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David Kennedy Thompson |
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Copyright David Thompson 2006 |
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Gear West trip to the tunnel (Mar 15 to Mar 19, 2007) 0959 03-15-07 Depart Casa de Thompson with 10 bikes, 12 wheels, 4 varieties of trail mix and 1 inflatable mattress. 1000 Café Latte for coffee and scones 1400 I-94 Exit 164 Edgerton, WI Purchases made: gas from the Shell station (no live bait purchased), Subway sandwiches made by one crazy manic woman (Kevin=6”, Kris=12”, one for now one for later, David=nothing, 2 milks and a small bag of Frito’s) 1500 Official Wisconsin Trooper report; 13 sightings, 2 pullovers, 1 accident. Enter Illinois. 1543 Chicago traffic officially sucks. 1632 After 67 attempts, success! Photo of Kris and the Sears Tower taken. Phone call number 13 on Kris’s cell. 1655 Official Illinois Trooper report; 4 sightings, 2 pullovers. Enter Indiana. 2011 EST Official Indiana Trooper report; 5 sightings, 3 pullovers. Enter Ohio. Time changes to EST. 2155 I-80 Exit mile marker 50 at Travel Plaza Purchases made; gasoline (Kevin buys a little extra for his pants), 5 slices of Sabarro pizza, 1 cheese burger from Burger King, 1 chocolate shake from BK, 1 medium Sprite. Notable events; Kevin’s change of jeans in parking lot with a bitter wind-chill to boot, group of 4 college kids fighting for front seat dominance in parking lot. Driver switch to Kevin.
0000 03-16-07 I-80 Exit mile marker 218, Austintown, OH Purchases made; gas from BP, free coffee for Kris, no badge required. Notable events; station was robbed shortly before our arrival. Items taken: 2 cartons of cigarettes. Clerk advised we are safe, we don’t smoke. Driver switch to Kris. 0037 Official Ohio Trooper report; 2 sightings, 1 pullover. Enter Pennsylvania. 0415 I-80 Exit mile marker 244 outside of Mittinville, PA. Purchases made: gas. Notable events: Punxitany exit passed, Kris did not see his shadow, indicating 3 more hours before a drivers switch. Highest point on I-80 east of the Mississippi crested at 2280 feet. Driver switch to David. 0522 Official Pennsylvania Trooper report; 2 sightings, 1 pullover. Enter New York. 0626 Official New York Trooper report; 1 sighting, 1 pullover. Enter Connecticut in Danbury. Notable events; trooper pullover involved a sedan and a full cabin search of vehicle. It snowed a little also. 0700 I-84 pile up passed. One semi tractor trailer rig with sea container rolled over causing container to be ejected, 10 troopers on scene to brag about sparking the first flares and taking the best pictures of the carnage. Kris wakes up just in time to criticize quality of Connecticut state law enforcement, photos taken. 0745 I-84 Exit 68. Purchases made; gas, 2 cups of coffee (1 decaf, 1 regular) 0804 Kris’s 15th phone call comes in from the original Swartpedo giving travel advise for all involved and advising of large amounts of snow on the way for the entire east coast effectively pissing on our parade. 0811 Official Connecticut Trooper report; 12 sightings, 1 pullover. Enter Massachusetts. 0815 Hannah and Jill depart Minneapolis via Northwest airlines with 0 bikes, 0 wheels and 16 shoes. 0921 Arrive at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Kim Blair is there to greet us, and we unload two Zipp ZedTech 999 wheels sets, ten bikes, and tub of hydration systems, clothing, aero bars, and seat posts at the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel. 1008 After the unload, Kevin, David, and Kris have time to go for a run around Cambridge and swim at MIT’s sweet natatorium. Notable events: Kris touch shoe of the 3rd most photographed statue in the world, the statue of John Harvard – Ha-vah-d. The eight inches of snow Boston receives start to fall during the group run. 1312 Kris witness a local Bostonian slip and fall. The poor chap was keeping his hand warm in his coat pockets and “bit-it” hard on the cobble sidewalk – “ma-ther fa-#$%*” Kris solid Southy imitation down in no time. 1316 Kris and Kevin get in a well deserve nap after meeting Hannah and Jill at Teresa’s apartment. Teresa’ is Jill’s friend who she met while working in Boston a few year back. Teresa has a great two bedroom place on the corner of Charles and Beacon overlooking Boston Common. 1705 Snow has accumulated up to 3 inches; walking is difficult and blowing snow stings the eyeballs. Getting pizza and salad from the Upper Crust pie shop around the corner seems to be the best plan.
0600 03-17-07 Rain is pouring down in Boston, and David and Kris set out across Boston Common in search of breakfast. Finagle a Bagel doesn’t open until 0700, so two Boston Creams, a glaze stick, a chocolate sprinkles, a chocolate frosted, and a chocolate glaze donut, 6 bagels, and box of Joe from Dunkin Donuts does the trick. However, the trek to and fro is treacherous with and 1 inch of freezing, standing water proves painful. 0733 Depart Teresa’s apartment for MIT 0751 Arrive at the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel at MIT. Temperature in the tunnel is 37.6 degree, which translates to approximately 6 degrees below zero wind-chill. David makes a Blues Brothers drive back to the apartment to get leg warmers and tights. 0825 David returns and Kim Blair makes the call to the power plant to inform them the wind tunnel is going to power up – 2 mega Watts at start up. 0830 Tunnel is running. Kim and Chewy (MIT student) are setting up the test rig and running the tare test. 0835 MIT student Mark shows up after being held up with the weather and the testing begins with Kevin on the Felt DA.
