Katie,
You always manage to paint a vivid picture when you write. I find myself
never passing up a chance to read whatever you have to say regardless of the
topic. Thanks for sharing about your foray into "normal" society...if you
can call our society normal that is. It's always a pleasure to read your
thoughts.
Oh and congratulations on completing the triathlon unscathed. :-)
-Arnold
ps. Try using expletives in Russian. Somehow, I think it won't seem as bad
since most of us would have no clue...
"Gee, Brain. What are we going to do tonight?"
"Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"
>From: "Kelly, Katie" <kkelly@spss.com>
>To: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
>Subject: FIGURE EIGHT RACING
>Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 13:16:28 -0700
>
>As you may know, as your friendly Ace Reporter, a by-product of
>autocross, or at worst, a symptom (couples, please consider that your
>future child COULD turn out like me, and take appropriate precautions),
>I've been taking little steps here and there out in "normal" society,
>trying new things, expanding my horizons. So, if you ONLY want to read
>about autocross, stop reading now, and delete.
>
>I am merely expressing a view of an autocrosser who only knows
>autocrossing. Really. Lots of children spawned in cults suffer terrible
>culture shock when immersed in the "real world." So far, though, I'm
>eating up the world like my favorite chocolate. For example, so far, I'm
>almost fluent in Russian, and as you may know, my parachuting attempt
>last March was a success. Just baby steps into the normal world.
>
>This is what normal people do, isn't it?
>
>My latest foray into "normalcy" is the world of triathlons. My first
>attempt was the Nike Women's Triathlon yesterday in Sacramento.
>
>Strange, I've been to Sacramento so many times, and up until yesterday,
>I thought it was just flat lands covered by dry grass and concrete. I
>guess I'd heard there was a river there, and I recall some talk about an
>"old town," but I'd never quite put it together. There are some really
>nice parts of Sacramento, like a river, and even a MARINA, and a
>downtown with its own street car that will take you all the way to
>Mather Field.
>
>This sprint triathlon (.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, 3 mile run) was
>everything that I hoped it would be, and a little bit more. And also a
>little bit less. The course workers, as it turns out, didn't really know
>where the course went, and sent us all in different directions, and a
>lot of us ran a lot less than three miles.
>
>Anyway, here's the most strange of course alterations: Someone on this
>list recently wondered whatever happened to figure eight racing. Well,
>let me tell you, it was alive and well yesterday.
>
>The concept was that the bike course went clock-wise, so we'd ride on
>the left hand side of the road. This plan might have worked on paper,
>especially if the course designer did a lot of drugs. They'd send us
>over to the right side of the road for the 180 degree pin turns, so we'd
>be turning TO our left. Please accurately make this mental picture. This
>is a recipe for disaster, in other words. We'd all be pedaling our
>little hearts out, look up, and see a mob of cyclists coming exactly in
>our direction, so we'd have to move over to the right, very quickly. The
>same thing after the turn-around. Just imagine an autocross course with
>a cross-over, and maybe twenty cars on course.
>
>So, I wasn't sure if this was a terrible failing on the part of the
>event workers or a feature, given the consistency of the turn-arounds
>designed in that manner. It certainly got my adrenaline going. Made me
>feel REALLY alive.
>
>Someone said later on, though, that the bike portion was very wrong and
>very dangerous, and not to worry. Whew. I was seriously wondering if I
>really had what it takes to be a triathlete. Tossing a car between the
>cones thrills me, and I fantasize about racing on a track, but this
>triathlon bike racing scared the crap out of me.
>
>There were other strange moments, like riding with cars. At least they
>were flowing in the same direction we were and provided a nice draft,
>but their stopping for red lights made things interesting. After awhile,
>especially on the narrow bike path, complete with pedestrians and Sunday
>riders going in the other direction, I had completely given up riding as
>fast as I could have. Yet, I had no idea that cycling would indeed be my
>most favorite part, despite the moving obstacles. And you thought orange
>pylons were bad.
>
>One girl on a mountain bike crashed into me on a turn. I was braking in
>a straight line, wide so I could hit the apex and accelerate back out.
>That seems to be what they do on the tube, agrees with everything that
>I've read, and besides that, it's simple racing physics. I don't see why
>it would be so different on a bike. Yet, so many riders took so many
>different lines, things got really strange. Autocross should be a
>prerequisite.
>
>This poor girl's line was to turn in tight, but to go really fast, right
>into my back wheel. I knew she was coming, because I could hear her
>screaming, "Oh $#it, oh $#it, oh $#it," and the $#its were just getting
>louder and louder, and then I felt her push my back wheel sideways. By
>the way, I am not a fan of using expletives in writing, but there are
>situations that give just cause, and crashing on a bike is one of them.
>I hope that she's all right. I just kept on pedaling, another autocross
>trick (spinning out teaches you a LOT), and saved myself from disaster
>while I heard this terrible metallic thud mixed with some painful grunts
>and moans. It really sucked to be her.
>
>Many of the entrants were cancer survivors, and a significant portion of
>the proceeds of this event, I believe, went to cancer research. The
>announcer let us know each time a survivor crossed the finish line, and
>it would get really emotional sometimes.
>
>When it was all over, and most everyone had already hit the road home, I
>was walking my bike from the transition area back to Lucy when I saw
>these two women, both with silver hair, I'm guessing competitors in the
>60+ age group, walking the other way. One was carrying a third-place
>ribbon, and the other was a cancer survivor. I recall her jubilation as
>she jumped so high through the finish, fists in the air.
>
>"We did it!" yelled the one with the ribbon.
>
>I have a feeling it was their first time, too.
>
>Katie Kelly
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