A Chance Encounter

Cycling in America is a minority activity. Most people in the general population look at bicycles as toys for kids to ride until they're old enough to drive.  And while most are courteous when they encounter adult cyclists on narrow roads, there are those individuals, generally behind the wheel of a full sized pick-up or SUV, who are of the opinion "if one more spandexed geeky guy on a bicycle slows down my trip to the high school football game/liquor store/lottery ticket place I'm gonna run him straight off into the nearest thorn bush".  Bottom line as long as gasoline remains cheap:  "Merica ain't Denmark and ain't never gonna be no Denmark".  So much for Cycle-Chic.

I haven't begun to touch on the many sub-species of adult cyclists: roadies, mountain bikers, long haul cyclo-tourists, couriers, work-a-day commuters, fixie riding urban hipsters, Tweed-ride fashionistas--apologies in advance to any cycling sub-specie not mentioned.

But back to that minority of adults who are passionate about road racing; within that group opinions are also divisive.  Particularly if the subject is Lance Armstrong.  At this point in time most peeps who follow cycle racing either love (7 time TdF winner, cancer survivor and advocate, passed 500 drug tests, being unfairly striped of his titles) or hate the guy ("Doper--ah jist KNOW it").  Be that as it may, the single "fact" swirling around Lance is that he is, without a doubt, the most universally recognized product of American road cycling.  Diaristfamily had a boat show to attend this past Sunday but barring that I would have gone to the site of the Howard County Triathlon and been part of the crowd lining the roads to watch LA as he rode by.  Fortunately, a co-worker lives on one of the roads that were part of the course and his wife was able to snap a couple pix as Lance stormed by during the cycling part of the event.  Note that the organizers had to give up their official sanctioning since LA is currently banned from all sports competitions for life.

Now I don't plan on getting into a long-winded discussion pro/con Lance Armstrong so all you argumentative types just cool yer jets.  I'm just reporting a bit of local news.  Love him or despise him, Lance is still a phenom that draws a crowd wherever he goes.  Photo credits: Madeline Mirecki.

A young fan reaches out to touch Lance Armstrong.  Lance seems to be enjoying the effort.

My co-worker indicates that LA was quite fast both up and down the slope of the small hill which runs by their house.

2012 Carl Patterson Regatta

The Carl Patterson Regatta is a tribute to Bob Patterson's Dad and is held each year at the Chester River Yacht & CC in Chestertown, Maryland during the last Saturday before Columbus weekend.  Carl Patterson was instrumental in establishing Moth Boat racing at the Sea Isle City YC in the late 1950s.  Carl both built boats for and coached many of Sea Isle's talented juniors in that era.  This year's CPR was the eleventh edition of the event.  Both diaristwoman and diaristdaughter are key members of the Race Committee for this event and being out on the committee boat were well positioned to take some good pix.  Let's have a look.

CRY&CC Commodore Hanson Robbins kindly offered his trawler as the committee boat.  Photo credit: Bart Stolp.

The day started off chilly and overcast with a light breeze from the NW.  When the sun was out from behind the clouds it was warm but there was a definite fall nip in the air.  Seven Moths, two in Generation II and five in Generation I competed.  Your diarist sailed his Europe design Gen I Moth.  Photo credit Bart Stolp.  All other photos courtesy of diaristwoman and diaristdaughter.

This is what we raced for!  A nice groaning board of prizes.  The big bottle of 100 proof rum goes to the overall winner.  These are my kind of trophies!

During the start of Race 1 your diarist had a bit of "Forest Gump"  luck and got a better than expected start from the pin end of the line.  I was able to lead from pole to pole.  The course was a simple windward-leeward with windward finish.  Diaristwoman caught me during the leeward leg of the race working hard to hold off my pursuers and eke out a rare win.

However, after that first race Mike Parsons woke up, reestablished the pecking order and took 1st place in all of the remaining races, generally by comfortable margins as seen here.

Bill Boyle sailed the old Fletcher-Cates which he's restored and blogged about.  I think he's planning on selling the boat.  Those interested can leave comments on his blog spot.

Here's a bow shot of Bill's Cates.

Bob Patterson and I swapped seconds and thirds for the bulk of the day.  Here he's seen pipping me at the finish line by a boat length.

Just to keep us honest, Victor Stango (sail nr 109) beat both Bob and me in his Paul Lindenberg-designed Moth.  I love his name---he could have been a character in a Humphrey Bogart movie!

Here's another look at Victor's boat.

Try as I might, this is about as close as I got to seeing Mike's bow for the rest of the day.

One of the advantages of having relatives on the committee boat is that I get a lot of pix of sail shapes to study after the regatta.  With the traveler car centered I didn't have any twist in the leech.  This seemed fast for the conditions that day but would have just a bit of twist been faster?

Ed Salva had his Europe moving well.

Bill's son Shane sailed their modified Shelley, Memory Lane.

Another look at Memory Lane.

Relaxing after the finish of one of the races.

Mike going to weather.  A study in concentration.

Bill got a great start during one of the afternoon races.  He's seen here ducking Bob's transom.

Later, during that race I'm seen trying hard to steal Bob's wind as we pass the committee boat on the down wind leg.

