Okay so the previous one was an impromptue "Hey i'm waiting for someone to show up: check it out" kinda thing.
I get back - i'm burnt out, training (not cycling but how to use a microscope) kinda wears me out. Something about talking for 2-3 hours straight followed by unsucessful fiddlin with a stuck/stripped collector lens adjuster - and well i get back and decide, WTF... lets see what comes up on technorati. For those who don't know ya can see who's linkin/saying stuff about you. Total geekdome. but sometimes curious. A link to me like Kerry's doesn't show up cause it's original, but this one was weird: Linkage. no? I guess i happened to be near the top when they did the massive copy paste of the links listed over at bikeblogs.com the think with that place is there are so many damn links that ya get dumped like a bad habit before long and you become old news. It comes in phases, i'm often like the guy on the street corner jumping up and down yelling HEY LOOK AT ME... others i just want to hide behind this stupid H2 and mumble and foam and rant without being noticed... how do you reconcile those... i dunno... i could go Dennis Leary on everyone... I think the fact that i really like his humor says a bit about me... Wikki says: "He is known for his dirty and often angry humor." No SHIT! That asshole song and music video kicks completel but BTW. I have two of his CDs. the cancer one and... um... shit ... Lock and Loud... okay - so it seems after watching that vid (warning lyrics) maybe i don't like the song as much as i used to, but its that extremeism that pushes hard enough to get people uncomfortable to push back. Sure its kinda the wrong way to find common ground and foster peace but ya know - sometimes ya gotta shake people in their boots to get them to snap out of the freaking consumptive coma thye are freakin in. ya know?!!!
And draggin a trailer UP the hill INTO the wind SUCKS. Oops i mean it's hard work and good training. Oh and Me Pulling the Bike trailer, is one hell of a lot more efficient than some soccer mommy driving around in her big Volvo XC90 to pick up her only kid from day care 3/4 mile from home! Ah fuckit... i'm doing my part to reduce consumption and based on the positive impression pulling the buggy around its a good thing. Its not quite unanimous but with kid or without i get big ol grins from drivers, esp with the kid, something about Dad draggin his daughter around in a trailer makes people happy. The same people that don't give a rats ass about a guy on a bike seem to be cheery about a guy on a bike pulling a kiddie trailer.
How about that... there... coupled with me being some tall skinny freak with long blond hair who refuses against all efforts to even consider a ponytail... LET IT ALL FLOW IN THE BREEZE and won't get a hair cut cause he don't trust the salons or don't wanna pay $50 damn dollars to some old gossip hound gal at the local salons... *shrug* damn - dennis leary has worn off... maybe the updates from the weekend will be more mellow and lesss influenced by him.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
READ THIS
more to myself so i can come back and read it again...
i'm even debating copyin the damn thing incase LBF decides thisblog web log stuff is for the ass hats and bike nazis...
I really like the enforced one hour no one gets dropped rule... its a good one...
Linkage
Wordage:
And i think i fear - i'm #4, yeah my shoes are Genuis 2s... defiantely clinton era, when was he elected? This current admin has brainwashed my political memory.
Hall pass... awe for crissake... maybe... Damn inlaws this weekend... Man alive aint that all the truth... and maybe i should really actually work on the # of mass start races so i can build some integrity or at least clout... but then, i'd need more hall passes, and i'm trying to save em all up for Cross season!
G-dawg OUT
i'm even debating copyin the damn thing incase LBF decides this
I really like the enforced one hour no one gets dropped rule... its a good one...
Linkage
Wordage:
Ahh, the Saturday morning group ride.
As any roadie with a social bent and a club licence knows, this tradition stretches back into the hazy golden past of Binda straps, Clement sewups and wool shorts. Throughout the U.S., any LBS (local bike shop) desiring to promote riding and sales of high end equipment generally sponsors / hosts a Saturday morning group ride.
To the uninitiated tyro, the concept of a club / LBS organised group ride seems on the surface to be an innocent way to socialise, meet other cyclists, work on pack skills and get a fun, relaxing workout in, right?
