Smoketown Airport Criterium

5/15/10 - I raced in the Smoketown Airport Criterium, in Lancaster County, PA. I entered the Cat 4/5 field, and it was the first time that I hadn't raced strictly Cat 5. We started out on a neutral lap around the runways, being paced by a nice, shiny red corvette. For the lap being "neutral", I can say that it's the closest I've ever been to being taken out by another rider. Some idiot came across 3 other riders, and basically "body checked" me in the middle of the turn. I have no idea how we managed to stay upright. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but that's why you're supposed to "hold your line" in a turn...
Once the neutral lap was finished, the racing was underway, and was fast! There was an "S" turn at the beginning of the back side of the runway, on the fast side of the loop, then we went all the way to the end of the runway into a sharp, 180 degree curve, then back up the other side to the other 180 degree turn, completing the loop. On the backside of the runway, we'd get up to about 30-35 mph, then slow for the turn. The bike that I'm currently riding (Kestrel Talon) handled the corner's better than I'd expected, so I was usually able to hold a decent amount of speed into, and coming out of the turns. Coming up the front straight away was WINDY (15mph winds), so as long as I could come out of the turn well, we'd bunch up into a tight pack and head up to the top turn. The racing was fast and fun, and as usual there were small attacks here and there, and jocky-ing for position. My only rule for myself, was to not get caught moving backwards through the field, like I felt in my last crit (at RIR), when I found myself off the back, and in the wind by myself. Everything worked well, and I feel like I conserved energy where I could. Towards the end of the race, with about 5 laps to go, the field started to split apart. I found myself strung out, somewhere behind the main group, but with about 7 other bikes around me. I took it upon myself to talk it up a bit with the other riders, and organized a chase group to reel the peloton back in. This worked extremely well, and within 3 laps, we had latched back on, passing several riders along the way and finished just behind the main group. The picture above is me leading the chase group, going out to catch the main field.
Overall, I finished 36th (out of 75) in the mixed field, but took 9th place for Cat 5. I'm very pleased with that performance. Each race this year has gone a little better each time. My next race is the Tour of Tucker County in 2 weeks, which is billed as one of the top 10 hardest races in the country. It has several sustained climbs over several miles. I'll make sure to blog about it after the race.

Oakley Customer Service Issue

Recently, I'd been shopping for new sunglasses. I've worn Oakley sunglasses almost exclusively since 1994. The optics, fit, and styles have been unrivaled, in my opinion. I've currently been rocking my Half Jackets for about 5 years, and last year I bought a new set of XLJ lenses for them (previous frames include Frogskins,
M Frames, Fives, Minutes, Twentys, and Square Wires). I've always been 100% satisfied. I've also always bought from various retail locations.

This time, while shopping around, I surfed a few different manufacturer's websites. Other brands that caught my eye were Rudy Project and Smith. My stipulations for my purchase this year were simple: I wanted full frame coverage (I'm not happy with my Half Jackets for cycling), they had to have rubber nose pieces (to prevent sliding down my face while in the drops), and they had to look good. When I went to Oakley's website, the new Straight Jackets (white chrome with red iridium lenses) immediately caught my eye. As soon as I had a chance, I stopped by, or called every sunglasses store I could think of, trying to find them. At the very least, I tried on different frames to see which ones fit my narrow face. NOBODY had the white chrome Straight Jackets. Finally, stopping by a retail store in the mall, I KNEW that the Straight Jacket frames fit me well, and decided to place an order directly through Oakley via their website.

I ordered late last Wednesday night. I payed extra shipping fees for 2nd Day Air via UPS. The order processed, and I got a confirmation email in the wee hours of Thursday morning. I used UPS' website to estimate my delivery. It showed that as long as the order shipped on Thurs., I should have my awesome, new sunglasses in my hands by the end of Saturday. Friday, I tracked my package via UPS, which showed that my package had been RESCHEDULED for a delivery date of Tuesday. DEFINITELY not the 2 day shipping that I had paid for. On Monday (today), I called Oakley customer service and explained to them my disappointment. The rep. explained to me that this was normal and, in fact, exactly what I had ordered. She explained that UPS does not deliver on Saturdays, and that even though my package shipped Friday (why didn't it ship Thursday...I ordered Wednesday?), Friday and Monday would be my transit days, and Tuesday was my delivery date. While I was on the phone, I went to UPS' website and explained to her that UPS originally showed my delivery date of Saturday, but later was updated and rescheduled to Tuesday. She still insisted it is the correct ship time.

I'm a rather non-confrontational person these days, so I didn't want to argue with her. Is it too much to expect my shipping costs to be refunded? Is this really how Oakley wants to do business? I wonder if I'd decided on the Rudy Project glasses, would their customer service say the same thing? I know the ship time doesn't seem like a monumental crisis, but I specifically paid for faster shipping, and didn't get it. I think Oakley can afford to refund my extra $9...after all, I paid $160 for the sunglasses.