Got my riding group!

Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings, brought to you by the good people of East Alabama Cycling Club!

Wednesday nights start @ 5:30 and are usually around 25-30 miles of beautiful rolling hills around Auburn. We "roll" at about 18-20 mph, so its a nice 2 hr ride that isn't too stressful or hard. Given that I ride to the meeting place, it adds a few more miles, making the total (last night's, at least) to be 35 miles. This is about as much as I can do in one go before I have to eat something, so dinner is always welcome when I get home.

Saturday's ride begins at 7:30 am, breaks up into about 4 different groups (based on riding ability and length), and always ends in breakfast. (Yay!). This ride is much more social and significantly larger than the Wednesday night group, as well as accommodates riders of all abilities.

To be honest, this is my first real riding group. I didn't ride in a group in NYC because if you didn't have a high-end ride and weren't snooty, they didn't want anything to do with you. I didn't group ride in CT because I just didn't get my shit together. But I really like riding in a group. It gives you people to talk to, safety, and most importantly, people to draft. Everyone goes faster when riding in a group.

Also, I get to essentially "tour" my new area by riding around the neighborhoods. I've read before that riding one's bike around a new town is a great way to go sightseeing. And experiencing it for the first time here in Auburn, I can say their right.

I am digging the riding group and the people in it. Hope I can make some friends out of it.

First Impressions

We've been here a week. So, I guess that qualifies me to provide first impressions. Here goes.

1. People are super friendly in the South. Everywhere we've gone we've been welcomed to Auburn profusely and continously. As a northeasterner, I find this slightly disturbing because I am expecting the catch. But there may not be one.
2. Auburn itself is a delightful, small college town. As such, all pretty much revolves around the university.
3. The university is gorgeous.
4. The sun is a lot stronger here than what I am used to. I also had a hard time catching my breath while working out. Indoors. Maybe it's because I haven't worked out in 2 weeks and my fitness level has dropped, but still, it's hot.
5. Working from home is a very civilized way to work. Except that I go stir-crazy by 3 pm and have a mini-freakout. I need to resolve this.
6. We are in the rural South. As it was put to me earlier this week, "Drive 20 miles outside of town, and you've traveled back in time 50 years." (Full disclosure, we have yet to do this.)
7. The bbq is "chipped", not shredded or pulled. And so far its been very good.
8. The produce, specifically, fruit, is 20 times better than up North
9. Did I mention it was hot? Yes, I believe I did.
10. Like Lincoln, NE., life revolves around football season.
11. I will not be eating chittlings (or chitterlings as they are referred to in other parts of the world).
12. I don't like my kitchen sink faucet. It's too high up and I splash water all over the place when using it. Very annoying.
13. The summer thunderstorms are really good. They remind me of my childhood.
14. We've found a working farm that runs a fall CSA. We've been there to pick blueberries which were ridiculously good. The lamb steaks were amazing as well. We shall be spending more of our $ there.
15. DSL is not awful. Is it the best? No, but I can upload and download at a reasonably fast speed. So, that's good. (I still prefer cable, though)
16. Satellite TV is a racket and I feel like I am getting raped. I was fine getting basic cable back in CT because I never watched TV.
17. On a related note, tv antenna bunny ears have not progressed well since I was a kid. Or we live in a tv signal vacuum because we tried and failed miserably.
18. Our house is pretty much perfect, kitchen faucet excepted. Side note: I will never not have central air again.

So, them's it. Back to work, and then back to organizing the house and putting away our stuff. Woo-Hoo!

Move story, Part 2

We got up pretty early to eat breakfast, clean up the room from the pets, and tried to hit the road before 8 to get through the nightmare traffic that is Atlanta, GA. And it all went reasonably according to plan. Before we hit it, I took Domino out for a walk where I ran into a very spry 83 y/o man walking his bichon frise. We had a nice chat, and he told me great things about the place we were going. Considering I hadn't visited Auburn yet, I was nervous. The man's easy going nature and good words made we feel a lot better about our future home.

