Bill Vickers

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Am race headquarters

Dave's new nutrition plan

A storm race is brewing We are down to 2 teammates since everyone is sick and injured Dave ain't feeling too well at the moment either

My wife's Bday and a 2nd topic (read between the lines)

       They say Trunk Bay  is the most photographed beach in the Caribbean.   I was sure it was mostly  a marketing slogan, but at some point Travel Something or Other rated it among the Top 10 beaches in the World.    Last year, we sailed right by it and picked up a mooring in Maho Bay, location of that famous eco-resort   Maho Bay     Thanks to a local land trust developed in coalition with US tax dollars and National Park officials,  the whole area around Maho Bay is now  covered in maybe a few hundred signs and has a rusted wire fence surrounding part of the property.    If you really explore the property, it's surely an eye sore of junk, on what I consider to be among the prettiest of Islands.  Ask any local, and they will surely scratch their head.    Don't get me going on that, but if you ever visit a bonafide eco-resort, you will also leave scratching your head what "sustainable eco-tourism" really means, as every resort has trash laying around.   Some just happen to put a sign on everything labeling it "recycleable."     Maho Bay looked like a junk yard in the parts that I explored, and the charter buses were leaving every 15 minutes for "day trips" since the visitors were sicked and tired of living among the mosquitoes.   It's all pretty funny, and I was surely in shock when I visited early this year.  In fact, almost bowled over, as I expected a pristine environment from what I read.  If you count the number of unrecycleable batteries and plastic wiring running around the property, it's pretty staggering.   And Maho Bay was ranked number 1 for eco resorts several times.    My view point is that  some resorts just choose to cut down the weeds and plant a few natural fauna in their place, but some choose to leave the weeds and place canvas tent structures above them and call themselves an "eco-resort", possibly throwing in a  few solar panels to help run lights in your cabin/tent.   The label "eco" seems to sell alot of things on St. John Island, and surely Maho Bay was pretty busy when we were there.   Every kayak tour I signed up for was labeled "eco".   Of course, I had to ask them why it was called "eco" if we drove a rusty old gas guzzler down to the harbor and were paddling on "plastic" boats.    If you see parts of the property around Maho Bay,  you will leaving scratching your head.       If you really want to go "eco" while having some luxury and far out adventure,  spend a week on a charter sailboat, using only the wind power  to get you from Island to Island while bathing and doing dishers in saltwater and a solar shower.       My comparison of carbon credits is coming in Part II of the story.    

    Sorry, got carried away there....   

         In my mind, nearly every beach on St. John is spectacular.     This year, we were staying on St. John in the USVI on good ole terra firma and spending our bucks to shore up the economy.   (Of note,  I  am not a registered republican,  but I am about as fiscally conservative as they come, and I suppose excessively pro environmental, as solar, geothermal, biodiesel, a little wind, and my two legs on a bike will fuel most of my life very soon.)       It was my wife's birthday, and she wanted to hang out on this beach.  In fact, since it was her 40th bday, she picked the Island,  resort, and this beach.   Yea, did I mention bucks...         Luckily, the flight and room were nearly on sale thanks to the shenanigans in Congress and Fannie May/Freddie mac.    I am still seething over all that, since people were warning us over the last 2 years, while lobbyists were getting payed to keep it all going, meanwhile lining the coffers of a few well known Democrats to keep them on their side.   As much as I enjoyed Clinton and now Obama, they both are on the front and tail end of this whole thing, as good ole Bill pushed thru the law that allowed the subprime lending, and good ole Barack happily was received the 2nd largest amounts of bucks to keep going.         But, thanks to them, the world economy was hit by an nuke, bringing  down prices on travel.   That's why we ended up in St. John.    I only bring this up, since the only news we received down there was CNN news and the Coconut Telegraph (a cliff notes version of the NY times) which are slanted so left that they still thrown in the undertones that the Bush Administration and the republicans are at fault for this whole thing.  I hope everyone knows better, but that's what I had to listen to this week.        Thanks goodness that didn't have TV's in the room, as at the bar, I could drink a rum punch and actually laugh or cry about what was going on back at home.      

