More XC Nick, last meet of the season.

Nick’s last meet of the JV XC season was yesterday. Same location as the meet I posted about earlier, but a different course. Sue & I arrive early enough for me to scout a good photo spot. It is right at the “3 Mile” sign, as the course arrives at the stadium for the finish. However the race passes this location 3 times during the course of the event, so hopefully I will be able to get photos without running around as much as the contestants!

I stand near the start line and am amazed at the size of the field. A huge number of kids, which stretches beyond either end of this photo right as the starter gun went off:

Nick is at the point of that big red arrow. It is very handy to be able to spot him. 😉

There they go! There’s Nick, right in the middle of the pack.

From the start I scurry to my “3 mile sign” spot and wait for Nick to come by. The first time the pack arrivesthey were still bunched up in a thundering herd of humanity. I am inches away from the course and proximity defeats my ability to spot Nick in the group. He runs RIGHT by me and I never see him. Thankfully by the second time the field is thinned out and I am able to pick him out long before he arrives at my spot. I shout some encouraging words and grab some photos as he goes by:

He comes around for the last lap, and kicks it up a notch for the finish. When he passes me there was only a tenth of a mile to go, and I am impressed to see him pass a couple of kids on the home stretch.

After the rest of the field goes by I cross the course, met Sue and wait for Nick to arrive. There he is, looking tired:

Getting the post race hug from his mom.

Post race photo.

The competition in his class is very tough. He ran the 3.1 miles in about 21 minutes and finished in the middle of the pack.

Fuel combustion | Move over, Prius | The Economist

HCCI 'Diesel-like' gasoline engine

Here’s the link: Fuel combustion | Move over, Prius | The Economist.

I don’t know how many of you read The Economist. There are a couple of semantic errors in this article about Diesel technology, but overall it is nice to see a lot of thought going toward improving the EFFICIENCY of internal combustion engines. Not to mention Diesel getting good press.

Car Photo of the Day: Name all the cars.

This might be too easy, but after the last two stumpers you guys need a softball tossed at you. Go ahead, smack it hard!

Four are easy. There are SIX cars visible though, which might up the difficulty quite a bit.

And here I thought I knew all the cars visible… there are actually SEVEN!

If you look closely at the “embiggen’ed” photo above you will note a sliver of car between the Corvette and Cayman. The reverse angle shot (see my last comment below for the URL) ID’s it as one of a Ferrari’s “sedan/coupe” type cars from the 70s.

X-C Nick

Nicholas tried out for the High School Cross-Country team … and made the cut. We’re very proud of him. A couple of weeks ago we attended a big meet at Lakewood, about 6 miles SW of Arlington. Kids from all over Western Washington were there… it was HUGE. Nick traveled by bus with his team mates. We arrived just in time to see his race. The course was sprawled all over and I had to scatter about to catch Nick going by. He stayed in the middle of the very large pack and turned a pretty respectable time. I don’t have any of the details though. Here are some photos:

Not long after the start, the pack comes through the stadium. That's Nick wearing #134.

Going by, hair flying! Mt. Pilchuck on the horizon.

Coming down the hill, about halfway there.

Pushing hard!

Going by. I yelled encouraging words for him.

Coming through the baseball fields, the last mile.

Just past the finish line.

I called out to him from the stands. Looks tired.

Sue & Chris waiting for Nick to exit the finish maze.

Congratulation hug from his mother.

Yes, that is Chris in the photos. He rode a bus from Olympia to Tacoma, and a train from there to Everett where we picked him up Friday night. It was a surprise visit. Very nice to see him and have him home for a weekend. I drove him back to Olympia Sunday night. He’s enjoying college… despite having a LOT of reading to do.

Nick has another XC meet this weekend, if I go I’ll get some more photos. Hope you liked these!