Sitting in, surfing wheels

I’ll just start by saying that i played today’s race like a total dumb ass. Bike racers talk about having ‘matches’. You can define a ‘match’ several different ways, but basically it’s a hard effort. You only have a few matches to burn in a given race so you have to use them wisely, at a time when they will be most effective. Today i burned up my whole match book on a single futile attack and subsequent pull that didn’t do a damn thing to benefit my team or myself. Bummer.

We rolled up as usual. This was the final race of the Early Bird Crit series (the only race where actual results are recorded), so that, combined with really nice weather after two weeks of rain, meant that a fair amount of people showed up to race. Our team for this week was a collection of the usual suspects from previous weeks (James, Jorge, Matt, William, and myself). As i mentioned the weather was really nice (sunny, temps in the mid to high 50’s), though it was a bit windier than it had been in previous weeks. The course is basically a square with 4 corners, the 4th of which is a more gentle sweeping turn. The straight between turns 1 and 2 was cross wind (wind coming from the side or at an angle), while the section between corners 4 and 1 was mostly head wind.

I got in a fairly decent warm up and made my way over to the start. Watched the finish of the P/1/2/3 race and then lined up for the start of the cat 4 race. Things got off to a nice start and i spent the first few laps surfing wheels, moving around in the group, taking note of sketchy people to avoid, and seeing what the wind was like (so that i could avoid it later). Despite not feeling all that great, about half way through the race i started getting restless. While i should have used that energy to move up to the front and stay there until my team needed me, i opted to keep moving around. Maybe move up to the front up the side of the group on one straight, then drift back, then move back up.

With 4 laps to go, on the straight between turns 2 and 3, i motored up the side of the group on the straight on my way up to the front, but as i got up to the front, the group slowed down. I realized that i had a teammate (Jorge) up the road about 50 yards so i just kept going until i got up to him. Once i got there, he was toast after spending some time in a break, so i kept going. Entering turn 4 i realized that the field had caught back up to me and i was now pulling the group. So in essence, i went out and brought my own teammate back. Really bad move.

I figured i was on the front, so i might has well do some work, so i continued doing 450 watts (that’s a whole lot) until we went back through the start/finish. I flicked my elbow and tried to pull off, but no one came around me to pull through. Finally, totally exhausted, i sat up and moved way over to the right to let the field go by. It took just about everything i had to jump back onto the back as they went by.

Barely hanging on

At this point, Rachel is scolding me as we go by for being the very last guy in the group (notice in the picture that there is a ton of space in the picture behind me, but no one in it). Everyone watching is standing in turn 1, so it looks to them like i rolled through near the front on the previous lap, and now i’m at the back, probably because i’m about to get popped. They have no idea about the pull i just took.

I thought about just pulling out, but with as many DNFs as i got last year, i realized that getting a DNF in the first ‘real’ race of the 2010 season was not an option. So for two laps i hung on for dear life trying to both hang on and recover.

Matt, away in a 2 man break

Unfortunately, during that time, my teammate Matt was away in a break and needed the team to get on the front and ‘block’ (disrupt the pace of the chase) for him and the success of his break. The general consensus of the people watching was that Matt’s break had a good chance of success, provided we all jump on the front and block for him. Unfortunately, at a time when i should have used a match to get up to the front and help a teammate, my matchbook was burned to a damn crisp and i was in the back unaware that i even had a teammate in a break.

After 2 laps of sitting in the back, i was recovered enough to start making my way up through the group. When the pace picked up during the last half lap, i didn’t have anything left so i just hung on for dear life rolling in at the back of the group around 55th place.

My result indicates that i had trouble even hanging on in this race, which isn’t even close to being the case. I would be totally okay with 55th if i used everything i had to help a teammate, but instead it was a meaningless and worthless premature ejaculation (sorry, but the metaphor is too perfect to pass up). There are a few big lessons learned today. First off, even if you are feeling great, be patient and wait until the time is right to strike, and then do it with everything you’ve got. Whether that is on an attack, in a break, getting your teammate up to the front, leading out a sprint, or lifting the pace to an uncomfortable level for the guys in the back, be patient. Second, if the chances of a break going away early and staying away are virtually nill, it’s okay to noodle around the group for the first part of the race, but once we get to the point where we might be seeing fireworks, i should be riding up near the front and staying there. Third, communicate with your teammates. It’s only January, and we’ve already had some good moments, but we’ve had some really bone headed ones too. Consistency is lacking. I’m sure that as the season goes on and we get more and more comfortable racing with each other, that that will come around, but we need to work on it.

In conclusion, it’s not a DNF, but i’m still not thrilled with how things went today. The fitness was there, my tactics were just extraordinarily stupid. Now i’ve got 3 weeks to sit in the corner and think about what i’ve done.

Upcoming Races:

• Sunday, Feb 21 – Ronde van Brisbeen (if i’m feeling up to it after skiing on Saturday)
• Saturday, Feb 27 – Snelling Road Race

Last Sunday was week 2 of the 5 week Early Bird Crit Series. After last week’s race there was some chatter on the team message boards/email chain about how with a team of 6 in a field of ~45, with a little team work, we could have produced a much better result. So we agreed to huddle before the race and talk some strategy.

