Kolmogorov Complexity

IF you can actually stand it, here's a link to a video about some of the stuff I was working on at my old job…I still can't believe my project lead was able to put this out into public domain…but then again I wear t-shirts (I have 7, one for each day of the week) proclaiming the coolness of Kolmogorov Complexity

Triathlon start

So true…so true…

Photage

Wow…simply amazing. I’m such a sucker for nostagia, russian nostalgia at that! Sometimes I think I was born about 40 years too late. Life was much simpler then, having manners was the norm and not an exception…no one courts these days…and with all the media around us, nothing is left to the imagination…getting a hand-written letter *GASP* provided hours of entertainment and wonderment…wonderment of what others were doing in another town, state, or country…

Morning Challenge

I'm a cereal connoisseur of sorts…I have boxes upon boxes of various cereals in my apartment and have been known at times to purchase large quantities of the boxed goodness simply because it was on sale.

I recently have been going to a "new to me" grocery store that is a little bit out of my way but provides a much more healthier (re: cheaper) selection of foods and produce. With this new store comes a new variety of cereal. Yippee!

However, I believe that these organic cereal manufacturers have an evil and nasty side to them…you see, imagine you've woken up after a hard bike race (re: Seward) with barely enough strength to walk to the kitchen and get your morning preparations underway…You remember that today is a good day because it means it's New Cereal Day™, the day you open up a new box of cereal that you've never tried before. But wait, the evil-doers at the packaging plant must have it in for you because they practically hermetically seal the cereal inside the plastic bag. In addition, they've placed about 10 layers of cement (re: track glue) to make sure the bag doesn't inadvertently open in transit. Pulling and prying at the millimeters of unglued ends with your feeble strength doesn't even begin to open the bag or stretch the plastic.

It's not until your grip strength begins to return can you even fathom another go at opening that stupid bag…scissors are simply not an option.

FLATS!!!

That's the word of the week. F-L-A-T-S. Now, you can imagine that the pluaral use of the word "flat" is a good sign that I encountered more than one (1) flat during my first NRC race. During this 6-stage 5-day race, I encountered a total of 4 flats…yes F-O-U-R.

You see, a flat is a cyclist's worst nightmare. And it's no wonder I'm not getting any sleep at night…After a decent prologue I was in a respectable 31st place, the following day's stage featured an 84-mile rolling stage that showed no real surprises…except for Murdin who flatted a few miles from the finish and rode in with the group (on a super-fast downhill turning finishing 5k) to only loose 15 seconds.

Friday's stage was close to 100 miles with nothing but ups and downs. The course profile is in the shape of a V.

 I had the pleasure of doing this circuit 5 times. I was feeling fresh and had not let the constant rain/drizzle dampen my spirits. What did cause my downward spiral was the flat I got about 4 miles into the final descent at around mile 80. I got a quick wheel change from the neutral support car and hauled it down the rest of the descent doing anything I could to catch back up to the group. Now, going au bloc with 10 miles of racing left is not the ideal way to finish off the day. I did manage to catch the group as the climbing began, but with roughtly 3k to go I became detached. Loosing an amazing 2 minutes.

The TT was decent. I did well enough to move up a few spots on the GC but with the crit looming in the evening, anything could happen. Half way through the crit…got a flat but luckily it didn't really cause panic since there was a 2-free lap rule meaning if you get a flat you have 2-laps to get it fixed and get back into the swing of things. Harm…but no foul.

Then the ultimo stage of the race, the tri-peaks crazy-race saw me flat no more than 2 miles into the stage. After flatting I got another neutal support wheel and with the help of 4 other guys that got a flat at the same time, we pacelined it in an effort to catch the field. Even drafting a station wagon didn't help the cause. My race was effectively over before it even began. Ascending the first climb of the day, fate's hand slapped me across the face again as I got another flat on the neutral support's wheel. Yes, a brand new tire on a barely used wheel decided to run flat…and with that my race ended with a period, instead of an exclamation point.