Unsure if I somtimes walk on eggshells in my mind as a reminder as to what a beautifully crisp Autumn morning 9/11 was - it's strangely changed my perception of the weather since. Sometimes, I'm possibly superstitous if a nice day happens - something bad will ensue. This morning was similar to the weather we had on the morning of 9/11 - it strangely ruined the loveliness of it - I'm going to take a concerted effort to block that.

I dilly-dallied around the house doing domestic stuff and went to Sears to get new TIRES on my car - made arrangements in advance - the whole process was not as obnoxious as any car maintenance thing is - they did it in 1.5 hours while I culturally raped the Fair Lakes Mall with my critical eyes.

What a freaky place - I have not been in a mall in more than a year and a half - it's more than a culture, it's a capitalist disease. Maybe disease is not the right word, possibly "bombastic spending wet dream machine" is a better word choice.

I found myself at the Gap imagining myself in those manequin's clothes - but I didn't feel completely plastic, the whole thing seemed post-Radiohead critique.

Finally got the car back with new rubbers - or what them Aussies call tyres and drove to Vienna to go on my 63 miler training session - but had to stop at Spokes to get some new tubes with long presta stems. While I was there - this cute sales girl (in her late 20s) cheerfully says "i remember you from the Reston Century..." (I was wearing the t-shirt that I got from last weekend's century) "you were riding the Windsor - you passed me back at the 60 mile marker.." I smiled. We chatted for about a 1/2 hour about that ride - how hot it was..then such...

Phone numbers were exchanged to meet up in Thurmont, MD (next weekend - which I was already scheduled for) - for the Century (100+ miler) then. I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

Biked from Vienna to Hamilton and back (31.5 miles each way)- was one of the most pleasant rides - cool, breezy, few weekend warriors/annoying tourists - was beautiful.

Came home, grilled bratwurst, had baked beans, fresh sliced tomatoes from the garden, steamed carrots & broccoli and some great paninni bread.

Carbed it up to watch Passion of the Christ - wow! It was a little over the top. Dramatic slow motion filming, closeups of blood, drips, tears, bloodshot eyes - completely out of context. If you never read the bible, what was the movie about?

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Yippy-yi-yay-with-a-cow-pootie-pay! It's now a three day weekend (Labor Day on Monday). I can now relax - it's been a tolerable week at work, but I still feel like I'm recovering from ABBA's wrath for the past 3 weeks. No more talk of work until Tuesday.

I went this morning to drop my car off at the dealership to deal with something that's been bugging me for about 3 months now - the passenger's side electric windows don't work - and the rear one slips when I drive - so I have to push it back up when I park (to avoid any rain, et al.). Since I rarely have any passengers, It's not been much of an issue - but I want to get it taken care of (I am a stickler for details - I procrastinate on things...but I get them done).

I finally get a call this afternoon - typical BS.... "well, sir - you need to have the window alaigner rod replaced in both the front and rear in addition to the servo-motor for the front ....this will be $400 for the front window which is covered under your warranty and $270 for the rear window which is not covered under your warranty. By the way, we need to replace the socket mount for your shocks, this will be $480..." I started..."Whoah whoah whoah!......um...I only asked you to look at the power windows on my car! I WILL not authorize any work done on any other part of my car that I did not tell you to look at." "well, sir.." he says, "...while we were under the hood..." I cut him off, "Since when do you need access to 'under the hood' for electric windows, afterall - the glass is in the doors, where the motor and aligner gear is, the fusebox and computer are underneath the steering column...why do you need to be under the hood?" I hear silence.

By this time...it was too late to have any work performed on the car - it was 4:15pm. I told them I was going to pick the car up at 6pm and then bring it back after the weekend after I do research on how much a servo motor (generally under $30) and the hour of labor to put in the two aligners - and to "figure out" how they can justify charging me $670 for this. Just because I have an extended warranty that covers most things does not mean that they can do unnecessary work on my car so they cam make money. What a racket.

So I had a colleague drive me after work to the dealership where I picked up the car - then drove to Vienna, changed into my bike stuff and biked 28 miles (it was starting to sunset as I left on the ride - had to cut it short). Biked back to Vienna in the dark. Saw many deer - my fear is getting blindsided by one of them in the dark, getting knocked unconscious and left there out in the middle of no where for turkey vulcher food. Came home - had a wonderful dinner. Ready to chill this weekend - supposed to be beautiful.

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Today seemed like a repeat of yesterday - must be the Autumn air, with the exception of my commute to work this morning. There was an accident on Rt 28 - the 17 mile drive took me an hour and 32 minutes.

Work went extra smoothe today as did my ride after work, very pleasant 41 miles. There were a ton of deer on the bike path - it's "running" (mating) season. I was whirring along with the Reston Bike Club and we almost ran into a herd - we all came skidding to a halt - was quite loud. Scared the crap out of the deer. Fortunately no one wiped out.

I'm starting to make a checklist of things I need to prepare for the next few Century (100 miler) rides I'm doing (weekend back to back soon). I have the Indian Head Century in Indian Head, Maryland on September 12th, and the Ashland, VA Century on the 18th of September. I will be wiped out.

