Life - The Wheels Keep Turning

So recently there have been a lot of changes. I just started a new job, I have a new (to me) car, I've been getting stuff done around the house, and we're going to be changing our home schedule a bit to accommodate my job. I've also decided to stop promoting races and, in a related thing, I'll be backing of on the bike racing as well.

Dad

I guess the big thing is that I am no longer taking care of my dad. As much as it was the right thing to do, it affected the rest of my life by limiting what I could do, when I could do it. There are a lot of ways to describe the limitations, both negative and positive.

Negative words I think of right away are "shackled" or "trapped". This is because I really couldn't do much because I needed to take my dad with me. As he declined it was possible to sneak out while he was sleeping, which made things a bit easier. Toward the very this reversed itself and I stayed close by to keep an eye on him.

However, when I think of how I was able to care for him, other words come to mind. "Privileged" and "fortunate" come to mind right away. I was very, very lucky to be able to care for my dad. Even with all the tough stuff that happened, the stress and the like, I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

Work

In the end, though, when my dad passed, it allowed me to think of myself once again. First there was sort of this numb, decompression period, maybe a week, maybe more, where I felt just pulled along by all the things that happens when your dad dies. Then there were a couple frantic weeks of doing estate stuff, with one of my siblings handling much of it.

Then, after the dust settled for me (my sibling still doing estate stuff so not totally settled), maybe a month later, my situation became pretty clear to me. I needed to find a job that paid enough, and, if possible, a job I'd enjoy.

The latter was a bit tough. I wanted to be customer facing, I wanted to work with something that interested me (bikes, cars, not sure what else), and I had to find a position that didn't require too much specialized knowledge while offering me both a reasonable starting salary as well as opportunites for growth. Bonus would be substantially subsidized health care benefits.

Of course I've been thinking of this stuff for almost ten years now so this wasn't an idle thought. I enjoyed my time at the hardware store but the reality is that the position simply didn't offer much growth. It couldn't, much like working in a bike shop has difficulty offering growth.

After about four weeks of lots of searching on Careerbuilder and the like, I realized I was coming back to a particular position over and over. It was basically a sales position (management trainee) at various Firestone Complete Auto Care centers, all of which are (I think) wholly owned by the parent company Bridgestone.

As I pointed out in my previous post, I ended up with the position. I started a few weeks ago and it's been a steep learning curve. I am relearning stuff that I learned in my previous work lives - the car dealer, the hardware store, IT, and the shop. In the process I'm feeling like, okay, I'm starting to get it.

The thing I want to do at some point in the future is build my own team. To me that'd be the ultimate, to build and maintain a cohesive, cooperative, positive group of people into a nicely honed machine. When things go smoothly it's like a big leadout going well, all sorts of diverse elements working together toward a common goal. Just at this job this kind of stuff happens all the time. I caught a glimpse of this the other day (meaning as something based on what I initiated and did, not what others did) and I have to admit that it's extremely enticing. I'm looking forward to the day where I can make such things happen all the time.

What Else?

So what else is happening?

Our Cars

Well, for one thing, we've gotten our VW TDI "dieselgate" offers from Volkswagen. In case you don't know about it, VW cheated on emission tests with their diesel cars, to the point that some senior executives are being indicted for various crimes with senior executives told not to travel to the US. VW agreed to buy back almost half a million cars and pay some fines for a record $14 billion or so. That kind of dollar amount is a bit "otherworldly" to me because I can't think of that kind of money.

The Golf in the registration tent.

However, I can think about $10,000 or $20,000, and for us, as VW diesel owners, those are real numbers. VW not only is buying back the diesels but they're paying an additional $5-10,000 for each car as punishment. To give an idea of what our cars are worth in terms of trade in, I'd priced both cars in August 2015, just before Dieselgate hit in September 2015. I wanted to trade in one or both cars to get a more versatile tow vehicle. The dealer offered $9,000 for our Jetta Sportswagen ("JSW") and $12,000 for the Golf, a total of $21,000 for both cars.

$21,000 for both cars.

In contrast, because of Dieselgate, VW paid us $21,600 for the Golf.

Just the Golf.

Golf turned in. Tag on mirror says the car is not for sale.

They will pay us about $17,000 for the JSW.

So as far as we're concerned VW has done right by us.

I used less than half the Golf money to buy a replacement, the Sentra. We've ordered a Civic sedan for the Missus. So we'll have two completely different cars in the garage by March.

House

There's a lot of stuff going on with the house. We live in a single family home located in a condo complex. Therefore we get to have our own house but we don't deal much with outside maintenance. In the next year the condo association will be clearing our area of dead and dying trees (pretty much every large tree near the house, I'm guessing 15 or so large trees and a slew of supporting smaller trees), they'll be re-roofing our house, fixing the wood siding, and painting. It's a lot of work for sure and we're looking forward to the renewed yard/outside in the fall of 2017.

With the roof work we're looking into any roof modification so that we can sort of piggyback the work already scheduled. We'll be adding a sky tube (it's sort of like a skylight that ends in a light fixture lens in the ceiling) to brighten up a dark section of hallway. We're also contemplating having a chimney installed for a pellet stove. With some of the recent single digit temperatures a helper heating source would be a welcome addition to the home heating environment.

There are a lot of projects for inside the house as well. I've had a number of them planned or thought out and finally got around to doing them. Inertia/momentum works in two ways. When things are static it's hard to get going. However when things are in motion it's hard to stop. And now, with things in motion, I've found myself doing little things here and there all the time.

Family - The Missus and Junior

I put this down a bit lower because it's something we handle every day. It's not something like the car where we don't think about it for a bit, or it's a once in a while thing like a new roof on the house. For sure Junior occupies virtually all my free time outside of work. The Missus and I both schedule life around Junior, meaning we tend to work around his schedule. With work that's an added variable, making the intersection between the three schedules even more rare and special.

