Horse and Auto Racing

I know I've talked about the Kentucky Derby here, but that's only one of three races in the Triple Crown. The second race is the Preakness, and it's run in Baltimore.

Now the Derby was won by a long shot, a good horse that no one had ever heard of, named Mine that Bird. Bird ran in the Preakness, and finished respectably, but he didn't win. In fact, his jockey jumped ship before the race to try a horse called Rachel Alexandra.

Rachel Alexandra is probably the best horse you've never heard of. Before the Preakness, she'd only run against other fillies, but she was always winning- she was, simply, bigger, stronger, and faster than the competition. The new owners thought the three-year-old filly would do well against the boys, and ponied up $100,000 to enter her in the Preakness. The bookies gave her 9-5 odds.

She delivered.

She took a lead right out of the gate, and she never gave it up. Two other horses, including Mine that Bird, came within a length, but never really had a chance to overtake her. Sometimes, it can be boring to watch one athlete dominate a race, but this wasn't one of those times. Rachel Alexandra just showed that she's one tough girl.

And she did it in Balitmore, my hometown!

This post is a bit of a personal update.

I've written here before about how I've started running with my wife. It started on the indoor track at the gym, and later I started jogging on my own. I've grown to like it; it's a good exercise, it helps me to wake up in the morning, and while I still prefer cycling, I integrated jogging into my personal program.

Yesterday, I was up at 5am, went running, and instead of taking a slow go around the neighborhood, I did something a little different: I ran straight out for one mile, turned around, and came back the same way. I timed it, too. I ran 2 miles in 19 minutes.

That felt great. I hadn't broken a 10-minute mile before. I know it's nothing to sneeze at, but with my knees, I think I can feel a bit pumped about it. I feel even better that I barely broke a sweat running it. I guess 18 months of slow jogging has finally paid off.

Is there any deeper message here? Nope. I did this strictly for myself, and I liked it. On my next run, I'll still do a slow go around the neighborhood, but I'll start it out differently from now on: with one mile straight out, at as fast a pace as I can manage. Let's see if I can ever hit a 4 minute mile.

So, they ran the Kentucky Derby again, and as it is every year, the event was more than just a race. There were ladies in wide sunhats, there were mint juleps, there was music, there was pagentry, there was a nineteenth century atmosphere transplanted into today, and to top it all off, there were two minutes on a muddy track....

There was also real money betting and books, winners and losers. For the most part, the losers were the ones who'd bet on the favorite, a horse named Friesan Fire, who only finished 18th in the field of 19. So much for odds-on favorites.

The big winner was Mine That Bird, a 50 to 1 long shot, who won by more than 6 lengths, the widest winning margin since 1946. He's also the 9th gelding to win the Derby, and first since 2003. It's not that geldings are slower runners; rather, racehorses have a fairly short productive career, and much of their value is realized after they finish racing and start serving as breeding stock.

So all in all, it was an exciting race. There were a lot of firsts, some unexpected and unusual statistics, and a big payout for those who where lucking enough to pick the winner. Now it's time to pour a nice cold mint julep, drink a toast to Mine That Bird, and wait for the Preakness on May 16.

Did you ever play the ponies? I have a neighbor, a nice lady with a unique background, who said that she used to love going to the track. She never bet a lot; just the equivalent of a few dollars in the currencies of the countries she was living in, but she said that there was a thrill in winning....

With that in mind, I watched the Kentucky Derby recently, and then the Preakness.

I found the Derby to be the better race, at least to watch. It was more exciting, and the finish was more impressive. The winning horse, Mine That Bird, won by a wide margin, and he was a long shot beforehand. Apparently, only his jockey thought he had a chance; that jockey pushed to ride that horse, thinking he'd win the race. Lucky guy.

The Preakness was won by a filly, a great big female three year old, who was held her own against the colts. Normally, in horses, the males are bigger; this is the opposite to the trend in most mammals, and, in fact, to most animals. This filly, Rachel Alexandra, was one big horse, though. She took a lead early, and even though the colts, including Mine That Bird, came close and challenged her, she never lost her lead. Her jockey was the same guy who'd won the Derby. He'd switched horses, wanting to ride a winner.

I think, if I ever to bet on a horse race, I'm gonnna follow this particular jockey. He's got some good horse sense. And winning will be fun.

Most of my biking is road biking, and I do own a very nice road bike. It's an older Schwinn frame, chromoly (but I don't mind the weight), with the componentry that I've put on over the years. Most of it is older high-end Shimano stuff. That's the bike I use for the really long-distance stuff; the centuries, or the two- and three-day rides that I'll go on a few times a year.

For ordinary riding, especially around city streets, I ride a mountain bike. I like having the range of gears, including, as I get older, the low gears that are easier on my knees. Of course, I can't ride on knobblies on the sidewalks, which brings me to my favorite bike modification: the tires.

I buy Continental, because I like real rubber. It's got a natural propensity to self-seal the small knicks and tears that will wear out a sythetic tire over time. For city riding, I use a good set of road slicks, tires that are bald or nearly bald, and mount them on my mountain bike. I even have a whole second rear wheel, with a higher ratio gear cog, for road riding with the mountain bike. It helps to keep things comfortable.

For off road riding, I use the same bike, but with differential directional tread knobblies. These are tires with rugged tread, and the front and rear are not identical. In addition, the tire needs to be mounted in the correct direction, as the tread only grips properly when it turns in the correction direction. My rear wheel for trail riding has a much smaller gear cog than the road riding wheel.

Too often, we overlook our tires, but that's at our own risk. They're important; after all, they're the contact between you and the road!