   Anyhow, back to the beaches.    My wife really wanted to see Trunk Bay.     I was like "but alot of people will be there,  I got a better one in mind."    So we rented a Jeep, drove across the island,  then trekked down the rest of the way to a secluded beach that was  walled off like a lagoon in the South Pacific.   Sorry, I can't post those pics as I would have to charge a fee and might get in trouble for skinny dipping on a public but amazingly secluded beach.      Of course, we were the only ones there.    It was pretty cool, or so I thought!    Took about 90 minutes to get there and it was infested with mosquitoes from the previous rains unless the breeze came up.    That's usually how my ideas work out.     So, we mostly swam and snorkeled there, which was about as good as life gets.      Since my beach wasn't just  perfect enough, my wife  still wanted to  check out the tourist stop of Trunk Bay.  (shh, don't tell her, I thought it was pretty spectacular)          Luckily, we got there right during a rain squall, and most of the folks scattered back to their hotel or boat.    Sure enough, with a little patience,  the sun came out 15 minutes later.    Anyhow, the snorkeling there was probably among the top 10 reasons not to rent a Jeep and waste precious petroleum,  as any time they have an "underwater trail",    that's a sure sign the coral has been decimated.     However, the water colors and soft white sand were  spectacular, making it hard to ever leave.      After spending most of the day away from our room at Caneel Bay , which has 7 beaches of it's own that you can walk to, we vowed to stay put for the rest of the trip and reduce our carbon emissions.   Every beach there was absolutely perfect.    

       I will say, St John was among my Top 5 picks of all caribbean islands, maybe even top 3.    Not that I am an expert, but I like to say, I did live in the Islands for  a few  years and have seen most of the caribbean at this point.   Someday, my wife and I hope to live down there on a boat and run a small medical clinic for the uninsured with subsidies from the community,  as that is truly the only way to bring "quality" health care to the uninsured.   Usually we dream about that when it's January and 20 degrees ouside.

     The only downside to St John is the relative lack of bikeable roads.   Since 2/3 of the island is a National Park,  it has a scarcity of roads.     The road quality is  quiet good for the caribbean,  thanks to our US tax dollars.     The island just happens to have too much challenging terrain to make  bikeable roads.     Most of the hills are seriously in the 20-30% grade range and are littered with multiple blind switch backs.   Driving it was a hoot though!     However, the park has what seems like a few years worth of running/hiking trails, with enough challenging elevation gain, technical terrain, and views to keep me busy for a lifetime.    I tried to run all of them in my time down there, but probably only covered .001% of them.

     

      

Desoto T1 Wetsuit Review

       Three weeks ago, I came up with an fun idea.    Not that all my ideas are intelligently or completely thought out, but I was looking for the answer to an age old question in adventure racing.    Can an adventure racer just sign up for a triathlon ironman and complete it in a reasonable time?         I happened to have an Ironman close by and was not working, so I gave the idea some consideration.   Now, I had slightly less than 3 weeks to prepare.   I had bike time in my legs and that would be the easy part.  However, I hadn't been swimming, and my run workouts were focused on speed and nothing long, so I wasn't really in AR shape long and slow fitness that I was accustomed.   However, I had been doing some paddling workouts.   I actually started running the numbers in my head on my pace estimates, I figured with lots of good nutrition and luck, I could do it in 10 hrs, with those 3 weeks of training.     While I spent 24 hrs deciding how bad I would destroy my legs to test this theory,  the ironman registration closed, but the Aquavelo division still had spots.   More importantly, I remembered I had my son's soccer game at 3pm, so the Aquavelo division it was.     So, I signed up.    If I wanted to prove my theory, then I suppose I could still do the run unofficially, but having to miss the soccer game.    Anyhow, now I had 15 days left to train my swimming.   Some where along the way, I signed up for an AR race and had a few bike races in the future that I was ruminating over,  so I decided not to test the full ironman theory, as I knew there would be too much recovery and an upset wife and son.     I did add 10 miles to the bike and ran 4 miles back to my car, making it closer to 124.6 miles.  That's sort of close to 140.6.    I suppose they won't give me the 140.6 bumper sticker though.   By the way, the soccer game ended up being rained out.    