Things are going great with the Missus and her work so that's not a huge stressor, at least to me. I think for her there are both good and bad days, with seemingly very few of the latter. As a former small business owner I can relate to some things common to owning a small business, although hers is successful and mine was less so.

Once tax season is over her schedule lightens up which means my job will be the limiting factor to our family time.

Junior is doing well too. I'm constantly amazed by the things he does. He remembers stuff so well he's been keeping me on my toes. He's great around people, inquisitive, talkative, energetic, and will even admit defeat if he's tired and go upstairs for nap or bedtime.

Junior enjoys unscrewing the quick release skewer from the wheel.

August 2016.

Note lower profile front wheel, the Stinger 4. It must have been windy that day.

We had to pull Junior out of Pre-K because of my job. He's returned to what is officially a daycare center. The reality is that it's a super effective educational place based on how well prepared he was for Pre-K. A lot of it is him, of course, he learned a lot of stuff sort of on his own, and it's not like we sit down and do vocabulary drills or whatnot. He seems to pick stuff up on his own, with the help of some YouTube clips, Einstein DVDs, Cat in the Hat, and some other educational entertainment. Lately he's gotten into Star Wars stuff so of course he's learning and memorizing all sorts of stuff that doesn't necessarily translate to "education".

Part of our play at Pre-K pick up.

Here we're taking shelter in the doorway to a different part of the school.

Running the Yellow Line.

I told him to stay on the line so he wouldn't veer toward the curb.

Saying hi to the daycare bus driver (a teacher also) and telling her all about his day.

My job will mean a few late nights a week so I'll miss his bedtimes regularly. I think, honestly, that this will be harder for me than him. I knew underneath that eventually it would happen at some point. It's just that it's happening now.

Other Things

One thing I've wanted to do since late 2015 is to get back in some gasoline powered karts. Connecticut has two locations which run gas karts on tracks which suit gas engine characteristics. Gas karts have very little low end torque, requiring a bit of time to build power. Such karts reward smooth driving, good lines, and longer "full throttle" sections of track. On Track Karting (OTK) has two locations with well laid out courses for gas karts.

Back in 2015 I went to each track one time, Wallingford in November, Brookfield in December.

I was hooked.

I bought a helmet (it was a $100 Bell helmet) and an inexpensive action camera. Then life intruded and I could only dream about karting. I watched clips people made of their OTK outings, watching the better drivers over and over again. I memorized the layouts, I knew when to get on the gas, when to ease, leaving just a few areas of doubt ("do I brake here or just coast?" or "how does he initiate turn in here?"). I'd have to get to the track to figure that out.

Recently I went back to Brookfield. I wanted to catch a full evening of driving ("all you can drive from 6 pm until 11 pm"). I got there a bit late but drove for about 4 hours straight, missing only a few heats during that time. Significantly for me I qualified for Pro Karts, based on dropping below a certain minimum lap time for multiple heats. This was my holy grail goal and I managed to hit my marks in the first four or so heats.

43.062 seconds.

I needed to break 43.75 seconds I think.

On seeing my reports on karting a (bike) racing friend reached out to me and offered me a ride in his karts. I have yet to take him up on it (it was 1 deg F outside the next morning) but I hope that I'll be able to experience karts outside later in 2017. Indoors I don't think we go much faster than 30-35 mph in the 6.5 hp regular karts, but outside he says his slow kart (similar to an indoor 9 hp Pro Kart) will hit 50+ mph. His fast kart will apparently hit the 70+ mph range.

After my solo outing to Brookfield I got in touch with my friend that first introduced me to OTK with a bunch of car nuts. We made plans for a repeat night out at the Wallingford track. It was sort of like a "group kart" experience, versus a group ride, with a 7 of us meeting up to kart. Five of us were Pro Kart qualified so for two heats we blitzed the course in the fast karts. It was my first time in them and it was eye opening. They were so much faster in certain sections that I had to relearn how to approach them.

2nd heat in the Pro Karts, top of the leaderboard.

"Frank", a regular, said that "mid-37s are respectable".

The best time in December at that time was in the 35.xxx range. That's fast!

I look forward to doing Brookfield in the Pro Karts. I hope one day to do the actual racing. It won't happen soon I think but there are some pretty long races. In a 10 minute heat I got in 15 laps at Wallingford. I did 16 minutes in Brookfield, two 8 minute heats back to back, and that was a bit fatiguing. In contrast the long kart races are 100 laps long!

Cycling

One conspicuous absence in all of this is anything bike related. The reason for this blog is cycling, of course, and my main interest for 35 years has been cycling. With an almost off year in 2016, with just several Tuesday Night races checked off, 2017 doesn't seem to offer much more. For me, as a promoter, racing has always had two sides: promoting and racing. There's a third bit, maintenance, and I'll kick off with that.

Maintenance

For the last two years I put literally zero dollars into my bike. I rewrapped the same tape around my bars a few times. I think I glued one tire on, a tire I had "in stock". I still have maybe 10 or 12 new tubular tires, ready to be mounted. I even have a few rolls of tape but I was jealously hoarding them for when I really needed new tape.

With the new job (as well as an economical car purchase) I've gotten to the point where I can think about spending some money on the bike. I need to overhaul my two SRMs, both of which are not working. I want to get a second stem so the black bike can be fitted like my red bike. I bought two new training clinchers for if I start training outside again. It's maybe six or seven hundred dollars but that's more than I felt comfortable spending in the last two years. Now, though, I feel like I can do it. Not just yet, but in the near future.

As a last bit I may try and get a second set of new-style 10 speed levers, Centaur I think, so the cockpits on both bikes match.

I did go and get one new cassette and a slew of used ones, from a good friend of mine. I hope that this gets me through the next year or three in terms of drivetrain maintenance.