We hit the road and enjoyed a nearly traffic free drive all the way to the outskirts of Atlanta where the road widened and traffic volume got heavy. We were never stopped dead in our tracks, nor were we slowed down all that much, but I stuck to 1 lane for the most part. Like most metro areas, Atlanta has highway signs giving up to date traffic info and travel times which was helpful because our original plan was straight down I-85 through the heart of Atlanta. The signs said heavy delays, so the beltway became our route.

On the southern side of Atlanta, we stopped for lunch and got ready for the final push. At lunch, we ended up speaking to another nice stranger who asked if I was a cyclist (I was wearing my Fat Cyclist t-shirt). He then went on to start telling us about the bike trail that goes from Atlanta all the way to Birmingham. In the back of my mind, I started planning a fall weekend cycling/camping getaway.

Back on the road, we cruised over the state line and arrived in our new home state. 30 miles more down the road and we hit Opelika (pronounced Opa-like-uh), Auburn's sister-town. Then we got off at our exit and Tina led the way through the center of town. It was something, let me tell you, driving a 26' truck through the center of town along the edge of the university until we hit Toomer's Corner, the exact center of town where a big orange paw print is painted on the intersection. A couple more turns onto the beltway of Auburn where I sub-division is located, down the access road, and into out new little neighborhood where we pulled up to our new house (pics soon).

The LL was (to my surprise) waiting for us, and in we walked to the place we (our family) would spending the next year of our lives.

Triathlon update

Did my first triathlon on Sunday. It was a sprint distance: 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 5k run. Totally doable. But....

My swim was awful. I had a plan, and as soon as I hit the water, it flew out the window and was replaced with a mild panic attack. Awesome. I was flailing around, all technique disappeared and I blew myself out, badly, by hyperventilating. While most people were putting in times of 11 - 12 minutes, it took me 15. Not insurmountable to finish respectably, especially with the bike, but not a good start.

I made up time on the bike, averaging about 21 miles an hr, which is decent. I could have pushed it harder, sure, but I am still so new to competition that I don't really have a good idea of how to pace myself throughout an entire race. I wanted to push, but I also didn't want to be completely wasted by the time I started the run that I sabotaged myself either. It was probably the swim that made me nervous. I exited the water drained, breathing heavy, and not feeling well.

My run portion was decent, though. I averaged a 7:15 mile, slower than the 6:30 pace I did for the 5k I ran in May, but I had wicked cramps this time as I started. I didn't take a lot of water during the bike ride, but I had swallowed some water during the swim. When I started the run, I ate a few shot bloks. And then, ugh......For the entire run I did not feel well at all, but I powered through, thinking and reminding myself that 3 miles isn't very long and it would be over soon.

And you know what? It was!

I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:09:39, 63rd overall, 54th for men, and 9th for my division (M 35-39). My transitions were very good for a 1st timer, less than 2 minutes from swim to bike, and about 45 seconds from bike to run. Overall, I was pretty happy with my times, but I know I can do better next time. And yes, there definitely will be a next time.

Triathlon diversion + notes about swimming

The wife and I are participating in a sprint triathlon this weekend. Should be fun.

The only part I'm worried about is the swim. It's only a half-mile, but just like the 5k I did a few weeks ago, I have no idea how far that actually is because I've never swam (swum?) that far. It's the same as the 5k because I don't run and I had no idea how far 5k was and when i should/ could really push myself without blowing myself out for the finish.

So we went to the pool last night to practice technique, and what struck me was how fast the wife is in the water. She blew me away. And I think that's great, because it made me realize that we're both good at different things. Where one of us is not so good in one area, the other will pick up the slack. A triathlon training session turned into a marriage realization.

I am better at the bike, and when the wife started to bike I thought I was being helpful by providing lots of advise. Instead I was unconsciously patronizing her. Not that she didn't do the same to me. I know how to swim, just like she knew how to bike. It's just that we were trying to help the other advance as quickly as possible so that the other could keep up. I think we've both realized that we're good at some things, competent at others, and some things should just be left alone.

Anyways, the triathlon is this Sunday. I am focused on finishing with a decent time. 1/2 mile swim (~25 minutes), 10 mile bike (~25 minutes), 5k run (~25 minutes). I am aiming for 1:15. We'll see if it happens.