Testing: 6 hours of testing plus an additional 3 or 4 in setup and tear down
1200 Jill Swarthout shows up with lunch – four bags of pick-a-mix candy. Everyone is happy with the selection. 1400 The official testing finishes up, and the MIT students use Hannah to perform air flow visuals with a smoke. Kevin finally cuts it off when he notices Hannah shaking. 1500 The van is repacked while the MIT crew organizes the data. With the propeller shut down, this is also an opportunity for frontal photos in the tunnel. 1900 The crew gets their first meal since a continental breakfast at 0600. Cabott’s family ice cream parlor and family restaurant in Newton, MA hit the spot. 2017 Kevin takes everyone by his grandfathers home a few miles from Cabott’s on the way back to Boston 2045 Kevin, Kris, Jill, Hannah, and David walk across Charles street to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and a successful wind tunnel test at Cheers. Kevin has a green beer.
0754 3-18-07 Kris, Kevin, and David set out on a running tour of Boston. Route: Depart Beacon Hill to “salt and pepper shaker” Bridge; across the bridge in Cambridge to run along the Charles River to the Science Museum (also part of the Boston Triathlon bike course); from the Museum head South by the Fleet Center to Fnauel Hall by the North End, catch a view of the North Church, which starts Kevin 45 minute history lesson about Paul Revere; from Fnauel Hall the route follows the Freedom Trail though downtown running by Government Center and Downtown Crossing; From Downtown Crossing the route heads North to the grave yard where Samuel Adams and members of the Franklin family are buried; the group takes the time to check out the grave stones; heading West from the grave yard, the three run through Boston Common and Boston Garden and then along Boylston Street. David points out the Boston Marathon Finish and Kris continues the trend of touching landmarks and run into the street to touch the panted marker; they check out the Boston Public Library where David did some of his graduate thesis research, the Prudential Center, and tons of cool bars and restaurant, including the Poor House along Boylston Street; At the corner of Boylston and Mass Ave, they head North to Common Wealth Ave or “Com Ave”, which then takes them by the Citco sign and toward Fenway; After the park, they head back towards downtown on Boylston and make a jaunt North on Mass Ave again where Kevin touches the “T” sign at Newbury Street; the route continues down the trendy and exclusive shopping street of Newbury to Boston Garden and to the Civil War Monument by Frog Pond in Boston Garden. The 400 meters from the Monument to Teresa’s apartment finishes up the run. 1025 Kris and Jill go for breakfast at the Beacon Hill Bistro, and Kevin, David, and Hannah head for City Sports Boston 1145 Jill departs for Logon International Airport to catch a flight to MSP. 1300 Kevin, David, and Kris depart the Boston Common parking lot on bike for a ride 1343 Ride by Tuffs University 1357 Hit the top of Turkey Hill and stop to enjoy the view of the Boston skyline. 1400 Hannah is picked up at Teresa’s apartment by a family friend for a ride to Jaffrey, NH. Her parents are still stranded in Puerto Rico by the snow storm that canceled over 1400 flights to the North East. 1547 The ride passes Hanscom Air Force Base and is just outside Concord, MA 1607 Kevin, David, and Kris hit a food station at the Market Place in Concord, MA – cranberry nut muffins and Nantucket Nectar for everyone. 1705 The ride reaches Belmont Wheel work just at close. The pace picks up because the ride is running long. 1733 David, Kevin, and Kris exhibit “Star Wars speeder bike” skills as the race though Harvard Square traffic. From the where Car Talk Offices above Click and Clap bet on who get taken out first. 1738 The peleton rolls by the MIT Nuclear Reactor and David and Hannah’s old apartment building. 1825 The ride is over and van repacked with bikes and gear – to the showers. 2005 A Texas burger, Wow Burger, ham, cheese & mushroom omelet, brownie Sunday, “hey your chocolate is in my peanut butter” Sunday, and camel apple delight Sunday are devoured at Cabott’s. The group officially departs Boston for Minnesota via Zipp in Indianapolis, IN. 2308 David passes off the helm to Captain O’Connor. Entries from this point on are potty at best. The crew on the Odyssey is starting to run ragged.
0137 03-19-07 Swarthout assumes the watch south of Scranton/Wilkes Barre. All is well. 0431 LT Thompson assumes the watch 52 miles from Youngstown, Ohio. Note: rations are running low but the vessel has just taken on bunkers and is steaming full speed toward the port of Indianapolis. 0705 A McDonald’s is sighted just outside Columbus, OH, and the AB rouses the Captain. (AB – Able Body Sailor, Kris Swarthout). 0719 After taking on stores at Mickey Dees, the Captain Kevin O’Connor decided to take the helm. 1120 First line at port Indianapolis (Zipp World Headquarters) 1409 Last line – the Odyssey is underway for Minneapolis/St Paul. 1538 The Odyssey is hit by hard by the wake of passing 18-wheeler and takes a rock to the wind shield. The dent is significant, but she is still holding. 1622 The last scraps of trail mix and potable water are consumed, but the crew’s morale remains upbeat. The weather has lifted and no pirates are in sight. 1118 We arrive at Casa de Thompson with 10 bikes, 12 wheels, 0 varieties of trail mix, 4 stale bagels, and 1 minivan that doesn’t have that new car smell anymore – success! |
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More too Come Check out Slowtwitch for some video that Chewy posted Look for articles in the triathlon media Checkout gearwestbike.com for future presentations and results releases |
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Captain’s Log |
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DKT at the helm on I90 toll way approaching Chicago |
