The Brevet is Half Full

Hi all,
Well, I write this it is 34 degrees and snowing heavily. A far cry from the 62 degrees a mere ten hours ago this morning. Ah, springtime in Utah. At least my legs can get some rest.
Why do my legs need some rest? Yesterday, I enjoyed the challenge of a benchmark ride. This ride was to assess my progress towards completing my first 200 km brevet in June. As I mentioned in the previous post, the plan is to ride from my house to the Fielding Garr Ranch on the southeast side of Antelope Island. By my estimate it is about 60 miles, and has both flat and hilly terrain; a perfect route for this half-brevet test.
There was quite a bit of planning in this small adventure. I wanted to evaluate not only my fitness to ride long distance, but many other minor issues like: food, clothing, and hydration. Brevet riding is self-supported, so I had better get things right now, as opposed to creating challenges on the open road in June.

Bison off the side of the road.

My day started perfectly. Out the door at 7:15 as Kathy headed for school. Cool weather with none of the forecasted winds made for nice riding conditions. All day long I stressed steady pacing; not sprinting down hills, not over spinning up hills, and just kept to the plan of around 16 mph average. My first goals had been to complete the route in less than 6 hours, which is about half of the 13.5 hour standard for a 200 km brevet.

A nice view of the south part of the island.

Surprisingly, I arrived at the ranch in exactly 2 hours of riding time, right on schedule. After a 15 minute break, a nice chat with the caretaker, a few pictures, and I was back on the little red bike and headed north. As I rode north I kept to the plan. Steady spinning and keeping the average speed around 16 mph. As I crossed the 7 mile causeway, I realized that I was ahead of schedule. Way ahead of schedule. In fact, some mental math brought me to the conclusion that if I stayed the course (Sorry, Mr. Prez) I could complete the ride in 4 hours. So, I just upped the pace, and kept an eye on the clock. Although in sticking with the plan I decided that if I got home in 4:00 it would be great, but it wasn’t crucial at the expense of the plan.

The view from the ranch.

As it turned out, I made it; 4 hours to the second. (Insert happy dance here). Now, I know that there are hundreds of brevet riders that can do a 4 hour 60 mile in their sleep. But, for me, especially in March and early in the year, it is a grand day.

Pronghorn Antelope, staring at me...

A few vital statistics:
Miles: 60
Time: 4:00 flat. Total time: 4+40.
Animals seen on the island: Bison, Pronghorn Antelope, Pheasant, Foxes, Coyotes, Grouse, a few jackrabbits.
Water Consumed: 20-24 ounces.
Snacks: A baggie full of cereal raisin nut mix, one Clif Bar, one breakfast bar, half an apple.

Am I ready for the 200k? Not quite, but I am definitely ahead of schedule. I just keep working on slow and steady progress; every day, every month, every year. I think back to a few years back, when I would write in my log: “12 miles, longest ride of the year!”
Now, while the snow is here, back to the gym, and work harder!

Happy riding

Jim

March Miles

Hi All,
Well 13 days without writing, but 13 days of good riding! 126 miles later, more miles in March than the last 3 March’s combined. It is both good news, and bad news. The good news: Great weather; Fresh air; and plenty of early season riding and great conditioning. The bad news: No rain and snow. The state is woefully below projections for water and snow pack, so it’s going to be water rationing dry summer. But since I can’t control what comes out the sky, I might as well ride and enjoy the sunshine.


Most of my riding has been out to Antelope Island. During late winter and early spring, the island is a great place to ride. No bugs, no cars, and cool temperatures make it ideal for long training rides. I have enjoyed three 40+ miles rides in the last two weeks, riding from the house to the island and then riding a loop or two up around to the northeast side.



As my plans continue for my first Brevet in June, I have decided to ride a test half-Brevet. The test Brevet will include 100 km, or 62 miles, with a total running time of 6 hours. The Bryce Canyon 200k on June 9th will have a 13.5 hour time limit, so this will be a good early season test to see if this whole plan is a good idea or not. Where to ride the test? Antelope Island! (Some sort of compulsion I guess). Actually, I want to enjoy the island for the last few weeks before the clouds of gnats and mosquitoes make their appearance. After that, I will put the island out of my memory until late May or June. So, the 100k will include a ride from the house to the marina, then south to the Fielding Garr Ranch. It is a flat ride until the section south to the ranch, then it becomes rolling terrain with two good steady climbs.