Rachel and i got there early this week after a lunch (at Rachel’s guilty pleasure, Panda Express) in Fremont. I’ve got to say, it’s really nice to get to a race early and just kind of hangout without having to go straight into a (rushed) race routine. With about 90 minutes until our start i changed clothes, mounted the bike on the trainer (which i found!!!!) under the team tent (that’s right, we have 2 team ‘easy-ups’ that we tie together to make one huge team tent) for a nice long 60+ minute warm up. One last pee stop, huddle with the team, and then over to the start/finish to watch the end of the P/1/2 race and then line up for the E4 race.

For this race we would have 6 guys, just like last week: James, Matt, Shaun, Julian, Steve, and me. We decided to sit back and let the other teams work for most of the race, then take over and push the pace with 1-2 laps to go and hopefully lead out the sprint for a victory. So as planned, we all spent the first few laps just hanging out, sitting in the group. I like to stay on the edge of the group so that if something happens (ie crash), i have somewhere to go. While this is a great plan for safety, it also means that i am more exposed to the wind, and therefor doing more work, than need be. So, for the first few laps i was focusing on riding in different places in the group (taking turns on the inside, taking turns on the outside, mixing it up near the front, moving toward the back, trying to get from one side of the group to the other, etc), as well as riding smack dab in the middle of the group. In doing this, i was trying to keep from doing too much work so that i had something left for the finish.

About 5 laps in i noticed that my rear tire was feeling ‘mushy’ and was sliding out a little bit in the corners. I moved to the outside, looked down, and sure enough, it was going flat! After last week’s front flat, my first flat in a race ever, i replaced the problematic tire and figured there was no way i was going to get another flat this week, so there was no reason to bring a spare wheelset or my floor pump, since in a crunch my mini pump would work.

Note: every single race from now on, you will see me show up with a floor pump and spare wheelset in the back of the car.

I signaled to Rachel, who ran to the car and helped me change the flat. The gauge i got for my mini-pump turned out to be way off so i just kind of guessed and jumped back into the race with 5 or so laps to go. As soon as i jumped back in i realized that i had guessed wrong and under-inflated the tire. It was still ride-able, but made me in serious danger of a pinch flat if i hit a bott’s dot (the 4″ plastic dots they put on roads to control traffic) the wrong way. I continued moving around in the group and got up to the front with my teammates with 4 laps to go, but realized things were getting a little sketchy, and for the safety of the group, resigned myself to the back of the pack.

Just as planned, coming into the last lap, Shaun ‘i’m-fat-and-out-of-shape-because-i’ve-been-skiing-and-drinking-beer-instead-of-training’ Lindsay gets on the front and puts the hammer down, cranking the speed up to 30+mph. While this was great in that it picked up the pace enough to prevent other teams from swarming (coming around us), his acceleration was so quick that it fractured our train, so there was no one to take over when he pulled off and we got swarmed anyway. Shaun pulls off exhausted after turn one of the last lap and the pace stays high to the finish. Dolce Vita leads out the sprint, a Roaring Mouse rider comes around for the win, a Dolce Vita rider finishes 2nd, and we place Matt 3rd.

We’re pretty thrilled with that considering how we botched the finish so that it was essentially a broken play, and that it’s only January (the season goes through mid-September). I went back to look at the data from my power meter and saw that i averaged over 25mph for the whole race and close to 29mph for the last 2 laps, and i still had plenty left in the tank. It looks like being more organized and diligent with my training is really paying off. After the race James even commented that i’m a lot stronger than i was last season. In September i was hanging on to cat4 races by the skin of my teeth for 3-4 laps and then getting dropped like a bad habit. Now i’m hanging on pretty easily and i’m even able to play around with moving around in the group at will. To say that i’m pleased with that is a massive understatement.

The E4 team seems to be working together and developing a bond that hasn’t been seen in years. Rather than a bunch of guys that show up to a race, don’t talk strategy beforehand, and just happen to race in the same jersey, we’re all training together at least once a week (it will be more once day light savings time rolls around), warming up together, and working together in races. I’ve had a blast these first two races and can’t wait to see what the rest of the season brings. It’s nice when all the hard work and sacrifice finally pays off. This bike racing thing is just too much fun.

The Early Birds is a five week crit series in Fremont. They aren’t ‘real’ races per se. If you get dropped, have a flat, or a mechanical problem that is fixable, you can jump back in. The first lap is pretty relaxed (hell, the whole race is relaxed). Sure the pace may pick up a bit, but no one is really going to try to shatter the field or turn themselves inside out for the win. Basically, everyone is there to gently ease back into racing, brush up their pack riding skills, get back into the race day routine, get some intensity, see friends, and have a good time. They do a tutorial for beginners and have experienced racers jump in a mentor races, giving advice as the race goes on, which is a huge help. Basically it’s just a good time.

