Home and Job

I have been home for a little over a week now. It's good to be with family and to have plenty, and I mean plenty of time to do cycling. Whether I get enough in is another matter, because it is SUPER hot here. In fact, I normally leave home by 6.30 to 7 am to beat the heat and by 9 am, the heat is often too much to handle. Cycling is huge here. I am amazed at the number of cyclists and the amount of pro looking people here (by this I mean their cycling specific muscles). I joined a club that offers rides everyday of the week. However, to reach there I have to cycle 10 miles on the bike path with tons of obscure signs and turns. I went to scout out how to get there with my little brother, who has grown so much this past year that he is already taller than me (and has lost a lot of weight). Thus I thought that he would be faster than last year, not so. We left home at 8 am and I calculated conservatively that we would be home by 10 am, at a pace of 10 mph. However, we were home at 11.30 by which time both parents have gone out looking for us. My brother later went on to have breathing problems (from exhaustion) and didn't want to go cycling again, not that he particularly wanted to do so in the first place. In fact, all my siblings (maybe not my littlest brother) avoid anything to do with exercise. My mum thinks that my cycling is ridiculous and my dad's idea of fun is relaxing in front of the TV. So strange that my family is so different from me. Back on track, many of the cyclists in the club are very fast. I will give an update later on cycling in Perth as I have ridden more myself and more with the club.

I wanted to talk a bit about my future job and the search for it. Initially I wanted to go to Germany, because people are more straightforward there and because I wanted to do cycling in Europe. However, after I learnt that the pay check is on average 50 % that of in the US, I decided not to go. After this, there was a period where I was confused about where to live. Then it popped in my head that I could go to Denver, CO because of the great cycling there. Yet, that ended at the same time as I found out just how dry it is over there. Not keen on having dry skin and bloody nose and premature aging. Then for a couple of days I had a strong inclination of becoming a lecturer in Perth because you can earn 100 k a year and work schedule is of course light, such that I would have lots of time to pursue cycling. However, life would be boring without any intellectual challenges and I don't particularly want to live in Australia. Later I settled on SF. The weather, the people and the cycling culture all seem to be a great fit for me. There was one job that I really wanted. Yet, the job spec says that they are looking for a person with 5-10 years of industry experience. I still applied and surprisingly I got an email asking for scheduling a phone interview. The phone interview went well. I liked how the company gives its researchers plenty of freedom, and they liked me too. So off I went for an onsite interview. I can wholeheartedly say that I enjoyed the interview. I wasn't nervous and was eager to learn more about the company, its research and its people. Everything I learnt I liked. I waited for the job offer - this did not come easy. This is because I am a foreign national and of course there are others competing for the position. Thankfully, I got the job. I think I have been very lucky in my job search. I know of two ChE PhDs (both US citizens) in bio research whom were jobless for 9 months. I have to say that the pay is pretty good too :) Now I have a bigger budget in buying my new bike.

When everything was falling into place towards December (finishing my thesis, finishing my papers, and landing the job), I felt that a higher power, perhaps God may not let me to stay happy for long and take everything away from me. This is strange, because when my research didn't work, when I broke my back, and when I wasn't happy I never thought that I was unfortunate or that they were anyone else's problems but my own.

An Era Has Thus Ended

Yay!! I finished my thesis and defended last Friday. I think my talk went pretty well. When I arrived 5 min before my talk, my advisor and labmates were already there. Knowing how last minute I am, he has already set up the projector for me. But what he doesn't know was that I am always prepared. I have tested the projector and practiced the talk. I was not a bit nervous, it was after all, my fourth talk. My talk lasted 29.5 min, perhaps the shortest thesis defense ever. After some questions from the general public, I was in the room with my advisor and other thesis committee members. They asked a few questions. There was one question where they wanted to know the actual number, for which I did not have. But I didn't want to have to do that experiment, so I provided a guesstimate, to which they laughed knowing what I was trying to avoid. Thankfully, no extra experiments were needed. But I quote from my thesis section 'future directions and recommendations' '...as with all scientific endeavors, the more we learn about a system, the more question arises....'(as you can see, I got pretty bored from all the writing). Anyway, no changes were required to be done to my thesis either (even though I took 1 week to write it)! I have sent my thesis for proofreading and later to get it bound. Also submitted two papers - finally.