That’s all the news on the cycling front. I would also like to give some props to Kathy who for several weeks has been painstakingly repairing the figurines that crashed to the floor in January. (See the January 30th post). Every morning, she has been carefully picking through the pieces and fixing our treasures. They won’t ever be the same, but it was the point of the exercise. She has made things whole again!
Please enjoy a few pictures of the figurines and from the island.
Jim

New Parts

My shiny new Ultegra Derailleur

Hi All,

Well, another busy week is zipping by, but Spring is here! Good riding weather is upon us, and with the onset of early daylight savings this weekend, there will be more time to ride. While I was in Arizona, I took the opportunity to take the Little Red Bike to the shop for an annual tune-up. The bike had lost interest in shifting efficiently on the rear set, and you may recall I had broken the front derailleur last fall.

The busted derailleur. It wouldn't throw the chain to the granny gear at all.

So, the bike shop took good care while I was away, and the bike is now back in the garage, primed and ready to go. A test ride showed tremendous improvement in shifting.

Items replaced/fixed:

Front derailleur replaced.

Rear derailleur cable replaced.

Wheel hubs lubricated.

Chain replaced. (It takes 2.5 chains!)

Wheels trued.

Now, when I have a free day to ride courtesy of stringent FAA medical rules, it's raining!

Of course! What else would one expect.

See you down the road.

Jim

Two Bikes in the Desert

Pardon the long delay between posts; it’s a busy time. With travel to Arizona and the annual Men's and Women's Walk to Emmaus retreats, who has time to write?

I would like to relate my experiences with two cyclists I encountered during my last trip to Tucson. We had gone to Tucson to visit Kathy’s dad and to help out with the cancer issues that Kathy’s dad is working through. Sunday evening, we ended up at the Northwest Hospital emergency room as Vic had been running a high fever for two days. While we were waiting at the ER, another gentleman arrived for care. He was wearing bike shorts, jersey, cycling shoes. He was scraped up, had torn clothing, and it was obvious that he had crashed. When I asked him what had happened he simply replied: “I fell” Well, I gathered that! I told him that I too was a cyclist and understood what he was going through. Then the doors opened. He related to me that he had crashed his mountain bike a mere 100 yards from his car. He had lost concentration briefly, and that was all it took, over the handlebars he went. As he waited, he began to shiver and it was apparent that he was in a lot of pain. As the ER was understaffed, and didn’t have time to get the man a blanket, we went to our car and got him one of ours. Later in the evening, I met him as he rested comfortably in the ER bed. The report was a broken clavicle, and two or three broken ribs. A nice fella, a complete stranger that I had the honor of meeting.

The second cyclist had come into the ER to work. I helped him with the door as he horsed his touring bike down the hall. A large “cross” bike, built for the long haul with fenders and panniers on the front. As the evening passed, we figured out that the cyclist at the door was our ER nurse. 61 years young, he has become 99 percent car free. He rides his bike everywhere, work, errands, long tours; everywhere. On long tours he hauls a trailer, which balances the load of the panniers on the front. By the way, he named his bike: Lucille. She is bright yellow, with chrome fenders. A fine looking machine, well maintained as it his main mode of transportation.
I don’t have pictures from this evening at the ER. I usually leave my camera at home on these fun adventures. Instead, please enjoy a few pictures from Saguaro West National Park. I went sunset picture hunting the night before.

Two cyclists unexpectedly came into my life, briefly giving me a small piece of their world, and I am better for having met them.
By the way, Vic is better. The IV antibiotics did the trick.
Happy riding/skiing. The big snows are finally here!

