Trans Mendota Swim

I decided I couldn't wait to see if could do the 5.53miles across lake mendota so I went for it this morning.

stats:
5.53MI swim
2hrs 18min
1:33/100m pace

Since I didn't have to go to work until 11am I decided I would go for the swim this morning at 7. I got ready and hopped on the bus that would take me to the edge of the Yahara river. It took about a half hour to get to the north side of the lake. I didn't have a kayaker or anybody going along but I saw a lot of fisherman and early morning boaters out so I decided just to risk it.

I walked to the bridge that would mark the starting point of my swim at the northern most part of lake Mendota by the Cherokee marsh. I pulled on my swim cap and goggles and jumped in. The water was quite warm, which was good since I didn't have a wetsuit on.

I swam through the marina and out into the lake. The water was calm and I got into a good rhythm my goal was a 2:30hrs I knew it was doable because I'd done a 30:54 at Racine and had been right around a 1:30/100m in warmer water.

I just keep swimming, out into the middle of the lake. I was using the capital for sighting. Since i'm half blind without glasses it was the only part of downtown Madison that I could see. I knew that if I kept just left of it I would be on target to hit James Madison beach, the end of swim. I was about 2 miles out into the lake when I came upon a group of people taking sailing lessons. It was really weird because I kept expecting to hear the boats but, they were silent, and I'd hear LOOK OUT!! from behind and have to dive out the way an errant sailboat. I finally cleared the curious and dangerous inexperienced sailors and kept on swimming just left of the capital building.

Another 1/2 mile or so and the waves started getting really big. I got really Sick! It was like constantly swimming through ocean surf Up and Down, up and down I figured out they were between 3-4ft waves!! I managed to not throw up but I was very sea Sick. The rough waves lasted until 1 mile from the southern shore of the lake. Where it smoothed out again, but it got very weedy, almost so weedy I could practically walk on the water!

I knew though that that meant I was getting very close to shore. I concentrated on swimming efficiently and fast! Soon I could see the beach. I re adjusted my heading and swam straight in. 5.53 miles in 2hr's 18 minutes! This swim would have been nicer with a kayaker to carry some water or something. I didn't dare drink from the lake as people have been getting Sick from the algae, and by the time I finished I was very dehydrated. This was one incredible swim, I was hoping for just over 2:30hrs but sub 2:20 was just unexpected!!

I've got a new challenge in mind. Though, it will probably have to wait till after IM, and that is to swim all 4 of the chain lakes. It's 20 miles, and yes I will definitely have some one come along on that swim thats too long for a solo swim without water/food etc.

Why are tall people left out of the equasion??!!

I've been thinking about fit lately both in bikes and cars. I need a tri bike but nothing fit's, I've gotten fit and know that I have to go custom in order to fit on a bike. I'm also starting to look for cars as the one I've got is getting up there in years and miles. It'll be 10 years old this December and by that time will have over 200,000 miles on it. Problem is, no one is making cars that get the same gas mileage or fit me(even the car I have now doesn't really fit). I've got a 99 Pontiac Sunfire.

I get 42 mpg on the highway with this car and even though it doesn't fit me I still have more room in it than any other modern car produced in the last 20 years, and I want a car, not an SUV, crossover, minivan, truck or other wasteful type of auto; so I've been using this new car search system on the Autochannel website. It has every car from 2006 on and listed is the legroom, head room and other measurements of the cars. It's designed for tall people.

What I've discovered is that the only car that will accurately and comfortable fit me is the 06 Saleen S7! Hmm, it's too bad it's about $540,000 out of my price range. As I comb the list and eliminate all cars more expensive than $25,000 I have to give up almost 7 inches of legroom before I can even start to afford these cars!!! I could fit in these cars if I hack off a few inches of my femurs!!! An example would be flying coach in any Boeing aircraft, the distance from seat back to the seat in front of me is about a 1/2 inch smaller than my upper leg.

I'm 6' 6" and have longer thighs than calf's so that presents a real challenge. Plenty of cars theoretically have enough legroom but because of my long upper legs my knees will generally hit the dash board before I can extend my leg to touch the pedals! They really need to start measuring cars from seat back to dashboard at leg level if they do they will find out it's a tight squeeze for people with 36" inseams and above!

To date I have never had a car that didn't at least require creative leg positioning or dashboard modification to drive it. That's the reason I couldn't perform test drives on the cars that I worked on when I was a mechanic. I simply could not fit. The only cars I can comfortably drive are those with seats practically on the floor, with at least 6 inches of rear movement and enough backrest tilt so I can sit on the backrest and gain a few more inches!

I don't get why auto engineers, bike designers, Aircraft designers, even clothing designers(except in Germany!) don't make things for tall people. It's insane! I'm thinking that maybe I should just give up on the car. If I get a good custom bicycle that fits me I'm thinking the automobile just isn't worth my time or money! Yeah, I love to drive fast. Yeah, I like to drive long distances, but maybe it's time I just face the facts that there are NO comfortable cars for tall people. It's bad when you have to worry about getting blood clots and such from having your legs pinned to the dash board for hours on end completely immobilized!

I know that in North America I cannot live without a car. The distances I need to travel are too vast and would require lots of time on a bicycle. It is unfortunate that America doesn't have a rail system similar to Europe or I would ditch the car. Maybe I should just move to Germany the land where the clothes are long, the aircraft have legroom, and the trains are designed for people over 6 foot, of course as tall as their population is they still don't design cars with legroom. I guess there really is no place for tall people in the modern world!

Bikes! Bikes! Bikes!

Today I went out on a fact finding mission for the tri bike that I hope to build soon. I tested 3 bikes from 3 different manufacturers. A Qroo, a Trek, and a Specialized. First off none of them fit, on all of them my knees hit my elbows, legs hit chest, and shoes hit the chain stays (first time i've ever had to TOE IN to pedal a bike!). Why aren't bike companies making Tri bikes for taller riders??? I need a 64cm road bike, and around a 62cm tri bike, no one makes bikes for tall guys! The real question I'd like to pose in this post is why are tri bikes so sluggish?

My comfort roadbike handles shaper and with more speed than those tri bikes! Seriously, after test riding those three bikes I hopped on my Specialized Roubaix (which is even so modified so I can fit that weight distribution is way off) and was relived to have bike that could corner, and a bike with long chain stays. I've so far discovered that tri bikes handle like cargo ships, and that the proportions of the bike are all off.

I think I need to build a tri/road combo of sorts. Longer chain stays, longer top tubes, with short head tubes and really wacky angles to get the right amount of trail and get the weight distribution back in between the wheels instead of having a front bias like those tri bikes, or a rear bias like my modified Roubaix. So is the life of a tall guy, always a struggle being too big for most things, bikes included.