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I cannot believe that today is September 1st. Where did the summer go? It way way too fast. Although, I have to say that this my most favorite part of the year - now thru Thanksgiving. The beautiful Autumn colors and temperatures - cripsness in the air. Always reminds me of going back to school - new beginnings. The smell of pink earl erasers and new shoes. Hopefully a few new beginnings for me this Autumn - a new job and a new apartment. Job comes first - job may determine where the new apartment is (commuting here in the DC metro area is pure hell). For example - I currently live 16 miles door to door from home to my office - in the morning, it takes me 40 minutes, although sometimes It can be 25 minutes, other times over an hour. YOu just never know. I'm glad I go biking after work - because I can skip rush hour. If I were to drive home at 5:30pm - that 16 miles would take me an hour and 5+ minutes. When I get back to my car after my ride, at @ 7:30 - my commute home is only 25 minutes. I'd rather be biking than sitting in traffic for an extra 40 minutes daily. Ironically, I average 20 mph on my bike - I could bike home faster if they allowed bikes on the highway.

Work was very busy - finishing up a huge project, ABBA was tolerable today - day ran fast and ended late. Went for a nice 42 miler afterwards - it was really pleasant - it's starting to get cool. Which is great - less sweat. And also darker earlier - used the new bike lamps. No highlights other than running over a confused squirrel's tail. Came home, made a few phone calls to some people I know in Richmond to see how they survived the major flooding - fortunately, they all faired ok.

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Was a pleasant day at work - not much to report - was very busy. Was a beautiful evening to do a simple 35 miler (still recovering from the Century ride on sunday) - nice billowy clouds, cool breeze, sunset, little humidity - will be like this all week until Hurricane Francis hits this late weekend. Speaking of hurricanes, Richmond, VA got hit HARD by Tropical Storm Gaston - downtown got 14 inches of rain in about 2 hours - major flooding - 5 people killed. The area where it hit I used to live - if I was still living there, I'd be in a shelter tonight - they condemed a 20 block area of that neighborhood. The parking lot where I used to parking lot where I used to park my car was under about 15 feet of water. Thousands of cars downtown were rushed away by this flood. Here are some pics, and day after pics.

I just fired off this email to the Windsor bike frame company (about my defective frame - damn creaking sound) hoping they will replace it:

To Whom It May Concern,

I bought a Windsor Trent through www.bikesdirect.com a litle over a month ago. It arrived, in great shape - had the rest of it assembled. I have loved every bike ride I have had on it - it is lightweight, streamlined, quick and aesthetically appealing. I have since put over 1300 miles on it since I received it, and this past weekend finished my first American Century (100 mile) ride.

One problem though, about 2 weeks ago - a small creaking sound began to develop. I initially thought it was the pedals - so I took them apart and greased them, greased the threads and put them back into the crankset - still creaking. Thought it was the bottom bracket - I took it to the local Performance bike shop ( http://www.performancebike.com ) and they tried to isolate the creaking sound in the frame - sound travels through aluminum and carbon fiber - they said that it may in fact be the bottom bracket. I was planning on upgrading the bottom bracket and crankset to Ultegra - so I gave them the ok to do the work. After they replaced it - the sound didn't go away. It was somewhere in the frame. It stumped the mechanic.

So I took it to a different (and equally reputable) bike shop a few days later (meanwhile I'm biking 40+ miles a day hearing this annoying crick crick crick sound as I pedal), they went through the same routine - took out the bottom bracket - put ceazing lubricant on it, replaced it (the sound still happens when the bottom bracket and crankset are removed from the frame) - it's not in the drive train; they removed the derailers front and back, both wheelsets; they removed the headset - regreased it and the handlebar-stem connection all the bolts - the noise still happens with both the headset, handlebars, fork, stem off the frame; they removed even the brakes, water bottle cages, seatpost - basically everything off the frame - the frame still made this creaking sound when you put minor to medium pressure on it. I was dissapointed it could not be solved.

So finally, before contacting you as a last resort - I went for a third opinion, I took it to another bike store - had the mechanic do everything they could do to find the creaking sound - they stripped everything off the frame - still the same thing.

Conclusion - three bike shops have taken this bike apart and determined that the Windor Trent bike frame that I have is defective. Something in the inner welds or the inner tubing of the frame is making this very noticeable sound. There are no noticeable cracks or anything - I have not been in any kind of accident - no wear and tear on the frame out of the ordinary - it's only over a month old.

Please advise me as to what I should do.
According to the warranty ( http://www.windsorbicycles.com/warranty.htm ) "Windsor America warranties every cycle sold in the United States." and "Windsor America warrantees free of defects all components on each new cycle for a period of 5 years from date of purchase. In addition, the frame and fork on each new cycle is warrantied free of manufacturing defects for life." I understand that I will have to pay for shipping, but I will forego that if I can get the frame replaced or repaired. Should I have the frame shipped to you and a replacement frame sent to me? Can you ship a replacement frame to me and I can ship the bad one back? I need to do this as quickly as possible - I have several Centuries that I am biking in the next few weeks. Please advise.

