The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

Moving Day

The day has finally come. Sunday, the Fourth of September. A few days ago, I reserved a small U-Haul truck, which I was supposed to pick up at 2 in the afternoon. So, I cut short my sorting through boxes, missed the VTA 22 bus by only moments, caught the Caltrain, and got off the train in Mountain View. At the Mountain View Caltrain station, there are trees planted in the parking lot. I managed to twist my ankle on the edge of a square in which a tree was growing. I had to sit for five or six minutes on the bench nearby to let the pain ebb and keep marching toward El Camino Real.

I made it to the bus, but only by hobbling as best I could to catch it. A short time later, I picked up my U-Haul and headed back to Menlo Park. I grabbed a soda and resumed my sorting.

At five, my friend, Kai, came over. I was still sorting. We moved things around a little bit, while I continued to go through stuff (because I didn’t organize anything to speak of in advance). We finally grabbed some food at almost ten, loaded up the truck, and drove it under cover of darkness to my new house in Sunnyvale. After helping me haul in my dresser and bed and driving me back to get my car, Kai went home and I stopped by to pick up a lock. There’s quite a bit of stuff still left in the truck, but we got all of the large stuff. I don’t know where I’m going to put all this, because I have a significantly smaller room than the one I’m leaving. I guess I’ll have to find a way.

Thanks a billion for your help, Kai. You rule.

Week 35

I decided to take another Saturday off this week, because I’m picking up my U-Haul on Sunday afternoon to move to Sunnyvale. Hopefully, I’ll be finished with all the stuff I need to do to get moved, because this is yet another in a myriad of weeks with missing riding days.

I closed out August with the fastest day in a long time (since May 12, anyway) and, in fact, the second-fastest day ever.

29 Aug:  35.44 mi;  1:53:03 (18.8 mph avg; 34.0 mph max)
30 Aug:  34.73 mi;  1:48:40 (19.2 mph avg; 30.0 mph max)
31 Aug:  35.05 mi;  1:45:00 (20.0 mph avg; 34.5 mph max)
01 Sep:  35.51 mi;  1:51:24 (19.1 mph avg; 31.0 mph max)
02 Sep:  34.76 mi;  1:49:38 (19.0 mph avg; 29.0 mph max)
Total : 175.49 mi;  9:07:45 (19.2 mph avg; 34.5 mph max)

Month so far:   70.27 mi. 2005 so far : 5316.78 mi (106.34% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   : complete – (316.78 mi over)

Say It Ain’t So

Yesterday, Kepler’s, the incredible bookstore in downtown Menlo Park, shut its doors forever. It’s a really sad turn of events, because I really loved Kepler’s. I currently live about three blocks away and over the last couple of years, I’ve gone quite often. It’s probably the greatest independent bookstore in the Bay Area. 2005 was its golden anniversary, too.

Thanks, whump, for the heads up.

Closing Out August

Wow. I got really good at blowing off days this month. Despite a few meh days and some skipped rides dealing with trying to figure out moving-related stuff, I can’t complain too much about August. It was the 12th month in a row over 500 miles. It wasn’t the fastest month to date, nor was it the longest, but it was a year since I started riding again after my crash — an anniversary I marked by meeting my mileage goal for the whole year.

I went on vacation earlier in the month and wasn’t able to ride for nearly a week. My long ride to date is still short of 64 miles and, hopefully, that’s something I’ll be able to remedy in September, after I get my butt moved.

August: 685.03 mi in 36:04:45 (19.0 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)

Rambunctious Stomp

After going to work really early this morning (I arrived at 06:30), I rode all my miles in one kick after work. I needed to run to the bookstore during lunch (and the bank after work).

Summer has started to return recently and the temperature was around 90°F when I headed out for my ride at a quarter after five. Somehow, I scrambled up the false flat that is Valparaiso near my house over 25 mph. I stomped through Stanford’s campus, headed out over the Page Mill hump, and continued pounding southeastward toward Sunnyvale. When I arrived at my shop to replenish my waning water supply, my cyclometer’s average speed mode informed me that I was at 19.8 mph.

Shortly after I got back on the bike for the final 13 mile kick home, I noticed that I was reading an average at 20 miles an hour for the first time in over 3½ months. I lost a little of my zip against the wind as I huffed over the Page Mill hump again, but the Mango Clif shot at the crest put a little spring back in my step. As I completed my ride with a 25 mph swoop downhill toward my house, I just tried to hang on to my last ride of August.

I just posted my second-fastest day ever.