Jim

New Beginnings

Starting a new adventure is always an interesting prospect. Whether it’s a house remodel, a new garage door opener, or in this case, the challenges of a 125-186 mile bike ride, it’s always a new adventure! One makes plans, sets goals, scribbles dates on the calendar; schedules vacation time off from work, then looks ahead at the challenge before them. I tend to look at the new riding season in just that way, a new adventure. I have found rides that interest me, set mileage goals, worked hard in the winter at the gym; maintained last season’s riding weight through the winter.
But then, there’s that first step. At some point, one has to put one’s mind to it, get on the bike, head out the door and start on the way towards that 125 miler. The first step for me seems to sometimes be a difficult one. Recently, I read an interesting blog on the subject of endurance riding, and making a conscious decision to ride or run great distances. The author writes that endurance events can be thought of as an intellectual challenge as well as a physical one. Her approach was that she enjoyed the challenge of endurance cycling, purely because she could make that decision herself, independent of anyone else. An interesting point to be sure; and since I am expanding my horizons to ride significantly more than 100 miles in one day, I believe I can relate to the comments of endurance cycling being an intellectual process. I will let that thought percolate some, and perhaps revisit it as I head on down the road.

Speaking of heading down the road, this past Saturday all the planets aligned and the pieces fell into place. Good weather, good roads, good bike, and time to ride.

And for the inaugural long ride, where do you think I went? Antelope Island of course! Well, at least out onto the causeway. 32 miles and two hours later, I was infused with that warm happy tired feeling one gets after a good ride. It felt great to enjoy the feel of actual road under the tires, the wind in my face, and not riding in the family room hooked to a fluid trainer; And most importantly, the great sense of accomplishment, having started the year off with such a fine ride. All the work in the gym, along with riding the fluid trainer has paid off. I am in near mid-season form right out the gate.

I am on my way. One good solid ride motivated me for the next one. It’s almost addictive, the great feeling of a good workout, or a nice long ride. It is already easier to think about: where to ride, how far, and what goals do I have for the next one. Just that one step out the door kick-started the cycling year. So, I guess there is some validity to the idea of distance cycling being an intellectual challenge. The body can be willing, but if the mind isn’t on the same road, nothing will get the legs moving.
Speaking of the intellectual challenge of endurance cycling, be sure to check out the fine blog that started this piece: http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/. A fine page, filled with good writing, lovely photography, and adventures of winter endurance mountain bike riding in Juneau Alaska. While you’re there, take note of the mileage being ridden every month, and the weather for those rides. Riding in conditions like that is something I have never considered! Made me feel quite lazy, actually. I happened upon this blog while reading “The Lazy Randonneur” blog listed on the tabs on the right of this page. You will find that I have added some new tabs to my page; Yellowstone Randonneurs, and Southern Utah Brevet’s . They list a couple of very tempting rides out of Driggs, ID, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Parks. Also, you will note the tab for the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association. Check out these new tabs, as there is a lot of good information on all of them.
Where to ride next?
Jim

One Small Explosion.....

... can change your whole perspective. And it wasn’t even our explosion! It was our neighbors! Now that I have gotten your attention, a brief synopsis of our latest adventure follows.


Something just seems all a-kilter

Sunday evening, we went to visit a neighbor for a few hours. When we came home, we noticed a few things awry. Pictures on the wall were off-kilter, or on the floor, and things in general looked out of place. Having lived in California, and enjoyed a 6.5 earthquake, our first inclination was that we had experienced an earthquake. Further inspection found quite a bit of minor damage. Most everything on the north and east walls of the house was on the floor. Our curio rack in the master bedroom with all of our porcelain treasures had fallen and was partly on the bed and on the floor.

Now, a slight panic is setting in. What the heck happened? A quick phone call across the street to our neighbors got us the news that our neighbor’s air compressor had exploded in his storage shed/engine repair shop in his backyard. Terry, our neighbor, had just left the engine shop to go get pizza, and luckily wasn’t hurt. The force of the explosion was enough to blow the 12 ft. shed door out, and cause a lot of damage to the engine shop. (According to what he originally told the city, “It’s storage, really!”) Riggggght.


Surprisingly, none of the glass was broken!

