Bobbie Conti

Purchase Order

January 20, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

I need shoes for spin class. Everyone else has these spiffy clippy shoes and they look more comfortable than mine and they look official and did I mention everyone else has them?

I’ve been on the fence about these until recently: my boss managed to royally screw up his left arm while falling of a bike and not being able to declip his shoe in time (ergo, wrist took all of the fall). I’ve done that once and got away with it because I was young (I was 9, a skateboard was involved, shut up). However I’m off the fence as of now, because my shoes currently do not function as well in spin class and like I said all of the other kids have them.

The other thing all the other kids have are bike shorts, which I am also beginning to think are worth the hype.

I think I’ve found another expensive hobby.

Protected: The Sliding Scale

January 13, 2010February 22, 2010 Bobbie

Padding. Cushioning. Other Forms of Support.

January 13, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

Riding 25 miles when you haven’t really done more than 12, ever, is an interesting thing. First off, I will say that gear is very important, and I have practically no bike-specific gear, except the bike and a helmet and some padded gloves. I spent Saturday afternoon searching the internet for gel-padding seats. I wasn’t sore on Sunday. I was sore on Monday.

One would think that at my height and build I have plenty of padding, thank you, but apparently not, as after I got off the bike in the Starbucks’ parking lot I literally stumbled. Dozens of “serious bikers” had passed us and I fully intend to get all of the gear the other kids have: shoes, padded seats, better glasses, padded shorts, a holder for my bike pump, padded gloves, a jersey or two, did I mention padding?

Spin class tomorrow has *nothing* on that ride.

Or the thirty miles we’re doing Sunday.

I looked at last year’s route: the largest elevation gain en route is an area over 10 miles and goes up 800 feet. For those doing the math with me, that is 800 feet up over 52 thousand feet out, or 8 feet up over 520 feet out, or 1 foot up over 65 feet out. This is miniscule compared to the hills I’ve had to practice on around here, which have a 9% plus grade. (Grade=rise/run; so the grade on the “big hill” of the ride is 800/52800, or 1.52%). The big issue with this ride then is distance, not stress to the knees: it actually ends up being some 260 miles between the two days, from Vancouver down to Seattle.

I have to be careful, though, to not make the same mistake I made last March: when I was training for the Whidbey Island Half Marathon. A bunch of us signed on to do it, and we had heard a reputable rumor it was “practically flat”. Oh, no it wasn’t. A month before race day a couple of enterprising spirits went out and drove the course, and a week later dropped out. I’d be lying if I said it was anything more than sheer fiscal prudity that kept me in. That sort of thing is not a welcome surprise.

The question remains though: which padding do I purchase *first*?

Going The Distance…

January 10, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

… but not so much on the going for speed…

Today we did 25 miles from the Third Place Books in Lake City to Redmond, and back. I teased Duncan the whole way: “Are we there yet? I have to pee. Can we stop for a coffee? Can we stop for a beer?” We were also consistently having to contend with “serious cyclists” (ones with fancy shoes and fancy gear and going way over the 15mph trail speed limit, I’llhaveyouknow) and mommies with strollers (usually 2 or 3 abreast on the narrow trail). We did beat our official “training pace” of under 10mph, though, and despite some wonky gear shifting (mine… of course) I think we did pretty well.

Apparently next week I’m on the hook for 30 miles. Um… yeah!

Geek Fail

January 6, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

I’m sorry, but the most classic, rookie mistake you can make in SQL is to turn a table in on itself and create a Cartesian Product.

Which I did.

On our shiny new server.

It ran for six hours before I caught it.

And somehow the delivering of the massively huge mapping project in less time than it has ever taken, ever, takes a huge back seat to the classic rookie mistake of someone who doesn’t even manage classic rookies.

Bleh.

Spin Class Fail

January 5, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

I completely forgot about the phenomena of Resolutors.

Resolutors are those folks that, post-or-during New Year’s, decide they are going to absolutely change their life. Usually this change of life decision is fueled by enough alcohol to create an everlasting flame; it doesn’t last past January and dies out.

That said, it does last DURING January and so, at 5:25, spin class was full. There was not a spare bike to be had, and yours truly had to camp out on the stairstepper.

I’m Back In the Saddle Again…

January 3, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

Well, not yet.

