… of many types.

Saturday was a day of trials for me.  Trials are tests, whether they be tests of products, abilities or life’s little challenges.  So this is where my story begins…

Every year a couple of friends of mine help with the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.  Their motorcycle club works as security on track.  Basically, what it amounts to is watching that people don’t come out on the track from the various trails that come from the woods.  The idea of using motorcyclelists for this is actually pretty good.  Someone on a motorcycle can easily get around the track to remote locations and park without needing a designated parking area.  Since I have the motorcycle and enjoy racing, I thought this would be a fun way to spend the weekend.  The Grand Prix is a charity event that benefits the Allegheny Schools and promotes Autism awareness, so my weekend of fun would also benefit a good cause.

There were several firsts that would come out of doing this weekend:

1. Testing out my tank bag I bought for the motorcycle.
2. Riding my motorcycle in downtown Pittsburgh
3. Seeing a Grand Prix style race in person
4. Working a race other than an oval dirt track

All of these things had their own challenges.

Testing the tank bag was more or less just to see if I was comfortable riding with it mounted on the gas tank.  It wasn’t too bad.  On the highway, it seemed to have no affect on the bike at all, either comfort or handling wise.  It did present some need to change my technique for handling extremely slow turns in parking lots and such as the bars do touch the bag.  Its not a hinderence.  I’m just not used to having something there when I turn the bars.  I bought the bag for taking one or two night trips on the bike.  It makes a nice addition to my day runner pack that I have been using.  It passed muster and I will be using it more often, even on same day rides or rides where I may be purchasing items and need the space.

The next challenge, riding in downtown Pittsburgh, was the one I thought would be the hardest.  I’ve driven in Pittsburgh alot.  We had customers downtown when I worked for Aries Resources.  It was nothing to be into Pittsburgh for a meeting or what not and be back to the office in Mercer by Noon.  I have only been riding officially a year now so there are some things I’m still weary of.  Riding around in the traffic without my protective cage was something I knew would be different.  It wasn’t actually that bad.  You have to put your head on a swivel and use the bike’s agility to move around traffic and stay away from problems.

There was a surprise challenge to the Pittsburgh ride besides the fact that I left the house at 5:15 AM!  I was set to meet one of my coworkers at the Sheetz in Grove City.  We would ride together down to the second meeting spot where we would pick up the rest of the group.  We hopped on Interstate 79 to make time.  Just beyond the Slippery Rock exit, I started picking up water droplets on my windscreen.  The drops continued to pile up.  This wasn’t rain.  It was mist like the remnants of a fog hanging over the area.  My helmet visor was staying clear for the most part thanks to my windshield.  I could see that Gilly was starting to have problems with his visor.  His bike doesn’t have a tall windscreen like mine.  We reached the meeting point and dried our shields.  Jim Davis arrived on his little Yamaha 200 Enduro.  He told us he was going to keep moving so that he didn’t slow the rest of us down.  He would be waiting for us just before the downtown exits.

The rest of the group arrived and we headed towards Pittsburgh.  The mist picked up.  The roads were now wet.  This was my first experience riding the interstate at 55-65 MPH on wet roads.  The bike felt like it was sticking to the road ok, but my confidence in my riding was not quite as solid.  I’ve ridden in rain on back roads where I could take my time, but on the interstate, you have other objects around you that dictate your speed.  We found Jim.  As we pulled over to stop and regroup, my back tire locked up as I was downshifting and breaking.  I held the lock until the bike was slowed to where I could control it.  I was a little unsettled by the skid.  The bike didn’t fishtail or anything but I was in a pack of riders.  I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to stop or if the guys behind me would be able to avoid me.  Everyone stopped.  I found out when we got to the park that I wasn’t the only one who lost traction on the semi-wet concrete.  It was a bit consoling to know that even the guys in the club who had been riding for years had similar riding problems.  It wasn’t just something I messed up.  The road was just slick.