Promoting or Lack Thereof

A big bike thing for me is promoting. With my new job I need to work Sundays from February through mid-April.

This means no Spring Series.

That's 100%. No giving it a shot, no trying, for me I'm done.

I've been on the fence about ending my promotion work, promising myself not to promote "next year". I've thought about my exit strategy, if you will. There are two significant investments in Carpe Diem Racing that I have - the trailer (legally it's Carpe Diem Racing property) and the tow vehicle (legally just a personal vehicle), both of which I wouldn't own except that I promoted races. Selling the trailer first, then the Expedition tow vehicle second, would seal the "no more promoting" decision. Even though I promoted races before I had them, if I sold them then mentally I'd be done.

I was telling someone about this stuff the other day and the one thing I'd want to get is a pick up, van, or minivan large enough to haul around a snowblower or a couch or something. With just two compact cars we can't carry much of anything if we didn't have the Expedition or the trailer.

Trailer at the 2016 Aetna Silk City Cross race.

To be clear I didn't promote the race, I only helped with registration.

Credit for the race goes to Jon, David, and the rest of the Expo crew.

So... If you're a promoter looking for a trailer and tow vehicle, let me know. Heh.

(For reference I spent $23k to buy them and I'd sell them for significantly less. Emphasis on the word "significantly". Trailer is a 8.5'x20' car hauler, 3500 lbs axles so 7000 lbs gross weight, about 3600 lbs load capacity as it's about 3400 lbs empty. Expedition is rated at 8900 lbs towing, give or take. I was thinking the trailer could act as a portable garage if it came down to it. Or a portable, heatable, miniature garage where I could work on my car. Waitaminute. Hm.)

Racing

For the actual racing bit I don't foresee much improvement in my schedule from 2016. I hope I'll make some races, but with my work schedule in flux typically week by week, I have absolutely no idea if I can race a week in the future, even a Tuesday night (there are some nights I'm at work until 8 or 9 PM or even later). This makes planning on doing any races sort of pointless. Pre-reg is no longer a thought. Targeting a peak or "A Race" is simply impossible. I'm okay with that, although with no real goals in mind it's hard to motivate to get on the bike.

June 2016.

Bike as I have it set up now.

I did make a "racer gambit" at the beginning of my current job. When they asked me pants size I gave them my 160 lbs waist size. I was already pushing about 168 lbs, and now I'm over 170 lbs. I literally cannot gain much more weight else I won't fit my pants.

Since they've given me eleven pairs of pants I'm sort of committed to that waist size. This means losing some weight and keeping it off. I managed to get down a few pounds in the last three weeks. If nothing else this will help with my racing.

So that's what's going on so far. Hopefully I'll have more updates a bit quicker in the future.

Racing - CCAP Tuesday Night Race, May 27, 2014

So we did the first race after the slew of posts on how to race.  The chronology goes something like this:

1. We raced on May 20th and my teammates told me that none of them really every figured out what they should do during a race. One told me that his mantra was simply to "get to the front". The result? The team used a lot of energy during the race but collectively had nothing left at the finish. I know they're really strong because I can't do a lot of what they did during the race. Unfortunately they exhausted themselves by race end and couldn't follow moves on the last lap.

2. I wrote a post asking if racers wanted feedback. At that point I already had a few asking for advice, but I felt it best to put the advice out there in public so that all newer racers could benefit from it, not just Expo ones. The post had four main points. I chose those points because those are the things that the Expo guys mentioned, both directly to me as well as indirectly (I was eavesdropping on some post race discussions).

3. Point One - How not to get lapped. More accurately, how not to get shelled.

4. Point Two - How to draft.

5. Point Three - How to corner.

6. Point Four - How to go fast. This last one combined a few thoughts so it's a long post.

How did it go? Well it went really well. I told someone after the race that the team transformed from one week to the next. No one chased a teammate down, they waited patiently when they needed to, and they weren't afraid of going to the front when that was necessary as well.

Utimately a group got off the front with one Expo rider, and the rest bided their time for the sprint. Up front the one Expo rider (Nick) survived with just one other rider, a non-Expo, and so it'd be a two up finish.

Unfortunately the race got rained out - it was sprinkling lightly one lap, no problem, and the next lap it was a downpour.

This is how it went down.

Prelude

With showers forecast for the entire day just a few days prior I thought that the Expo BBQ night would get rained out. However by race day the forecast changed to a slight chance of thunder showers but no substantial rain until later in the evening. It was hot for us, 80 degrees or so, and very humid. The front coming through was supposed to drop the temperatures about 30 degrees so it would be a doozy when it hit.

The Missus and I have honed a system to get to the race earlier since Junior's schedule is such that I can't do the later A race. Therefore I pack the car and I get as ready as possible. I pin the number (same number each week), I wear my cycling shorts, I put on my heart rate strap, I even pump up the tires on the race wheels before I put them in the car. I just have to put the wheels in, stick the helmet on my head, start Strava, and get my gloves on, and I'm ready to race.

This day I packed the Expedition. I wanted the extra room so I could change and I also thought it would be better if it rained on us - more room for dry air means less humidity in the car. A side benefit is that Junior can actually see out the side of the Expedition (he really can't in the Jetta or Golf, the seat's too low), so he peers intently out while he's in it. He loves watching things passing by the window, pointing out trailers, trucks, tractors, stars, whatever he sees.

We got going earlier than expected and hit the first highway only a few minutes after 5. We got to the course at 5:20 instead of 5:45-5:50 which was our expectation. I got my bike ready, paid my registration, and met up with some of the Expo guys.

The skies looked threatening but the clouds weren't moving very fast. The sun beam part of the sky was creeping towards us and the dark clouds seemed to be moving away from us. I hoped that the rain would hold off and we'd be able to race. Plus Expo was running a BBQ that night so it'd be fun to hang out after the race instead of rushing off to feed Junior.

