Ironman, the end of August, and other odd thoughts

I seem to be going on a ten-day cycle with posting here of late.

Events of the last ten days include a couple trips to the Ohio River with the kayak in tow, in support of a big international triathlon of long distance, aka Ironman (tm), an event that for the athletes begins in January of a prior year in some ways.

Yes, folks who compete in Ironman (tm) prepare for it for months, in many cases, and even years. I've heard several folks declare, after watching a friend complete the event, or after volunteering in support of the event, that they will do it themselves. Maybe the coming year, maybe the following year, but they WILL do it.

Some others of us come to a different conclusion: There is no Ironman in my future. I swim to stay off the bottom of whatever body of water I toss myself into to cool down (pool, river, creek, lake...). I run very short distances, and then only if circumstances dictate that running is better for me than walking.

I am, however, happy to paddle my kayak for a couple hours so that people swimming a couple miles in the river may have a place to hold on and rest for a moment or two, or to help them make sure they stay close to "on-course" (I mean, who wants to make the swim 2.6 miles instead of 2.4 miles?).

And, since I can, I'm happy to haul my boat to and from the event using my bicycle, cementing my place in the cadre of boaters who do this as something of an oddity.

And, had my degenerating vertebral disc not flared a bit the Friday before the event, my right leg would have been far more comfortable during my time in the boat.

I still enjoyed being out there.

I was given an assignment this time, instead of taking my accustomed place just down-course of the turn buoy. I found myself in the channel a couple hundred yards from the start of the course, across from the Metro Police substation, helping swimmers avoid collision with a downed tree near Towhead Island.

From my vantage point, I could see athletes as their line progressed behind the police substation--even thirty minutes after the first athletes were in the water, I was seeing folks in line up on the main Riverwalk, and those folks had to get all the way to Tumbleweed before following the ramp down to river level then snaking back to Tumbleweed before hitting the water.

Shortly after the last athletes went in, I was asked to move down-course, to a section between the Big Four and Kennedy bridges. I spent much of the next hour or ninety minutes attempting to keep station just upriver of the Kennedy Bridge and just to the Kentucky side of the course (as marked by buoys), and help athletes who had gotten too close to shore get back on course.

It wasn't made any easier when the buoy just upriver of my position broke free of its tether to the bottom, and started drifting down- and across-course.

I usually hear about swimmers who don't make the cut--all are supposed to finish their swim within a specified time after the last athlete crosses the start line and hits the water--but didn't hear of any who got pulled out of the water. I don't know of any injuries or other problems that led to athletes abandoning their race during the swim segment, but some may have.

With my leg in some discomfort, and as the race buoys had not been pulled when I got to the dock, I loaded my boat and prepared to ride home. I have found that if I pedal along the park, rather than using River Road, I can get to the Butchertown Greenway, cross under River Road and I-71, and reach Story Avenue, then Frankfort Avenue, without any interaction with the road closures for the bicycle segment of Ironman (tm).

On the park route, I encountered a couple of cycling friends, one of whom took a few pictures of me with my rig for his Facebook page. After some catching-up with them, I got back on my bike, noting that the crew responsible for pulling in the buoys had just gotten to the turn buoy at the upriver end of the course.

I rode home (stopped for lunch on the way), unloaded my stuff from the boat, and rested a bit, then went back downtown to help at the finish line, as the athletes reaching the end of their long day sometimes need a bit of guidance getting through the rigamarole of getting their timing chip removed, collecting their finisher's swag, and (sometimes) getting medical help.

Jenn and I noticed that our shift was over at about the same time. An influx of new volunteers had arrived, which was certainly a signal. Jenn needed to be at work early the next day, so we walked to the car (she had parked near Tumbleweed a bit after four that morning), and went home (I by bicycle, her by motor vehicle).

This weekend is Labor Day weekend, and a local feature is the Mayor's Hike, Bike, and Paddle. This event has been drawing thousands of folks each year--estimates reached ten thousand for the Memorial Day event a few months ago. Jenn and I have ridden the bike ride several times, but took a break from that after the Labor Day event of 2011. We paddled the Memorial Day event in 2012, but haven't been to the last two. This time, however, the paddle portion of the event features a trip through the McAlpine Locks--something I haven't done since the early 1970s--so I wanted to go. Jenn decided that she wanted to go, too, so we'll haul the canoe down Monday morning, hang out for a bit, then play like we know how to paddle the canoe to New Albany's waterfront, one of us catching the shuttle back to get the car and haul the boat home.

It'll probably be hot in the lock, but I'm looking forward to getting to see the canal from the water.

And this turned into a teachable moment!