     Back to the wetsuit:     I figured I had 4 key workouts to get in in those remaining days.   I needed all the help I could get.      My options of wetsuits was a farmer john Orca and an ironman Vo2 full wetsuit.    The problem with these, the velcro area on the neck had frayed a wee bit and everytime I got in them and swam more than 400 yrds, I had neck abrasions that became infected over the following days.    It had been awhile since I had used them, but even trying them on and doing a few strokes in my backyard pool, that darn neck attachment was tearing away dermis layers with every stroke.     Fearing the  2.4 mile swim might scrape away enough tissue to expose my C3-5 vertebral bodies, I decided it was time to get a new wetsuit.     I hopped online and read what I could in the time I had.    Looked for one without a zipper, and I came across 2 choices.      The Desoto was the only one available, so with only 2 weeks left, I payed full retail.      Maybe I am spoiled, but I am not used to paying  retail for things.  Ouch!   I could of gotten a discount on a QR wetsuit at my bike shop, but they are essentially similar to  my current suits.   

        Now, if you scan thru reviews on wetsuits, they all seem industry biased.     I scanned a few forums and found only a few words on the  Desoto.    Mostly stuff like it was "revolutionary" but difficult to get out of quickly.  However, I also read that some felt it was easy to transition quickly.   Most everyone commented on the less strain in the stroke because of the two piece.   Desoto does not seem to sponsor many elite triathletes, so I didn't see much in the pro ranks.  Some age groupers commented that they had slightly faster swim times and transitions.

       So, here is my review:

    The Desoto T1 is a two piece, which is part of the reason it does not have a neck zipper.    Because it's two pieces, it is about 10% more expensive than a traditional one piece suit.     However, you can order a farm john style no sleeve and also have a full sleeve, making it more versatile, and then about the same price as owning two complete wetsuits for warm and cold swims.     Also, Desoto includes a 14 day return policy if you don't like the suit.   That I liked.   The bottom is made of thicker 5mm neoprene and the  top is slightly thinner, like all wetsuits.   When I got the wetsuit 3 days later, I immediately opened it like a young kid on his bday.  I threw the wetsuit on and hopped in the pool.    My wife was wondering what the hell I was doing out there in the dark for so long.    Well, I was comparing it to  my other two wetsuits, as I had 14 days to get that $500 back.   Putting the wetsuit on was no more difficult than the other suits, accept for the fact I didn't want to tear it with my finger nails if I was gonna return it.     What is first noticeable in the water is the fact that wetsuit stays drier for longer and so cold immersion is more gradual than my other one-pieces.   I did read that online, which also makes me wonder if it  would hold slightly more air for buoyancy and thus less wetted surface--meaning more speed.  Hmm...        When swimming with it, the two piece does allow a less restricted stroke on the reach or catch.  (that was mentioned online also).   Comparing it to my other full wetsuit, my shoulder girdle muscles seemed to have an easier time.   That would be important since I had only 2 weeks left in training.

Now, the lack of zipper on the neck.   Well, I had no rub or abrasions after using it for 30 minutes continuously.    I was sold and am  likely putting the other wetsuits up on ebay.  For some reason, I have lent my wetsuit to others, who had no problems with the zipper issue.   I had tried duct tape, body glide, and electrical tape, but something about my neck and body type causes the abrasions.   

