Jamie Thingelstad

I’ve been commuting to work on my bike again. It’s such a great way for me to get to work and with the superb trails that are at my disposal it’s really a shame for me not to ride in. On the way home tonight I felt like I was in paradise as I pedaled down the path. I was cruising along at 22 mph and the gears were turning over so easily.

At that time I was reminded of something that I heard when I was at Hellweek in 2001. An older cyclist that I was riding one of the centuries with joked with me that “Whenever you are enjoying it, you’ve got a tailwind.” Tonight as I rode along the path feeling light as air these words came back to me. I hesitantly looked to the side of the trail and there I saw the grass gently but firmly bent in my direction from a steady wind.

I had proven this saying true yet again.

It seems lately that nearly every day there is something happening on our house. We don’t have any major remodel going on, but the combination of a lot of small and medium projects has everything in a state of flux.

Today we got our rain gutters installed and I’m very pleased with them. I worried a great deal about this since our house was designed without any overhang and like all houses from the late 1980s didn’t have any rain gutters put on it. When I thought about the gutters being put on it I really thought they would ruin the modern look of the house but I’m pleased to say that I think they look fine. In fact, I told Tammy that it’s possible that they actually are a nice addition.

We got the 6 inch gutters which I think was the right call. The smaller ones could have looked odd on the house. I’m now eagerly awaiting a good rain so that I can see them in action. This will definitely keep the moisture away from the house.

It’s prime time for the cycling season right now. Over the course of the last 4 years I’ve developed a strong interest in professional cycling. I admit, like many it started just as a US Postal and more specifically a Lance thing. But I’ve really started to love all that there is about cycling from the spring classics to the grand tours.

Anyway, there is a new Nike commercial with Lance that has been shown on OLN a lot lately. I’m not usually one to comment on commercials, but this thing is really cool.

Warning: watching this may make you get up and go on a ride if you are a cyclist!

Tammy and I went to the Edina Art Fair today. The fair is bigger than it has been in recent years. The quality of the art was both better and worse. We were excited to see the Yardbirds there (we have a few of their things) and we couldn’t help but get a picture from one of the local artists that we thought was very cool (picture below). However, there were a couple of stands that were terrible. We couldn’t figure out how they had gotten in through the judges. One was selling stuffed snakes from Taiwan!

The weather was great, if not a bit too hot.

Our house is finally done getting painted. Everything is back where it belongs. Yeah!

I’m exhausted!

Tammy and I completed our very first multi-sport event. We did the Apple Duathlon in Sartell, MN today. A duathlon for those of you that are not aware is one less than a triathlon (imagine that!). It only involves running and cycling. However, to keep it interesting you still do three sessions which are typically a run, then bike, then run again. This duathlon was a 5k run followed by a 20 mile cycle finished with another 5k run.

I’ve done plenty of running races before. I’ve also done my share of cycling races. But putting them together with the transition area and such was very new. The duathlon was extremely well run and if you are interested in these kind of events I highly recommend it. The staff did a great job. The race hosted everyone from elite male/female racers to two gentlemen over 70! They even had an Athena/Clydesdale division - I raced in the Clydesdale division. These divisions are for bigger people. Athena is for women over 150 pounds and Clydesdale is for men over 200 pounds. I’ve always wanted to do a race with a Clydesdale division so that was fun. The race is USAT certified and is the longest running multi-sport event in Minnesota. It was also fun to get marked up triathlon style. There is no guessing about ages at these events – it’s in marker right on your leg!

The race took off in 6 waves, separated by 3 minutes. The elite athletes went first of course. Tammy went in wave 5 and I left in wave 6. I started three minutes behind her on the road.

Tammy set a new personal best on the first 5k. I came in a minute after her. Tammy has developed really good running form and I’m finding it hard to keep her pace. I hope to remedy that shortly. 🙂 On the bike I made up the gap and actually caught up and passed her, taking the 3 minute start lead she had away.

The transition from the first 5k to the cycling wasn’t too bad. Tammy and I both felt pretty strong. However, after pedaling for an hour at an all out pace (my average speed was just under 20 miles, and that was with some hills) my quads were absolutely killing me. I can’t quite explain the sensation of getting off the bike and then starting another 5k. A lot of interesting thoughts went through my head. I actually at one point on the cycling leg, when my legs were really hurting, thought it would be really nice if I could just have a flat right then. My wish wasn’t answered.

I about died on that last 5k, my time was horrible and I gave all the time that I had gained on Tammy back to her. (No, we aren’t competitive at all.) I ended up barely finishing ahead by about 20 seconds. Feel free to check out the complete race results.

We both had a good time (sick, I know) and I doubt this will be our last multi-sport event. Tammy absolutely loved it and is already making plans to come back next year!

Couple photos from before the race are here.

At this very moment the painters are removing the plastic covering from all the windows in our house. We can see again! It’s amazing how odd your house feels when all of a sudden the windows are all opaque and you cannot see out. It’s like living in a sensory deprivation chamber (okay, it’s not that bad but it was annoying).

For some reason the garage door is having a terrible time opening. It is behaving like it weighs a thousand pounds more than it did before.

The People’s Republic of California is an interesting state. While there are many referendums and interesting progressive groups in the state that sometimes make no sense to me, I was excited to see the state fighting what I feel is the good fight on two fronts.

California communities have actually been fighting off the WalMart takeover of the country. Hat’s off to them for not welcoming such a scavenger business into their economies.

Also, I just found out about Senate Bill 19 in California that mandates certain qualities of food given to kids in public schools. I’d love to see how few McDonalds menu items would be allowed under this.

I’m sitting on a huge story and I think I should be calling our headline desk to break it. There is a scam going on, a big scam, on people looking for an enjoyable adventure into the air on a hot air balloon ride. I’m sure you’ve probably seen a picturesque hot air balloon over some vacation town at some point. It’s a wonderful experience – but I’m here to tell you it’s a big scam.

Here is how the scam works. First, you need to purchase your ticket to ride the balloon of course. This seems straightforward enough. However, the trick is that the weather must be nearly perfect in order to actually launch the balloon. Seriously, if the trees are moving, forget about it. So, they get your money and then for years you work to schedule a flight and then it’s canceled. You schedule again, only to get canceled. This will happen over and over again, all the while they are sitting on your money. No doubt it is being used in some racketeering operation or other illicit purpose.

All the while you, the poor consumer in this scam, is left essentially hopeless. What do you know about flying a hot air balloon? Nothing! Even if the weather is completely still on the ground, they will tell you it’s terrible a couple thousand feet up. Do you want to go up and die in some storm after all?

The Hot Air Balloon industry must be held accountable for these wrong-doings against the American consumer. Let’s break this story wide open!