A nice shot showing all seven boats a few seconds after a start.

When's lunch?

A study in transoms: Europe vs Lindenberg.

After six races we came in for those awards.  Ed Salva was 3rd in the Gen I division.

Victor Stango was 2nd in Gen I.

Your diarist took 1st in Gen I(!)

Mike helps out and awards Bob 2nd place in Gen II.

Bob and Mike take a little "medicine" on account of Bob's cold before awarding the final prize.

Mike, yet again, takes home the big bottle and gets his name on the perpetual trophy which returns to the clubhouse bar until next year.  So, that's a wrap on this year's Patterson Regatta.  Our next (and last) day of racing action for 2012 will be at Mike's home club up at Cooper River, New Jersey in mid-November.

Jan's El Camino

Earlier, I posted a few photos of my father-in-law's '66 Chevy Impala.  Today's post will be about his other ride, a 1986 Chevy El Camino.  Sadly, Jan lost his four year battle with cancer and both cars need to find new, appreciative owners.  I'd buy the El Camino for myself but lack the required garage space.  Anyway, let's take a look.

The truck is in overall good condition with no body rot.  Jan repainted the truck himself last fall.  His efforts produced what I'd call a "ten foot" paint job, meaning that it is serviceable, protective and looks good from ten feet away.  Ultra fastidious collectors would probably want to have it repainted by a professional but I'd drive it "as is" and not worry about the inevitable nicks and paint chips that a non-trailer queen is going to acquire.

Here she is from the stern.  This truck came from Texas which probably accounts for both the lack of corrosion and also that the sun-bleached original paint needed sprucing up.

The bed is neat and tidy and features a fitted floor liner.

Classic mid-80s grill and rectangular quad headlamps.

View from the passenger's side.

The original cloth interior is still very presentable.

There are no cracks in the vinyl dash cover.

Last night I installed a new battery and she fired right up after sitting idle for several months.  Note that the 350 V/8 has good oil pressure at 1200 RPM.

Sunday Wrap Up. Part IV 2012 CMBA Nationals

Racing for Classic and Vintage Moth Boats resumed Sunday morning at 10 am.  Recall that Saturday had offered up robust NW winds of ~15 knots with gusts higher.  Sunday started off with a glassy calm on the Pasquotank River.  A good regatta has something, condition-wise, for everyone and this was a good regatta!  Photo Credits: Amy Smith Linton.

Milling around before the start of the first of three Sunday morning races.  Not much air to work with.

Having said that, it didn't take Mr. Linton very long to figure things out.  This is probably why the guy is a defending champion...

Eventually Mike Parsons was able to claw his way forward to Jeff.

Ever notice how race committees seem to have this knack of being able to figure out where the deadest air on the race course is likely to be and then locate the marks in those zones?  Do they teach that skill at RC school?

The bulk of the fleet bunched up in time for this mark rounding.  Your diarist is providing an excellent example of how lose a half dozen places at the mark by getting pinwheeled off.  I'm second boat from the extreme right side of the photo next to Susan B.

The breeze did fill in an on/off-ish way.  More off than on.  This group is milling about waiting for the count down of, I think, the second race.

As regatta leader (lowest number of points carried over from Saturday), Jeff wore the "yellow jersey".  Unlike the Tour de France's similar shirt, ours has a bull's eye on the back!

Still in relaxed mode waiting for the pin end of the start line to be adjusted.

Three Euros.  Ed Salva (Nr 10), Walt Collins (Nr 2418) and your diarist (Nr 69).

After three sloooow races, we came ashore and started the down rigging/packing-up-for-the-road drill.  Here Nancy Swan and Walt Collins get Feather ready for the trailer.

Randall Swan does likewise with Moth Balls his Etchells-Connecticut Moth.

After Greg rooted around in his pick-up and found his Walmart reading glasses he and John Pugh started the task of tallying the scores for the three separate divisions.

Greg attempts to read his own handwriting as the troops assemble for awards.

Dan Malott was 3rd in the Vintage division.

Bill Boyle sailed his Abbott to 2nd place in Vintage.

Randall Swan was 1st in the Vintage division.

Somehow, in spite of a lot of sloppy sailing, your old diarist salvaged 3rd in Generation I.

Gary Gowans took 2nd in Gen I.

Walt Collins, who always sails at the top of his game took both 1st place in Generation I but also won the Master's trophy for the best overall score for skippers above the age of 65.

Zach Balluzzo won the Junior award.  We hope to see him back next year.

Nancy Swan took home the women's award.

Joe Bousquet was 3rd in Generation II.

Mike Parsons was second in Gen II just a single point behind Jeff.

Drum roll, please--Jeff Linton repeated as CMBA National Champion.

But wait, there's more:  Randall took home the Founder's trophy for being the oldest competitor.  No, you'll have to guess his age.

Finally, although she didn't want it, Nancy got the infamous "Turtle Trophy" for her spectacular capsize on Saturday.  My son won this a few years ago and is fond of saying "there's a lot of good names on that trophy".  And so, gentle reader, that wraps up this year's edition of the Classic Moth Boat Association's annual National Championship.  Our next regatta, as we head into fall, will be at Chestertown, Maryland on the 29th of September.  I can't wait!