After a day spent up in the North Bay (REI garage sale, Pizzeria Picco, hanging out), we moseyed on over to Fremont for Early Birds week 1. Still no trainer, still no parts for the rollers, so my warm up consisted of about 15 minutes of riding around, and doing a few out of the saddle power stomps. After a hard training week that included a few tough days before San Bruno, then a 45 mile ride with the Cat3/4 team (they went for 80 miles, i dropped off for 40 because i was cooked) on Saturday, i was feeling all sorts of stiff and fatigued. I figured i was here for pack riding skills anyway, so i would just surf wheels, stay out of the wind, practice moving around in the group, and if i got dropped, i would sit a lap and jump back in when they came back around.

After the P/1/2/3 race, about 40 of us Cat4’s lined up for the start. There were six of us from the Webcore/Alto Velo team. They didn’t even have a whistle at the start line, someone just yelled ‘go’, and we were off. The first lap was at a casual pace, but things picked up as the race went on (we averaged just over 25mph for the 45 minute race). Beleive it or not, in crits, high speed is safer than low speeds. Things are more orderly and the guys that would make crazy moves or act unpredictably are so focused on just hanging out, that they don’t make those dangerous moves. I spent most of the race just moving around. Up near the front, at the back. Cornering on the inside, in the middle of the group, and on the outside. I was a little bit nervous about how long it would take to get comfortable in the group again, but it came right back.

It’s funny to look back and think about how uncomfortable i was on this course just a year ago. Every turn was a full on freak out involving slamming on the brakes, changing my line, and praying to God that i don’t die. Looking back i feel awful for the guys who raced with me back then, but at the same time, there’s a lot of that going on in the 5’s. This year i felt much better. I was comfortable in the group, picking good lines and sticking to them, laying off the brakes, and pedaling through corners. It felt great to be racing again.

It was all well and good when we got to four laps to go. I was sitting somewhat near the back but saw my teammates up near the front, so i used a straight away to go up the side of the group and slide in behind my teammate Matt. Just as i asked James who we should ride for today my front tire blew out. I through a hand up and let the group pass me by. I walked back to where people were watching bummed that my day was over. I was then reminded that if i fixed the wheel in time, i could get back in. Rachel had walked to the start/finish line to take pictures and had the car keys, so my teammate Barry, sitting in the sidelines watching after his race, heroically took the front wheel off his bike and handed it to me. I had it changed by the time the field came around again and jumped in with 2 to go. I tried to make my way up to the front, but didn’t want to do anything risky, so i only made it up to the middle of the bunch. I rolled across the line in the bunch, unable to help my teammates, but happy to have finished in the bunch given my ridiculously high number of DNFs last year. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. I had a blast this week, can’t wait until next week.

After the race, Rachel and i did the usual Sunday stuff. We’ve been working to consolidate and relocate our bike storage (it used to be two bikes in the living room, two in the bedroom, now all of them will be in the office/guest bedroom). We also got some little cubbie slider container things so we can put all of our equipment (helmets, shoes, extremity warmers, tubes, tires, tools) away out of view instead of out and for all to see in the living room. Yeah, the office/guest bedroom is turning into the bike room.

Crappy iPhone picture of new bike storage

In other news, while Rachel was cutting up some herbs for her favorite homemade buttermilk ranch dressing (you can take the girl out of Oklahoma, but you can’t take Oklahoma out of the girl), she sliced the crap out of her finger, and took about half of her fingernail with it. It was pretty exciting. Being an extremity, it took a few hours to really clot, but being the trooper that she is, she helped me move stuff around for our bike storage move with one finger all wrapped up. Never a dull moment, folks.

Suffering on San Bruno

Me saying that i’m not a climber may be the understatement of the year, but i’ll say it anyway: i’m not a climber. Not only was i blessed with the Dubose-Man sprinters build (read: stocky), but i’m from Houston, where the steepest and longest hills are freeway overpasses. So yeah, a 20 minute minute climb isn’t really my thing. That being said, the San Bruno Hill Climb on New Years Day is the traditional first race of the NorCal calendar, and since i skipped it last year (see previous sentence as to why), i decided it would be fun to give it a shot this year.

New Years Eve was pretty mellow for us: dinner of roasted acorn squash stuffed with tortellini cooked at home, watch a netflix movie from the couch, have a glass of prosecco ready at midnight, get a kiss, be in bed by 12:30.

Friday morning we woke up, packed upt the car and headed up to San Bruno (just south of San Francisco). Somehow i managed to lose my stationary trainer in the last few weeks, and the rollers i got for Christmas are waiting on some replacement parts, so for a warm up i did a few repeats of a near by hill. For a hill climb (especially one that is only 20-25 minutes), you don’t just want to be warmed up at the start, you want to be smoking hot. After 15 minutes of warm up i was cool at best, but then again, i was just here for fun. We got lined up and they sent us off in 30 second waves. There were maybe 30 of us in the cat4 race. When the whistle blew we hit the gas, doing 550 Watts (i averaged around 260 watts for the whole climb). After about 400 meters i was out the back, on my own. After starting so hard i took a few minutes easier than i thought i could average up the climb to recover, then i slowly ratcheted up to what i thought i could hold, and then a little beyond that.