Today :   35.05 mi;   1:45:00 (20.0 mph avg; 34.5 mph max) August:  685.03 mi;  36:04:45 (19.0 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
2005  : 5246.51 mi; 279:31:25 (18.8 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)
Goal  : 5000.00 mi (246.51 mi over : 104.93% complete)

Week 34

After skipping Monday because I spent too much time at the Apple store after work, I completed the rest of the week, except Saturday, in solid form. On Saturday, I scheduled an off day so I could deal with moving-related stuff. I still haven’t moved anything, so I guess there will be no ride next Saturday either.

23 Aug:  34.78 mi;  1:50:37 (18.9 mph avg; 29.0 mph max)
24 Aug:  35.08 mi;  1:49:20 (19.3 mph avg; 33.5 mph max)
25 Aug:  33.42 mi;  1:47:29 (19.4 mph avg; 32.5 mph max)
26 Aug:  35.87 mi;  1:53:26 (19.0 mph avg; 30.0 mph max)
Total : 140.57 mi;  7:20:52 (19.1 mph avg; 33.5 mph max)

Month so far:  579.81 mi. 2005 so far : 5141.29 mi (102.83% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   : complete – (141.29 mi over)

Google Talk

Google released Google Talk this morning. It uses your existing Google account for your Talk sign-on. It’s all on the Jabber protocol and works with any third party client that supports Jabber.

Yeah, I’m on. I’m apollolee, of course. Say hi, if you like.

Week 33

I started off the week with a 31.72 mile day. Recalculating on Tuesday made me realize that it might just be possible for me to finish my entire year’s mileage goal on Saturday. So, I adjusted my weekdays to 33 miles and scheduled myself for a metric century on Saturday.

A couple of the commutes home this week were a little breezy, much windier than they’ve been lately. Also, for some reason, the temperature has plunged recently and afternoon commute temperatures have tended to be under 72° F. That’s about 15 degrees colder than it should be for this time of year.

On Saturday, I finished my ride 45 minutes after sundown with a blistering stomp and swoop around the block an extra time to complete my 5000th mile this year (and my first six-day week in a month). I feel so spectacular at having achieved my goal mileage for the year with four months left. For comparison, I rode 3,194.70 miles between late August and late December last year. I guess I’m gonna have to add some miles to my 2005 goal.

15 Aug:  31.72 mi;  1:40:01 (19.0 mph avg; 28.5 mph max)
16 Aug:  33.30 mi;  1:43:35 (19.3 mph avg; 34.5 mph max)
17 Aug:  33.20 mi;  1:44:15 (19.1 mph avg; 31.0 mph max)
18 Aug:  33.42 mi;  1:44:52 (19.1 mph avg; 30.0 mph max)
19 Aug:  33.18 mi;  1:44:45 (19.0 mph avg; 29.5 mph max)
20 Aug:  62.29 mi;  3:20:15 (18.7 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
Total : 227.11 mi; 11:57:43 (19.0 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)

Month so far:  439.24 mi. 2005 so far : 5000.72 mi (100.01% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   : complete – (0.72 mi over)

Reaching 5000

After messing around in Sunnyvale for a little bit too long, I hit the road for my Saturday ride this afternoon at a little after 4, leaving me just under four hours to do a metric century before sunset. I climbed up to Portola Valley, replenished my water supply, and wasted 40 minutes chattering with another cyclist at Triangle Park. 50 miles to go in 2½ hours? Looks like I’m not making it home by sunset.

I stomped through Woodside and on up to Edgewood Road, pulled myself into the big ring for a nice 44 mph descent, and kept my spin up as I headed southeast toward Los Altos along Foothill Expressway. The sun finally set on me with about 12 miles left to go.

It was completely dark by the time I swooped around Laurel Street near my house for that last loop around the block to close out today’s metric century. The added bonus was that ¾ of a mile from my house, I completed my 5000th mile of 2005, which brings me past 100% of my goal mileage.

This day last year was my last day on the disabled list. Between getting back on the bike last year and the end of the year, I covered quite a few miles. Between that day and the end of this ride were 8,195.42 miles. Let’s see how many bonus miles I get this year.

Today:   62.29 mi;   3:20:15 (18.7 mph avg; 44.0 mph max) Aug  :  439.24 mi;  23:17:10 (18.9 mph avg; 44.0 mph max)
2005 : 5000.72 mi; 266:43:50 (18.7 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)
Goal : 5000.00 mi (0.72 mi over : 100.01% complete)

Slide

After my long nap this afternoon, I decided to go up to Slide, an underground party off Cesar Chavez in San Francisco. Patrick and Gigi were there and it was the first time I got to hang out with them in a month. I arrived one minute before the cheap cover cutoff and hustled inside.

The music was decent and some elements of the crowd—particularly the dancefloor smokers—were really annoying. Most of the members of the crowd were getting down earnestly. After a while of hearing the music and jumping around like a dork, I just felt like going home. So, when the Canadians decided to split at 2, so did I. I don’t think I saw either headliner.