I had a couple of bikes in my garage so that I could do some maintenance work on them, and had to take them back to their owners. I loaded them onto my Bikes at Work trailer, connected the trailer to the Big Dummy, and hauled away to the other side of Saint Matthews.

As I rode home, I saw a BUNCH of club riders heading for the Tuesday evening club ride that leaves from the Burdorf's parking lot off St Matthews Avenue. I had some friendly interactions with a couple, and cordial interactions with a few more.

As I passed the lot where the ride starts, a few riders were leaving early. I passed one fellow, as he was riding slowly so his riding partners could catch him, then we approached the stop sign at Westport Road.

I must admit that my mind was on the other traffic in the intersection--there was a motorist who had approached the stop sign from the west, and who would have priority over me when it was time to transit the intersection (she reached the stop sign before I did). She, in turn, was waiting for a safe opportunity to go, as there was another motorist approaching from the east, and that motorist does NOT have a stop sign.

I was busy watching all this, and didn't realize that the cyclist I had passed had come up beside me on my right, in what was something of a blind spot, given that my attention was on other road users entering the intersection. When it was my turn to proceed, there was some confusion over who was going which way (he was apparently planning to go north on St Matthews Avenue, which involves a right jog before turning left to cross the railroad track, and I planned to go east on Westport Road--see this map (http://goo.gl/maps/JTh4G) to help envision this, and be mindful that my cardinal directions are approximate).

We managed to sort things out without unpleasant outcomes, or ugly words, but the teacher in me found it impossible to not think about what we--myself included--can learn from what could have happened. Since I was pulling my long trailer at the time, I of course was reminded of this excellent blog post from Commute Orlando's Keri Caffery (http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2008/11/30/what-cyclists-need-to-know-about-trucks/).

As I am not sure whether my trailer was ever in front of this other cyclist, I could not be angry at him. I would like to think I passed him far enough in advance of the stop sign that I was clear of him, but I never did check my mirror or do a shoulder check to verify that I was past him. Prior to that, I should have made sure I could make a complete pass before reaching the stop sign, or if not, should not have passed him--just as one would do if operating a car properly. Because my focus was on other motorists IN the intersection, whose transit through the intersection had priority over my own, I wasn't watching him. Because my focus was on other road users, I did not have my right arm extended as a right turn signal.

On the other hand, in the time I was watching others, while stopped at the stop sign, he could easily have gotten from well behind me to beside me.

Had I been in his situation, I like to think I would have held back, to see which direction the cyclist pulling the trailer was going to go. I learned that concept many years ago, watching drivers of large trucks turn very wide to make right turns, so that the trailer wheels would clear the curb at the corner (or stay out of the drainage ditch, or in general stay on the pavement). There is a reason for the signs seen on the rear of big box trailers advising against passing on the right!

The lesson, for me, is a reinforcement of something I already knew: We can only track so much information intake at a given time.

For me as "riding in his shoes," the lesson also included "stay out of the blind spot of a road user pulling a trailer." That road user is already tracking a fair bit of other stuff in front of him or her, and approaching in a blind spot can lead to big problems. It's also a reminder that "filtering," or riding up the right side of vehicles stopped for a traffic control device such as a stop sign or traffic light, is a bad idea.

It is our mutual responsibility to avoid crashes. If other road users make minor errors, we need to be able to compensate.

Another few seconds of fame

By now, I'm probably getting in to some other person's allotted fifteen minutes of fame (according to the Andy Warhol quote).

I was on Grinstead Drive yesterday, getting some video of the new lane striping (there was a "road diet" done on a stretch of Grinstead a few weeks ago, so that instead of two lanes each direction, it has one "normal" lane each direction, a two-way left turn lane, and a bike lane at either side).

While I'm well-known for my distrust of most bike lanes, I am happy to see well-designed ones in place that enhance trip quality without reducing my safety as a cyclist. I had been "read in" on the plans some months ago, and had some minimal input--mostly confirming input from others--in the process. I've been cautiously optimistic about this plan, although I did have some stated reservations.

The section of Grinstead involved, going generally east/northeast from the marker shown on this map to the intersection with Cherokee Parkway, has been repaved as well, with asphalt designed to enhance traction for motor vehicle users, as the s-bends in Grinstead have been the scene of many crashes, especially in inclement weather.

In general, I'm a fan of road diets, and for several reasons. I find that they enhance safety for all road users, including folks walking beside the roadway. Crash frequency is often reduced by implementation of the two-way-left-turn lane, as folks in the "passing" lane are not suddenly confronted with a motorist stopped to wait for a chance to make a left turn from the street in question.