According to the power data i did the climb in about 23:40. Once the group was shattered, it was really difficult to tell who was in your class, so i have no idea how i placed, but i’m fairly sure i was closer to the back than the front. I think i could have a gone a little bit harder (i had enough left in the tank to sprint as soon as i saw the finish line about 50 yards out), but this was my first time doing this climb, so i was unfamiliar with it and how to dose my effort accordingly. Like i said before, i’m not a climber, i knew a win wasn’t in the cards here, and i was just here for fun, so we can call it a success.

I later got home to find that i had set a new 20 minute power record (indicative of my threshold power, ie what i can hold for an hour), which shows that my improved training this winter compared to last winter is working. That i am already going faster at the beginning of this season than i was at the end of last season, especially since it’s been mostly base work with just a little high intensity stuff, is promising.

After the race we went to see ‘The Blind Side’, which was surprisingly good, and spent the rest of the day running errands and hanging out.

Good stuff. Happy New Year everyone.

Every blogger worth his salt is doing year end, and in some cases, decade end, wrap ups. I can’t just sit by the wayside and watch, so here we go! Travis’s aughts round up!

The accepted take on the 2000’s was that they were a total waste (see Rich and Krugman). Basically everything was a total sham. It was the decade of bubbles and subsequent busts. The stock market ended flat, we didn’t create any jobs, adjusted for inflation people are actually earning less than they were 10 years ago, and home prices are stagnant or down (based on where you are). Over and over and over again we patted ourselves on the back for creating something great, only to realize a few months or years later that it was a sham. I think there’s some merit to that theory, but the decade certainly wasn’t a total loss.

One thing that society did for the better was actually realizing that climate change is real. The cynic in me says that some big corporations started making a big deal about it because there was money to be made (ahem…Toyota), but that people actually sat up and started paying attention to things like carbon footprints, gas mileage, their energy consumption, driving less, and energy efficiency is progress, no doubt.

The other major thing worth mentioning is gay rights. We aren’t anywhere close to where we should be on this issue, but at least we got the ball rolling in the aughts.

As far as society as whole, that’s about all i’ve got. On to my person interests!

In the food world, we rolled into the aughts with the very 90’s attitude that more is always better. Chefs at fine dining restaurants were doing food preparations so complex that the home cook trying to recreate would be totally lost before the food was even touched. Some chefs confused their roles as the head of a kitchen with being the head of a 3 ring circus and used some pretty wild molecular gastronomy techniques that were more shocking than delicious. Don’t get me wrong, there’s room for science in cooking, but save for a few chefs, it was more show than substance, and things got WAY out of hand.

However as the decade progressed things got simpler. The organic/local/seasonal craze went nuts. While people did get carried away (when do they not?), but anytime you get people to pay more attention to the food they eat is a victory in my book. As the decade wraps, we’re seeing more and more chefs that own expensive fine dining restaurants opening more casual places: pizza, burgers, home style food. Even the high end places that didn’t go super simple with the food went more casual with their atmosphere. This is absolutely my favorite food trend of the aughts: great food in a casual setting. Fantastic food, but no waiters running around in tuxedos, no more getting all dressed up in a coat and tie for dinner. Awesome. Food had a pretty good decade.

Sports were a pretty mixed bag, but for the most part followed the bubble and bust theme. In 2005 two of my favorite sports teams (the Astros and the Texas Longhorns football team) made it to their respective championship games. One won, the other got swept. The decade was full of Davids (small market teams or teams that played an unorthodox style) that the sports media convinced us had a chance against Goliath. The Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors under Don Nelson, Oakland A’s, Devil Rays, Detroit Tigers, Davidson, and George Mason all looked like they could do it. But in the end, the championships of the decade were overwhelmingly won by the big names: Florida Gators, North Carolina, LSU, USC, Texas, LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, New England Patriots, NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Redwings.

For fans, the development of HD television and TiVo/DVR have been nothing short of paradigm shifting. Have those of you that watch sports in HD tried to watch sports programming that isn’t in HD? It’s like eating gruel after getting home from a meal at the French Laundry.

In Cycling too, it was boom and bust. All of those performances we (or at least i) saw on tv and read about in magazines that we thought were too good to be true? They usually were, save for Lance Armstrong and….yeah, that’s about it. And some people argue that even he is tainted. That said, cycling is turning the corner. It has the strictest drug testing of any sport and it seems like the culture is finally starting to change. Rather than the dopers being one step ahead of the testers and the losers only being those who are dumb enough to get caught, the dopers finally seem to be the minority in the sport, and testers are sometimes a step ahead (see CERA). For the most part, just a few guys from the old guard trying to hang on, mixed in with one or two brash young kids who were convinced they wouldn’t get caught. This change is huge. You aren’t going to win a bike race if you aren’t convinced that you can. The few guys riding clean knew they were at a disadvantage, knew they weren’t racing for the win, and raced differently because of it. Now that guys are convinced that the playing field is flat, a guy that is clean can race know that he can win, and will actually race to win.

