Enthalpic

What type?

I have had two inguinal hernia repairs, one side as a child, the other side in my 30's.

I healed really fast after the Transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair (TAPP) and would recommend that technique.

TMonk

It's inguinal, or at least I think, Haven't seen the doc yet, will do on Monday. Thanks for the pro tips!

Doge

I just saw this. Makes my blood boil that is took generations. USA Cycling - "Effective January 1, 2023, junior gearing is NO LONGER restricted for all cycling disciplines except track. This is based upon ruling changes enacted by UCI ..."

Enthalpic

Did you turn your head and cough for the dr?

TMonk

Yep, that'll make it show. Speaking with the surgeon tomorrow, gonna ask about TAPP

mattm

I often think about the tale you told of a junior with an 11-tooth cog hidden behind their 25! That's the stuff of legends.

TMonk

24 points earned so far this year, 1 point away from my cat 1. I only plan on racing mass start road twice more this season, hopefully I can make it happen. I should be able to with some focus, barring any misfortune of course.

Doge

Tennis has had a few "junior"/under 18 Wimbledon champs and they even allowed them to use the same size rackets as adults :-)
I suspect we may see a USA National Champion who is under 18 in the next decade. As I posted, I think we would have (not my kid), had this restriction not been in place.

Let's see if USA Cycling ever changes to the Cat 1-10 idea where there are no juniors, no women... You just race in the category of your ability.
A 12 year old Cat 8 races a 30 year old Cat 8.

Enthalpic

Another upside of TAAP is they can easily check the other side to see if it needs repairing too, saving you a second operation down the road. Adding a second mesh is easy.

himespau 

My kids' schools (1 elementary, 1 middle) started last Wednesday. The school system had been having a bus driver shortage, so they hired a "smart analytics" company to use AI to reorganize the start times for all schools and optimize the bus routes so they could theoretically get the same number of kids to and from school with fewer drivers and shorter routes (so the same driver could do more schools as they staggered the start times).

Yeah, that was a major cluster. The last kids got dropped off a 9:58 pm on Wednesday night after being on the bus (or waiting at a transfer depot) for over 5 hours. Some parents called the cops because they thought their kids were missing (took the cops 3+ hours to find one kindergartener wandering around unattended in the wrong neighborhood).

It was so bad that they cancelled school until next Wednesday in the hopes that giving the drivers more time to practice their routes (as if that would fix incorrectly modeling for rush hour traffic and routing drivers the wrong way down one way streets and into alleys that have dead ends rather than going to the expected cross streets - I mean, they can figure out some route changes to fix the one-way business, but it'll make them longer and won't fix the overall tightness that requires everything to run perfectly on time with no delays or the whole system collapses). Of course no parents that I know of planned for (or has access to) child care for a whole week after school was supposed to start (in a district with 96,000 kids), so my kids have been hanging out between my and my wife's office every day. That's been fun.

How's everyone else's summer been going?

topflightpro

That sounds nuts.

It kind of reminds me of when Google Maps would send me down a route, not realizing that one of the streets they wanted me to cross was a divided 4-lane road with a thin median. On the map it looked fine. In actuality, it wasn't.

TMonk

Let us know how that situation precipitates himespau . There are some ops people an the district (and at the hired analytics company) that royally screwed that one up. Wild.

himespau 

The 2nd day of school got pushed to Wednesday (a week after the first day of school), so my kids are sitting in my office as I prepare my classes for when I start teaching next week. I'm just so glad my wife and I are fortunate enough to have jobs where we have offices that we can hide our kids in (and have kids that are old enough to entertain themselves - even if it means more screen time than I'd like).

TMonk

decided to skip the stupid Fiesta Island ride tonite, gonna do some Zwift racing tomorrow morning instead. club ride Friday morning, might bookend some riding to make it 5h total.

for the next several weeks, I'll be taking the mic and making an announcement about recruitment for the racing team, since we do have exceptional benefits and a great community. I'll be stepping down from my role as men's elite team director on the BoD (San Diego Bicycle Club) since my wife and I are due for our first child in about 4 weeks! It's a baby girl.

Hermes

Congrats on the the expected baby girl.

himespau 

Congrats and best of luck on your life changes.

TMonk

thanks guys! I will not be an athlete or community volunteer on the same level for a while (ever?). However, this sport is a life-long pursuit, so I look fwd to returning in whatever capacity makes sense later on!

TMonk

Something tells me that next year will not be a good year to go for 35+ Master's Nats haha. Coach wanted me to consider it this year, but it's a bit too close to our due date for comfort. Maybe in some future seasons, we'll see.

topflightpro

Congratulations TMonk!

TMonk

Liliana Garcia Durazo, born 9/27/23 at 6 lbs and 11 oz. Wife wanted to do it unmedicated and she did after 6 hours of (what looked like) intense pain; she's a badass. It looked harder than any interval session that I've ever done, that's for sure.

I hear that babies aren't great training plans for endurance athletes. In either event, I'm happy to have her, and to see who she'll become as she grows up!

himespau 

Congrats

topflightpro

Congrats TMonk!

Also, I hear the sound of a trainer can be soothing for a baby.

hubcyclist

congrats! in some ways it seems like yesterday i became a parent, but it's been nearly 12.5 years, if I can give any advice it's always be ready to have things go differently than you initially pictured in your mind!

Doge

There is no racing going on to speak of "next year" I'm told. There is lots of riding hard. I understand why.

I just thought this was fun to share.
Day before Thanksgiving I met my (USAF) son/cyclist/pilot at the Uvalde airport to see him fly - for the first time. He did a few touch and goes and flybys but it was nice and pretty tame.
At breakfast I asked him why so mellow and he mentions it is civilian airspace and they can only do "fun stuff" in the MOA (Military Operations Area). Says he pulled 6 gs that morning.
Of course, I ask if it is on Strava (or it didn't happen). His partner pulls out the iPad and ask to take the pic below of the "60 mile" flight.

This recorder is the pilot's Strava, recording speed, acceleration and a bunch of stuff.



In the Military Operation Area (MOA)

TMonk

Last weekend was the winter training camp for the men's racing team of the San Diego Bicycle Club, in Anza Borrego Springs CA. It's a pleasant, sleepy little town with some big climbs and mountainous riding nearby. I was not present due to our infant, but I did a lot of the work behind the scenes to make it happen. Sounds like it was a success and we have several promising new racers who are strong and enthusiastic about racing with SDBC in 2024. Nice.



Saturday morning photo. There's actually a bunch of sweet metal sculptures like that all around the town's perimeter