Last Saturday, I went for the much anticipated final Montrose ride. I was to finish riding with the medium paced group without getting dropped. The night before, I didn't sleep well because my little sister snored more than usual. In the morning, I didn't hear my alarm through the ear buds. Thankfully, I got up. Mum said she heard the alarm but since it was nothing important (it's only cycling), she didn't wake me......I hurried and thought that I would be able to make it. I arrived at my usual waiting spot at 8.17 (they passed at 8.20 the last couple of times). But when 8.25 came and went, I had the dreadful suspicion that I probably missed the ride. I rode with another cyclist further up Huntington. After a bit, I saw 2 cyclists waiting by the side and asked if they were waiting for the medium paced group. They were waiting for the fast paced group, the medium one passed 10 min ago :(. I was so disappointed for not having a chance to finish that ride. I talked to these guys a bit, and they said that the fast paced ride is much faster and are generally more experienced cyclists, Cat 3 or above.... I thought oh well, let's see how long I can keep up with the fast group for. A few guys who broke away from the group rode by and we joined them. Soon the group caught up, actually, it engulfed us. There were so many people! The pace was indeed fast. But the ride was smooth and I was pretty confident. At one point, I nearly got dropped but stayed on. Then came the Encanto Park area where I got dropped last time from the medium paced ride. I made a mental note to NOT get dropped there again. However, I just could not keep up. After I got dropped I realized just how fast they were going. Within a few minutes, they were out of sight. Luckily I remembered the route. Soon I caught up with another guy who got dropped. He was quite upset and complained about how the group was faster than usual. I was pretty happy with my accomplishment. I look forward to coming back one day to finish the ride and to perhaps lead it :)

This week has been more tiring than when I was writing up my thesis. I had to finish everything up in the lab, teach and pass on things to others, pack up and sign off, clean up my apartment, sell furniture, send things to the airport (since my car is not big enough)....yet my car was still stuffed full. We drove over from LA to SF this morning, and left everything at a public storage. My mum and sister helped me so much with tidying up the apartment and packing up everything. I am already sad having to come back with my lonesome to unpack things from the storage.

Cycling Update 12/2/12

This morning I went for the Montrose ride, same route as last week with the goal of completing the ride with the group and not getting dropped. It has been raining the past few days, so I wore my new Rapha wind jacket. It's super light and is supposed to be waterproof for around 45 min. Thankfully it didn't rain. However, after riding for a few minutes, I realized that the jacket may keep water out, but it also traps water in. All the sweat had no where to go. So yep, I was steaming after about 30 min into the ride. So I opened the zip and was riding with the jacket flapping away - like a pro. Except pros only open their vest or jacket during climbs, because there is too much resistance otherwise. I spotted another girl cycling, she was very random and dangerous, which probably lead to someone complimenting me for riding in a straight line. One would think that it's common sense. I have to say that I wasn't feeling as good as last week, maybe because I haven't been working out the past week. In total just 40 min on rollers and a weight lifting session....so sad. Anyway, at around Encanto park section, the guys sped off like last time. Last time, I was able to keep up, but this time, I was exhausted and a gap opened. I rode about 30 m behind the group for 2 miles. It was a great workout but a lost cause. The wind resistance created by my jacket flapping around didn't help either. I should have put in a bit more effort in closing the gap when it first opened.

As time passed, the gap widened, and I had a hard time keeping track where the group was. All would have been fine if I know the route, but I don't remember directions unless I have to and there are many turns in this ride so yep. At one point, there was a car behind me and I wanted to keep to the right as much as possible since I was by myself, but I was going fast and before I know it, I rode into the uneven section (again). This time it was worse, my bike tilted by maybe 20 degrees with screeching metal on concrete sound, thankfully I saved myself. Idk why I always do this, I need to be careful. Then as I was speeding away, I checked to see if the group turned right at an intersection, and sure enough they did, so I did my sad crazy ass wide turn and doubled back. By which time, I couldn't see any cyclists anymore. After a bit, I caught up with this guy perhaps 100 m in front of me and I followed him. Then came an intersection, if memory serves me right I should turn right, but he went straight head, so I followed...wrong choice. I doubled back again. Then I rode on Foothill for what seemed like forever, I knew I had to turn right just not sure where. Then behold, I saw a vague outline of a cyclist in front of me, and saw that he turned right ahead, so I followed. It was indeed the correct route. I was so happy that I saw him. At least I will finish the ride, all is not lost! He was very easy to talk to and must have been around 60 yo. He used to be a pro cyclist and raced with Greg Lemond!

At the stop, we rode over to my coach and he asked me about a few things. Then the triathlon coach I met last week came over (he must have waited a long time) and we rode back together. I told him how I got dropped etc, he said it was his fault and apologized cos he was leading. Lol it's obviously not his fault that I couldn't keep up. I have one more chance left to see if I could finish a ride with this group.

Which leads me onto other things. I handed in my thesis yesterday, took a total of 1 week to write everything up. So efficient. There is nothing like a deadline to make me work. I'm pretty sure that if I had 1 month to write the thesis, the quality would have been the same. If say I had finished my thesis a day in advance, I would have felt that I needed better time management because the less time I have, the more efficient I am. So happy to be finishing up soon! Counting down the days.