On the technical side of things, carbon fiber finally went mainstream as a material for building frames and components. It still hasn’t been figured out, as it is a much more versatile and complex material than previously used metals, but immense progress has been made. Deep dish wheels and other aerodynamic advancements have been huge (most with the help of carbon fiber). Additionally, we understand human physiology as it relates to cycling much better now than we did 10 years ago. Part of this has to do with the widespread use of powermeters. In 2000 a powermeter would set you back about $5,000 and was only used by PROs (and not even all of them used them). Now a powermeter can be had for around $1,000 and has gone from a luxury item for PROs to almost being a necessity for any amateur serious about racing. Think about how much more data is out there now than 10 years ago. We’ve still got so much more to learn.

Music? Movies? Meh. There was some good stuff, but nothing earth shattering.

Fashion? Ugg boots and skinny jeans, are you kidding me? We can do better, folks.

So all in all, the aughts probably weren’t as bad as people are saying, or as bad as we’ll remember, but they weren’t great either. We made some progress, but not nearly as much as some other decades. I guess it was the decade of ‘meh’. Let’s do better in the teens.

I took down the recent post about Christmas in Texas. In my post Christmas food coma, sitting in an airport in Phoenix for 3 hours, sucking down a Wendy’s frostie and bad chinese food (because hey, getting back to eating right doesn’t happen until Monday), all while dying to be home, i made some typos and got some of the details wrong. I hit the ‘publish’ button when i meant to hit the ’save draft’ button. Anyway, i’m taking it down until i’ve got time to go through it and make sure everything is right. I’ll also add some pictures (we got some good ones) because i like how they break up a blog post and make it easier to read. So yeah, look for it to be back up sometime in the next few days (this weekend at the latest).

I’ve got two bike races this weekend (a hill climb and a crit). Not looking for a result at either, just trying to get back into the groove of racing. I should have reports up within a day or two following the race.

I’m sitting in the Phoenix airport waiting for our flight back to San Jose. Big ups to Google for the free wi-fi at airports across the country for the holidays. It should be that way all year-round.

Rachel and i had a fantastic trip back to Texas for the holidays. We landed in San Antonio monday night and went straight to one of our favorite hangouts, Broadway 50-50, to meet up with some friends, get some food, and play some shuffle board.

Getting the band back together at 'the 50'

Tuesday morning we hit our favorite breakfast taco spot, Taco Taco, and got dressed up to go see our friends Ben and Hailey get married. Weddings of people our age still seem a little strange, but after going to enough of them, i’m sure we’ll get used to it. We wish those two nothing but the best.

Glad to be back at Canyon Cafe for happy hour

After the wedding we got dressed down, then headed out to our favorite happy hour spot, Canyon Cafe, for some margaritas and appetizers. The same awkward but enthusiastic bartender from college, Brian, was indeed still there. Just like old times. We had all planned on getting warmed up at Canyon Cafe, grabbing dinner at one of San Antonio’s best mexican restaurants, Rosario’s, then moving over to the infamous Pat O’s for a night of debauchery. What’s that saying about everyone having a plan until the first punch is thrown? Yeah, turns out we’re old and after Canyon Cafe most of us were spent. Those of us that had anything left walked over for some ice cream then headed to Beth and Corey’s apartment to play Wii and watch a movie. Lame, lame, lame.

The best bike ride starts with a visit to a coffee shop

Wednesday Rachel and i got up, hit a coffee shop called Sip in downtown, then i headed off on a bike ride of some of my favorite roads in San Antonio from college. Other than the hills being significantly shorter and less steep that i remember, it was pretty much the same. Lots of fun. After a shower we hooked up with my parents, who were passing by on their way to Houston from Big Bend, for lunch at Texas Farm to Table, a fantastic sandwich, soup, salad place.

Around 4:30 we headed out of town to David and Judy’s (friends of Rachel’s family who live in on one of my favorite pieces of property outside of San Antonio). Joined by our friend Liz, we sat out on the porch drinking wine, eating a light dinner, and hanging out until we had to get on the road to houston around 7:30. You know we stopped at Buc-ees in Luling. Unfortunately the Texas shaped belgian waffle maker wouldn’t have fit in my luggage, otherwise i would have snagged it.

Thursday i got in a bike ride with my Dad and Brother and spent the rest of the day tying up loose Christmas ends, buying stocking stuffers and such. After a Christmas Eve service at Church, and an annual dinner party following said service at the house of some family friends, we suddenly found ourselves staring 2am in the face. Ugh.

Mom and Ryan, also stoked for Christmas

Christmas morning we got up late (funny how that happens as you get older), unwrapped presents, then posted up in the kitchen cooking goodies for the rest of the day. My contribution was a dish of eggnog bourbon pecan praline sweet potatoes. Despite freestyling them with stuff i found in the fridge (unfortunately there was no bacon), i was happy with how they turned out.

Ryan's excited about a family bike ride

Around 1pm we headed over to the house of my uncle/aunt/cousin for a dinner that was a mix of traditional and not so traditional Christmas dishes and an afternoon of hanging out. Altogether a fantastic time. In keeping with our Dubose family tradition, we went to see a movie Christmas night.