        Now, was it hard to get out of?     No, if anything, it was slightly easier.   Since the top piece doesn't pull down as tight on the shoulder, the upper part seems to come off more easily.     This did not mean the top piece of wetsuit rides up while swimming, which I did worry about.     I suppose my body type  makes one pieces more restricting and difficult to get out of, as I am built more like a blocky fire hydrant.  Michael Phelps, I am not.     The Desoto was definitely easier to pull off than my other two wetsuits.  It was only 2-3 seconds faster, but it took less effort and straining.   

       Now, was I faster in the water?    Well, I don't think so, but that is not why I bought it in the first place.  I guess I would have to swim for 30 minutes in all 3 wetsuits to see if one was faster than the other and try to duplicate the test several times to come up with an acceptable confidence interval and answer.    That ain't happening.   

          The final test came on race day.   I had 4 1/2  swim sessions in me and was late to the start  (long story, but it was just a training day), and didn't have a great race time.   I do know that prerace my 100 yd splits were on par with my swim times from yesteryear, with not much training.  I am sure from this, the wetsuit wasn't slowing me down.    Why I was so slow on race day I am not completely sure.   There was an excessive amount of current on the nose for part of the course and it was very choppy out, likely making my time slower, and I was stuck trying to break thru the back of the pack for the first 1.2 miles.  I also started a few minutes late.   Since it was a mass wave start, it was absolute mayhem back there.    Prerace,   I still thought my swim splits were on par  for about a 1 hr swim time.  I know 4 swim sessions is not alot for an ironman swim, but that was part of the experiment.   I used to race freestyle as a kid, so the biomechanics come back quickly, and paddling has a mild crosstraining effect.      I know is not a great swim time, but it's enough to keep me only 3-5 minutes off the top age group swimmers, who are usually catchable on the bike if they aren't doping or training 30 hrs/week.  The run is another story.     The elite tri folks are in a whole different league in the sub 50 min swim category.      Great swim times are also not my body type, as I am only 5'8", if I stretch the truth:-)      What was very noticeable about this wetsuit after 2.4 miles were my arms were not as tired as I expected and the suit slipped right off when I got out of the water.   I did feel less short of breath while taking the thing off.  I distinctly remember my other suits causing my highest heart rate of the whole race.     I also had no deep abrasions on my neck.    I loved this thing.        I have done enough tris in the past to remember how tired my arms have felt in the past on much shorter swims, with or without much swim training.  There must be something to the two piece.      My wife examined my neck area that evening, as I did have some mild irritation on my neck.   I had gotten a few jellyfish stings and thought maybe that was it.   She did notice the irritation was in the area where the neck neoprene touches the skin.    She said it was Contact Dermatitis, so I applied some Cortaid.   Next morning, the irritation was nearly gone.  Very cool!     Surely, this is nothing like what I would of seen with my other wetsuits.    In summary, I really loved it.  So much so, I will fully test the AR/ ironman theory in the next few years.    

Aero Bikes

I did a swim/bike thing this weekend. It was close by and a good excuse to be out in the rain all day. Couldn't get into the full ironman, so did a 2.4 swim and 112 bike. Well, that was my excuse. Really a training day, so didn't want to run 26 anyhow. Although I did bike another 10 miles and ran 4 miles at the end to make myself feel studly amongst those athletes. I had to check out the run course to see what it was all about. What's interesting is the growing interest in the aquavelo. Physically, went very well for me. I guess training does help! If I can just get the race organizer to give me my 2nd or 3rd place overall finish time as this is the 2nd week in a row my timing chip didn't trip. I biked pretty hard thru those rain and floods. I wanted more than a $8 tshirt and a slice of pizza. Just kidding though, as that pizza was awesome. And the free massage.
However, what was really cool was the superfit people at ironmans and the totally tricked out bikes. Walking thru the bike corral felt like touring an import sports car dealer. I was riding my super cool Jamis T1 with zipp 404's, maxxis clincher tires, and latex tubes. It was a very flat course, with part of it below sea level, as the tidal flood had engulfed part of the road. I imagine Saltwater isn't so great in the bottom bracket.
This guy had a sweet looking Cervelo P 2/3 something. However, all that gu rubber banded on the top tube sure destroyed the visual appeal. Maybe he felt shy using a bento box. Anyhow, I got a kick out of this. He had one dozen gu's fixed on there, an extra gel flask, two milky way's, and what looked like two sports bottles filled with coca-cola, unless Nuun now makes a dark colored fizzy tab that looks like coke. That boy can consume some calories. This was the day before, so he left those milky ways outside in the rain all night. That's one jazzy dude who maybe needs a little help in the nutrition department, but again, maybe he beat me. Not sure!