We reported in and registered.  I was surprised that we didn’t have to sign a waiver.  Waivers are standard practice for being on-track or even in the pits at most of the races I’ve been to.  Whatever… I got my assignment.  I would be at the corner by Phipps Conservatory.  The event seemed pretty well organized.  They would provide food for the volunteers (aka us). A radio vendor supplied what must have been a couple hundred two way radios.  There was coffee and donuts for the Motorcycle Security Crew.  Other Security folks were handled by another person at their own station.  The only thing I saw lacking at that point, was a little bit of orientation about what they expected you to do.  Fortunately, I was with a crew of guys who has been doing this for several years.  My own experience as Head of Security at MRP also helped.  I took my station and settled in for the morning shift.

My job was basically to keep folks from coming up the path onto the racing surface.  I’d say a total of maybe thirty-five people came up the trail all day.  I worked the afternoon shift there as well.  Most of the people that came up the path turned around willingly without me having to say much at all.  There were a few who asked questions about where they could get across the track.  This is where the orientation/training might have benefitted.  A few others got belligerant.  One guy even showed me his IQ.  It required him to use both hands!

I love the excuses people make up to try and bypass security at races.  I had everything thing from “I’m late for work” to “My best friend’s appendix exploded! I need to get to CMU.  He was admitted there.”  First of all CMU stands for Carnegie Mellon University.  It isn’t a hospital.  Understand, I am not heartless.  You can’t make special exceptions in a race event like this.  Should the person get hurt while you escort him across the track, the event organizers are liable.  Should he cross the track successfully, forty-two more people will show up at your location with similar excuses to try and cross.  This was one other place I think the even could have used a bit more organization.  Crossings needed to be designated and marked.  I couldn’t even tell them where they should go to get across because it wasn’t on the map.  Small issues in the overall planning of an event like that, but one that can haunt you if someone crosses at the wrong point.

I guess the best excuse I had was from the fellow that worked at Phipps.  He claimed noone told Phipps this event was happening.  That’s odd?  They didn’t know it was going on?  The race takes place right outside their building (within 30 feet of it to be exact).  Parking is in the field across the street from the main entrance of Phipps.  The road course takes all week to lay out.  Cement barriers were placed across the road which leads to the main entrance.  Yet… at least according to this poor soul… noone at Phipps knew this event was happening.  Hmmm.. I guess it takes longer than thirty years… yes… 30 years… for information to travel across the street.  This was the 30th anniversary of the Grand Prix.  He had his cell phone.  Yet he couldn’t call work.  Blah ba blah.  Some people are oblivious.

The other excuse that I got was that this guy road the shuttle from the parking lot up to the display area where most of the event was going on.  They had car dealers and other vendors set up in an area near the Golf Club.  Apparently… or at least according to him… the shuttle somehow did not take him back to the parking lot.  Instead of waiting for the shuttle to come back on its next round and riding it back to the proper spot, he decided to take the trails across the park.  He wasn’t happy when every point where the path crossed the track was blocked.  Maybe next time he will pay attention to his shuttle routes instead of having to walk an extra few miles back to get on the shuttle he should have stayed on to start with.

The organizers hold a catered dinner after the event to thank those who volunteered.  I had planned on staying for dinner.  I wanted to also go up and roam around the paddock area and take some still pictures of the cars.  My back was extremely stiff and sore by day’s end.  I haven’t hurt this bad in quite a while.  I could barely lift my leg to get on the bike.  I decided that home was the best choice.  I turned in my radio and headed out of Pittsburgh with thoughts of grabbing a sandwich at Wendy’s in Cranberry and giving the bike a shot of fuel as well.  I got to Cranberry and turned into the plaza where Wendy’s is.  As I made the turn, I noticed that all the chairs where up on the tables and the employees were gathered around the counter.  “So much for a quick burger.” I thought to myself.  I turned in to Kings next door.