Race

We all lined up, a decent number of us. One team was noticeably absent (I think a bunch of them are 3s) but otherwise I think most of the regulars were there. Expo was missing both the 3s that would normally do the race, Joel and SOC. We got our instructions and just before they sent us off on a couple neutral laps Aidan (the race boss if you will) asked the Cat 3s to raise their hands.

One person raised their hand.

Me.

All Cat 3s raise their hand. Just one hand went up, mine.

I was pleasantly surprised when I learned the whole field consisted of Cat 4s and 5s. This meant the whole field was racing for the win, minus me, and it meant that no one could hide behind a "but that guy is a 3" excuse.

I liked that Aidan asked the question because it clarified exactly who was racing and who was not (the 3s approach the B race as training/mentoring, the 4s and 5s are trying to do well in it).

We started off and two laps later we were racing.

Major crosswind from left.

I'm sitting in the best wind sheltered spot, relative to #398.

Everyone to the left is hitting massive amounts of wind.

The wind hit the field from the left after the first turn, and as we all rounded the second turn it hit us head on. I'd say the wind was almost as powerful as it was last week. Based on the weather forecast that didn't surprise me - it was supposed to drop about 20 degrees in a few hours so that meant that some system was moving in. Nothing moves for free so it meant we'd see some wind for a while.

I drifted to the back of the group on purpose, to try and help the younger riders earlier. I realized last week that helping them after they'd gotten gapped didn't make sense. They were already blown so they didn't have the power to make the jumps necessary to stay on the wheels.

I decided that this week I'd sit back there, sit in the wind, and tell whoever wanted to listen to sit to my sheltered side. This race, on this night, it meant getting the others to sit at my 4 o'clock (behind and to my right) after Turn One and then sliding behind me after Turn Two.

I intentionally sat to the left, trying to give more sheltered lanes to the right, but I think some people misinterpreted that as an example to "stay left". As the races go on I think we'll see some improvement with Wind Management, but it seemed a lot better than even last week.

Someone had commented on the "danger" of overlapping wheels. It is technically more dangerous but when you're drafting in a crosswind there's no way to avoid it. In a headwind, or in "no wind" (i.e. the wind is from the speed of the riders, not nature), it's not ideal to overlap a few inches, but to sit to someone's side is not bad.

Of course I still saw racers leaving gaps and such. It's only normal - even in Cat 3 races you'll see racers do that. However overall I think people tended to be a bit closer exiting the turns, they followed lines better, and I felt like the field was more under control in the turns. Last week I saw many, many riders take different lines in the middle of the field. This week just one rider stood out.

Also it seemed that racers were quicker to close gaps and a bit more reluctant to take big but meaningless pulls. As I mentioned above I posted all my race advice for Expo on the blog so any of the competitors could read it. Good bike racing is fun, and racing with a bunch of racers that know what they're doing is even more fun. It's like playing a game with someone that is as skilled as you are, maybe chess or something like that. It's no fun playing with a brand new player just as it's no fun playing with a Grand Master. But get two evenly matched opponents and it's going to be a good game.

An example of Expo guys waiting.

In the above picture you can see two Expo riders waiting patiently near the front of the field. At least one Expo is off the front, although I'm not sure which attack this was so I don't know if there are one or two. Last week I might have seen two or three Expo guys actually pulling. This week they were all waiting.

I realized that my basic race craft stuff didn't incorporate any advice once things went well. One Expo, Nick, went off the front in a group of four and ended up staying away for the rest of the race. I realized that we didn't have any way of knowing if he felt good or not, and for Nick, on this day, it was a legitimate concern. He'd done three massive days leading up to the race (big miles and volunteer work Saturday and Sunday and then a big ride Monday) so he admitted feeling a bit fatigued before the start. Although he ended up feeling great in the race we hadn't figured out a way to communicate that. I worried that we'd see him drop back to the field after Expo had shut it down. This we'll have to work on for next week.

A gap that I didn't close.

At a different point a group of four rolled hard into the crosswind section (note to self: also need to give advice on when/where to attack). I rolled hard to keep the pace up but literally could not keep the gap closed. I eased and let the next rider through, and it was Vickie who pulled through hard and closed the gap.

As the laps wound down and Nick seemed to be gone I started thinking about the field sprint. I had no control over what happened up the road but as long as Nick wasn't suddenly in front of us it was okay, and even if he did blow, it was still okay. There was plenty of race craft we could work on in the field.

Rain started sprinkling lightly, a refreshing mist if you will, but I was a bit surprised. I started thinking about really pushing hard because if the race got called we'd want to be in position to sprint or something. We got into the last 5 laps so the race was almost over anyway.

At this point one Expo had rolled off the front. Two more were soft pedaling, trying to encourage someone to pull through.

Expo waiting.

Again, although minor in terms of "race moves", this was a great example of the discipline and control (and knowledge) that the Expo guys had learned over the course of one week. Even though the gap was just 15-20 meters it was still a gap and they practiced their race craft.

Once the gap closed I rolled forward.

A rider in white obliged and quickly closed the gap. At that point I went to the front, completing an Expo wall of sorts. We weren't going that fast, we weren't strung out, but the rain was just a touch heavier and I thought that maybe we should just drill it from here in case the race got canceled.

I figured the race would be called soon so I went to the front.

Note that the pavement is still basically dry and that the tires are dry.

We rolled by the start/finish area and I think it was 3 to go. We had Expo jerseys all over the front and as the token Cat 3 I felt that I should go to the front. The boys lined up behind me and let me dictate the pace. With three laps to go I knew I couldn't go really hard so I toned down that leadout speed and wondered what I could do to get the team to the finish in some kind of organized fashion.