Kids Cyclocross

    I was kinda bummed I couldn't race this day since I have been feeling frisky,  but we got to take my son Jake to his first cyclocross race, which was an even greater treat.    They had an announcer, cow bells, awards, kids running each other over, and screaming parents.   What a hoot!    This is him on the first lap of a small 4 lap course with a small set of barriers and a sandpit.  He was already in the lead.  We were nearly in tears, but it was from laughing.      I guess you could say we were some proud parents, but we were mostly entertained by watching all the kids  have such a great time.     

           Most people consider us laid back parents,   since we don't push our kids in many activities,  compared to our peers.  Jake's soccer coach has sent me many of email encouragements trying to push me to work with him more.   I suppose I should, if I was a different parent,  since he has a natural ability with speed compared to his peers, but at his age, all I can ask is that he enjoys it and gains some confidence.    So, we tend to be pretty laidback about what activities they do.   However, they do bike, run, swim, kayak, play soccer, piano, and a few other things when tagging along.   Both my kids can hold a bent angle canoe paddle properly and can run 2-3 miles on an orienteering course in the woods, so they don't get off too easy.       I guess us being laidback  stems from my wife being a pediatrician who takes care of  too many troubled teenagers who were possibly pushed too hard by their parents.   Now, our kids aren't couch potatoes, far from it, and they will probably end up being screwed up also.      TV isn't really watched, except during 30 minutes of family TV maybe once a week, but they really don't have an interest in TV.

        During the summer, my 8 yr old son was doing 10 laps in the pool, followed by a short run and bike, because he wanted "to be like Daddy."   We never asked him to do that, he just put it on his daily calendar of activities, which they call the "daily diary."    Anyhow, they pick their own sports and believe it or not,  Jake has picked doing triathlons and bike racing (and a few other normal team sports),  as he seems to like tagging along with me.   My daughter happens to just like swimming and running and following Jake, but her real interest is reading and piano.     I suppose my sons current interests won't last in his teenage years, so for the moment, I am cherishing every moment of it.   We have yet to find a real kids adventure race that he can enter at his age, although we have plenty of junior orienteering meets for him to experience.   However, we recently realized many of the MAC and MABRA cyclocross races have a kids course in the afternoon.     He has been asking to do a bike race.   

      So, we found a race online, only 20 min from home,  pimped his bike a bit, changing the tires,  and removing some excess weight.  We even worked on fixing a flat tire as  we changed tire treads.    Now, don't get me wrong, we were taking this serious, so that he understood that to do well, he had to prepare and practice.      We even did 15 second sprint intervals in our driveway and lawn.   He may have been the only kid running low psi in his tires on that  course.    For warmup, we both preroad part of the adult course and did the kids course 10 times, practicing mounts,dismounts, and general skills.    The whole time my wife was on the side lines laughing.    The day before I won a race but it didn't compare to the enjoyment of this day, watching kids enjoy a healthy activity.    Even though my son is only 8, he is now online picking his next cross race.    How long this lasts, who knows, but it's sure fun for the moment.     

