Historical Crap#2: Surfing UND

In the spring of 1987 I was itching to get out my windsurf so on a warmish afternoon I launched my rig on the English Coulee that winds through the campus of the University of North Dakota.. I've always wondered what motivated them to used the term coulee and not the more obvious creek. There was just barely enough wind to move along a short stretch of the creek, but it didn't matter really. It was just something that a college student would do. The fact that it had never been done made it all that much more enticing.



It wasn't an accident that a photographer from the Grand Forks Herald was there. My friends called the paper ahead of time. But we never thought I would be front page news.

At that time in my life I was huge into the surfer lifestyle which was a bit of a stretch for a boy raised in North Dakota. But never the less I had the surfer look which in the 80's meant loud neon colors. Dude! Plus, my surfboards were always on top of my truck all Summer long so people would know I was a surfer. This was right about the time that the movie 'North Beach' came out starring my new friend Laird Hamilton.

HIstorical Crap #1: Vintage Video Games

For a long time I've been meaning to go through some very old boxes. As my wife can attest to, I'm a pack rat. I could argue that I'm nostalgic and a collector - but Linda is probably more right then I am. As I go through these boxes I plan to photograph and share some of my favorite things or those with stories. We'll call it The Historical Blog Archive of Robbie's Crap. Or simply Historical Crap.

The first box yielded 4 electronic games from the 70s. These were some of the first hand held video games made by Mattel. Because I was a collector, wink wink, I kept the boxes that the games came in. I even found the sales slips! I did a quick look on ebay and found a ton of them for sale. The boxed ones go for a lot more then the loose ones so thank you very much to the 12 year old me. I could potentially get $100+ for at least one of them because I have all the games, boxes, manuals, and packing material in excellent condition. And yes, they are all for sale.

Mattel Electronics Football
I got the first one at the K Mart store in Grand Forks, ND. The game was huge back in 1977. Every boy either had one or spent their time begging to play their friends. I remember teachers in Jr High taking them away from us in class when we accidentally pushed a button that would made that distinctive tackle sound.



Mattel Electronics Battlestar Galactic Space Alert
Space Alert was my next favorite. It was sort of a simpler space invaders but it was still hard to play. Obviously it was the theme that hooked me since it was 1978 and I was a huge Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica fan. I remember that I ordered this from the Montgomery Wards catalog. One vintage seller on ebay is selling this for $275.



Mattel Electronics Baseball
Mattel Electronics Basketball
The other 2 games I had, baseball and basketball, were not my favorites. I believe I got them as either birthday or Christmas gifts. I played them but I just wasn't a big fan of either sport. To this day sport games aren't that interesting to me.

Aero Clinic

Early on Sunday morning I headed to Now Sports to attend a clinic sponsored by the triathlon team I joined. The subject was a talk about bike positioning and how to be aerodynamic. What I didn't know ahead of time was that it would be led by one of the world authorities on the subject, Steve Hed. That name won't mean anything to most people but you might have heard of his most famous customer and friend, Lance Armstrong. Steve and his company, HED Cycling has made aerodynamic bike wheels and parts for the top bike riders in the world. Along the way he has spent a lot of time in wind tunnels watching and learning what it takes to make the smallest hole in the wind. Pretty cool to have someone like that right here in Minnesota. And he's as nice as any Minnesotan gets. This is Steve with Amy Klosterman on her new TT bike with HED wheels and aerobars. Sweet.


Steve had Amy get on her bike and he walked through his critique and recommendations for her to become more aerodynamic. Most of this comes from how one positions the arms and upper body so you don't push a lot of air. Some of it's easy but often what is aero is not all that comfortable. It ends up becomes a balance of what can be done. Here is a closer look at the HED aero handlebars.


On of the more interesting recommendations was that climbing was the best area to try to work on to become more aero. Most people, including me, resort to standing up on the pedals to power up a hill. But if a rider could maintain the aero postion and manage the same power, that would result in the most speed. Hed designed the aerobars he sells with this in mind. His bars allow the rider to progressively move their hand position depending on the grade of the hill. The following photos illustrate these positions from flat to heavy climb.