So, the upshot of all this is that a lot of our treasures were broken. Things we had collected and had emotional attachment to for the last 30 years are now gone. They were just porcelain things, small treasures, but a part of our life and our adventures for the last 30 years.


Kinda reminds me of some weird Toy Story scene....

Initially we were very upset and angry about the things being broken because of “you-know-who’s” engine shop. Don’t get me wrong, we are still kinda mad. But, then we had a slight change of perspective. We realized that we could have been hurt during this little gem of an explosion. The pups could have been hurt and real serious damage could have occurred to the house. This put a little different spin on things. Yeah, things got busted, but it could have been a lot worse. But, it brought the value of our health, our happiness, and our little house into a little clearer focus.

Amazing how a little event like this can change your point of view. I know that Jake’s Blogpost of 1/21 addressed a person’s end of life issues, and whether or not you (or I) would want to keep life sustaining machines running even though all hope is essentially lost. This is a deep, broad, painful, and sometimes divisive subject and I will not hazard my opinion here in this post. Suffice to say the past few days I have had the opportunity to realize how lucky we really are everyday. And on that positive note, I will end this little missive and wish you a great week.

That’s the news from here, more news and maybe a report from the gym next week. And lastly, this Sunday the entire country will close up shop and watch the Super Bowl. So, here's my commitment. I will root for the Bears. The Colts will never be the same since they abandoned Baltimore! I'll watch the game from the seat of the Little Red Bike, why not get a good spin done!
Jim

Really, It's Just a Haze Layer

"After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable. A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow."
H.G. Wells
(Yeah, right, maybe when it gets above freezing.)

Well, the cross training continues, or rather the indoor training. Last weekend I had a friend ask why I hadn’t been on my bike for the last 5 weeks and I regaled him with stories (or excuses, rather) of weddings, newsletters, going to work, Christian holidays, and of course the snow, cold, and worst of all, the temperature inversion.

I need a word to describe this...

If you look closely, there really are mountains out there..

Yes, folks, temperature inversion. Something that suspiciously isn’t in the Utah tourist brochures, and in fact was left out of all those beauty shots of the Salt Lake valley during the 2002 Winter Olympics. You see, in Utah in the winter, we get snow. The cold air settles to the bottom of the valley and becomes stagnant. Then, with the nights being longer than the days, the air mass never warms after the lovely –5F evening temperature. Next thing you know, it’s 10 degrees in the valley and 30 degrees at the ski resorts! So, the valley fills up with smog, haze, gunk, whatever you want to call it. Even if the temperature screams all the way to 20f, one just can’t get motivated to go outside and ride in it. Of course, going to the mountains to ski or just get above the haze and stare at the sunshine is usually very therapeutic. I have included some photographs extracted from live webcams of the Salt Lake Valley. I hope you get the idea of just how lovely it is this time of year.

Otherwise, I train indoors. Mostly I have been spinning on my Cycle-Ops Fluid Trainer. This handy device makes it possible to ride the Little Red Bike in the family room, and keep my spinning form even though it’s really cold outside. I was spinning in the garage, but it's cold in there too! So, I turn on the NFL, or perhaps a West Wing rerun, or just my Ipod, and spin away for about an hour each day. I keep the spin rate around 85-100 and keep working my legs up bigger gears. No bets as to whether I can spin on the road at 100 rpm!

I also have been spending a lot of time lately over at the gym, working primarily on quads, glutes, and general circuit weights. Yesterday, I had a consult with a personal trainer who in his calm, and quiet way has helped Kathy and I find all sorts of muscle groups that haven’t been used in years. It should be interesting to see how all this work will translate to miles on the open road. The weather should modify some as the month progresses, and then I think it will be time to start riding some outdoor miles.

Jim

Mill Creek in Winter

Hi all,
January has brought the opportunity for some cross training as the fog and inversion season is upon us. I just can’t seem to get motivated to go out and ride in the fog and grunge. I have been able to enjoy a few trips to the gym for general weight training along with emphasis on leg press and machine squats. More enjoyably, I finally made time to go cross-country skiing up Mill Creek Canyon. You may recall a nice long ride up Mill Creek last fall. Monday brought cloudy but mild weather, perfect for a nice long ski. The lower part of Mill Creek is generally in the shade, so temps in the 30’s were quite welcome.