Eh... mostly. Enter the Bike Nazis and their conceptualisation of group riding, which we fondly refer to as the 'Tour De Testicle'.
In my... ahem... extensive experience (I meant bike related, no snide comments, please... well, unless you're a hot dude, in which case email me your digits and we'll discuss it offline) every local road cycling community in the nation engages in this quaint tradition. Descriptives vary, but when I use the jolly euphemisms 'testosterone-fest', Testicle Tour', "Weekly World Champs' 'Pain Locker Festival', etc... any experienced roadie reading this is gonna nod and smile in understanding. I've been riding and racing road bikes since 1991, and have since lost count of the number of Tours De Testicle, Weeknight World Championships, etc, etc, bla bla... I've been engaged in.
So now, dear reader, I'm sure you're scratching your head in puzzlement. If I willingly, nay, eagerly engage in these weekly rolling cage matches, then what in the Nine Million Names of Dog am I bitching about?
The simple answer is: it's my blog and I'll bitch if I want to. The complexified answer has to do with a tangled litter of social and training factors, not the least the fact that I am, and have been a cycling coach for years. In a nutshell, it's just depressing to see the Bike Nazis time and again engage in selfish asinine behaviour that serves little benefit except to drive off perfectly cool rookies, usually those of the female and/or junior persuasion; individuals we can least afford to lose.
I'm sure I'll offend more sensitive readers with the arrant generalisations, but to quote the estimable wit Marshall Mathers:
"I just don't give a fuck".
::Denis Leary Mode::
On your typical fast public group rides, you are generally dealing with a bunch of what the Mad Dog so eloquently described in one of his many Foaming Rants; IOW most of the time they kinda resemble an asterisk when you set it in a really big font:
*Now I'll grant that these as(s)terisks come in all shapes and flavours, but generally you're dealing with one of the following subclasses:
1) The Pseudo-Racer: The bulk of the "racers" in team jerseys on these rides are the sorts of club racers and/or tri-geeks who are too chickenshitted to show up at a mass start event. They thus limit their actual race days to one or two ITT or hillclimb events per year, and often do quite well at these since there's no denying they're strong, plus they don't have to focus on any sort of skills or tactics besides riding one speed as hard as they can for a predetermined length of time. Pseudo-racers will go on every group ride their club holds because a) they aren't training for anything besides the weekly Testicle Tour and the annual Mount Doom Hillclimb, thus they're not suffering dead legs from having done a brutal race the previous Saturday, Sunday and/or Tuesday night; and b) To justify their existence and the "team" jersey they've bought, they feel compelled to prove to everyone else just how tough they are. These sorts of riders almost universally have terrible pack skills, know (and care) zilch about safety and love to ride around pretending they're Europros by blowing stop signs and riding three and four abreast blocking traffic. They'd ride without helmets if they could get away with it, thankfully most LBS hosted rides forbid it.
2) The Century King: Another subset are your fast recreational types. These guys don't care to race, and they don't give a crap about training in any organised fashion. They just want a hard workout, and in the process of doing this, they like to feed their own egos by boasting about how high an average speed they can maintain, and what "real racers" they are able to drop on any given ride. These guys have even worse group skills and manners than Subclass 1. They are often to be seen sporting permanently attached aerobars, helmet mirrors and Nashbar closeout deal jerseys. They generally don't give a snowflake on a hot stove about "development" (their own or anyone else's) or "encouraging new riders". Screw that noise, their goal is to get their workout in by dropping as many riders as they are physically capable of, and everyone else else be damned. I've actually heard one of these prats boasting how hard they "dropped" former Euro-pro Jonathon Vaughters (who happened to be riding in old CA kit, hence recognisable). I know JV pretty well, so what this donkey probably didn't suss onto is that JV had almost certainly been out 5 hours to the asshat's one (not to mention on a recovery lap from an interval set, to boot).