This would be the typical aero position with hands at the ends. Note how flat Amy's upper back is.


Amy now moves her hand a bit closer to her body so that she can pull more with them for more power.


If she needs even more pulling power she can move her hand to the base of the aerobars. The HED arm pads are design to flip up to allow room for her hands on the crossbar. This position might also be used as a relax position on a longer ride where the aero position might get fatiguing.


Finally there is the wide position with the hands on the brake handles. This would be the position most similar to climbing on a standard bike. However notice how Amy still tries to stay low and aero.


As luck would have it I had my TT bike with me. One of Hed's employees, Dino, took a look at my aerodynamics as I spun on the trainer. I didn't have my biking shoes but he was still able to make some recommendation. He was telling me the same stuff that he would to top pros in wind tunnels. I felt like a ball of crumpled up wad of paper. But it was all good and definitely stuff I could incorporate. For the record here are his recommendations for me;

Seat down 1 cm.
Back position good (flat) but could be more rounded.
Chin as low as possible while looking down the road (not easy)
Knees into the top tube.
Elbows in to centerline more.
Do all these thing AND relax!

Race Report: Oakdale Duathlon

Last Fall I competed on this very same course in the Fall Classic Duathlon. This year the race was bigger and the competition was faster.

This Spring I joined the Now Sports triathlon team. Some of my teammates were also in the race so we all racked our bikes together and hung out. In the past I was usually at races alone so having buddies to talk with was really nice. It makes the waiting around go fast as well as modivation to do well for the team.

The beginning 3 miles started with a big separation by the fast group of men. I elected to run with that pack of about 12 but I was in the 12th position. I was cruising along just fine.

After a flawless fast transition I was out onto the bike course. As I've pointed out it the past, I know the roads very well because they are close to home. I really felt great on the bike so I was just pouring it on. I past a lot of people along the entire 13 miles. At one point about half way I thought that perhaps I was going too hard and that I might need to save something for the final run. But the body was strong so I gunned it.

2nd transition went fine and now I was finally in the home stretch. And a good stretch was what I was needing. My calves started to tighten. Oh no. Last Fall my gluts tighten, now this. But quickly they loosen - thank god. A few of the guys I had passed on the bike were now catching me. They were all really good runners that had been in the starting group of 12. It always happens to me so I just jealously watch them sprint away from me. I hope they felt the same watching me bike past them! The hardest one to watch was the guy that caught and passed me in the final 100 meters. Damn, he was in my age bracket as well.

So in the end I was 34 overall, 7 of 22 in the 40-49 age bracket, and, best of all, 5th fastest cyclist in the whole race. I'm happy overall but clearly if I could inprove my running I would be highly competitive. Definitely need to work on running this summer.

Race Report: Withrow TT

I attended the first cycling race of the year. It's the same once a month race that I've done for the last few Summers. It was postponed a day due to rain on Tuesday night. But Wednesday was really nice with a favorable northwest wind. That direction helps push us through some of the rolling hills on the course.

I usually rest the day of the race but because it had been delayed, I hadn't been on the bike for 3 days. So I decided to go for a short ride at noon on the day of the race. However, as usually, a light ride with the company group soon became a hard ride. But the legs felt good and I was ready to race.

This year the organizer decided to send us off 2 at a time instead of individually every 30 seconds. The guy I started with was a very strong rider and it turned out that we were about equal. He got off to a fast start but I then caught and past him. Then we went back and forth a few more times. At the final turn we were still together but now we are catching bunches of slower riders. At one point I had the outside line and had to accelerate to make sure the other guy didn't get in front of me and force me wide or slow down to stay out of his draft (which is forbidden in TT races). Once I got around the group of 4 rides I give it all I could for the final mile to the finish. I was able to stay ahead of my starting partner.

The results were posted later that evening and it turned out that my neighbor Jeff Ingham took 1st place and I took 2nd out of 40 riders! My start partner took 3rd. It was my best TT ever. That's a good omen for the first race of the year.