There was plenty of snow up the canyon, I would estimate around a 3 ft base over the road on the higher portions. I enjoyed about a 2.5mile climb, making it around a mile past Elbow Fork. Mill Creek is a long steady climb until passing Elbow Fork, and then it flattens out and is a very enjoyable trail. The only issue I encountered was slow skis! I found that my skis didn’t run well on the downhill leg, and I had to do quite a bit of poling to maintain speed. I don’t know if it was soft skis bottoming out, or the wrong glide wax. I think I will have to come ski again and do some more research!

Along with skiing up Mill Creek, I carried my new Garmin ETREX Legend GPS! Santa was very nice to me and left it under the tree. I have enjoyed using it so far, and have figured out how to upload tracks to Google Earth. I hope to take the GPS on all of my longer rides, and will share data and images with you. And maybe later this year Kathy and I will try some Geo-Caching too.

My Mill Creek Ski on Google Earth

That’s all the news for now, the weather forecast for the next week most assuredly indicates more indoor training!
Jim

Hey, Wake up! It's 2007!

One more from Austin's Collection - 1968

Happy New Year!
2006 is coming to a close with the regular assortment of riding goals met; riding goals failed, and riding goals ignored. On the whole it has been a great year. More miles than any calendar year, and I rode a lot of new and exciting routes. Were there any goals ignored? That goal of a double-century was probably out of my reach to start with. I am not quite ready for that yet. Were there any failed goals? Well, I never did ride Little Cottonwood Canyon, but hey, something for next year!
Most cyclists would agree with me that they each ride for different purposes. Some ride purely for fun, never knowing or caring what miles they ride, just that they enjoy doing it. Others are true mileage geeks that track every mile of every ride, and all of their riding is results, results, results. Some riders are commuters, taking great joy in not using their car. I could go on forever, the list is endless.
But, how does one assess and quantify yearly goals? And I don’t mean just riding goals; our lives are filled with small and large goals every day! But, let’s just talk about riding. If my friend Pete reaches his goal of 12,500 miles for 2006 (really, I am not making this up!) But ends the year burned out, exhausted, and feeling no joy in riding, was his goal a worthy pursuit? I think not. (Not that he is burned out or tired, I am just using his goal as an example. I don’t think he ever gets tired!)
For me, I ride to tackle new challenges; to become more physically fit; to stay healthy; to sometimes commute; to enjoy the fresh air and the peace of riding; and lately to take pictures. I do however, track miles and rides. I keep a log, and sometimes record a comment about the day’s ride. And on especially gorgeous days, I may tape over my cycle computer, and ride off into the world without a care about any statistic. One of the benefits of recumbent riding is the view why not enjoy it!

So, let’s look at the 2006 achievements, and compare them with previous years.

This has been a great year for the Little Red Barcroft

2006:
1405 miles; I feel like I transitioned from bike rider to cyclist, I had a better bike and a healthier body to ride it. I rode bigger and longer hills, and never felt “burned out” wanting to shelve the bike. The season actually left me energized for 2007.

2005:
602 miles; A year of dead legs and doldrums; I never got emotionally geared up to ride, and didn’t start logging miles until mid to late summer. I did however, ride commute to and from work in the same day for the first time, a 52 mile round trip!

Me and my trusty Burley Limbo, where else, Antelope Island!

2004:
1175 miles; My coming out party. I broke 1,000 miles and rode my first ‘bent century, riding a Burley Limbo.

Finishing my first 100 miler, I darn near passed out about 30 minutes after this picture was taken!

2003:
992 miles, I rode my first century on a 1982 Raleigh racing bike I bought for $60.00! Believe or not, I actually sold the bike back to its original owner, he missed having it!

