A little Ketchup

So here's a little bit of stuff from last week I never got around to posting.

Back to working from home on Thursdays for now, which is really nice because it splits up the week solidly. As mundane as it sounds the trip into the city is mentally taxing. So getting to sleep in and being able to work from 6:30 until 3:30 allows me to go ride my bike in the dirt, which is what I did yesterday afternoon.

Bill, Chris, Chuck, and I met up at Lewis Morris for a little more pre-riding action. For those of you scoring at home that would be 2 experts, a semipro, and 1 fat old sport rider. I thought I was struggling a bit at times yesterday but when all was said and done we did 3 laps that just crushed last year's race time. If I can keep that pace for Sunday I'll be wildly happy. We turned 1 lap that was in the 30 minute realm which is crazy fast for me, 2:30 faster than my previous best. Riding with these guys helps me push myself. But I need to be careful on the start of this race as it's so easy to blow. I may try a slightly different approach Sunday. We'll see.

Ran the tubeless for the first time yesterday and right now I don't feel that confident with them as they lost all their air overnight and the sealant was still coming out wet. That could be bad but they did hold up yesterday for the ride. I'm going to need to cut the sweep of the bars at some point to put me in a more aggressive position with my weight further forward to get more bite on the front tire as I'm washing out more in the front than I'd like to. I'm also going to go 1x9 in July since I never change gears in the front.

I'm thinking of another 2 lap pre-ride tomorrow, 1 slow and 1 fast, to get the legs opened up for Sunday. I don't respond well to racing after a light day. I may also stick to the road for an hour. I suppose there's still a 2% chance I go down to Gloucester for the Summer Sizzler race but highly unlikely. We have a birthday party at 11:00 tomorrow which I'm lukewarm about. Then I think my parents are coming over to hang in the afternoon.

Cycle 10

Lots of scruff today so I may be seen as slovenly. But perhaps my boyish good looks and sleek physique counter that. Or maybe some the Miami Vice look works. I am dressed like this today:



Victim: New Providence, white, woman, not fat, married, non-regular, 40-49. Bright red/pink fingernail polish. Short dirty blonde hair. Opened laptop, 84 new messages in her inbox. Strong perfume, glasses. Possibly used to be very attractive at one point in her life but time has done its thing. She is wearing a shawl that brushes against my arm. Her name could be Carol. She seems to have a low-level Gaudy addiction. The shawl, the fingernail polish, dangly light lime-green earrings, extra rings, the donkey she brought on the train.

Oh shit, her name is Judy Ice. She is VP and National Sales Manager of McGraw Hill Higher Education. This was the footer of an email she was sending. I would publish her email but that's not a nice thing to do for the Spam Bots out there. Besides I'm sure you can find it if you want to interview her. The name Judy Ice fits with the gaudy look, I think. It sounds like a stage name to me. Her real name is Judimentary Icenlingerdooble.

Assessment: I appear to be the king of the middle-aged woman from New Providence and Murray Hill. Despite the shawl-rub and the stronger than average perfume, she was a solid co-rider. Space respectful and not obnoxious. We had another 20 minute NJ Transit delay today and the cohabitation was fine.

Comment: Terren says, "Norm, your train experiment reminds me of my commuting days, driving down to Eatontown. I came up with an experiment to monitor what percentage of left-lane drivers were women. It was kind of interesting, but let's be honest, it was just an excuse to ogle pretty women. BTW, I don't remember the results, which further undermines whatever quasi-legitimacy that experiment had."

There are lots of pretty women on the train but when they sit this close it's hard to get your ogle on. I'm not sure I see the utility in this experiment aside from occupying my brain and bringing interesting content to the blog. When it gets mundane I'll either scrap the experiment or add a new twist, like spreading mustard on the seat next to me. Though it has made me see the usefulness of the 2 seater. People will grab coupled 2 seaters while there are 3 seaters open. I always wondered about this but now I see that it's actually a more comfortable way to sit when you never have to pack a middle rider in your seat.

Cycle 11

Friday Night post work out of NY. Plenty of people leave work on time to end the week so you should have someone sit here. But you never know.

Victim: Male, Indian, 40-49, not fat, married, regular, New Providence. He got in the seat with much fanfare, always annoying. Dropped his big load of mail and newspapers on the seat along with his soda. Immediately on the phone. 2 calls before we're out of NYC. I'm not sure this guy is Indian, but he has a hell of a dark complexion. Fluent in English either way. Makes a joke to the ticket guy. Not funny. Reads the post.

Assessment: not bad. Kept his space after the initial phone calls.