Conference noted::bicycle

    Yeah, it's alright as long as you can be flexible and arrange for a
    more or less clockwise route varying relative to the eye of the storm
    and current location.
    
    Go for it.
    
    ed

    That'd be perfect for an out and back ride. Have the wind at your back
    the whole way! 

        More news about the winds. The weather reports are saying the winds
    could get up to 100+ mph. That would be one great ride. I was wondering
    if my computer would go up that high. I might even think of taking my
    rain gear. But that might slow me down.
        I might have to get bigger gears. My 55-12 would not be big enough
    to hold that speed.
    
    Need for speed.
    Michael

    I can see it now; way up in the sky ...
    
             "Doo de de dah doo doo ...
    
                Doo de de dah doo doo ...
    
              I'll get you Michael - and your little Trek too!"
    
    ;^}   

	Listen to you all! A little wind and rain and you're all upset that
  you're training's going to be disrupted. Hah! I laugh in you're faces! Here
  in our Scottish winters, we still train when the snow's 3 foot deep and the
  polar bears are emigrating to the warmer regions of the North Pole. Do we
  complain? Do we ever utter despair at the hardship of our existence? Do we
  go around trying to gain sympathy? No, we are content in the knowledge that
  at the end of our plight is a nice warming meal of Granny's home made soup
  and black bread. For we still manage to go out and fit in our century rides.
  On a fixed wheel. And only wearing a short sleeved woolen racing jersey that
  has been passed down from generation to generation within our great cycling
  club because everyone's too mean to buy a new one. And all this before
  breakfast, just so that we build up a hearty appetite and warm up properly
  for our proper training run.
	Mr. Ellis, you may think that the RAAM's tough, but you've seen nothing
  until you've witnessed an ill tempered, cold Scottish ram charge it's way
  through a pack of club cyclists in the frozen moorlands that is our dear
  home.
	Well, I'm away to put some more lead weights into my water bottle. The
  thermometer is reading a glorious 15 below, so I might even be able to wear
  my shorts. I'll just have another bowl of watery, tasteless porridge before
  I go out and bask in the sun. Never know, I might even get a tan this year.
	Aye, we're a hard race, us Scots. Shame we're all dead before 30.

  Graham.
	

	When I started racing, we had to get up at 3 in the morning, ride 30
miles to the start in torrential rain, carrying our wheels on carriers.  Once
there it was a major maintenance job under the hedge before 5,4,3,2,1 GO at 6 am.
After the event, still raining of course, spare clothes blown into the next
county by the wind, same thing in reverse.  Then off to meet the rest of the
club for lunch and another 70 miles before tea and back home in the dark,
getting in at 9 pm.  Mind you, you could get a bike, Dunlop 0's, go out to lunch
and have fish and chips on the way home and still have change out of a ten-bob
note......

Eat yer heart out, Tony Capstick..............

    
    >miles to the start in torrential rain, carrying our wheels on carriers. 
    
    
    Wheels?? You were lucky! When I were a lad it was always a force 10 
    blizzard on race mornings which made the cardboard disks we fitted 
    between the forks go really soggy after the first 200 miles....
    
    Chris

    I stand in awe.

    re .5
    
    		Who ever said anything about training being disrupted. I
    had my best day of bike riding in years. I was going so fast my wheels
    where lucky to be touching the ground. I think this weather was the
    best I have ever been in. I don't know to much about Scottish. But can you
    ride into a head wind of a 105 mph, or have a tail wind that fast. But
    don't forget the rivers you have to go threw. Yes the road out here
    turn into nice little rivers. And one more thing you have to be able to
    jump pretty high to get over those fallen trees in your way.
    		I don't know to much about Scottish, but with those winter
    you guys get sound like fun time. I can only wish I was there for some
    of them. To bad you guys don't get the affect of out running those
    fallen trees. 
    
    Need for speed
    Michael
    
    PS. I thought I saw a witch on a bike. 