Cycling at Bryce Canyon - 2003

2002:
675 miles, the first year I started actually working at riding. I seem to recall that I trained most of the summer to be able to ride my age on my birthday. (45 at the time)

It works out to be 4849 miles in the last 5 years. It seems more amazing to me just looking at the number, and it is sometimes hard to visualize the almost 5,000 miles just looking at the bike in the garage. Oh, the places we’ve been!
What’s on the docket for 2007? Well, the usual ideas come to mind. 15% more miles; longer training rides in the 50-60 mile range, and my first 200k brevet. (Oh yes, and Little Cottonwood Canyon to Snowbird, too!) I think these are reasonable and attainable goals. It’s going to be a great year! Come along with me and enjoy the ride!
Jim

Merry Christmas to my few, but dedicated readers…

This Christmas Blog post is written in part on behalf of a distant blogpal, Emma Muhlack, from Adelaide, Australia, (who) recently mentioned in her diverse and interesting blog that:

“Christmas (at least in my immediate family) has always been a celebration about Jesus' birth. Church Christmas eve and Christmas Morning, nativity scene, angels on the tree”

Well, I just wanted to share a few pictures with you of our Nativity scene, and of the Christmas trees that make this season special for us here at our house in Utah.

After all, being able to “Elf Yourself” and generally being very silly as we stuff ourselves with Christmas cookies is great fun, but let’s not forget the real reason for the Christmas season. Now, I am really not trying to get up on my editorial soapbox here. I just felt like sharing a little of the Christmas spirit from our house to yours. Here’s to you and yours this Christmas.

From the book of Luke:

…And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David :) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Amen to that!
Jim

Photography of the Past

Hi all,
This is not a post about recumbent cycling, or even about riding some steep canyon, or the repairing and configuring of the Little Red Bike. The subject of this post is photography. Primarily, it is about the history of photography in my family during the last one hundred years. You may have noticed that every past blog post has been accompanied by at least one photograph. In fact it is almost a requirement for me to include a photo to help tell a story or to share a landscape that you might appreciate.

The history of photography in my family dates back to somewhere around 1898 or so. My grandfather, Tad was an avid photographer, taking pictures of his adventures and travels in the Lake Louise, Banff areas of Alberta, Canada, and throughout the rest of his life. Tad passed on his love of photography to my dad, Austin, who as it seems, was never, ever, without his camera. Austin, spent a lifetime enjoying taking pictures of landscapes and of what he used to call “typical Americans” doing normal and typical things. He was a master of the candid shot, composing and framing people with their natural smile. He also rejoiced in sending lovely sailing pictures like the one at the top of this post, to his relatives in New York and New Jersey in the dead of winter! Austin then passed his love of photography to his children, and all four of us either enjoy taking pictures, or just appreciate the pictures of the past. I have fond memories of working in the darkroom with Austin, learning the important tricks of the trade like: “Get closer, Get Closer!” and of course the famous line in our house, “What are you waiting for! Push the button!”


This is Austin, with his Speed Graphix, in 1968.
But how do all these pictures from the last one hundred years or so survive? The digital world of course! When dad had leukemia in 1998, he spent months scanning Grandpa Tad’s old negatives, transcribing written notes and descriptions and creating digital files and HTML thumbnails. My brother-in-law, Dana has continued the task for the last eight years, running 35 mm rolls of film through a machine scanner, and storing the images on external hard drives. At last count, my external hard drive showed approximately 31,000 images! And Dana has advised that he is ready to upload another several thousand! Sometimes it’s hard to let these numbers sink in and truly register as to the enormity of the task that has been accomplished.

The true treasures of the collection are the scans from glass negatives dating back to around 1898. With the help of Adobe Photoshop, Austin was able to recover images from the glass that were barely discernable to the naked eye. The pic below is from a glass negative; Grandpa Tad (On the right) circa 1900.



Tad, (on the right) In Alberta, 1913.

Of course the other treasure is the photographic account of our lives. Every roll of film is a small thimble full of what life was like growing up as a family. I have included a few old photographs for you to enjoy. Back to riding and other exciting news about weddings and grandchildren next week.
Jim

My new 1968 Schwinn 3-speed. I rode this bike for years, commuting all over Goleta and Santa Barbara.

Cyclist Austin with that "Push the button" look!