Tomorrow starts official training, courtesy of the LA Fitness next to work. From here out I will be doing about 80% bike work (spinning and cardio bikes) and only about 20% of the “fun stuff” (swimming and so forth).

The last spinning class I took was two months ago. It featured a man who looked like a wiry Mr. Clean, sans-earring, and some truly impressive bike shorts. It also featured 3 or 4 gym rats, a couple of yoga moms, an elderly man who looked frail but, as he did not apparently sweat at all through the class, wasn’t, and myself.

Mr. Clean started the class with some vintage Madonna and I realized that he arrived in class in bike shoes and gear not having changed into them recently — he had in fact biked in from Seattle where he worked, to TEACH SPIN CLASS.

Ever been to a spin class? Here it is in a nutshell:

The instructor gets up on a bike in front of the class, facing you. Everyone else is facing the same way, at him/her. (For the sake of this post, we’ll use the neuter pronoun of him). The music starts, and he tells you what to do: how fast to spin, where to put your gears, whether or not you should be sitting or standing.

It’s that last part that is the core of the masochism that is spin class. I can handle shifting and making things harder to do, I can handle spinning faster or slower as permitted. But when they literally have you standing up and riding for 5 seconds, sitting down and riding for 5 seconds, and repeating — for two to five minutes — your knees, hamstrings, and quads inform you that they are not happy with you, right then. They do not wait until the next day to make their displeasure known.

This is likely because your back, chest, and arms (including forearms, biceps and triceps) are all queueing up to do that the next day. The day after spin class, you feel as though you have done something truly ill-advised to yourself.

I can’t wait.

For those of you who go to the LA Fitness in Bellevue, WA: I will be in the 5:30p Spin Class on Mondays and Wednesdays, and, schedule allowing, Fridays. You’re welcome to come and see me disintegrate.

Raising Funds… and the bar

January 2, 2010 BobbieLeave a comment

No, not “the bar” as in where you go and get something to drink. The bar as in the expectations level. As it’s review time we’re expected to look at our work achievements and how we can do better in future; some of us treat our personal lives the same way. But biking 63 miles each day for 2 days straight is a bit much for someone who has done, at max, 12 miles in one day (and whose buttocks, if I don’t mind saying, felt like they wanted a divorce when I was done) (They didn’t leave, however, and so I feel like I won that round).

Next weekend starts the long bike rides of training, apparently with a 25-miler. For those of you keeping track, 25 miles from my house and you’d wind up in Downtown Seattle. 25 miles is a LONG WAY. 25 miles is exactly twice as far as I have ever biked, ever. Ergo, I will be searching for bike shorts (padding is NOT optional) and assorted comfy-gear in the next few days.

That said, I’d like to thank those who have donated thus far — it’s amazing how quickly that little “money thermometer” jumps! Thanks to KC, SMS, LC, and MT for your awesome support!

Shifting Gears

December 31, 2009 BobbieLeave a comment

The one thing I really suck at is shifting.

When I was training for the triathlon last Summer, my sister (to be… she did say yes, so she’s stuck) coached me through the motions. “Left–down a couple! Right — up one!” If it hadn’t been for her I would’ve bike-walked the triathlon I swear.

This was naturally brought home as I took the bike out for its first run since September 20th– this morning.

If you live in the Seattle area — or any of its suburbs– you know that it is replete with hills. Big hills, little hills, hills that climb on rocks. Lots of hills. If you ride a bike, hills are not fun.

You see, there are two sets of gear wheels on a bike: little teeny wheels up to big wheels on the back-end, and but 3-changes-of-gears (wheel sizes) on the back-end. The general idea is to keep the chain line straight between these two sets of wheels whence you shift. However, this requires you bend your head down and actually LOOK at what you’re doing, which necessitates removing your line of sight from the road, which is where things like potholes and cars are.

It’s a lot like juggling projects, but with much more immediate results.

I rode six miles this morning, at an appalling time of about 30 minutes. I rode past a speedometer rated for cars (you know the sort– they tell you you’re going 40 –and flash — while you’re going past a church or somesuch) and it told me I was going 15mph. I paused to consider what “biting it” at 15mph would do to me on this bike.

Then I kept coasting. It wasn’t worth the worry, really.