There's a lot more stopping at lights in Houston than in California

Saturday we did some shopping, ran some errands, saw a play, and hit a family bike ride (thanks again, Clark, for the bikes!). The fun was mitigated by a flat tire, but we still managed to have a good time. After the bike ride we all went out for an epic (no, it really was epic) meal at Catalan, which has become one of my favorite places in Houston. Ordering exclusively off the small plates and street food menu we ordered about a dozen items, all but one or two were eyes-rolling-in-the-back-of-your-head-omigod good. It seemed like pork belly was everywhere. Is pork belly (and i guess we can include bacon in this list) overused? Absolutely! But i have yet to get burned out and can’t get enough of either. Anyway, top all of that food off with 2 bottles of spanish wine, and a dessert of apple crisp with a cheddar grenache and bacon ice cream and i was in heaven. Damn.

Flat!

After dinner Ryan, Rachel, and i headed out to our high school reunion/christmas party. Despite the lack of turn out from my class (there were a total of 3 of us), it was still nice to see some people i hadn’t seen in a while, as well as meet other Jones/Carnegie grads out in the world kicking ass.

Sunday morning my Dad and i got up (kind of) early and did a little 2 hour bike ride around Houston. Awesome stuff. If only getting to ride (our own) bikes together wasn’t such an expensive and laborious logistical nightmare. We barely had enough time for brunch at Lola’s (new Heights comfort food joint) before having to make our way over to the airport.

Why does time always pass so quickly when we’re at home? You get there, blink, and it’s time to jump on a plane back to NorCal.

First off, Houston just elected an openly gay mayor.

Read that sentence again.

Ever since i left Texas in 2007, i’ve noticed that whenever i tell people i’m from Houston i get a response that is usually: i’m so sorry, good thing you were able to get out of there. When i’m feeling up to it, i’ll go on for 5 or 10 minutes about how underneath the conservative leaning oil town known nation wide for its suburban sprawl, is actually a very cool town populated with friendly, thoughtful, interesting people, you just have to know where to look. So kudos to you Houston (and everyone who worked to make this happen), while the rest of the country is scratching it’s collective head on this one, i’m kicking back with my arms folded, nodding my head. I knew you had it in you.

So, on to to content i had planned (and have been meaning to sit down and crank out for the last 2 weeks): Winter.

What i like about Winter

I think it’s pretty well document that i’m not a big fan of winter. Here in the Bay Area winter means short days (sunset right now is around 4:45), constant rain after 5 or 6 months that contained a total of 2-3 rainy days, and (comparatively) cold weather.

Okay, all you people from up north or in Colo-raaad-o get 30 seconds to give me grief for complaining about lows occasionally dipping juuuuuust below freezing and highs in the 50’s being cold weather. Ready? Go.

I don’t do cold weather. Sure i like to ski, but that’s only a handful of days, then it’s back to the warm temps. No waiting out a whole season, shoveling snow, driving snow, etc. I moved to the Bay Area to avoid that stuff. Anyway, the winter means getting up at 5 in the morning a few days a week so i can be in the office by 6, and out by 2:00-2:30 so i can actually get a bike ride in before dark. The winter means freezing my butt off and riding in the dark with temps in the mid 30’s if i choose to ride before work. The winter means long rides inside on the trainer camped in front of the tv counting down the minutes until i can get off and do something else. The winter means days like Sunday when i rode my bike for 3 hours in the pouring rain while the temperatures hovered around 50 degrees (the only way to get through it is let your inner 8 year old boy come out and have some fun with it). The winter means hot showers after said cold bike rides where your fingers and toes burn as the feeling starts to come back. It means driving home from work on days when i don’t leave early in the dark. It means that baseball season is over, college football is getting ready to go on a 6 week break before bowl games, and college basketball and the NBA are too early in their seasons to really be compelling, which leaves us with the NFL. Snore. Winter means no CSA box and slim pickens at the farmer’s market. Are you starting to get my drift here? I’m not a negative guy, but how happy i am tends to be directly proportional to how much i get to see the sun. Winter and i just don’t get along.

There are however, some redeeming qualities. While winter may not have a very deep lineup of hitters, the 2-3-4 hitters are really good.

Batting 2nd: Holiday drinks. Hot apple cider or wassail is just one of those perfect drinks that is super tasty and warms you up. Love that stuff, and i have since i was a kid. I especially love when my mom makes it in the crock pot for parties and the mulling spices waft through the house. Oh man. Next on the list: eggnog. I know it’s a acquired taste for some people, but i’ve been loving the stuff for a long time. When i was in high school, as soon as eggnog hit the store shelves right around Thanksgiving time, my friends and i would go by a whole bunch of it (Promise Land was our eggnog of choice) and have ‘the Inaugural Nog’ of the Christmas season. It was awesome. Between Christmas and Thanksgiving it’s pretty much a given that i have a carton of eggnog in the fridge. Put a shot of Bulleit burbon in and ground some fresh nutmeg over the top and i’m in heaven. Last in the trifecta of holiday drinks: Starbucks. I should hate everything about Starbucks. It’s a chain, every single one is the same. The dumb down espresso drinks in a way that talks down to their customers, stocking the menu with super sweet, 500 calorie gimmick drinks. The baristas will sometimes set a pitcher of milk under the steam wand and walk away. That should be horrifying to anyone that knows how to steam milk. It’s everything that my favorite local indie coffee shop is not. But, in truth i just can’t make myself do it, especially around the holidays. Eggnog latte, peppermint white chocolate mocha, gingerbread latte, carmel apple cider, white chocolate mochas, and don’t even get me started on those damn frappuccinos (other coffee shops try to imitate the frappuccino, but i haven’t found a single one that gets the texture right). Do they have a 12 step program for this stuff, because i’m hooked.

