Another FEMA call

I've mobilized again. FEMA chirped earlier this week, looking for folks to help with another flooding disaster. The best part, it's in Alabama. Matter of fact, it's within 2hrs driving distance. That's going to make it very good.

The plan so far is for me to still head north on Sunday's to get home, restock clothes, and visit the missus, which really makes this one pretty good.

Another plus, I get to stay with my parents. Since they are so close to the headquarters, I'll get to stay with them and save more money on the lodging part. Even better.

No complaints!

Grandman Triathlon Recap

As promised, here's a little recap of how the weekend went:

The Arrival:
I woke at 0430 as usual to get ready myself. Breakfast, pack, stretch...the basics. The transition gates opened at 0530 to allow people to claim their spot, set their bikes up, get their timing chip & body markings, and get ready. Of course we arrived when it opened. We were staying at a vacation rental not too far from the site anyways.

Upon arriving, my first bout of nervousness appeared when I noticed the air valve on my rear tire was broken and wouldn't accept air. Lucikly I pumped it Fri night and it was still holding 110psi, which was close enough. The front was holding 120psi, so it was as good as it could be without me changing out tubes before the race.

The Swim:
Results: 600yards - 7:46 (1:17sec/100yards) - 10th place
It was shallow. May have been a small case of poor planning, but the swim was at low tide. This meant that I could touch at the turnaround bouy. Matter of fact, it was barely chest deep. Those of us who could swim, were at a disadvantage just because it was too shallow to swim. Others merely ran the swim course. Overall not bad. The waves started picking up, so I had to adjust some of my breathing so that I wasn't getting a mouthful of water.

I'm in the crowd of people somewhere:
Coming out of the water, heading into T1:
Transition 1:
Result: 2:50
100yrd run from the water to the bike racks. Put on helmet, sunglasses, bike shoes, and grabbed the Gu. Unracked the bike and took off running to the mount line.

The Bike:
Results: 16.5mi - 55:40 (18.1mph avg) - 19th place
Managed to clip in (locking the shoes to the pedal) fairly quickly and took out. Quick steep uphill that required many to go into low gear. I was preset for the climb and made it in 0:22sec. Not shabby. Pulled to the left of the line and started passing. Tried to make up ground on the folks ahead and started putting distance between me and the others in my group. Maintained a decent enough speed to only drop 9 spots.

Leaving T1 heading out on the bike. The big hill I mentioned, is just around the turn: I'm the little blurb back there by the police man coming into T2:
Transition 2:
Result: 1:32
Lost a few seconds at the bike dismount line. Locked the front brake too hard and stood the bike up with me coming off the seat. Didn't wreck, but startled me. Racked the bike, changed to the running shoes, removed the helmet and then kicked it to the other bike rack. Had to chase it down. Not a great performance. Grabbed the race belt and water bottle on the way out.

The run:
Result: 3.1mi - 30:31 (9:51/mi) - 47th place
I knew the run would be the weakest of the three. With not being able to put down heavy mileage because of the nagging leg injuries, I did what I could. We took out going back up the hill we climbed on the bike, then turned through the residential area. The hill wasn't easy. I ran my race, but even then people were passing. I made a few to return the favor, but it wasn't enough. I did however, finish strong. I had fuel in the tank to make the finish. This just proves I need to go out and find some speed.

Heading out for the start of the run:
Closing the gap on the finish line:
Final Results:
#25 out of 65 in the "First Timers" group - 1:37:17
#297 out of 657 overall

At the finish:

Grandman Triathlon

The race is over and I finished. Matter of fact...I crushed it.

The goal #1 was to beat 1:50:00. Goal #2 was to finish. I achieved it!

Swim: 600 yards - 7:46 (10th place)
Transition #1 - 2:50
Bike: 16.4mi - 54:40 (18th place)
Transition #2 - 1:32
Run: 3.1mi - 30:31 (47th place)

Total: 1:37:17

Placed #25 in "First Timers Group" out of 65. Placed #297 overall out of 657.

Photos and more to come. Stay tuned!

Off to the races!

