a midway bikelog

I took a run at the Black Dog time trial last night, representin’ Hiawatha Cyclery with Jim, on his first time trial run. We, along with Boone’s Farm, represented the “vintage” (though mine is only 4 years old) bike and Brooks saddle contingent. Jim rode his 1967 Holdsworth custom set up with Record-hubbed tubulars and aero bars while Mr. Farm was on his Raleigh International with Sturmey AM hub gear. There should definitely be a vintage category for cool bikes like this.

I turned in a respectable 19:23, achieving my sub-20 minute goal. Unlike last time i TT’d, i did a better job of pacing myself and holding a steady speed throughout… maybe too good, i probably could have picked it up a tick overall, but it let me finish out with a bit of a sprint, which is always fun. I did finish 16 seconds faster than 2 years ago. Ray was right on my heels, time-wise, must be that teardrop helmet of his… along with actually doing Black Dog all season while i was slacking off.

The only downside of the evening was totally whacking my forehead on my bike while getting ready to take it off the roof rack. I currently have a lovely brake lever-shaped crease coming down from my widow’s peak. Fun times.

It’s been surprising how easy a lot of the aftermath has been. Bank card canceled, new one on the way. $11 and 10 minutes at the DMV, new license on the way and a temporary for now. Car window fixed, no deductible. The biggest hassle by far has been trying to file a damn police report.

When it happened, the naturalist at the park called the Mpls police, and the police person said i could either call later or file a report online, which seemed good because i had the girls with me and i wanted to get home to cancel my bank card. When i got home, i called only to get a message that there weren’t any dispatchers there on a Sunday afternoon to take the report. So i tried the online system, but their website app wouldn’t recognize Wirth Park as being in Minneapolis; not listed as a park, the address of the garden not recognized. So i called the police line again today, and the Mpls Police person said it was actually Golden Valley’s jurisdiction. Called Golden Valley, no no, it’s actually in Mpls. I called the Garden and asked who they belonged to, and they said to try the park police. Called the park police and they said, nope, should have called 911 right when it happened, call the MPD again. So i give up, the snake is eating it’s own tail and incompetence wins again.

I should note that at each step along the way, every person i talked to was absolutely convinced that they were right and the last person was wrong. No doubt in their mind, they knew what they were talking about, unbelievable how dumb other people can be, etc. Right, it’s the other one who’s the problem.