Bicycle computers and lights are essential accessories, if you're going to ride long distances or in poor-visibility condidtions, but there are some things that you must always have, for any ride. I'm talking water bottles here, people. Water bottles.

The first water bottle I ever put on a bike was a plain, one-pint plastic bottle, with a pop-top and metal cage. The cage was held onto the frame by flexible metal bands. Eventually, the cage and bands rusted, staining the bike's paintjob....

These days, most bike frames have built-in fittings for mounting water bottles, usually on the seat tube and downtube. The bottle cages are plastic, and of standardized size, so there is no problem fitting them onto the bike. The bottles themselves have gotten larger: the last one I bought was a 2 pint bottle, and most bottle cages will even accept 1 liter plastic soda bottles.

All of this is important, because drinking enough water on a ride, especially in hot weather, will prevent dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Having succumbed to heat exhaustion before, I can tell you that it's not fun. Not at all.

Whenever I ride in the summer I carry two bottles on the frame of my bike: a 2 pint on the downtube and 1 pint on the seat tube. I keep them filled with electrolyte drinks, like Gatorade or Powerade, and I try to drink at least 1 pint per hour. On longer rides, I also wear a Camelbak water bladder. I only fill this with water, and I keep it clean. It's my backup water supply for rides going longer than 50 miles. Personally, I prefer the bottles; they're easier to clean between rides.

It's impossible to overstate the importance of drinking enough on a long ride. Between sweating and breathing, we lose a lot of water, and it's vital to replacethat water as it's lost. Make a plan for hydration, and stick to it.

I've talked about bike computers before, so now I want to talk about lights.

There are few bike accessories more important than lights, especially if you do any night riding. On the road, at night, the main purpose of a good set of lights is no so much to see, but to be seen. Good lights are bright, long lasting, and visible from a great distance. Let's talk about that middle factor, long lasting.

When I first started riding seriously, back in 1989- (wow, that long ago?), there were two choices for poweing lights on a bike: batteries, or generators. Both had lots of flaws.

Alkaline batteries are heavy, and short lived, and not particularly powerful for the task at hand. Some riders, myself included, tried using small generators to power front and rear lights. The generator mounted to the frame, under the seat, and had a rotor that touched the rear tire. As the tire turned, it turned the generator, producing electricity and turning on the lights. Very nice. The price was paid in the great weight of the device, the drag it produced on the tire, and the lights' dimness at lowspeed and darkness at full stops.

Today, there are numerous models of lightweight lights on the market, using more powerful, longer lasting, lithium ion batteries, LED-type bulbs, or combinations of the two, to produce bright, long-lasting, beams. There are lights that can be mounted on the handlebars, under the seat, on the front or rear fork, or even on the rider's arm or leg. When used with reflectors, they really do make night riding a lot safer.

February, 2009

I have decided that a little bit of snow, sleet, slush, and frozen mud won't stop my regular morning jogs. I've bought some fairly lightweight, waterproof hiking boots, with rugged soles for good traction, and every morning I'm bundling up to get out there and run.

I'm not going as fast as I was last summer, or as far, and my wife, who actually enjoys running and is a better runner than I am, is staying in bed until the good weather returns, but I'm getting out there. This past fall, I finally ran better than a 10-minute mile, and I don't want to lose that good feeling.

I know, it's pathetic. I'll huff, and I'll puff, and you'll just leave me in your dust.

But that doesn't matter. Since I've started running regularly, at least 3 times a week, I've been feeling better, my bad back has cleared up, and my doctor says that my heart and lung efficiency have improved, which, with my family history, is reason enough to keep running.

It's bitter cold today, and as I got started running, I could feel it biting the back of my throught. The cold, the snow, the slush, the sleet, and the occasional frozen mud don't bother me so much, but pneumonia would, so maybe I won't run quite so much through the winter.

I've talked here before about Dara Torres, who, at 40, was the oldest woman on the women's swim team at the Beijing Olympics, where she won 3 silver medals just two years after giving birth. I think she proved that age and childbirth do not signify the end of a world-class career if an athlete is determined enough.

Well, in case we missed the point, Sarah Shleper drove it home again.

She's not a household name, but she is a three-time Olympian, and a world-class skier on the American team. She recently skied in the Giant Slalom World Cup race in Aspen. She hoped to finish in the top 30.

She finished 13th, overall. Shleper was not a likely pick to finish so high in the standings: she's 29, the oldest member of the US women's ski team, and in the last two years she's had a career threatening injury and given birth to her first child. She was determined to get back in competition, though, and like Torres, set her sights on the Olympics.

I think we should watch her closely. Someone with that kind of determination is likely to work through mere physical obstacles.

I like competition, and I like racing, and I even like a fast-paced life, but sometimes, you need to stop and look around.

Last night was December 1, and there was a spectacular conjunction in the early evening sky. A new crescent moon, the planet Venus, and the planet Jupiter were clustered together about halfway up from the Western horizon. The moon and Venus were clearly visible from about an hour before sunset, and Jupiter became visible as the sun went down. It was amazing, to see the three brightest objects in the nighttime sky so close together.

Jupiter has been visible, and prominent, for over a year now, while Venus has been a brilliant evening star for the last several months. This conjuction, however, is only for one night, and when it's gone, it won't come back. At least, not for a long time. I'm no astonomer, so I can't tell you when.

What I can tell you, is that this got me to stop my evening ride, dismount, and take a look. I sat on a park bench for a while, and watched the sky. Sometimes, I wondered why I run so much, so fast, and so far. Mostly, I just took a break, and let my mind wander. The world is bigger than we are, and sometimes we need the reminder.