I ate my chicken parm… a way bigger portion than I expected…  and hit the road for home.  Tired and sore, the bike felt heavy as I made my way up route 19.  I was too tired to run the interstate.  By the time I hit the Route 422 exit, I had made up my mind that the back road stuff was not going to work.  I got on 422 and headed home, greatful that there wasn’t much traffic.  I ran the four lane clear to West Middlesex.  I parked the bike and took the bags off and put them in the truck.  I felt like I could collapse at any moment.  A quick shower didn’t loosen anything up.  I laid down on the bed with the intent of only taking a short nap.

I woke up at 6 am this morning to Tink sitting on my chest, staring at me and licking her lips.  Yes, my Queen… You can have your breakfast.  I came down stairs to find I had left the lights on.  I hadn’t put the bottled water away like I had intended.  It was still sitting in the cooler on the table.  I’ve been laying around all day trying to summon the energy to do something.  Originally, I had planned on working both days.  Had I done that… Ugh… I think I would be missing a few days work this week.  Hopefully, resting today will be enough and I won’t need to take time off to recover.

It was a long day.  I’m not sure how interested I am in attending Grand Prix races as a spectator.  I think I would have enjoyed the racing more had I been in more of a space where I could see more “racing”.  Racing in my opinion is more than just cars flying by.  I like to see the cars battling it out fender to fender.  Would I help again with the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix again? Absolutely!  It is a great race for a great cause.  I would, however, limit myself to a half day shift like the rest of the group did.

Ugh.. I just realized that this entry is rambling on into delerium.  If you’re still reading, I appologize.  All in all a good day was had.  Learned things about my riding ability good and bad.  Enjoyed a day helping kids with Autism and lived to tell about it.  Now, back to figuring out what I’m going to do with the rest of this day.

~Cappy

… is hard!

I went back to work this week after being on vacation the week before.  Rough stuff to get back into the swing of.  I don’t know why it is but it always seems like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.  I didn’t do anything strenuous for vacation.  I just stayed at home.  Still…  I had to work to get up Monday to go back to the office.

This has been a weird week at home as well.  I get home. Eat dinner and kick back to relax a bit before doing laundry, etc…  Every night I’ve fallen asleep for about an hour and a half.  The last couple night’s naps have been driven by back pain.  I know the weather is going to change for the weekend because the internal barometer is really sounding its alarm.  That’s ok… Got nothing planned for the weekend.

Tink seems to be feeling better.  She’s playing a lot now.   She can be such a card sometimes.   I tossed a box on the floor last week after taking out the contents.  She immediately laid claim to it.  So now there are four boxes in the living room.  One, I call her nip box because that’s where she goes when she wants nip and she plays with it in there.  The other two are a small paper box lid and a shoe box that have toys in them.  The toys in the little paper box lid she doesn’t show much interest in.  I put them in there so they weren’t laying all over the house.  The shoe box, however, is the mousy torturing box.  I got her a mouse that you fill with your own fresh catnip.  She will throw that thing around all over the place.  Somehow, it always ends up back in the box.

I have had some odd thoughts and dreams over this past week.  I wish I were more outgoing so that I wasn’t so much the nerdy stereo type.  Staying at home with my computers and such instead of hanging out at bars and the like.   No.. I do not live in my parents basement.  I have my own house.  :-p   I’m just not much for hanging out in large crowds of people.  It’s ok for work but just to quote ‘go out and have a good time’… not my thing.  The reason I don’t like to hang out doesn’t have so much to do with drunks or smokers offending me… to each his own.  It has more to do with not feeling relaxed in those situations.  I’d much rather tinker around by myself than ‘be one of the crowd’.   People ask why I went to Disney last year by myself.  I had no one else to go with me but that was ok.   I was able to do my own thing.  Ride what I wanted to ride.  Take a break when I needed or wanted to.  I had a really great time.