It's race week, and we're heading out of town. If you haven't been following, it's the week of my triathlon down in Fairhope, Alabama. Not only is it race weekend, but also our beach vacation for the year!

I sprung for a little bit of off time so that we could go down early, enjoy some surf, and be well ready for race time. And boy am I looking forward to it.

Saturday's race will start off with a 600yard swim in the Mobile Bay, followed by a 16.4mi bike ride through Fairhope, and will finish with a 3.1mi swim along the beach. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and it'll turn out to be a great weekend...

So, we'll be back after the weekend with some race photos, some beach photos, and hopefully a cool story or two!

See ya when we get back!

From the woodshop

This weekend we nearly wrapped up our headboard/bookcase project. And of course, here are some of the photos from the weekend.


We notched out the bottom of the headboard (near the floor) for a little bit of support. We'll add a cross beam for the existing bed rails to attach to.
Of course it needs to be trimmed out to match the headboard. And a good sanding will get it ready for the stain and polyurethane. It's so close to being complete, it's really getting good.

This is one of the two identical bookcases. Made from birch, stained, and covered with one coat of polyurethane. Don't worry, we know it's upside down.

After putting the coat of polyurethane on the bookcases, we moved to catch the headboard up to speed. You can see the difference in the posts. And the finished coat of stain. We allowed the stain to sit a little longer on the middle section, just so it'll match the existing cedar chest that we use as a footboard. Should match just fine.

After the second coat of polyurethane on the bookcases, we marked the positions for the handles. They'll be removed for the third and final coat, but at least we know what it'll look like when completed.
And that's it for the weekend. All in all, it's just about wrapped up. The bookcases are stained and have two coats of polyurethane on them, while the headboard is stained and has one coat of polyurethane on it.

Now to wrap it up, and put it in the house.

My bike shop is awesome!

Remember a couple weeks ago when I crushed the front tire of my bike? Well, I took the tire in, told them what happened, and proceeded to see what I needed to do for a replacement. Bethany and I were both worried about the final bill that would come with a new wheel set.

Well we finally got the updated price, and the replacement is FREE. FREE. An $80 wheelset is being covered and given to me for FREE.

When we purchased the bike, we bought one of those "extra warranties" for the bike. You know, the ones most people never use. Yea, well we bought it. Surprisingly, since the bike shop could not get the wheel to true (realign properly), they sent it in as a claim on my warranty plan. And you know what? They covered it. Completely.

Technically, it wasn't free. I did have to pay for that extra warranty, but at the rate I'm going, I've already paid for the warranty and have only had the bike 3months. I'd say it was a pretty good investment.

I turned in the loaner wheel last night after the group ride, and they said I should be able to pick up my new tire either today or Friday. Basically, whenever I can get back over there.

How cool is that! Yea, my bike shop is awesome!

I'm building something - revealed

Now that we've had a few days to guess what's being built around the household, it's time to reveal the final pieces.

First, we built a headboard for the master bedroom. The columns will support the headboard. And those planks we doweled together, yea, that's the actual face itself. Pretty cool huh?
And here's the headboard, sanded and ready for stain. We trimmed out the face, against the columns, to help hide the groove that we cut with the router. Plus, it goes gives it a little better look.And the smaller birch pieces we cut...part of two bookcases to go behind the headboard. The way the whole thing is set up will allow for the bookcases to "hide" behind the headboard against the wall. As we need them, we will be able to pull them out and access the shelves. Sort of a hidden storage if you will. And the cases with their backs and facework trim. And how the whole assembly will work once installed in the house. Do note that the bookcases will have handles on the side, and casters on the bottom so that they slide easily. Now all that remains is the stain and polyurethane. Almost done. Don't worry, we'll post photos when they're finished.

I'm building something - Part III

Ok, so this is it. The final pieces of the puzzle, and then it'll all come together and will revealed for everyone to see.

