September 17, 2006

my guys at Chequamegon

93rd overall (out of 1702 people), second in their division. Not bad. Congrats to the Donimator and his Stoker! Props to Hareland for an 11th place finish on his cross bike...right on.

I've got one beef with the Chequamegon Fat Tire 40 race though. There were 1702 racers in the 40-mile event...and only 139 of them were women. Yet I've been rejected from the race two years in a row. I know they claim to use the lottery registration system so that it's "fair", but something just doesn't seem right. Yes, I realize that there are a lot more men that sign up for the 40-mile race, so theoretically, the percentage of the total men and women who applied and were chosen during the lottery should be the same, but it just seems like they could use a few more women to help make the Chequamegon Festival less of a sausage fest. I'm just sayin'.

The photos of those guys on the tandem are hilarious...something just doesn't look right (photos courtesy of www.skinnyski.com).

So tomorrow's the big day...vacation will officially begin! I went for a ride yesterday with Karla - my first ride in about two weeks. It went pretty well and my hip felt okay...it's probably at about 75-80%, but I think that's good enough to get me through my trip. But dang, did I feel out of shape...I was out of breath the whole time. And I somehow managed to tweak my lower back...which is not unusual for me (the timing is just bad)...I'm sure 10 hours on a plane tomorrow will help (I think my Real Age is probably more like 40+). I don't know if I've ever mentioned before that I have a fascination with aviation (although I'm a bit of an anxious flyer, so I prefer to "fascinate" from the ground). But I generally like hanging out in airports and watching the planes. So luckily, I don't really mind sitting around in an airport for hours - as long as I can see the runway. A few years back, I went to an airshow in Duluth...it was very cool, and the Blue Angels were there...they were awesome. That's another reason that I like watching/going-to NASCAR races...they always have the cool jets do the flyovers before the race. But I disgress.

It's about time that guest blogger of mine shows up...rumor has it he's posting something before I leave.

Until October,
Strats out

4 comments:

karla said...

I hear ya on the # of women thing. But then, oh yeah, I couldn't have gone this year anyway. Have fun on your trip!!

See you at my birthday party on Sept. 30

StevenCX said...

Have a great vacation!

Justin said...

More women in cycling of all kinds can only be a good thing. Methinks their "lottery" system is probably not as "random" as they'd have everyone believe.

That said, I noticed your comment about having a fascination with aviation. I've been flying for about 5 years now and I'm hooked. I have videos of my flying, photos, etc. on my aviation web site. www.NoticeToAirmen.com. Come by and visit!

Eclectchick said...

Lottery systems SUCK!

I haven't been able to get into a particular running event for the last 3 years. It's a big ol' thorn in my side and no doubt an evil conspiracy.