I finally got on the water this morning but I'm not entirely sure it was worth
waiting for. According to Rudder's car, it was 95 by the time he got there at 4:30
this morning. Because of the heat, I kept my row short. However, I did manage
about 7.5 km, which means that I am in the last 10 km (about 6 miles) of my
href="http://fivehundred.diaryland.com">five hundred mile goal. Rudder pointed
out the other day that with the greater distance he covers, he's done 500 miles by
about the end of April. On the other hand, Rudder works practically next door to
the gym and about 10 minutes from the lake.
I need to come up with
some rowing-related writing samples for an opportunity I want to look into, but
realized that everything in this diary on the subject is very me-centered. Even my
race reports are more about my experience of the whole trip and event than about
the actual races. That's fine for a diary but I suspect not so fine for the people
I'm sending it to. Maybe I'll just write up a third-person account of rowing in
summer in AZ.
I've driven the MR-2 in for three days now so can
report on pros and cons. First, the bad stuff: it's a bit noisy, the seat gave me
a sore back yesterday, storage is small, and the cup-holder is small (tight for my
water bottle) and placed so that in pulling a water bottle out of it, you can hit
the A/C button and turn it off. The first time I did that, it took me fifteen
minutes to realize the light was off and I was afraid I'd bought a car with broken
airconditioning, NOT a good think in summer in Phoenix. Also, it's a little scary
sitting so low that you're staring at other car's bumpers, the headlights aim low
enough that they don't hit street signs, and the suspension is stiff enough that
the headlights and rearview mirror vibrate a bit. On the good side, the seats are
plenty cushy so the ride doesn't feel rough, the sore back problem can probably be
fixed by adjusting the seat, the storage behind the seats is bigger than it looks,
there's a notch on theback wall of the interior where I can hang up clothes or my
towel (on a hangar, the low-tranmission glass works well enough that the car isn't
unbearably hot after work, there's a third larger cupholder in the rear of the
armrest, the smaller front console ought to hold thigns like small bottles of
juice better than the similar but bigger ones on my Toyota pickup, and as
advertised, the car is very responsive. Brakes on a dime, then zooms off and hands
back change. Also, the top is very easy to put up or down, and the stereo is well-
organized (unlike the after-market poster child for bad design I put in my truck).
Also, I really do feel better being a silver MR-2 Spyder driver than a beige Civic
driver -- I kept being afraid people would identify me with my car. And I'm enough
of an engineer to like my cool toys, anyway.