>    		I don't know to much about Scottish, but with those winter
>    you guys get sound like fun time. I can only wish I was there for some

Ummmm, I *think* he was referring to the Scottish summers.... :-)

    I hope everyone who tried it caught the error in .1.  As I started out
    I remembered that I needed a counter clockwise loop.  I had to head out
    in a southwesterly direction and then swithc to sourtheasterly as the
    eye passed overhead.  Since this was all uphill, the return route was
    easy when the winds died because I only had to turn around and ride 250
    miles downhill.  It was almost as fast as the 250 uphill with tailwind.
    
    BTW, anyone else notice that this was New England's first Himicane?
    
    :-)
    
    ed

re .11

I was going to point out your error in .1  (The winds are counter-clockwise
around low pressure areas and clockwise around high pressure areas.)

I didn't go out in it yesterday, but I did get a good day of riding in tailwinds
a couple of weeks ago.  It rained that day too, but we were enjoying the ride
so much that we didn't care.

Rich

    Somebody was out... heard over the police scanner yesterday in Clinton,
    right in the middle of it:
    
    a cruiser: "some guy on a ten speed just passed me"
    (no response from base; things were pretty busy)

    This has to be the best time out. The only thing you run into was the
    rivers that ran aross some of the roads. there was very few cars on the
    road at the time. So you had the road to yourself. Great time to be
    had.
    
    The need for speed
    Michael
    

>    This has to be the best time out...Great time to be had.
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                        
        Do I detect a _pun_? In _this_ topic? NAW!
        
        Later!
        
        John

Yeah, the weather was bad here in TX, too, 100 degrees F and sunny. Sat up on 
the trackstand in the air conditioning eating a bowl of haggis with my trusty 
Scottish Terrier MacDougal by my side. Oh, no, I didn't actually *ride* on it, I 
just sat there watching TV.

Now I could tell you some stories about riding through tornadoes...

	Hah! You think riding into puffs of air is hard work? Try riding through
  3 feet of snow with a snow plough attached to your forks. Then you'll know
  what a hard days work is. You lot with your poncy aero-bars and low profile
  bikes. Women! The lot of you! It's a man's life in Scotland. None of your
  fancy disk wheels here. No, we have heavy steel wheels with solid tyres. You
  lot me sick!
	And what do you mean Scottish summer? Summer! You get a summer over
  there? For 6 months we get no sunlight over here, for the other 6 months it
  just rains. It stopped raining yesterday for 5 minutes and Scotland was
  declared a national disaster area for drought.
	Huh, we'll show you what tough is Mr. Hemmings, sunning yourself all
  day on the Riviera admiring the pink flamingoes. Well I'll tell you, I'd much
  rather sit on a damp dyke in the glens peering through the mist a highland
  charging a car.

  Graham.

Riding in a hurricane -- no big deal.

This note is where the wind really is.


	~Mike (reading this note with helmut on)

     It really is a blast. I just hate it when those '62 Buick's go
    up your nose though... I hate it when that happens.... :-)
    
       Chip

    
    	Well how fast you riding now that Bob's gone away?
    
    Graham.
    

    Re -1
    
    		You ask how fast we are going now without the big winds of
    bob.  Have you ever seen someone biking behind a big truck. If you do
    nine out ten times it will be me. I train alot going 45-50 mph. I
    wouldn't want other people trying this if they never did it before.
    This is how I work on my sprint. I made alot of people see what I was
    doing, was working. The only problem now is how to find a strong wheel.
    I have broken, twisted, and destroyed couple of rear wheels already
    because of to much stress.
    
    The need for speed
    Michael

    
    
      Hey Mike (aka Mr. Modesty)
    
      If you can't get a wheel to hold up give Branford bike in conn. a
    call.  They will build up a 36 spoke 4X wheel that even you should have
    trouble hurting.  
    
      Oh by the way how did you do at the "Lemond challenge" last
    wednesday?
    
      John C.
    

    	Re .21  --->  Gracious gratuities extended...
    
    	Standard contradictory text follows:
    
    	You're blowing more wind than Bob did ever did.
    
    	If it's so, YOU are the next savior for american cycling.
    
    	What Category racer are you?
    