I really love this bike (sans creaking sound) - I thank you in advance for a solution and I look forward to your quick reply.

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I am glad I took 4 Advil this morning - I woke up sooo sore and stiff after yesterday's 106 miles that I biked. But not as bad as I thought it would be. I grabbed a little coffee, some fruit n stuff for the office - headed to work just knowing that it was gonna be another hellish Monday with ABBA (Asshole Bipolar Boss Asshole)having another episode. Strangely enough - when I got there, no hard core drama - just a slow monday morning. THe whole day was like that. How fiercely exilerating.

Decided to take a short 20 mile ride after work just to stretch the legs out and recover. It had been threatening to rain all day - and it rained a little, but not enough to disuade me - I really had to stretch my legs out. I went out, had a few bouts with cramping - to be expected, lactic acid shock. I was not going to exert myself - just pedal slow to fast - no hills. Felt good until PFFFfffffftttttssssssssss! Flat tire. Happens sometimes. Fixed it, finished, came home. Life is still great.

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Yay! I finished the Reston Century today - all 106 miles (170 kilometers ), let me rephrase - all 106 hot, humid, very hilly miles. But it was FANTASTIC. It was almost 90 degrees F (32 degrees celcius), and heavy humidity. I met up with my training partner at 7:40am and we went to get our gear ready, sign in, et al - we didn't get on the road until about 8:30am. TO paint the picture - there were about a 300-500 bikers when I got there - we all left in stages - about 40 or so at a time to create pacelines so to avoid traffic. All in all, there were probably over 1500-1800 bikers biking today - on various trip lengths, some 30 miles, some the Metric Centry (63 miles) and some for the Full Century (100+ miles). The 30 miler people biked out 15 miles and returned - the 63 milers biked out with us Centrury riders - then at the 2nd rest stop (32 miles) they turned around and headed back. This is where the separation of men from boys happened. The herds thinned. This is were I sad farewell to my training partner - she only planned to do the Metric Century.

To explain a little bit about biking in groups - you need to form a paceline, meaning you form a quick fast herd of bikers biking as close as possible. Less than a bike tire length betweeen you and the person in front of you - this cuts down on the wind resistance. The leader of the pack shouts warnings ahead (turn, car on, gravel, dog, et al and uses hand signals for stops or turns). The person in the rear warns the people ahead as to a car about to pass. The group alternates round-robin - the leader swings out and goes to the rear of the paceline, the 2nd in line advances. It's quite fast , thrilling and impressive to see thois poetry in motion. And safety in numbers - when you make a massive turn - it makes traffic stop. SO we were "drafing" in our pacelines for almost 3-4 hours and up into the mountains - then the herd spreads out. For miles I did not see anyone..then a few miles later - i'd join in on another group. Those hills were killers - There was this one dude who was "drafting" me from behind - he kept saying "humpty dump, humpty dump, humpty dump..." as we humped it up the hill.

One of the funny highlights was when I got to about the 60 mile mark and we had just stopped at this country general store - 3 of the 10 guys I was pacing with decided to chip in together on this huge bag of ice. They took turns rubbing themselves (almost sexually) with this bag-o-ice. I was laffing so hard. One of the guys looks up and says "what happens on the Reston Century, stays on the Reston Century". Too funny. Another time, I was drafting up Bald Mountain it was steep as all get out - I say to the dude behind me "yo, I'll race you up to the top!" He simply says "Bullshit!" The whole ride was like this - lot of humor.

I have never drank so much gatorade and water in my life - probably 4-5 gallons. And sweated that much too (I know - because I had very little to urinate at the rest stops). There were many people who suffered heat stroke and dehydration. The principle is that you just keep drinking as much as you can - and you are constantly thirsty. The towns i biked through were really pretty, quaint - very rural. At one point up in the mountains, I got the song "The hills are alive...with the sound of music..." grrr. But it was very picturesque - I could imagine Julie Roberts swinging in circles in that setting - hence the song.

the last 20 miles on the way back were still hilly - and I was getting worn out, more for the heat than anything. I was at that point just totally cruising - very fast clip, especially on the downhills ranging from 32-44 mph (50-70 kph). I eventually rolled into the Reston Town Center where I started - there were tons of people there, people giving masages, bikers relaxing, there was pizza, subway subs, sodays, juices, cookies. I got off my bike - sweaty as a pig. I felt totally alive - and thankful that I finished - and in good time (106 miles in almost exactly 6 hours ride time). The best part, was while i was getting some water I felt this hand on my shoulder - I turned around to look - It was my Dad! He and my Mom came out to greet me at the finish - I was totally suprized. I was very touched. I jokingly said, "Mom, c'mere...lemme give you a big (sweaty) hug" They laffed. They knew I was proud of what I was able to do - as were they. We chatted for a while while I continued to rehydrate, I was sweating even more profusely after I stopped - the body cooling down, the they left. I was soo tickled to see them come. I got my t-shirt, talked to a few of the other bikers - then packed up my car, drove home, unpacked and took one of the most satisfying showers I've ever had. Got into some clean clothes in Air Conditioning - cracked open a beer, ate some left over chicken. Life is GREAT.

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