The rain started pelting us pretty hard by Turn Two, and by Turn Three I went way wide to try and get everyone else to take a nice, wide line. I didn't want anyone crashing by going into the turn and trying to turn really sharply.

Approaching the line the race got called.

I sat up and looked down - note the raindrop on lens, wet gloves, wet tires.

My gloves were soaked by the time we got to the start/finish and they called the race. It's the smart thing to do, the safe thing. Yes, it would help to race a bit in the rain, but it takes just one slip for someone to crash, and it takes just one crash to get screwed up. I agree with the "call it if it rains". The promoters waited until the rain was heavy to call it - during the laps of the sprinkling rain it was all okay.

I turned around and went back to the start/finish area.

It was quite wet already.

The rain really picked up in the minute and change from 3 to go until I returned to the start/finish (I didn't take a lap, I just turned around at the end of the straight). Water poured off the tent sides and everyone was soaked, and the poor grill wasn't doing much to help. It felt pretty cold too, the wet combining with the wind and the dramatically lower temperatures.

The Missus had taken refuge with Junior under the tent, but he was cold and wet so she took him to the Expedition.

In the meantime I had some post race talk with some of the guys. The race went really well, a huge improvement, and you could see it in everyone's faces. They were happy with their races. They worked smarter, not just flailing away at the front. They'd started thinking like bike racers rather than bike riders.

Now we just have to continue the trend.

Promoting - Trailer Beginning

Yesterday I went and picked up the rental trailer. It's a 7x16, one that I thought was too small when I walked into a similar size trailer. I ordered the 8.5x20 because that extra 18 inches of width really make a difference. When I briefly polled people I know they told me that 4 feet of trailer won't make a huge difference once I am used to pulling the trailer around. After driving with the 7x16 I realize that the 8.5x20 will take a bit more to drive. It's okay, it's just that I'll be much more engrossed with driving than anything else when hauling "the trailer".

I also got a brake controller installed. It's a Primus IQ. With some scary stuff I've seen posted by bikeforum folks as well as tips from local trailer knowledgable people I decided I should really understand how the controller works, how to adjust it. Basically it mimics your own braking action, boosting brake power based on the weight of the trailer relative to the tow vehicle.

Brake controller.

With the low trailer weight (expected to be under 4000 lbs fully loaded, versus 5500 lbs for the tow vehicle), there's no boost, just an initial "brake power" adjustment. You have to do this so your controller is properly adjusted with factors like tire wear/traction, brake wear, load size, etc.

The brake controller is a big help if the trailer starts to sway back and forth. By applying just the trailer brakes you can (allegedly) bring the trailer back in line. Without trailer brakes you coast (don't brake as it makes it worse!) and hope the trailer doesn't pull you off the road before the trailer stops swaying.

I was nervous about the whole hook up to the trailer thing (backing up until you're not just next to something but the hitch is underneath it??), the starting and stopping, the width, and basically everything around hauling the trailer. With a second person it's not a big deal. By myself? I suppose I'll find out one day, but someone told me that you get used to it after a few times.

Backed up to the trailer. Note the jack is down on the trailer - it's not hooked up yet.

The guy helping me out is getting a different bar as the one I have is the wrong height.

I got to the trailer place okay, they did the paperwork quickly, hooked up the trailer pretty efficiently, and with a final check of the lights I was off. For reference it's a 3000 pound trailer, steel frame, double axle (3500 pound capacity axles so 7000 pound capacity trailer). The Expedition is rated to tow 8900 pounds.

Trailers need to be loaded with 60% of the weight in front and 40% in back. Too much weight in the back and the thing sways. Too much weight up front and it pulls the tow vehicle down by the hitch. The trailer should be basically level, with perhaps an inch or so of droop on the tow vehicle. With an empty trailer this was a moot point, but I am very aware of these basic concepts.

I first fiddled with the brake boost level, setting it to 6.0 (0.0 to 9.0 range), per something I read in the instructions. I could feel the tires locking up as I slowed. I set it to 4.3 (it was set at that from the factory). The trailer seemed to push the Expedition at the next light. Then I set it to something like 5.4 and it seemed to work out. On loose stuff like sand the tires lock a bit but on regular pavement it seems fine.

I missed a turn. I wasn't comfortable trying to turn the whole rig around, especially not at rush hour, so I did a huge detour, touring all sorts of very narrow roads, getting used to the way the trailer felt. Each time I slowed I'd feel a bit of a push as the 3000 pound trailer tried to keep going. When I accelerated away from stoplights the 3000 pound drag felt like I had the parking brake on.

After a good 30-45 minutes I finally got to the highway. I was a bit afraid of the speeds since I'd only hit about 50 mph on the backroads, and that seemed plenty fast.

With a kind driver letting me in I merged onto the highway. I immediately wished for a 55 mph speed limit, not the 65 limit at that bit of I-91. I stayed in the right lane, doing about 55-60 mph. There were some parallels to the video game and bike racing training/practice I've had over the years. No sudden or significant steering movements - the trailer merely amplifies anything dramatic you do with the steering wheel or brakes. It was sort of like I was steering the whole rig with the Expedition's rear tires. Doing nutty things with the front tires wouldn't be good.

I had to keep an eye out on the trailer wheels since the left wheels constantly flirted with either the yellow line or the lane stripes. The right wheels sat almost on the white line or on the edge of the snow banks (for local roads). I just barely missed a bunch of garbage cans - with all the snow folks put their garbage cans on the road. Now I realize just what that does to the wider vehicles.

I also thought about the impossibility of passing a cyclist driving this rig. It would be dangerous on a narrow road because the trailer doesn't allow for quick, succinct movements, something that you sometimes need when passing a cyclist.