Batting 3rd: The food. When winter comes around, do you know what Rachel and i fill our weekly menu with? It’s like the crockpot/le creuset dutch oven all stars. Texas chili, beef stew, red beans and rice, chicken and white bean soup, beef short ribs, pork shoulder, white bean chili, lentil soup…the list goes on and on. Pair all this stuff with root vegetables or a well paired bread, and i’m ready to curl up on the couch, watch some tv, and get warmed from the inside-out as it rains outside.

Batting cleanup: Thanksgiving/Christmas. Twice in about 5 weeks you have an excuse to go home, hang out with your family, eat ridiculous amounts of food, and just soak up love from your friends and family that will get you through the next year. In an ideal world these two megastar holidays would be spaced 6 months apart, but as it is, it’s just a rapid fire blitz of holiday fun. We spent Thanksgiving in Cushing this year (as has become our routine: Thanksgiving in OK, Christmas in TX) and it was our best trip back to Cushing yet. Just absolutely perfect all the way around. For Christmas we’ll be going back to Texas to go to the wedding of some friends from college, then it’s back to Houston for a few days of hanging out with my family. I’m so excited.

So there you go. Winter isn’t all doom and gloom. As much as i may complain, it’s got some things going for it.

Burgers

Just a side note: i’ve always been a ‘burgers on the grill’ type of guy. Maybe years of subliminal messaging from Burger King that the flame broiled burger is better, even though Burger King is one of my least favorite fast food places. So whenever i cooked burgers, i did them on the grill. However, last week i was making burgers from buffalo meat, had the patties ready to go, stepped outside to turn on the grill and….nothing. Out of propane. Damn. Being an Eagle Scout i quickly went in search of a back up plan: fire up the griddle. They turned out to be far and away the best burgers i’ve ever cooked. Buffalo burgers on the grill tend to shrivel up a bit and get dry if you aren’t careful. On the griddle, the margin for error is a lot bigger because the fat can’t drain away. You also have better control over your temperature, which works wonders. So word to the wise: next time you make burgers, swallow your manly pride, pull out that cast iron griddle, and give it a shot, i’m willing to bet you won’t be disappointed. Just think, what’s your favorite burger place? Stop by and see how they cook their burgers. It’s probably on a griddle.

A Movie You Should See

This is getting long, and it’s getting late, but i’m going to keep pushing. About a year ago i was on the phone with my Dad and at one point he said “Oh yeah, we saw a great movie last weekend, you should check it out”. So, i put said movie on the Netflix queue (Has Netflix become a verb yet, like Google? Can you Netflix a movie?) and didn’t think about it for a while. A few weeks ago we got ‘Away We Go’ in the mail from Netflix, which i had totally forgotten about. Rachel and i popped it in one night after dinner and were totally blown away by it. Not since ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ have credits rolled on a movie and my reaction was ‘wow, they totally nailed the attitude with which i want to live my life’. The basic premise is that a couple in their early 30’s gets pregnant (she gets pregnant? What’s the etiquette on that?) . They live in the same town as the man’s parents in the Northeast and are excited to have them be around. The parents then decide that they are going to move to Belgium. Realizing that their reason for living where they do is no longer relevant, they go on a trip around the country visiting friends and family in an attempt to figure out where they want to live. To quote my Dad, ‘while the movie is ostensibly about where to live, it is really about how to live’. I won’t go further with details about the movie because i don’t want to spoil it, but it is at times hilarious, tragic, serious, poignant, and just beautiful. You’ve got to go check it out. I think it’s the only Netflix movie we’ve held on to so that we can watch it again. It set off an email exchange with my Dad that lasted several days and produced a few epic, novel length emails.

Perhaps it hit home with Rachel and I because we are at a similar point in our lives (don’t worry, a baby is not on the way now, or anytime soon), and the question of how to live is something we wrestle with and talk about openly on a daily basis. While our baby boomer parents don’t blink at the idea of choosing how to live your life, i’m sure older generations scoff at the idea, especially those that lived through the depression. The mentality used to be take the best you can get, work as hard as you can, keep your nose to the grindstone, work work work, make as much as you can, provide your children with a better life than you had, etc, etc. But i feel like that has been changing. Rather than being pressed to follow the same career path as your parents and grind through medical school, law school, whatever, i feel like people are doing what they want to do instead of what they feel they have to do. The reality is that we make decisions everyday that affect how we live. Sure, some days have a greater impact than others (Should i take this job? Should we move into this apartment? Should i ask her to marry me?), but even the seemingly mundane decisions (Should i do my work today, or spend hours on facebook? Should i say good morning to the awkward guy that works on my floor?) snowball into a larger effect down the road. I think moving to California really brought that to the forefront for Rachel and i. It forced the discussion of how we want to live our lives, where we want to live, what we want life to be like for our kids, where we want to be 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now.