Remember the grooves we had to cut into the columns? Ok. Good. Now, there's a small mark on these boards, and they'll go in the grooves. We just needed to check the final width and make sure all was well.
So now comes the fun part. The quick, easy fun part. We took the big sheet of birch plywood and ripped it into smaller pieces. Much smaller pieces. Then, those pieces needed to be reshaped just a little.Those smaller pieces had to be assembled else where for the final part. Dad instructed me that birch was pretty hard wood and it wasn't long until I realized it. I bent the nail and had to remove it without destroying my project.

And here's where I learned not to taunt someone who's better at woodworking than you are. Shortly after bending my nail and having to remove it, Dad did the same. This is where I quickly called him out on it, only to watch him successfully drive a bent nail without messing it up any worse. He didn't have to remove his and start over.

And after assembling the pieces...yep, they're level. Well close enough that I don't want to mess with it anymore...
Last chance for guesses. After this post, we'll reveal what it is and show the final photos of our project.

Almost there...

I'm building something - Part II

After completing the first part of the new project, we moved onto another part to get it finished out. Nothing too elaborate on this portion, but just as important.

It required us to thin out and square up some wider boards...so, more of the planer.
After being planed and smoothed, we needed to dowel a few of them together. Just to make sure they'd hold and we wouldn't have any issues.
Since they had glue and dowels, we had to clamp them, set them aside and let them wait. It won't be too much longer, but we'll definately have to make sure the glue dries pretty well.

Still waiting on the glue to dry. Sorta like waiting for the water to boil when making spaghetti.
While the other pieces were drying, we moved onto the third part. Don't worry, it'll get posted in the sequence too.

Well part 2 is done. How about now? Any more ideas?

I'm building something

Bethany and I finally got another mark on our "to do" checklist. This one was a big one and required some construction work. Luckily, my dad was able to offer his expertise and his tools to help us get through this.

Don't worry, I'm not telling what it was until it's complete, but I'll be happy to give some play-by-play for you.

It required a good bit of lumber actually. Here's the stock straight from the truck. 2 sheets of birch plywood, some basic 2x4s, some 12" wide cedar planks, some 4" wide cedar planks, and some trim wood.

Dad and I pulled what we needed, made some markings, and started cutting for the first round of the project. For project number one, here's what we needed:
It did require the use of a planer. Actually it required a whole lot of use from the planer. The beautiful thing, is that we could put a piece in, tell it what we wanted, and "poof" a new piece of lumber was spit out for us.
Like I said, we used the planer a good bit. Guess we now have good shavings for the flower bed!
After some planing and some assembly. We had some columns. But, we needed to put a groove in the columns for another part of the project.

And that's project #1.

Any ideas yet? More to come later.

Spring Flowerbeds

Now that spring has really arrived, and it's turned quite nice out, we decided it was time to decorate with a few flowers. In the process, we built a new flower box to go with our big flower pot.

And here's the process in photos:
First we bought some landscape timbers and marked them up for cutting.
Then they were cut and moved to the front of the house.
Of course we had to frame and mark them before we actually got started.
We had to mark the yard and remove the grass from around the mailbox.
Placed it, filled it with dirt, and then called in the reinforcements.
Bethany added her "green thumb" to it.
And Tada! Finished.
So, finally, we have flowers around the mailbox and up by the doorway. At least those look good. Now, if only we could get rid of all the weeds in the yard, we'd be doing pretty well.

One heck of a ride

Today's ride was textbook. Couldn't have been better. I managed to get out of work a little early, which allowed for an extended ride at Oak Mountain State Park. I've really come to enjoy riding there for many reasons: scenic, good roads, safe, fast, good climbs, and many other riders.

Today I went out to set a distance record. Here's the overall course to view.



The basic single loop is just over 18mi. I did it 3 times. Here are the total figures as recorded by the gps, that I thought I'd share.

Total Distance: 50.73mi
Total Time: 3:20:14
Average speed: 15.2 mi/hr
Max speed: 35.4 mi/hr
Average rpm's (pedal cranks): 84
Total rpm's (pedal cranks): 16,800
Average heart rate: 144
Max heart rate: 166
Calories burned by heart rate: 3970

Hoorah! Now that's what I call a good ride.