I also thought of the difficulty of passing a group of cyclists. Forget about one rider, what about 20, double wide. No way. I'd need 300-400 yards of straight and level road if the group was going 25 mph, and if they were going fast, like on a downhill, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to pass safely without a good mile of clear road ahead of me.

I filed this away for future reference. I know now that if there's a landscaping truck and trailer behind me that I'm going to move as far over as possible and, once on a straight, slow down so the truck/trailer can get past me quickly.

I finally made it to the house area. One road has the narrowest roads allowed by law (I learned this at a local meeting held in part by the DOT). With snow on the right shoulder the left wheels sat just next to the yellow line while the right side tires skimmed the snow. Still someone coming down the hill was literally over the yellow line. The car swerved to get into their own lane. Again, something for future reference. A little daydreaming could be disastrous if there's a trailer around.

I walked slowly into the house, leaning on the kitchen counter, such that the Missus asked me if I was okay. The drive home had been extremely stressful, with absolute and total focus on my part. I realized that this was probably what a new racer would feel during a race. I got shelled so fast in my first race that I never had to deal with a group, just the few guys that got shelled with me. Later, though, I'd go into races so nervous that I wouldn't blink that much - my eyes were dry at the end of races.

I had a few thoughts after I relaxed a bit.

First, power is very useful when towing. The 300 hp 365 ft-lbs engine seems pretty weak when towing the 3000 lbs trailer. I can't imagine doubling that load, to 6000 lbs, and I certainly couldn't imagine tripling that load to 8900 lbs. Now I understand the appeal of diesel (power down low, almost double the mileage) and why all the tow accessory places also sell drivetrain mods to increase power (exhaust, chips, intake, etc).

Second, I want more mirrors. The big mirrors on the Expedition seemed pretty small when hauling the trailer. I have add ons - I was worried that the 8.5 wide trailer would obscure stuff behind me. It will, but that's okay. I know now that it's the side stuff you really want to see.

Third, I want to do some practice brake runs to fine tune the controller. I'll probably note the controller numbers for a given load. I don't know the weight of everything I have but I know some weights, I can guess on others, and at the very least I could make lists of typical load outs and the settings that work for them.

Fourth, folks with heavy vehicles, whether trailers or not, need more space. Trailers need more room because the drivers cannot make sudden changes in direction without substantially risking a crash. As a driver of a normal car or as a rider I have to keep this in mind.

Fifth, I may be upgrading the tires on the trailer to something that matches the Expedition. This way the trailer will handle predictably even on, say, snow, or in water, etc. Reducing the risk of sliding (like the trailer sliding to the curb due to the crown of the road) would really ease my mind. It'll be a bit, first I have to get the actual trailer.

Of course all this is secondary to the primary purpose for the trailer - a solid, somewhat wind proof structure to house registration and, for other races, the finish line camera stuff as well. That's the goal with the new trailer that has yet to arrive. For now we're going to make do with the rental.

Event Services - 2013 Aetna Silk City Cross Race

Saturday September 21 was the date of the 2013 Aetna Silk City Cross race. It's the team race for Expo Wheelmen, at least the race on this weekend. Expo Wheelmen already held a TT series as well as an ongoing 'cross training series. This weekend would be the main event for the team.

The venue is close by, about 30 minutes drive for me. Since I only handle registration I didn't need much equipment. This meant loading the Expedition with just "a lot of stuff", not "a crap ton of stuff". I could see out the windows and I didn't need the trailer that I don't have. Good thing, right?

I met up with the guys at a breakfast place before the race, getting there early enough that a police car pulled up next to me. I had just put our new insurance card in the glove compartment, I had my license, so I was okay.

The officer was simply waiting for the breakfast place to open, like me. No interest in the Expedition next to him.

Early enough that the moon was out.

When we rolled over to the race course I decided that I'd park the Expedition on the other side of the tent, out of the way. Best way to do that?

Drive through the tent.

Driving into (and through) the tent at the beginning of the day.

With that little fun thing done the real day started.

We unloaded the stuff - desks, chairs, printer, cords, start lists, stuff like that. After a bit of set up we were ready and started getting numbers to the riders.

With the help of Barbara H the registration desk ran pretty smoothly. The system works well enough that I just need to type well, remember how to set print area, and print using the full option command, not just hit the print icon (else the stuff prints on multiple pages).

Although we had that first initial rush where it was really busy, the registration area calmed down quite a bit afterward.

We posted results too. With the stuff all set up in the spreadsheet it became a game of "Can I get the spreadsheet results printed before the handwritten ones get taped up?" I never quite managed to actually beat the handwritten notes but the spreadsheet results were done within maybe 30 seconds of that time.

Not bad if I do say so myself.

The Missus showed up with Junior for a bit. Junior was flagging a bit, tired. He's really needed his naps recently so we figure he's busy growing teeth (a bunch are about to pop through), growing height, growing brain, all that stuff. He's progressing in leaps and bounds to our delight.

I took a short break during the last race, then did the end of day number crunching stuff - calculating insurance surcharges, adding up One Days and Annuals, stuff like that. At some point in there I uploaded the results to USA Cycling.

Our final Expedition loading got interrupted by a little guy that was trying to camouflage itself on the tan chair. It sort of worked but not really.

Praying mantis, with chair for size reference

Close up

Front view

After a few of us took pictures I got it to get onto a bin lid and took it to a safer spot. The Missus actually let it crawl around on her hand, Junior watching in fascination.

Maybe he'll grow up a bit more tolerant of bugs than his dad.

The Missus decided to take Junior home at this point - he was tired and needed some good, solid recovery time.

I stayed and partook in the hanging out after the race stuff. I didn't partake in any beverages or foods but that was okay, the company was what I wanted. After a bit of time I figured that, yeah, I should get going. I said my good-byes, got into the Expedition, and turned the key.

