carbon arc torch

so I built a pretty excellent torch, I think.  I haven't tried it out, but I machined the whole thing.  I should think it's the cadillac of carbon arc torches as it has tons of adjustability, including a thumb lever for changing the arc length.  I guess the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so we'll see how it goes.  By the way, I only know of one company who makes such a toy, and they go for about 90 dollars, so this was pretty sweet.

Weld fun

so I made my first progress toward teaching myself to weld. Here you can see my set up and some of my first blobs. At this point I've learned how to strike the arc and am trying somewhat to maintian it as well as control the bead size. I'll be doing some more practice.

I'm using a chicago electric welder purchased on sale at harbor frieght, which has worked well, though there are some questionable aspects, though it hasn't kept me from enjoying it.

rocky v lance

So I've been riding my rollers (stationary bike type device) indoors when it gets dark before I get home, or when the weather is nasty.  To alleviate the boredom, I like to watch a movie, and recently I've been watching rocky movies.  This brought up the comparison above.  Rocky is an emotional fighter.  He needs something to motivate him to make the changes in his lifestyle such that training becomes a priority and he can obtain the fitness he needs for victory.  Lance on the other hand has some some other kind of passion and daily intense training has been a serious part of his life since he was a kid.  However, Lance did have a life changing experience that made him focus all on one race, though perhaps he may have become just as much a champion without having had cancer. 

 

During competition, Rocky always gets pretty beat up, and basically tires the other guy out, and then starts fighting.  He almost needs to get a bit beat up to get mad and start fighting.  Lance on the other hand comes out and makes a strong statement in the prologue, and keeps all competitors within a carefully calculated striking distance.  His whole race is preplanned, equipment tested and courses previewed.  He of course rides the whole tour before the tour and took note of wind directions, hills, and potentially dangerous interruptions in road surfaces like railroad tracks or traffic islands.  Lance even trained himself not to betray his effort level with his facial expressions because as the race gets gets going and the effort level goes up, he doesn't want the other teams's race directors to see him on tv and radio their riders that Lance looks like he's hurting, and then encourage them to keep accelerating.  Rather, as everyone else is reaching their limit, Lance looks comfortable and his opponents are discouraged. 

 

I should like to think I have some of the characteristics of both men.  Training is usually a priority, and an end itself, but I do have other priorities as I'm not a professional athlete.  On the other hand, I usually don't plan things that well.  I'll pre ride a course if I've gotten up early enough to do so, but usually I don't have that luxury.  I usually do have a vague plan as to how to ride the race which evolves as the race goes on, but it probably doesn't compare to what Armstrong does.  I find I do better in the big races than the little ones, which in retrospect seems like a motivational issue, whereas Armstrong would explain such performance as not yet having peaked.  (Armstrong does many races in preparation for the tour, and rarely wins those.) 

 

The comparison is hard to make though since they're both professionals, and they have coaches and support staff, where as I"m an amateur.  I'm a bit hesitant to trust many of the people who offer advice as most of them aren't familiar with my strengths and weakness or the quality of my recent training and racing.  When I'm racing I don't really identify with either man, but when I'm watching them compete I can see some of myself in them, which for me is why these things are fun to watch. 

first race

I did a training race today.  It was fun.  I made some good attacks, but didn't end up in the results (1,2,3).   A break of about 7 riders went up the road, including one of my team mates.  Rather than chasing and joining, I tried to block.  He then lost it, and I began to chase alone.  I reduced the gap from 30s to 10s.  I then got some help, but he wasn't quite as strong as I was at the moment.  We then got more help, but some of them were goofy and we couldn't work well together.  I rode a lot on the front and ended up finishing okay, but since I missed that winning move it didn't matter much.  Not that any of it matters, since it was a training race.  Nonetheless, I found out what my present strengths and weakness are, and that'll help me train up for future races.  I have quite a long way to go.