  

      A side note:      Teenage obesity is now estimated to be at 35% and growing rapidly.   Some people now consider childhood obesity  epidemic in lower income communities.     You can only imagine what this all means for our society as all of our kids become adults.   Our hospital and emergency rooms are already over populated with unhealthy lifestyle habits, with ever increasing hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea, esophageal reflux, heart disease, and cancer.       In the US, we have seen a lengthened lifespan as medical care has improved in the last century.   However, of recently, despite the advances in medicine, we are now seeing a decrease in average lifespan.   It's as simple as unhealthy behavior choices, including diet, exercise, and gentle abstinence from excessive alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.        Most of us believe that parents have to step up to the plate and teach our children a healthy lifestyle, before it is too late.   I suppose we can blame this on our fast food society as we are all too busy these days.   However, many experts believe, we all need to set an example for our kids, when possible.    As any child psychologist can tell you, doing it by example as far better than pushing something on your kids. 

Chesapeake Eco-Tri

     My phone is on the fritz, so lost alot of the pics today.     

       This was the 2nd annual running for this event that benefits the Chesapeake Environmental Center situated on the salt marshes of Eastern Shore Maryland.          It's a small slot of land situated on a peninsula jutting out into Eastern Bay.    The kayak staging area and TA was packed with wall to wall kayaks.    We had  a variety of boats in attendance from a 9 ft wilderness kayak to the fast and unstable surfskis and unlimited design boats,  of which there were 5 this year.   Although I love gandering at the Van Dussen Mohican,  I always wonder why someone would purchase that over an epic 18x or a surfski since it's almost useless in anything besides absolutely flat water.    It is a gorgeous looking boat though.     Annapolis Canoe and Kayak and Eastern Mountain Sports provide nearly half the rental kayaks for the "non owner" Crab Division.

The elevation is so low that part of the course was wet from high tide on the Bay.    The turtle crossing is in the area of the tidal flooding, apparently making it easy for turtles to cross the peninsula during lunch hour.

    

    Apparently wildlife abounds, although most of the racers don't have the time to notice it while suffering from nausea, although this year I got a  chance to see 2 osprey and one bald eagle on the edge of the Bay.   I did get sucked on by 3-4 mosquitoes while sitting still after the race, and I would say they outnumbered the racers 3:1. 

   

      We had a slew of adventure racers in attendance including Jason from Team ARMD (who people consider to be among the fastest MTBers in AR), and our very own Dave "hammer" Petty and Mike Berry, all taking some of the top 5 solo spots.     Gees, where are those cute french girls on the podium handing out awards.    We had a freakin fast lead group which enabled us to work out a nice gap on the bike.    Seeing the other waves, I did notice very large pace lines.    It was a drafting legal event, so we all traded off in the draft line, which was fun.  So in some respects, it comes down to a paddle race,  which I always like.  

   

       

       We are kinda spoiled since it's a 30 min drive for most of us, whereas racers from 10 states have to make the trek.    Sasha from team Calleva was in attendance, but didn't compete because entries were sold out.

     

This is Mike Berry with his sweet Cannondale Scalpel.    Mike essentially started paddling just a few weeks ago and thanks to my cracker jack teaching skills, he was in the top 5 coming off the water.   I imagine he will be smokin me on the water next time.

    

      We noticed "for sale" signs on the adjacent waterfront farm that the bike course is held on, so I imagine it will be questionable if the race will be held in the same location next year.    If I had 12 million dollars sitting around, I imagine I would consider buying it.

I found my socks

     Ok, this is a Joke.

     But....,     I found my compression socks.             For those in the know, scientific studies will now begin on the ability of these ridiculous socks to hasten recovery, cure injury including shin splints, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, cut a minute off Joe's one mile repeats with a lawn mower, prevent blood clots, cure cancer, and possibly save mankind. 

       Double blinded placebo control studies are now starting. If I am dead in the morning, then they certainly don't prevent propagation of blood clots and thus pulmonary emboli.    Well, unless my wife killed me while taking this picture. However, you should see how much training those legs have in them these days!!    They feel like gluten....

