January Race Totals

So January is in the books, the first month is over in the goofy race that no one call really understand. Well at least understand how we came up with the rules and points.

First, points

Dad - 900
Me - 500

Miles

Dad 1150
Me 519 which are multiplied by 3 in January, thus the grand total of 1557.

One might ask, How do you ride so many miles in MN in January?

Dr. Seuss would reply -
You ride in the dark, you ride in a park
You ride at night, you ride with a light...

But seriously, the weather was rather balmy by MN standards for the winter. We have some walking/bicycling paths that are kept plowed in town. They are about 300 feet from our house. The lakes are good for riding, if you have studded tires. (which I do) And yes, you do need some lights to ride after supper in the winter.

How will February turn out? Stay tuned....

Really, that is the best you can do?

So the Republican Party is in the midst of the process of nominating a candidate to run against President Obama. It was evident what kind of leader Mr. Obama was going to be early in his presidency. There would be great opportunity to show the difference between a fiscal conservative that adheres to the constitution and Mr. Obama. There was adequate time to find someone who could articulate a position that would easily defeat Mr. Obama. But instead we now watch the three stooges put on their silly show at these so called debates. While I appreciate the position being taken by Ron Paul concerning fiscal conservatism, the fact of the matter is that at age 76, I don't have confidence in his ability to serve out a four year term. The office of the president is very demanding and stressful. It takes a man in his 40's and 50's and makes him look 20 years older when he leaves office.

So I ask, is that the best there is to offer? Or were those that could have been elected told to "sit down and shut up".

Sorry, I don't see any of these four that are currently in the limelight as having any chance of defeating Mr. Obama.

(And, no, I don't want to see Mr. Obama serve another term)

One

Keeping with the theme of this blog, today we had one. One what you might ask. One degree. One lonely degree on the thermometer. We had a high temp of one degree above O.

This was the coldest day in my life going back to January of 1998. The morning started out at -17, and just warmed right up to one.

So, I did not ride even one mile.

Half way update

I left out one rule when giving the breakdown of this year's race with my Dad. We can not ask each other for a mileage total until the 15th of the month, and then only 3 requests are allowed during that last half of the month. So yesterday my Dad called with his mileage request. The totals as of 3pm CST on the 15th were -

Dad - 595 miles
Monocogman - 292.7, which multiplied by 3 gives me 878.1

Thus my lead as of 3pm CST on the 15th was 283.1 miles.

When we planned this race in August, and thus agreed to the rules, we had no idea there would be such warm weather conditions in MN for January. Four of the first ten days had record highs here, so with no snow on the roads, it made for some almost too easy to get miles. But I will take them, winter could show up and slow things down any day now.

Vote results

I came across this quote attributed to Joseph Stalin -

“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.”

In Iowa, the GOP decided to count the votes at an undisclosed location. Shame on you folks that are involved in those kind of actions. Please don't give us another candidate like you did 4 years ago. He was afraid to have some give Mr. Obama's complete name, and he certainly didn't want to deal with the fact Mr. Obama is a Marxist and a Muslim. I know many of you will disagree telling me that is not what Mr. Obama says. I am not interested in what he says, rather I have been watching what he has been doing.

Ride Report

So due to this goofy race, I am riding in temps that would cause most sane people stay inside and read a good book.  Late yesterday afternoon I had a flat tire, so I changed the tube, which normally is an easy job, but when it is 10 degrees out with a little breeze, the fun factor increases.  I rode another three miles after that and the tire went flat again.  Now it is dark, due to lost time on the previous flat.  Should have been home by now.  No chance to figure out where the flats are and patch them due to the darkness. (wasn't planning to be out late, so did not bring a light)  But adding to the fun was the fact I forgot my cell phone.  So now I had a 2.5 mile walk home.

So upon checking out the two tubes for flats at home, I find that they both have cracked at the stem. Both on the same day, within 3 miles of each other.  Hmmm, does my day have someone here in MN sabotaging my bicycles?

It could be an interesting year.

Back on, and the race will soon begin.

Take down the test pattern.

Hello again after that very long absence.  Sorry, not enough time to give the details on what has taken place in the last year and a half.  But to summarize, Monocogman now resides in Minnesota.

Get ready to follow the results of the big race getting ready to start on January first.  My dad and I have agreed to a bicycle race that has two categories.  One deals with miles, the other on a points system.  But since he lives in a warmer climate, (Virginia Beach, VA) and has more time on his hands being retired, there had to be a handicap setup.

Here is the breakdown.

My miles are multiplied by 3 in January, February, and December.  They are multiplied by 2.5 in March and November.  They are doubled in April and October.  May through September are even.

Our points category rewards 400 for most in a month.  500 for longest ride in 24 hours.  100 points for each century, 50 bonus attached to each additional century in a week.  25 points for each 50+ mile ride, and 25 bonus points attached to each 50+ mile ride in a week.

Follow along as each month the results will be given and updated.

Yes, we both agree to be slightly crazy to enter this.  (By the way, my dad has 71 years of maturity under his belt)

May the best man slow down to keep it fair.