The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

Closing Out May

Motivation deficit and mechanical failure plagued me this month. The first two weeks were solid performances, including my first complete week in two months. A storm rolled in around mid-month, but the biggest winds came out of my mouth. A warm front of whiny excuses came out of the west and blew some miles right off my chart. On Bike-to-Work Day, I replaced my cyclometer (rain got in the electronics of the old trusty Cat Eye Tomo XC) and I was advised to park my bike the next day.

Having ordered a new rim early in the month (my Bontrager Maverick was coming apart), I was off my bike for six straight days toward the end of the month. Finally, the Mavic A719 came and I was back on the road.

I set a personal best top speed (46.0 mph) this month and passed through that 3000 mile marker. This month was also the fastest (19.0 mph avg) month ever. Perhaps June will bring me some more miles and some longer distances.

May: 598.11 mi in 31:29:54 (19.0 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)

Passing 3000 miles

After my day off yesterday (or rather, evening stomp on hardwood instead of SPD pedals), I went for a ride this afternoon to close out my 3000th mile of 2005. I headed down Junipero Serra / Foothill Expressway, as usual, and headed back. I got a good kick going, taking care to not overdo it (I’ve been having some knee soreness due to misaligned cleats). I got a good ramble.

As I was coming down Fair Oaks Avenue, I sort of (okay, I know) rolled through a stop sign without making a complete stop. An officer of Atherton Police Department pulled me over, gave me a warning, and bade me watch out in the future. Oops.

Shortly afterwards, about four minutes after sunset, I finished my 3000th mile of the year right around here. That brings me to 60% of my yearly goal before the first of June!

Damn, I feel sexy.

Stompy + Sunset

After doing my laundry today, I got kind of a slow start out the door this evening. Stompy and Sunset threw a Memorial Day party at Café Cocomo. After grabbing a couple of slices in Menlo Park, I headed up to San Francisco and arrived shortly after 8:30.

The place was packed when I got there. Galen was the first guy I noticed on the turntables. He put together a blistering set of tech-house that had the hundreds on the dancefloor in a frenzy. It was absolutely ridiculous. The crowd was full of absolutely adorable people, some of whom could go toe-to-toe with me on the dancefloor. After Galen, guest Luke Sardello played an interesting set of music, but I didn’t really like it as much as I enjoyed Galen’s stuff. Deron closed out the night with a stomp that had the whole crowd working it like the world was about to end.

I saw lots of people I haven’t seen in a long time tonight—Eric, Angelica, Annie, and others—and I made some really cool new friends. The Stompy/Sunset parties are always absolutely top shelf and I am so happy that I celebrated Memorial Day on this hardwood.

Salted

Tonight, I decided once again to check out Salted at Mighty. None of my friends were able to go out, but I decided to go anyway. Tonight’s featured artist was Lisa Shaw.

The party was in full swing when I arrived around 11:30. The floor was packed with pretty people. I ended up in a circle of very spirited dancers, as usual, and had a great time. Julius Papp played a thumping set and Miguel Migs followed with his signature deep smoothness. Lisa Shaw came on and, after the shorting microphone issues were sorted out, performed six songs in two sets. It was the first time I’ve actually been able to hear her live. I’ve missed at least six opportunities in the last six months. This time, I was there and it was great.

Great party. I can’t wait until the next one.

Week 21

This week has been a two-day riding week, due to the fact that my new rim took much longer than it should have. When the replacement rim arrived, it was defective, so we went with the upgrade instead. If only I had come to that conclusion earlier…

19 May:  28.53 mi;  1:30:39 (18.9 mph avg; 30.5 mph max)
20 May:  50.35 mi;  2:40:32 (18.8 mph avg; 40.0 mph max)
Total :  78.88 mi;  4:11:11 (18.8 mph avg; 40.0 mph max)

Month so far:  538.36 mi. 2005 so far : 2969.03 mi (59.38% of goal).
2005 goal   : 5000.00 mi.
Remaining   : 2030.98 mi (65.52 mi / wk avg)

Saturday Half Century against the Wind

After six days on the couch, I opted not to push for a new distance this afternoon. Instead I took it easy with a nice nearly-flat 50 miles—down to Cupertino and back, and around the Portola Valley / Woodside loop.

The headwinds were significant today, around 20 mph, and my performance was a little weaker than I’d have liked, but I’ve just spent six straight days off the bike waiting for a rim. I feel sluggish and weak. Let’s see how things go next weekend.

Today:   50.35 mi;   2:40:32 (18.8 mph avg; 40.0 mph max) May  :  538.36 mi;  28:22:56 (19.0 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)
2005 : 2969.03 mi; 159:28:02 (18.6 mph avg; 46.0 mph max)
Goal : 5000.00 mi (2030.98 mi to go : 59.38% complete)

Mavic Sweetness

I called Outfitter this afternoon to see if I’d have a new rim today. One guy was just getting started on it, so we set at time for me to come and get it about an hour and a half after work. I farted around in Sunnyvale to kill just enough time, and went to retrieve my rim.

The total came to about $80. That’s not bad for a new back rim with brand new spokes. That Mavic A719 is apparently what they generally put on tandems. If it can handle two people, it ought to be able to handle anything I can feasibly throw at it.

Excitedly, I raced home with the rim, threw it on the Trek, and got ready to go for a ride. Oops. Now I can’t move. After finagling the brakes for a while, I finally got up and got my first ride in a week. I ran out of breath much faster than I usually do, but I’ve been sitting on the couch for a whole week. I heard once that you lose 25% of your condition if you sit out for a week. I didn’t do too bad, though. It sure feels good to get some asphalt under my tires again.

Now, let’s see if I can roll past 3000 miles on the year by the first of June.

That Rear Rim

After some cajoling, begging, and yelling, the replacement rear rim I’ve been waiting a couple of weeks for Trek to send me finally arrived today. Ecstatically, I zipped home after work (I got to work this morning at 05:30) and swooped the old wheel off my Trek. I drove it down to the shop to talk to the guy about lacing the hub.

But, there’s another problem. One of the spoke hole eyelets (or whatever they’re called) is missing. That means this rim, for which I’ve waited for untold centuries, won’t work. Trek’s sending a new one immediately. Shit. I am so ready to kill.

The guy tasked with my rebuilding my rim offered an alternative. Instead of waiting for tomorrow or Tuesday (Monday’s a day off) or next September for the rim to arrive from Trek, he told me that we could go with a Mavic A719 touring rim, a significant upgrade of my current equipment, and I’d need to buy it (less a discount) and the spokes. Trek would cover the labor to relace my new Mavic rim to the hub as part of the warranty.

Sounds good to me. Hopefully tomorrow, I’ll get my new rim and be able to ride for the first time since last Friday.

Happy Birthday, Jody

Today would be your 29th birthday. I wonder what you’d be doing today. What would you have become? Where would you have gone to school? Would you be married yet? What would you be passionate about? Where would you live? What would your dreams and aspirations be?

Would you have children? What would you look like, as you prepared to finish your twenties, an entire decade of life you never saw? What would you do on the weekends? What would your hobbies be? What would you be curious about? Where would your fascinations lie? Where would you travel?

It’s been 11 years since you’ve been gone. I wanted to do a ride today in your honor, but my rim is broken and the new one hasn’t arrived yet. So, I’m training for the tour I’m going to do in your memory next May.

Everyone in our family misses you. There’s a big hole in all of our lives where you lived — an unfillable gap that will be with us all. Happy birthday, little sister. I miss you.

Birthday Boy

Happy 33rd Birthday, Brent!