated the whole course like a flat track, ignoring roots and turns and thinking the entire time "There's no way I can hold this pace." Under darkness, without even moonlight, I dodged trees, ran past creeks, through fields, splitting fog, passing cabins and a skunk, and charged up the final hill yelling "Glenn! Glenn!" to come in at 42 minutes with our next runner in jeans and a jacket. 35 minutes left wasn't going to be enough, even for our fastest runner. It was the hardest, most meaningless effort, but still strangely satisfying.

We got 1st by 3 laps or 15 miles or 2ish hours. Very nice job done by the team. 17 laps, 85 miles, under 11 hours and 30 minutes.

I stayed up the rest of the night, fatigued and hungary, chatting with whoever was at the exchange zone waiting on their runner to come in. Anne, another RSRer and 24 hour soloist, kept coming in, looking like she could do another or quit, but kept doing more laps. The race director caught a little sleep and when the timer was getting tired, I volunteered to punch in numbers for a while as runners came it. It's another side of fatigue that this sport will teach you. With less than 10 runners on the course, sometimes there were 20 minutes between runners and I would sit there, looking over a laptop and keypad, staring past the race tape, over the lake reflecting stars, and into the dark woods, looking for headlamps of ultra runners, trying to keep my eyes open. Empty chairs on each side of the timing tent from people that had gone to sleep, I waited to quietly say "Good job" and punch in a number.

Eventually, the sun came up and pancakes were served. Anne was still running and walking, logging more miles. Our team decided on a "victory lap" or "recovery lap" and took to the course for a slow round, cutting some of the course and catching up with Anne to bring her in to her 70th mile. To think I was impressed with my 4 race laps and 1 morning lap, which now seems so insignificant to her effort. Such as it is with endurance sports.

Pictures coming soon.

Don't Let The Man Hassle You

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:07:57 -0400