Blind Repair

The cord in one of our Levolor blinds broke. I couldn't find the same type of cord at any hardware store so I emailed the company. They wanted me to mail the blind to them for repair. Well, screw that. Since it's easy to disassemble and reassemble I wanted to do it myself but they wouldn't have it. I later found out that a small drapery and blind company might be able to help me so I called them. They said they could restring the blind for $40 but it would take three weeks since they were backlogged. Well, screw that, too.

But they also sell the cord for $1 a yard. Bingo. I bought 10 yards and used nine. The blind is back in business.

Coeur d'Alene Cyclocross

I went to the race on Halloween. I'm always in costume so no worries there. My single speed race was a blast. Lots of mud to splash through. The course dried out a little during the day so my second race wasn't as messy. But I did have an unusual quasi-mechanical problem. While dismounting at the barriers my mountain bike shorts caught on my saddle and I ripped the butt right out of them. I also wear a liner so there was no danger of inappropriate exposure. I tried to continue but my torn shorts would catch on my saddle at times and I couldn't stand up on the pedals at key times like I needed to. I bottomed out so hard on a short descent that I knocked my saddle out of alignment so the front was pointing upwards. Rather than deal with that discomfort for the last lap I walked to the finish and waited for the leader to cross the line. That way I didn't get a DNF.

My favorite course condition--muddy!

See, they do exist.

I did not realize, nor was I aware of, the significance of this duct-taped costume.

 The run crawl up was especially brutal for the kids.

 This young lady was so stoked to be riding in the mud.

Rolling Thunder Cyclocross

To say I've been remiss in posting is certainly an understatement. I'll blame it on Daylight Wasting Time now that we're saving it so much.

Two weekends ago I went to Missoula to race at Rolling Thunder. There's something different about 'cross races in Montana. More beer for one. Free giant cowbells. Free water, soda, and snacks. And night racing at this venue.

One per family.

This year the event was held at Big Sky Brewery. Unfortunately, the course itself was not as much fun as last year, which was held at a state park if I remember correctly.  The table top, the whoops, the two sets of barriers, and the wood ramp going over the wrecked Subaru were cool. But the long, back-and-forth bumpy flat parts in a field that looked like it had been used for event parking was really hard on the back. More than one of us bailed on racing twice because of it.

I got to hang out with Steph and she took a ton of photos for me. She captured two shots of the scene below before moving out of the way of the poor fellow who crashed in front of her. He tried to pass on my left just after cresting the table top. Unfortunately, the whoops bumps are just as wide as the table top, which means their rounded ends are on the course. It did not go well for the guy. I felt bad for him. We caught up later on and he said it was his bad and that he shouldn't have tried to pass like that. I was relieved he wasn't blaming me but I still felt bad for him. He was a bloody mess.

And here's the video. The women with the prosthetic leg is a bad ass.

Rolling Thunder 10 - Day 1 from hank greer on Vimeo.

Cyclocross Racing In Walla Walla

What I was up to last weekend. Wearing the pink and yellow striped tie and striped socks to match my pink and yellow bikes, everybody knows who Hank is even though they don't know me. On Sunday a set of parents told me their son said he "wanted to be like Hank" and wear some flashy socks. So now he's sporting Seattle Seahawks colors. Hey, as long as he's having fun.

Saturday's racing was especially fun. I got through the single speed but the men's 60+ was great. Steve Rapp, Frank Benish, and I battled for third place for nearly the entire race. Steve and Frank are strong on the straightaways where they'd blast by me. I'm faster in the technical parts and I'd get right back in front again on a turn or at the barriers. Frank dropped back and Steve and I pushed each other hard for a couple of laps. On the last lap, Steve pressed forward on a straightaway and I just couldn't answer. I was out of gas. As we winded our way towards the end of the race I saw that Frank was catching up to me.  Being tired and feeling pressured I made a huge mistake at the barriers and crashed. (It's right at the end of the first video.) That allowed Frank to gain a lot of ground and later pass me with about 100 yards to finish. Had I stayed upright I might have held him off for fourth place. But that's part of racing. For me it was fun just to have someone to race against.

Allegro Cyclocross Day 1 from hank greer on Vimeo.

Allegro Cyclocross Day 2 from hank greer on Vimeo.

To my shock and surprise my name was called for third place in the men's single speed. I had finished fourth out of four on Saturday and fifth out of five on Sunday so how can that happen, right? It turned out that the combined scoring system they were using that weekend required you to race both days for your score to count. Only three of us raced both days so I scored this wooden belt buckle with a number "3" made out of bike chain links. Sweet!

Truth be told, though, this is hardly a testament to my prowess on the single speed. Racing the single speed is hard and I'm not nearly as strong as the other racers. I'm in it for the fun of riding the course. I like to get two races in and doing the single speed allows me to have a two or three hour break between races.

Cyclocross Racing In Moscow

It was fun racing yesterday. A strong wind made the course even more challenging. It finally got me on my last lap when the wind blew the tape into my handlebars. I quickly tried to clear it but to no avail. The tape pulled on my handlebars and down I went. Luckily I only got some minor scratches.

Palouse Cyclocross Races from hank greer on Vimeo.

The Next Speaker Of The House

Cathy McMorris Rodgers may have never entered the race to become the next Speaker, but I think she is perfectly qualified.

I'm not running, but pick me! Pick me!

Look back at her work as chair of the Select Committee on Earmark Reform, all mention of which is scrubbed from her web site. The disappearance of that information is an indicator of leadership potential, but let's look at what disappeared. To review, she was appointed chair of the committee in December 2008 and the committee was supposed to provide a report on earmark reform in February 2009. By March 2010 there was still no report. Better yet, the committee never held a single meeting during it's vaunted existence. So if you want someone to lead something that would benefit the country by simply fading away into history with nary a footnote, Cathy McMorris Rodgers would be a pretty good choice.

Besides, it's not like the House of Representatives could get any more dysfunctional, right?