Whrrr-whrrr-whrrr.

I guess the MiFi broadband modem does take a lot of juice. As does leaving some of the doors open for much of the day.

Before I could digest what had happened a bunch of the guys had gathered around the front of the Expedition. They pushed it back a bit so that someone else could pull up an appropriate jump vehicle.

I, of course, took a picture.

My view as the Expo crew finished pushing the drained Expedition.

"You run down the batteries and then take pictures of us?"

What struck me was that it was Kurt's wife that got up, without a word, got in their white SUV, and turned it around. When the guys pushing the truck told her that we'd end up over here and she should be over there she just replied, "Yeah, that's what I figured you were doing." I thought that was great, that she had the routine down. The guys hooked up the cables, no one got electrocuted, no suspicious smoke or anything, and they told me to go give it a try.

"Thanks for the jump!"

The Expedition roared to life and by the time I got out the jumper cables were gone. I headed out and home, without too much incident (just observing some dumb driving).

When I opened the door to the house Junior stood up from the Missus's lap, raised his arms, and ran over to me.

All was good.

Equipment - Tow Vehicle Decided

Over the last year or so, and actually longer than that, I've been contemplating replacing the aging van I use to carry stuff to Bethel. It's a 1998 Dodge 15 passenger extended van with a one ton chassis - capable of carrying a lot of stuff, reasonably easy to drive, but not very stable if anything goes wrong. In fact if you Google phrases similar to "Dodge 15 passenger van" you'll get some hits that talk about the "death van" and such.

I knew this going in and had some ideas about doing a dually conversion for the rear axle (so it would have four wheels in back), maybe a rear axle stabilizer. The issue was that the rest of the van was starting to get a bit rusty. Although I could start replacing parts here and there it'd be a pain and ultimately I would end up with a van that needed some final developmental work (like the dually rear axle set up) and wasn't really optimal for how I used the van.

Right now I have two types of events where I use the van. The first is Bethel, the primary reason I got the van. I need to carry a lot of stuff to Bethel, and in fact I almost completely fill the van with equipment of various sorts. For Bethel I need a lot of carrying capacity.

In the future, if I can hold other races, I'll need similar carrying capacity. I may not need some of the stuff - leaf blowers and shovels seem to be more of a "Spring Series" kind of thing - but I may need equipment I don't have now. Overall, though, Bethel demands the most in terms of carrying capacity.

The other type of events are the smaller ones where I'm not the actual promoter. Instead I'm working one aspect of the event, either the finish line camera or registration or both. In these cases I don't need to bring anything for course prep and a lot of times I don't even need a tent. I've worked a couple races like this out of the Golf so that gives you an idea of the amount of equipment I bring to one of those races.

In the future I hope to have more of such events. I may need a lot more equipment for some events. Others will be relatively low equipment ones, suitable for the Golf.

The van is great but not very modular. It's all or nothing, a huge behemoth of a vehicle, not great in inclement weather, not really appropriate for carrying more than one passenger, and, critically, too tall to fit in our storage garage (by an inch!).

I wanted to get a modular system, a tow vehicle and an enclosed trailer. This would let me use the smaller tow vehicle for doing mid-size events and the trailer and tow vehicle for a Bethel or similar. If it's a smaller event (in terms of equipment) I can still use the Golf or Jetta. Importantly I could leave the trailer behind if I didn't need to bring a lot of stuff.

I also wanted a tow vehicle that would be able to carry the Missus and Junior if they wanted to come along in the same vehicle. This meant a back seat (Junior won't be a front seat passenger for many years) and some modicum of comfort. No working fans up front, no radio, in a bouncy van... that wasn't really ideal.

Like usual I tried to think outside the box. I briefly contemplated a Porsche Cayenne or a VW Touareg, sister vehicles which when equipped with a V-8 are rated at almost 8000 lbs towing capacity. Reviewing the dimensions I realized that both were taller versions of the Jetta Sportswagen (JSW), literally just a few inches longer. If the Missus and Junior were in the vehicle I wouldn't have any room for equipment.

I learned that pickup trucks command a significant premium, typically about 30% more than a comparable chassis SUV. Diesels also bumped the price up - I realized that we'd still have a gasoline powered vehicle in our stable because the big diesels were just too expensive.

I thought about non-garageable vehicles like the Dodge Sprinter or a school bus or another van. I knew that I'd rarely drive the vehicle so on principle alone I tried to avoid them. Driving the van 1000 miles or less a year on average meant that although the drivetrain worked super well the structure was corroding at a higher rate than normal.

To give people some idea of how little I drove the van, I bought the van in April 2004 it had 38,000 miles on it (37, 895 to be exact). On Sunday May 2013 it had 51, 456 miles. I drove the van 13,500 miles in just over 9 years.

I decided I wanted to stay with a garageable vehicle.

I realized that a larger enclosed trailer would weigh 5000-7000 lbs so I needed a vehicle with that kind of tow capacity. I quickly realized that I'd need a true body-on-chassis type vehicle (i.e. a truck). The big chassis would allow me to tow more than a 2000-3000 lbs. A normal chassis , even with a big engine, is limited by the fact that the chassis is a tub of thick sheet steel rather than a grid of steel beams.

This got me narrowed down to pickups or large SUVs. Pickups, by virtue of cost, would be unlikely. I'd want a second row of seats so a crew cab type set up, and I'd need a full size pick up to get the towing capacity.

There are some "mid-size" SUVs with 7000 lbs towing capacities, notably the aforementioned Cayenne/Touareg duo. The newer Pathfinder also came with a Class IV hitch from the factory so that would work as well. The problem with the mid-size SUVs was that they had limited space once I put a couple people in the second row of seats.