Thinking as I composed that last paragraph, I noted to myself (and now to you guys) that I feel alone when I’m in a crowd.  I guess its an out of place feeling like I don’t fit in.  There are very few folks in my life that I enjoy hanging out with.  Those select few who I spend time with know who they are.  I hold these folks as special people,  more  like family than friends.   The rest of the time I feel like a third wheel.   If you are a friend of mine and I don’t hang out with you a lot, don’t fret.  It’s not that I don’t like you.  I just haven’t let you into my comfort zone… My personal time and space where I feel like I belong.  If you see me out somewhere, you will often notice that even though there are a bunch of people I know, I am off somewhere by myself.  It happened at the July 4th shindig.  I sat at the table with my dad.  When he left, I hung out by myself.  At the pool, I found my own little patch of water and just enjoyed being refreshed.  I wasn’t upset with anyone.  I just wanted my space, mentally and physically.

I feel that way at work as well.  I don’t fit in to the group.  I ask myself why the guys don’t ask me to go to lunch with them, but then I think “I don’t really want to go to lunch with anyone.  Just give me some time with my thoughts.”  I guess that’s one of the reasons I haven’t changed jobs yet, even though I should.  I lack the confidence that I can impress a new employer to the point of improving my job situation.  Confidence is a word I rarely apply to myself.   Over the past few years especially, I just have no faith in myself.  I have been chastised on more than one occasion for thinking that way but its the truth.  I know what I am capable of, yet I still don’t feel comfortable in most situations.

Oh well… Enough sulking I guess.  Maybe I’ll win the lottery and take another Bahamas vacation.  Oh yeah… You have to play to win.  I win daily because the money I would have wasted by losing tickets stays in my pocket.  I know.. there’s that lack of confidence thing again.

I guess I’ll go change laundry into the drier and head off to bed.  THAT I am pretty sure I can handle right now!

G’night!

~Cappy

Fireworks Gif

Half of this week of vacation has come and gone.  Today is July 4th.  A day we celebrate our independence as a country.  Parties, Picnics and Fireworks give use the opportunity to gather with friends and family to enjoy the splendor of the day.  Here’s to having a safe and Happy 4th while remembering that the holiday is about our independence and what it took to gain it.

Now that the pleasantries are over, what exciting fun has gone on this vacation thus far.  Hmmm.  A 109 mile motorcycle ride up to Pymatuning Lake and back.  Got the oil changed in the ATV.  Fixed the running boards on the ATV.  Removed a broken bolt and another stripped bolt on the ATV skid plates.  Hid inside on Tuesday for most of the day since Mother Nature decided to dump rain on us, much needed rain, but rain non-the-less.

My goofy furball Tinkerbell has been showing some signs of improvement healthwise.  She has started this thing of snuggling with me at night.  She either lays against me or crawls up on top of me.  She can be such a hoot sometimes.  I like to ignore her when she comes up on the bed or couch for attention, just to see how long and persistant she will get.  If I’m sleeping she will go as far as smoothing and licking my hands and arms or even sniffing my nose.  Her wiskers tickle.  I generally give her the requested scratches at that point.

I got up early this morning to put some clothes in the drier and get stuff under way for the party this afternoon.  I’m not going to push it because I’d like to have a little back left to make it through the evening without severe pain.  I’ve helped Rick with this deal of his for most of its existance, 18 years or so now.  It has evolved from 15 or 20 people the first year to half the neighborhood and a 40 minute fireworks display at the end of the night.  Hoping Mother Nature rained herself out last night so that the humidity and thunderstorms stay at bay.  If temps hit where they are calling for… the pool is going to feel realllllllly good.

I think I’ll take a nap now while the kielbasa is roasting.  Need to get the lights and stuff from the basement… get the generator on the truck and head over to Rick’s to see if I can help with anything before lunch.  If you are coming to the Party on the White House Lawn.. I’ll see ya there.  If not… Have a Safe and Wonderful July 4th.  Independence Day!