I have no illusions that Rachel and i are tremendously lucky to be in the position we are. We were both born and raised in small, very closely knit families, where we got everything we needed, but not everything we wanted (that does, in fact, build character, you were right mom). We ended up at Trinity, where we met, because it felt right when we visited, not because of the prestige carried with the name of the school, and our parents were not only okay with that, but encouraged that. Based on sheer serendipity, i found out about the opening for my job from my professor while i was out here interviewing for another job, i went to lunch with the guy that would become my boss, we hit it off, and a few weeks later i got a job offer. There’s no way i can argue that i somehow ‘earned’ that opportunity, it landed in my lap. We were lucky to be able to move out here and work jobs that we enjoyed. We were both lucky enough to wind up in small offices where our ability to do the things expected of us was quickly recognized and we were given more responsibility. We’re 24 and we enjoy our jobs, the people we work with, the place we live. We’re lucky to make enough that we can afford to do the things we want to do (within reason, of course), without having to obsess about the balance in our bank account. Somehow, i tricked a girl who was way out of my league into liking me as much as i like her. I’m still not sure how i pulled that one off.

Sure there are some things i would change about our life. I wish we lived closer to our families and that we got to see them more than we do. I wish we lived in a place with a kitchen that had more space than standing room for one, and had a decent back yard and a garage so that we could take all of our toys off the wall and store them properly. I wish i had a few more bikes. I wish i had more vacation time. I wish i was faster on the bike. But those things are pretty small. I’m 24 years old and i’m content with my life. Hell, i’m thrilled with it. As far as i’m concerned, i won the lottery. I have no illusions about how i ‘deserve’ this because of all my hard work. Believe me, i don’t.

I’m not sure where i was planning on going with this. I guess that Rachel and i realize that we are lucky to have some control over how we want to live our lives. That we’re so young and we have a wealth of options. But being lucky, and recognizing that, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take advantage of your opportunities to live life the way that you want to. Just because we live in Silicon Valley doesn’t mean that i see the guy driving the Ferrari to work and envy the life he lives. We don’t care to own some estate in Atherton worth tens of millions of dollars. I’m not interested in working my way up the corporate ladder of some big company. I feel like to be 24 years old and realize those things, means we’re already well on the way to living the life we want.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite exchanges from Little Miss Sunshine (warning: if you can’t handle a few f-bombs, don’t read the next few lines):

Dwayne: You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. You know, school, then college, then work, fuck that. And fuck the air force academy. If I wanna fly, I’ll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest.
Frank: I’m glad you’re talking again, Dwayne. You’re not nearly as stupid as you look.

Anyway the film is called ‘Away We Go’, we loved it, you might too.

Ever since we got back from our trip to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving, i’ve been meaning to sit down and write a thorough account of how unbelievably fun and totally awesome it was. Unfortunately i’ve just been too busy and never had the time to sit down and crank it out. As time creeps by and i continue to put it off, i’m starting to realize that it just isn’t going to happen. So you get this, the half (maybe even quarter or eighth) assed version.

Basically, we flew into Oklahoma Wednesday and stayed through Sunday. Rachel’s brother Tyler and his wife, Amber got to come this year too (the first time all four of us have been in Cushing at the same time). I could go through everything we did, but we pretty much cooked and ate terrible (as in terrible for you, but delicious tasting) food, drank, watched (and even played) sports, slept, and generally enjoyed each other’s company. In addition to the obscene Thanksgiving meal, we consumed Cathy’s famous biscuits and gravy, eggnog and pumpkin bread, breakfast tacos, burgers and fries, tons of leftovers, turkey pot pie, and i think i ate my weight in pie and ice cream (a special weakness for me).

The culmination of the weekend though, was Saturday evening when we all went out to the family farm outside of town where we all hung out, fished, cooked burgers, drank beer, made s’mores, and i learned how to ride a motorcycle. It was just a damn good time. Being a city kid, i’ve always wondered how Tyson and Cathy managed living in such a small town, but this trip i finally figured it out: they have surrounded themselves with a cast of thoughtful, engaging, hilarious, and unique characters, around which there is no such thing as a dull moment.

I could go on, but i won’t. Just know that it was awesome. Here are the pictures.

2009 Sierra Point CX (Cylcocross) Race from Travis Dubose on Vimeo.

Rachel and i went to a cyclocross race last night in Brisbane, CA (just south of Candlestick Park). We showed up bundled up with a camera, a cowbell, and an ice chest full of Belgian beer. I was planning on shooting some pictures, but the race being at night, and the floodlights the promoter used made every picture under exposed or completely washed out. For some reason, my camera was able to shoot video just fine, so i gave shooting and editing video a try using iMovie on the Mac. It was remarkably easy. I’m pretty happy with the results. You can see the video here.