For larger SUVs it came down to the Ford Expedition or the Chevy Suburban. Both can tow enormous loads because their chassis are based on the heavy duty pickups from their respective lines. Both have third row seats and significant cargo room behind the second row. Both are large enough so that if they tow a large trailer the trailer won't end up controlling the vehicle.

The Ford Expedition had one significant drawback relative to the Suburban - it had less cargo room. There is almost no room behind the third row seats whereas in the Suburban there was a full width area as deep as a big wagon's cargo area. The Ford would require me to sacrifice the third row if I had to carry anything significant inside the vehicle.

(Although there is a longer version of the Expedition, the Expedition EL, it was out of my price range.)

The Ford had two advantages over a similar year/mileage Suburban. First, the Expeditions had an independent rear suspension (IRS). That may not mean much but the IRS is shorter in height than the live axle rear because the center of the axle doesn't move up and down. This allows the floor to be lower in the Expedition which in turn gives more room inside. In fact it allows the third row of seats to fold down into the floor. This is a common feature in minivans, none of which have live axle rears anymore, but in large SUVs the live axle is a less expensive way of getting a lot of power down to the ground. Interestingly enough the IRS used in the Expedition is stronger than the live axle used before it - the towing capacity actually increased when Ford went with the IRS.

The other advantage is cost - the Expedition is a few thousand dollars less than a comparable Suburban. It may be the shorter platform that gave it less cargo capacity, it may be the less sexy image of the Expedition (who ever heard of the Secret Service cruising around in black Expeditions?), but whatever, the Expeditions cost less.

The Suburban, then, has the advantage of more cargo space (and therefore a lower likelihood of needing a trailer), and the disadvantages of needing to store the third row seat in the garage and costing a bit more.

The Expedition it was.

I wanted to get a 2004 or later if possible. Based on some of the high miles I saw on vehicles for sale (some were over 200,000 miles) I realized the chassis/drivetrain would go a long way, far more than I'd ever drive it. However the 2004 and later came with some electronic stability control to help prevent roll overs - I figured that couldn't hurt. Plus such Expeditions wouldn't be as old.

I also understood that the Triton engines had some plug issues when performing the 100,000 mile plug change. I wanted an Expedition that was a bit below the 100k mark or substantially above it (125k or so) so that I knew that either the plugs would be reasonable or the plugs were already replaced.

I started looking for an Expedition circa 2003 or newer, bookmarking those that looked promising. However every one got sold quickly, often before I could even contact the seller.

I should point out that I couldn't really do anything before the Bethel Spring Series ended because I was too occupied with Bethel. Then my poison ivy really hampered everything in my life and things got put on hold by default.

Finally, towards the end of May (i.e. right now) I felt ready to make a move. For a week or two I didn't see any Expeditions in my price range. Almost all of the Expeditions I found had 110-125k miles, so high enough that the plugs might have been changed. There were a couple at 98k miles and such but they were simply too expensive for me.

Then, on a late Saturday, I saw a new Expedition ad. It was new enough that it had no pictures and not even a color. 89k miles. 2006. I ran AutoCheck and it came back looking good, really good.

I had to wait until Monday to call the place, ironically a Chevy dealership. I went on Tuesday and, after a test drive and some hemming and hawing I left a deposit. Before I left Tuesday I took pictures with my phone, especially of the underside of the Ford. I didn't want to get a bent frame or rusting chassis. I returned Saturday with a Ford friend in tow, a car enthusiast like me. I wasn't sure if he'd be the one to take because he's more about cars than trucks but when I first called him on Tuesday, from the dealership, he immediately asked me the year and engine.

"2006? 5.4 liter? I think they went to the aluminum coolant crossover in the manifold by then. The plastic ones weren't good. The plugs are a pain to replace. It's an F250 chassis underneath so it's a proven chassis. I can't remember any electronic problems with it."

I decided he'd be totally appropriate to drag along to the dealership on Saturday.

We arrived during a bone chilling cold rain fall. The detailed running boards were slippery with silicone. The Expedition felt better than it did before - the salesman said that they replaced the tie rods. (My Ford friend confirmed that one tie rod was replaced, outer, and no inners).

I felt good about the Expedition. My friend felt good about it. I went ahead and handed over the bank check. I signed my first ever car loan. I declined the powertrain warranty.

The new battlewagon, as someone called the van.

A bit more presentable than the van (in the background in this shot)

Overall in pretty good shape.

The other side.

The third row seats, left side folded down into the floor.

The front suspension with the drive axle visible.

Tie rods on this side weren't replaced.

The rear suspension. The silver arms extending out are aluminum.

The center silver piece is stationary on an IRS, it moves up and down a good 8-12" on a live axle.

That's the extent of the tow vehicle stuff, just the tow vehicle. The trailer is a different story, a whole puzzle unto itself. My goal is to have registration inside the trailer (well the staff inside, not necessarily the racers). Such a trailer would use every bit of the Expedition's tow capacity, if not in actual weight then in the size/length of the trailer. I don't want to get into the situation where the tail wags the dog, so to speak, and a long tail, even if it's not quite 7000-8000 lbs, can exert a lot of leverage on the 5400 lbs "dog".

The "small" option would be to have a small trailer just for the finish line camera, similar to the one we've been using at Bethel. This would mean setting up a tent for registration in locales that didn't have a registration area.

The van, just before it left.

On a side note I listed the van in Craigslist on Thursday evening, sort of on a lark. I had no recent pictures of it so I figured I'd add pictures over the weekend. My experience with Craigslist car ads is that you get a few bites and that's it, so when I got 4 or 5 emails in the next 12-24 hours I was a bit surprised. One guy drove a couple hours to see the van on Saturday.

He bought it.

I got home and the Missus looked pleasantly surprised.

"I can't believe you bought the Ford and sold the Dodge in 24 hours."

"I should go into car sales."

The Missus shot me one of those glares.

"Or not."