USA Canoe/Kayak Nationals! (Pt 1 - the journey)

I'll admit that when I coach or officiate at a big event, I'm pretty much oblivious to anything going on in the 'real world'.  I can also count on one had the number of times I even *thought* about work while I was down there!
I did not get a lot of photos, but I will share what I have and hopefully back-fill some others as the next week goes on.  It's hard to get good quality photos with your phone when the action is 100-200 meters away!

Kermit - a belly full of gas and ready to go again!

Trip summary - 8 athletes total, ranging from 12-18, (three of whom were stuck riding with me), various parents, my sainted wife who came along to visit her cousins, see some racing, and maybe get in a bike ride.  22 hours over 2 days driving.
The first day's drive was easy - down the Madison-Rockford-Bloomington pipeline to Madison, IN

New bridge over the Ohio River at Madison

for the night.  A little out of the most direct route, but a nice visit with relatives instead of a motel.  Getting up the next morning, we had to wait for one thunderstorm to roll up the Ohio Valley, and then near disaster.  Pulling into Frankfort, KY I heard/felt that ominous whup-whup-whup that can only mean a bad tire or worse.  I glanced back to see the trailer wheel wobble.  Fortunately, there was a gas station just ahead.  Worse than I'd guessed - the wheel was only held on by a single (and very loose) lug nut!  Now 10 miles before, we were in the middle of very rural (and hilly) Kentucky.  Fortunately a customer had a 'proper' lug wrench, and helped swipe a bolt from the other side so we could limp up to AutoZone and buy the only two lug bolts they had - and a lug wrench.  That was enough to get us to Lexington where we bought the only bolt *that* AutoZone had, and we left town with a rip-roaring thunderstorm hot on our heels.  Did I mention how great it was having smart phone literate athletes in the back seat to *find* the freaking parts store and navigate us to it?
Onward.  A late - and much anticipated - lunch at Bradley's BBQ (mentioned in an earlier post) and we headed south for B*tchin' Betty's recommended route to get us into Buford GA without driving all the way down to the 285 and back up through Atlanta traffic.  I believe the 'real' name of the Garmin voice is 'Samantha'. We used to call her 'Lady Garmin', but after several wrong routes, bad turns and a particular trip where she wanted us to cut across an Iowa soybean field, she became Betty.  Well... Betty decided that the best way to go was via Elijay, GA.  Now any idiot can look at the map and see that the route to Elijay is over a mountain county road, while the smart route stays on a US highway and State Highway.  But, I was driving, so I didn't *look* at the map - and we did the scenic drive up and over the lower reaches of the north Georgia mountains, over the river and through the woods, taking more than one 'short cut'.  I'd really like to get my hands on the clown who wrote the algorithm that punked us with this route. Eventually, we did get to town, followed yet another 'short cut', and finally after 12 hours of adventure for an 8 hour drive - arrived.
I had a 40 minute commute to the venue - one of the very few relatively straightforward driving experiences in north Georgia!  We set up Monday morning on the 1996 Olympic Games venue, right in between new friends from South Florida and Washington (DC) Canoe Club.  Racing was not to start until Thursday, so we had a couple of days to paddle, weigh boats, sort out partners for a couple of races, and generally take it easy.  Carol and I did get one good ride in - on a loop recommended by the nearest bike shop Habersham Bicycles to the race venue. The route was great - 20 miles plus an attempted extension that ended in big gravel (not for road bikes), so we backtracked and finished the posted Lula route.
The team rented a house on Lake Lanier that was 2.5 miles from the venue - as the crow flies.  As the rabbit runs, it was more like 15, and took 30 minutes to get there.  Even so, a house on the lake that sleeps 15, and only costs 1500/week is a deal! This also let parents plan much better meals and kids/athletes have better options on what to do (other than watch TV).
More to come about the event itself.  Enough for tonight.

Recap: Trailhead Cycles 32/22 Grinder

Saturday morning rolled around bright and sunny, and I drove off to find the start of the 32/22 Grinder presented by Trailhead Cycle.  There were about 30 folks showed up for what was a pretty low key event to benefit the Maple Grove/Champlin Park high school mountain bike team.  I'm good with that.
Sean (course architect and director) made the usual announcements and we were off.  I wound up in the first few riders, the pace was good, and everyone knew how to ride in a group.  Life is good.
The course took us out through NW Anoka County, which is part of the "Anoka Sand Plain" geologic feature.  For those used to SW Minnesota and the bluff country, or even the barrens of St Croix country, I can sum up the region in two words - pretty flat.  That doesn't mean there are no rises or surprises.  For the most part, the roads were in great shape - hard pack, unsullied by the spring grader, and very rideable.  The previous week's rain did create a few soft spots, but nothing difficult, and no sand pits.  The open farmland scenery is interspersed with clusters of  'McMansions' (and a few real ones), but for the most part, it's still farmland.
For about 16 miles, we rolled along at a nice pace - around 18mph, and I'm feeling pretty good to be able to stay with these guys, most of whom are a lot younger and a whole lot fitter.  And then around mile 17, some clown came to the front, upped the pace about .5mph, and I was hanging on by a thread. Actually, the 'clown' was a nice guy whose name I never got, but who happily pulled the rest of the way.  After that, I came unhooked on every hill, and chased back on the descents and flats.  At about 2 miles to go, I made contact for the last time, and the rubber band snapped.  I rode the rest of the way in with Sean, finishing the ride in under 2 hours.

SO what did I learn? This was my first real gravel outing on the Auger+.  I like it...  I never felt any push/wash/twitch out of the bike, it sucked up the road chatter really well, and if I had to drive thru potholes, it did so without issue.  Just a bike, which lines up nicely with their marketing.
I was really excited about the way the Challenge Almanzos hooked up on the road surface.  Probably not the right tire for everything (what is?), but they were definitely right for the surfaces on there.  I drove them pretty hard into a couple of corners, particularly late in the ride and never felt anything but solid connection.  My sense is that Challenge's high thread count carcass combined with latex tubes and HED C2 rims all contribute to a really smooth ride.  I ran them at 4bar pressure, which could've even gone a bit lower..
Too soon to really form opinions on the new Garmin.  It worked great, but the 'factory mount' while simple  and elegant is not easy to read the display.  I need to get a KCNC or Kedge extension mount to get it out in front a little further.
Looking forward to the next gravel adventure.  Miesville Gents on June 7, if not sooner.

~marsh

New GPS time

I broke down and got a new GPS unit for the bike.  After making do with my aged Garmin ForeRunner 305, carrying my phone so I could use Keep, GPS essentials, and whatever else it took to try and manage files, I bought a Garmin Edge Touring Plus.  Why the Touring Plus instead of the 810?  Easy - maps, routes, courses, and time/distance info but I don't really care about having a power meter, Cadence, bluetooth pairing, or the other really cool advanced features of the 810 series.  I just want to know how fast I'm going, how far I've gone, and how to get there.
Plus from a blog standpoint, DCRainmaker does a great  job of comparing features, facts and capabilities of these things.  I used their site to help make the decision to buy the Touring Plus.

Right off the bat, some likes - it's small, it's light, it's bright, and it comes with a base map already loaded.
The mounting system seems a little cheezy, but it'll work fine until I get a KCNC or similar.

After enduring the lack of graphics, ppoor routing ability and pretty lousy mounting system for the 305, I'm anxious to start riding with the ET+ to see how it works.

Routes and maps to come.  I promised those earlier in the year, and haven't forgotten about it. Much more work to be done in that area.