    	Whatever the heck, PLEASE don't get hurt drafting any trucks.
    	It's *dangerous* stuff. Besides...
    
    	We NEED you: to win the Tour next year.
    
    	Or as a domestique for GL...
    
    	P.S. Truckers HATE human-powered parasites. D'at ain't no lie...

    Mike's probably gone to Killington for the annual 5-day stage race.
    He's a CAT III (unless he upgraded recently).  If he performs as
    he has in the past, Mike should pick up the lion's share of 
    sprint points in his category....
    
    MATT  

    	Fight the power!
    
    	Wish him the best, may he increase his performance two-fold.
    
    	May he upgrade his category, etc.
    	Without actually meeting face to face, it was simply too easy
    	to assume rectitude, without redress. Notes has that effect...
    
    	By the way: Six coastal Massachusetts counties that felt the
    	wrath of hurricane Bob were declared federal disaster areas
    	on tuesday the 27th, clearing the way for federal relief $$$.
    	According to the Boston Herald, federal aid will be on its way
    	to Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex and Plymouth
    	counties as a result of the declaration made by President Bush.
    	Lt. Gov. A. Paul Cellucci said it is possible that two others -
    	Nantucket and Worcester, could still receive disaster designations.

    To whom it may concern,
    
    		My GL TT time was 11:19. I just came back from Killington
    stage race.  I raced this as a Cat III, I am now upgraded to Cat II 
    This is what I and my team did.
    
    First day One team memeber came in 9 in the 3.4 mile TT, the time was
    around 11:45, I did it in 12:40
    
    Second day Pepsi Road race 54.6 mi total climbing 1650 ft
               I took the only Hot Spot for that day It was worth 7 points.
               My team mate took third in that hot spot. worth 3 point.
               also I took that stage win, with my team mate coming in
               second. Great sprint. The speed was around 50 mph I came
               from about 50th place to win that one.
    
    Third day  Brandon gap Road race 45 mi total climbing 2120 ft
    	       I made over the first 5 mile climb pretty good Had my team
               give me a great lead out for the Hot spot and I took 1st
               for another 7 points. My team mate took 3rd for 3 points.
    	       Then we chase all the breaks down for our theam GC leader we
               control the pak pretty good. our team had 6 good riders.
    	       Over brandon gap my team GC leader took the KOM for 7 points
               and took 3rd place in the second KOM then him place 5th for
               the stage. I on the other hand blew up aty Bear MT. It was a
               two mile climb that I lost 4 minutes. all that time was lost
               in a mile and half.
    
    fourth stage Criterium   800 ft of climb 16 mi
    
    	       I took one of 3 hot spots wich gave me 3 points. the points
               for the crit was less than the road races. My team mate took
               third in the kom which gave him one point. then the sprint.
    	       we lap a field of 30 people. they did not pull riders. when
               we were lapping these people one man took off. we did not
               know if he was a lap rider or in our race. there was only
               one lap to go. So on the sprint we were sprinting for
               second. There was only four of us sprinting for this. we all
               came across the line at the same time. what a picture. They
               had two camras. filming the finish. they need both to tell
               who won the sprint. It was me. There was a crash at the
               finish of that sprint. there was nothing said at that time.
    	       So they gave me flowers and took pictures. then that night
    	       they said we had a power play going on. so they took away
               second away from me.plus they took third place away from the
               other guy. That gave my team mate third. he was fifth in
               that sprint. That was the first time I ever saw that happen.
    	       But that gave my Team GC leader 5 sec off his time. for
               being third.
    
    So far as a team. we have the following.
    
    Hot spot 17 point all wrap up closes person is 7 points.
    KOM 11 points. the leader has 14 points and only one more kom left.
    team GC leader
    A man in the top 3 for GC.
    
    last day Road race 55 mi 2325 ft of climbing
    		We tried to get our man the KOM but did not work. he lost
    		out we controlled the pack pretty good. then there was the
    		8 mi climb. my work was done I got my man to the front.
    		he came in 10th that day 6th over all.
    		
    		
    The out come was 
    
    Won one stage 
    Second in another
    and won the Hot spot.
    
    
    
    Michael