                                                   

In Memoriam: Dave Boyd

 It has been over a week, but I can't seem to get over the loss of this great guy.    In some respects, he was possibly lucky that he was carrying a SPOT device, since they readily located his body after he suffered a fall during an evening hike.    I can only hope that in some way, this has helped bring closure to his family.

  

  Pics of Dave Boyd

These photos have been posted all over the AR, mtn climbing, and cycling community.  So, if you haven't seen them....

     The first time I met him was at the USARA Nationals in Florida when team Moat won adventure race nationals as a Masters team.   I then learned he was a physician like myself and in many respects, I have been in awe of him ever since.   Like doctor geeks, we both shared an interest in the Leptospirosis outbreak that some racers came down with after Hurricane Wilma flooded the Florida low lands just before the race.  

     

     Besides being a radiologist for multiphysician group in Texas, he was team captain of Team MOAT adventure racing team.      He was the main force that  held that team together thru the years, going on to numerous wins and their recent 5th place finish at Primal Quest.     He was also an avid hiker, mountain biker, paddler,  notably hammering it out on the cyclocross courses, even once attending the Masters Worlds Champs in Belgium.  He also helped fund and support cycling for kids.   However, he was also a busy family man and was well liked by everyone who knew him.  

    

   In memoriam.....

    Pulled from a local Texas cycling forum:

 In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make a donation to The David Boyd Kids Kup Memorial Fund for the Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, POBOX 1121, Austin TX 78767 (www.BikeTexas.org), or to the charity of your choice.

    

Civil War Century

   

Little did I know how good the road bike riding is in Western Maryland. Just along the ridge of Cactocin Furnace and Gambrills park is some of the nicest roads in the area, as long as you enjoy some elevation changes. This century has about 7500' of climbing with some outstanding views. Although the altimeter read 5200 at 50 miles with a lot more climbing to come. About 1/4 of the route goes thru small towns and communities, but the rest has quiet country roads, nice pavement, and awe inspiring views, especially early in the morning as the low lying fog was burning off. It was my first time there, and well worth the drive. Since I suck at climbing upwards after too many years living like a slug on the coastal flat plains, been trying to train in the hills when I get a chance. Of course, that's why I can paddle though. Slowly but surely, those muscles are waking up. I was riding road tubulars just for yucks. Gees, losing a few hundred grams on the wheels makes it fun. There was a lot of road debris leftover from Tropical Storm Hanna's rain, so folks were scattered here and there with flats. Had me worried, as wasn't so sure how easily I could pull off that glued thing. Luckily didn't get the chance to try changing a flat this time. I'm guessing I have put a 1000 miles on tubular road wheels recently, with only one flat, from a nasty piece of glass, that would of made my a clincher tire nearly useless. Anyhow, the idea of doing 55 mph downhill on a clincher blow out. So that's why I had tubulars. Some of the gusto boys hit 60 mph on the descents this time. At this ride, I counted maybe a dozen other riders also carrying tubulars. It does seem tubulars are making a comeback, as people are suggesting. Riding with a different group, Rich Hardart was riding his new zipp 404 tubulars. They were a present from his wife on his bday--I surely slipped that to my wife on more than one occasion. Of course she said, "you already have plenty of wheels and bikes, they fill up the garage.". (Little did she know, it was really a Ipod I wanted anyhow, shhh!). Well anyhow, Rich apparently developed a leak at a recent puncture that he had sealed with sealant, but it somehow opened again. Stripping off the tubular, the rim was nearly bare of glue, so he was not comfortable doing 50+mph downhills on tires like that. Wussy:-). So, he road back to the start for a clincher replacement wheel. Thanks to his new tubulars, I gained a lot of points at home. Rich didn't make it home till nearly 6pm. That gave me a 4 hour time credit. We were trying to make dinner with them, so my wife was well aware that I was home hours earlier. Last night, we went out and got me a new Ipod. The best I can tell, the Ipod has a 10-12 hour runtime. So, I also ordered a solar charger for those really boring looooong training days! Thanks Rich!