Now, after bragging, here's the part that brings me back to earth. Just after riding, I pulled up to the truck and decided to finish my water and walk a bit. Afterwards, I took the front tire off so that it'll fit in the truck. I leaned the tire against the bumper and loaded the truck (see where this is going?). Climbed in, and proceeded to back the truck over my tire. Yea, it didn't get loaded inside, and it got crushed by the truck.

After nearly crying, I drove to the shop to have it looked at. They attempted to re-true it and get it straight, but nothing. Didn't work. Surprisingly, they are going to try to claim it under the bike warranty and see if I can get a new one. And in the meantime, I have a bright flourescent orange front tire as a loaner.

So, all in all, a great ride completely dwarfed by a case of stupid!

Nasty weather

We are getting some nasty weather right now...

There's a band of thunderstorms rolling in from MS that have made their way through our state dropping a few inches of rain, some spotted & confirmed tornados, and now very heavy winds. The office has lost power a few times already and it sounds like our windows are being sandblasted.

It's rough.

Feel free to follow all the warnings, alerts, and comments on the Alabama Weather Blog.

So much for the planned Wednesday bike ride tonight...

Have you seen me..UPDATE

Update on Ken Knight - FOUND

Looks like Ken was found today around 5pm. Excellent news. From the reports, he used textbook survival skills to make it out alive. Reports say he was found approximately 17mi from his last known location

Once realizing he was lost, he set camp and began rationing out his food. He stayed put. He used his resources to survive...his matches.

Apparently, he set a small brush fire as a signal fire to help with his location and it worked. He was able to walk out with firefighters afterwards and is doing fine at a local hospital. Amazing what can happen to hikers who have lost their way.

Thanks for your prayers in his search.

Have you seen me?

I'm sure not many will know about this, but I thought I would help spread the word in the event someone, somewhere stumbles on this info:

KEN KNIGHT, editor of BackpackingLight has gone missing on the Appalachian Trial.

BackpackingLight Press Release

Article:
Backpacking Light editor KEN KNIGHT is missing after a hike on the Applachian Trail in Virginia.

If you saw Ken or otherwise know of his whereabouts after Sunday morning, please contact us at the following email address:PUBLISHER@BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM

About Ken
Ken is 5'4" tall and approx. 180-200 lb. He is vision impaired, has dark hair, and is probably using a dry bag-style pack with an orange packbag.Ken is an experienced AT hiker but his vision impairment may have caused him to lose the trail.

Point Last Seen
He was last seen on the AT on Sunday morning, around 9-10am, at Punchbowl Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway, mile 51.7, in the area of Buchanan and Bedford, Virginia.He'd been trailing behind a group and meeting up with them at their camp sites. On Sunday, he reported not feeling well and suggested he might go off the trail. The group did not see him since leaving Punchbowl Mountain on Sunday. He was anticipated to reach mile 76.3 on Tuesday, which the rest of the group did. To date, he has not arrived, and he has missed his flight back home to Michigan Wednesday night. Ken regularly blogs via iPhone when he has cellular coverage. His last known blog entry was Sunday morning, April 26, at 6:36 AM http://twitter.com/kenknight

Search in Progress
Ken's family has been notified, and a search is currently in progress by NPS and VA State SAR.Non-agency SAR and other volunteers interested in assisting with this search should contact us at publisher@backpackinglight.com, who is coordinating the efforts of outside volunteers with the SAR Coordinator on location. Please send your name, cellular phone number, and distance from SNP in your message, and then wait for further instructions.

Please Distribute This Info
Please distribute a link to this post as wide as possible via this tinyurl link via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking avenues. Please copy and paste this exact text to retweet this info on Twitter etc.:EMERGENCY @KENKNIGHT (KEN KNIGHT) MISSING ON A.T. IN VA: http://tinyurl.com/ded5tt INFO? EMAIL PUBLISHER@BACKPACKINGLIGHT.COM RT @BIGSKYRY

I am in contact with the NPS Ranger and the VA State SAR, the agencies responsible for the search and will relay info promptly them.

Best Regards, Ryan Jordan CEO Backpacking Light

If anyone would like to join in with the distribution of this information, please do so. Thank you.