Matt Matteson

“You know the APIs, you have ideas” Crockett pushes me to DO as we finish lunch on the sunny Quiznos patio.

My first application, Benchmark, a tool to test your iPhone’s performance, went on sale September 10th. With no marketing, or mention on any blogs, to date 699 units have been sold.

After talking with Crockett more, we decide to go in together to write a app. Under the business name tapricot. Snow Report was posted in the App Store on September 16th. It’s a solid release and I am hoping I can line up some things with people to really make it worth bragging about. (Yes, I’m keeping my secrets.)

With the positive results, I am going to try to make this the at least part of the answer to the question “What are you doing after you graduate in December?”

Durango Spills Video

The short track races happened without a hitch this morning. I felt good, and the bike felt good; but I was hoping to finish a little higher up. While watching the gravity events the rain moved in. The video is a few clips on the down hill and dual slalom course.

I am hoping the rain stops, but it has been coming down since around 1 PM. We have to check at 7 AM to see if they are hosting the cross country race.

 

 Durango Spills: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I took the time to upload a few photos I took while racing these last few days.

A quick thanks to everyone who helped get me up to speed:

Shaun - Place to stay, mechanic
Nathan - Aero helmet, disc wheels, aero bars, bike, mechanic
Jeremy - Bike
Topher - Areo Bars
Brady - Skin Suit
Zak - Wheels
Paul - help buy cog
Mom, Dad, Grandma, Sara, Tim, Cora, Andrew - showing up to cheer me on
Alex L - rollers
Alex S - mechanic
Deider - Car pooling

Awesome!

Don’t stop pedaling, really.

Tonight I made it down the 7-Eleven Velodrome. This velodrome in Colorado Springs was built in 1982, providing a place to train for the 1984 Olympics. One of only 23 in the United States.

As my first time on a track bike, and first outing on a track I had a blast! I picked up Deider at 4 PM and made it to the track with rental bike in hand, which I dug out of the shed moments before, only to hear “C racers please line up.” I clip in for the first time on this bike, and pedal over. A track bike is a weird member of the cycling family. The bike has only one gear, and you hope it’s the right gear. The bike won’t coast, so if you stop pedaling the bike attempts to eject you. I’d only fooled around on a friend’s fixed gear for moments, and here I am preparing to bump shoulders in a steep concrete bank. At least I know no one is going to stop in front of me.

I competed in 3 races, each with a certain style. The hardest part of the first race was I didn’t know when we were finishing. In a road race you look around if you notice everyone coasting, well then, the race is over. Tonight, not so much. I had questions for each race, and everyone was amazingly kind. I would yell questions in the pack while racing and kept getting kind replies. Thanks everyone for making my entrance into this crazy sport such a great time.

The goal of the night was to keep my flesh mine, and provide no blood sacrifice. I succeeded. The second goal of the evening was to try to get a Category upgrade, which would allow me to show up to the track in two weeks to compete in the Collegiate nationals. It turns out there is some magic to the USA Cycling and Collegiate divisions, but I think I can get them settled.

I can’t wait to get back out there. If any of you can help, I’m going to be looking for a track to borrow for the race. Tonight’s steel steed was a 58cm 48×14, if you have anything like this and could spare it for a week, let me know!

Results are posted online, I’ve just got to find them.