Since my last blog post a lot has happened. This isn’t really a surprise considering it’s been 3 months.
The Bike Racing Front
CX racing was fun and hard as I worked through a knee injury and inconsistent riding, much less training. I did start to get some form back and got to the front of the Boxing Day CX race in KC KS and got a win. I felt both really good and really bad about the experience. After a couple laps it was clear I didn’t belong in that cat 3 field. I should have been trading blows with the KCCX guys in the 1/2s. So after that race I applied for my cat 2 upgrade. I don’t think I’m actually cat 2 cx material but staying in the cat 3’s doesn’t seem like the right thing to do. I suppose I shouldn’t feel bad about winning handily – it’s not likely to happen again.
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| Pretty big gap on the second lap. Sandbagger! Photo Credit: Roger Harrison. |
Road racing is looming and I’m behind on training. Speaking of behind – I gained a bunch of weight this winter. Maybe it was the lack of XC skiing? Perhaps it was all the booze and fried foods? Regardless, I feel ever more pigeon-holed as the f(l)at crit boy. Fortunately I’ve got lots of beautiful rolling hills here in CoIL to ride and the winter temps have been very mild. Oh, and my powermeter broke. Again. I know I don’t need to train with power but it is so much easier to have numbers to fit pedal pushing against. Sorry Hunter Allen and Andy Coggan, looks like I’m rolling old-school for the season.
The StL cycling scene should be an exciting one in the 1/2 ranks this year. The Dogfish behemoth is as strong as ever but there are several smaller, new teams looking for results – mine being one of them. I think it will make the racing aggressive and interesting. Plus we’ll have some out of towners stop in to collect scalps. Just check the Hillsboro pre-reg *cough* NUVO *cough*. I will do my best at Hillsboro but don’t expect a repeat of my 2011 placing!
My Day Job, My Daughter, and Analogous Knowledge of God/Anthropomorphism and God
My 4yo asked me about my work the other day. She has limited computer usage experience and is ignorant of terms like “program”, “code”, etc. So I explained:
If you had a recipe for bread that called for 2 cups of flour, but it was written as 2 cups of sugar, you would see it and know its wrong, no? You would then bake your bread with 2 cups of flour and fix your recipe card, right? Well, in this computer, the recipe for its work was wrong like that, so I fixed the recipe and everything worked.
This reminded me that my daughter has no idea (yet) of the complexity, beauty, challenge, and possibilities contained in the computer platform. The analogy of a bread recipe is understandable but code is currently beyond her. Then I think about myself, how I am very childlike in my knowledge and wisdom, and I consider:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
2 cups of flour, not 2 cups of sugar. I can understand that. Treasure in a field. I can understand what that would mean. As Calvin pointed out, God accommodates his self expression to our human capacity for understanding. Let your imagination dwell on that for a moment. Imagine what 2cups of flour = a code change extrapolates to with regard to your understanding of God and the universe.
The Child Rearing Front
Not sure what’s going on with our 2yo, but it seems like every night the bedtime routine is WWIII! It’s interesting how traits that I will celebrate later in my children: determination, strength, hard work; when applied now to things like staying up later are discouraged. Schoolwork? Stay the course my son. Bedtime? Give up! Resistance is futile!
Podium Café VDS (now FSA DS)
This is my second year playing the “fantasy” cycling game. You pick your roster and then sit back and watch the points come in (or not!). Its pretty fun and you learn more about the PROs and find yourself rooting for/against certain riders and teams simply because you “own” them. I think it adds a layer to the PRO racing. I’m kicking myself that I didn’t pick Stijn Devolder this year and call my team “Stijn of the Times.” Alas. Do check it out. Hurry, picks are due by midnight PST.
Think your picks will beat mine? Pick a team and post the team name in the comments here. We’ll see!
I hope you enjoyed the chiastic blog post.
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