I found the execution of the Grinstead diet to be good overall. I have mentioned that having a bike lane on the "inbound" side of Grinstead makes a lot of sense to me--there is only one place where a right hook conflict could come about, and traffic into that side entrance of Cave Hill Cemetery is pretty rare. Places to make right turns from the outbound side of Grinstead are more numerous, but in practice are not used very often. Left hook conflicts at most of those locations (primarily driveways to apartment buildings and a couple of small side streets) should similarly be pretty rare. My biggest concern regarding left hook conflicts as it is now configured is where people turn from inbound Grinstead to Glenmary Avenue. A cyclist in the bike lane should watch for left-turning motorists at that site, and be relevant AND prepared to take a different path should a harried motorist not pay enough attention to oncoming traffic at every intersection, but the cyclist's speed could be a bit higher here, making it a slightly larger concern.

I love being able to ride under shade, but I noted a LOT of organic debris (twigs, sticks, and such) in the bike lane that was harder to see at the time I was riding through--about 4:00 in the afternoon. This is a frequent complaint of mine regarding bike lanes in general--debris doesn't get swept out of them by traffic so much as swept INTO them.

My reservation prior to the implementation was that I'm particularly against a bike lane on a descent. Cyclists need more lateral space than the typical five feet at higher speeds in many cases, especially if there are curves involved. Not all cyclists can hold a narrow line in such cases. However, as I rode the stretch approaching Cherokee Parkway from the west, I decided that to eliminate the bike lane so early would add confusion rather than serve any real benefit.

Now that it has been done, my biggest gripe is that there are several places along the inbound bike lane where storm grates are well below the pavement grade, and the transition from grade to grate is abrupt. I don't know that this is a design flaw so much as a flaw at the level of the paving contractor. A cyclist paying more attention to surrounding traffic who hits one of those grates could be thrown a bit too easily for my liking.

As I was riding up and down Grinstead Drive, I noted some coins on the pavement. I have a habit of collecting such coins, as money is money, so I stopped in the parking lot of what had been built as a gas station at the corner of Grinstead and Everett. As I collected the assortment of coins, a van with markings from WDRB41, a local television station, was driven into the little parking lot, and the on-air personality hopped out and asked for an interview. Of course, I wasn't the only person interviewed, and some of what I thought were my best comments were not used. I at least didn't sound like a doofus.

Here is the result.

Cardinal Harbour "practice swim" and race

Today's excursion was the Cardinal Harbour Open Water Swim, used by some athletes as a practice event for their swim during the Ironman event coming in a couple weeks.

I got my kayak wet for the second time at this event (my first time at this event was last year).

While it's not as busy a time on the water as Ironman is for me, I enjoyed it. I didn't really feel like hauling my boat to Cardinal Harbour, well out Rose Island Road, by bicycle. The terrain isn't too bad, nor is the distance (thirteen miles or so), but on the roads in question, at that distance, pulling the trailer at an average speed of ten miles an hour, I would have had an unpleasant bike ride. Motorists on US42 have little patience for cyclists, as that and River Road are key corridors for cyclists training in preparation for the Ironman event. Sometimes it's just not worth the hassle to do a thing by bicycle.

I made mention of this on a local kayakers' forum, and was offered a ride by a fellow I had met when I DID use my bike to pull my kayak to the Buckhead Border Challenge Triathlon in July.

En route to the event, I realized that I had left my GoPro at home, and decided that we didn't have time to go back for it. I plan to have it in use during the swim portion of the Ironman, in effort to show a sense of how amazing it is to see a thousand people swimming by (out of the roughly 2700 who will start that race--it's hard to see all of them at one time!). I had the camera on during portions of the Border Challenge swim, and while I wasn't disappointed with what I got as a starter point, I wanted to try some different ideas this time. Phooey!

Once on the water, I had a new reason for wanting to have my camera: One of the other boaters had her dog on the back of her sit-on-top kayak. The dog, a Golden Retriever, had her own PFD (or is that CFD, for Canine Floatation Device?), and was quite comfortable with being on the water. She obviously had done this quite a bit in her two years of life. She (the dog) even understands how to drink from a water bottle! I kept wondering what she was thinking about all those humans in the water--she sometimes looked like she wanted to jump in and play (although I was told that she doesn't jump in the water from the boat--she will, of course, enjoy a swim from shore, since she is a Golden Retriever!). I kept expecting her to bark at the swimmers who had gotten off course, but I suppose she was letting her human handle that task.

In two weeks or so, I plan to be on the river for the Ironman practice swim and the swim portion of the Ironman race itself. Hopefully, I will figure out how I want to capture video by then, and remember the silly camera!