No Cell Phone, No Internet, and No Cable TV… It was a very nice week!  I did something I have not done in a LONG time.  Read.  I finished “A Dog’s Purpose”, “Origin”, AND “Soul Identity”.  All of them were great reads, especially Origin that was never even available in print.  Thank you Amazon and Ebooks!

Here’s the pictures from our trip:

Get a like new bike in time for the upcoming State Time Trial. The bike was purchased new from Fat Frogs in Virginia Beach and barely ridden (less than 500-600 miles).

There is a cool new spot opening up soon on Great Neck Road (across from Marina Shores).  It’s called YO tini’s Frozen Yogurt.  Unlike some of the other places around the Hampton Roads area these people are focused on the healthy “dessert” alternatives.  It should be open soon so keep an eye out for the area’s newest, “greenest” location for a tasty treat!

YO Tini

Or become a fan on facebook! The Facebook YO Tini Group

In the last post all I did was put up a slide show and link to the pictures from the race at Richmond International Raceway.  So in this one I will say a little something.  It was cold and windy, but what an awesome venue for a race.  The racing appeared to be fast and with that speed comes some crashing!  We arrived right as the Cat (Crash) 5 race finished up with nasty accident in the sprint for the finish.  The crash required two people to be transported by ambulance.  I also heard rumor of another crash later in the day.  Me being the lazy individual that I have been this season didn’t race, but I did at least get some pictures, as can be seen in the last post.

The main reason for this post is a cool video posted by Bryan Vaughn of the last ten laps of the 1/2/3 race.  Even cooler is seeing what the cyclists sees as the photographer is snapping shots….

My view:

My View

His View:

Bryan's View

Richmond International Raceway….

With all the talk about health care reform is there really room for reform without first looking at the billing and charges and they way the government contracts service?:

A patient with insurance is billed $500 for a procedure. The insurance company pays $250, the balance is written off because that is just “what insurance and medicare will pay”.
A patient without insurance is billed $500 for a procedure and is expected to pay the full $500.
The reason… medicare hasn’t accepted the test as “normal practice”. Despite the fact that the diagnosis from this one test saves approximately $1500-$3000 by not having to administer other tests.

Another example…. A water main is “uncovered” during a road widening project. The project is halted… the contractors and subs are being paid while VDOT comes up with a solution. The General Contractor recommends solving the problem by taking the line and burying it a little deeper. Ahhh… but this requires approval because it didn’t fall within the scope of the project. 12 weeks later VDOT comes up with a solution! Bury the line 12″ deeper so that the road surface can be laid over top of the line. The contractor made money, the sub-contractors made money, ALL of the VDOT employees made money. Where did the funds come from? US!

A very old wood gymnasium floor in poor condition was in need of replacement on a local military base. Someone was needed to do the work. A minority contractor in a hub zone was hired. First off it was recommended by some engineer to throw a thin layer of concrete over what was already a poor slab to start off with. Next the general contractor hired another inexperienced, non-qualified sub-contractor, who in turn was a mason by trade. Not a concrete contractor. He hired a sub-contractor who pours driveways, not large slabs. Especially not thin slabs intended as a topping. What happened? The topping slab curled at joints, cracks formed where joints weren’t added, and thousands of dollars were spent correcting the issues because money was “set aside”

This is the way our government thinks on many levels…. until we can have the government thinking on the terms of the way modern business functions, not on the good ol’ boy (I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine) mentality we are always going to have every last penny sucked out of us in taxes and “government funds”!

Well it seems that I only can get on here and throw out one post a month so here it is… and it wont be too long… just a little update.  Work is going ok, the market is rough.  The construction industry as a whole SUCKS!  People are getting laid off left and right and the work isnt starting up fast enough right now.  We, Bay Equipment, are doing alright thanks to a great base that was built years ago.

On the cycling front… I used the Tour De Cure as a “kick off” to my training and have been riding a bit more.  I wouldn’t say I am in peak form but I have felt pretty good the last few times out on the bike.  I guess we’ll see on Sunday at the Fort Lee Sprint in to Spring Crit.  I actually paid the money to do the race.  I guess that means I have to be there to do the race.

There has been a lot of blogging and commenting about cyclists and their rights on the road.  I will stay semi-neutral and say this:  We move slower than the flow of traffic and are sharing the road with a lot of people who only want to get from point a to point b in the fastest way possible.  Keep that in mind when you are riding that narrow country road with no shoulder during rush hour as you get “buzzed” by the redneck in the big pickup truck.

So, I bought a new bike… but not a new bike… it’s an old bike… probably from the the late 80’s… it’s a Raleigh Technium Pro.  I went to look at it for a friend.  It’s was listed on craigslist.com as a Raleigh 50cm with Shimano 105 and the owner wasnt sure of the year.  When I saw it the bikewas so cool I had to have it.  The frame is a butted mix of aluminum and steel.  It has a 53/42 front and 7 speed rear cog.  Gum wall 700×20 tires and some crazy funky Specialized handle bars with a lower flat area.

Anywhoooo…. I decided to get the bike and if the person I purchased it for didnt want it I would use it for myself… by the time I got home that day I decided I was keeping the darn thing!  I rode it last night on the Pungo loop for the first time.

What a ride, the bike was SMOOTH!  The aluminum/steel combo made for an awesome ride.  New Bridge road was nice, I felt good, then a little further in to the loop the weight of the bike started to settle in.  The bike is HEAVY!  The “trail of tears” was hell!  A steady cross wind made the bike feel like it was filled with lead.  What is even sadder is that the wind wasn’t even that bad!!!!  I slowed down a bit through the ride and just enjoyed the old school retro ride.

When I got home I picked up the Technium Pro and my Felt F5C and was amazed at how much of a weight difference there is.  My Felt felt like it weighed 1/2 as much as the Technium, but in reality it was probably 1/3 as much.  One of these days I’ll have to weigh the bikes.  In the meantime I am going to enjoy the retro ride and get some good training in!

Oh… Kyle’s wife posted some great pics from the Jeff Cup this past weekend: http://amyjones.zenfolio.com/p746541536