3) The Wannabe: A third subset are essentially poseurs who do group rides to facilitate their personal sense of identity. These are often has-been or never-was racer groupies who are now well-upholstered fiftysomethings. These guys show up with matched Euro team kit straining over their ample midriffs, World Champion edition shoes, on the latest unobtanium frameset. Considering said frameset was originally designed for a buck-twenty Basque climber, it creaks ominously beneath their Biggie Sized buns. These are the guys who either 'forget' their lid at home or let their handlebars wear it at any and all opportunity. They wag their jaws ceaselessly about how fast they "used to be" or "are gonna be". They typically get dropped like a bad habit on the first climb though, so at least you won't have to listen to it for long.
4) The Henpecked Spouse: These are the riders who do race occasionally througout the season, but who are only able to negotiate a "hall pass" to do so on a limited number of weekends, due to family / lifestyle constraints and a nagging spouse with limited understanding of their partner's desire for personal fulfillment, and Gestapo-esque control of any expenditure not directly targeted towards home improvement or personal haberdashery needs. These riders must achieve their race-pace miles and group skills building whenever and wherever they can, and ad hoc training is difficult to impossible to work around their 40+ hour/week jobs, in-law requirements, and the obligations of serving as social coordinator and taxi service for the offspring. The LBS group rides at least offer an acceptable schedule / structure for them to get a regular workout. These are the guys sporting faded, ripped local team kit circa 1997, shoes they bought during the Clinton administration, ride ten-year-old knackered Cannondales, and are damned fast by virtue of being pissed off at the world in general.
::/Denis Leary Mode::
So... you're still wondering. If I have such an issue dealing with a stack of douchebags on a weekly basis, then why the heck don't I just go do my own ride. Well, quite a bit of the time, I do. I ride solo to work every day. I do long solo interval workouts when I need specificity in my training. And I know this is really hard to believe, but I do get sick of myself (it's easy, trust me).
Honestly, I'm fortunate. The club I belong to has a couple of motivated, sane individuals who either work at the LBS or show up regularly on rides. These guys are strong AND smart, a rare combo in the cycling subspecies Lycratus microencephalus roadii roadii They generally take it upon themselves to alternately praise, bust heads and enforce the 'first hour no-drop' rule. This is why I do this ride. I know that the first hour of the ride will, indeed, be a proper warm up and social klatch. After which we can let the dogs out, have fun, and all bets are off. The transition generally occurs after a pee break, at which time neophytes are warned that the gloves are gonna come off; the wise ones typically elect to turn for home. It's a positively civilised idea: a friendly group ride where one can still indulge in some good old-fashioned head-banging anaerobia. Usually without pissing anyone off.In a nutshell, I've found a group of generally good dudes. Besides which, riding by myself, I certainly don't get the chance to gaze at lovely scenery such as this:(image removed by gewilli)Cheers,
And i think i fear - i'm #4, yeah my shoes are Genuis 2s... defiantely clinton era, when was he elected? This current admin has brainwashed my political memory.
Hall pass... awe for crissake... maybe... Damn inlaws this weekend... Man alive aint that all the truth... and maybe i should really actually work on the # of mass start races so i can build some integrity or at least clout... but then, i'd need more hall passes, and i'm trying to save em all up for Cross season!
G-dawg OUT
Crazy
That morning post was a total cop-out. I've got loads to say, Keeping the oldest entertained is a challenge between juggling support calls, emails, and the rest of the writing going on.
Heading down to the In-laws i should have tons to talk about. Speedpass, or the lack there of is gonna kick me in the pants again. I just gotta hope that the transition at the bottom of NJ is better than it was when we went north. I can hope that there are few hybrids trying to get maximum economy at the expense of excessive waste by others.
Just cause YOU are saving fuel, you are costing others time, creating aggravation, fueling hate... Just drive the damn thing like a car and just brake using the motor, NOT the brakes. cause just like me and my flywheel like wheels, as long as ya ain't trying to lose energy the motor's gotta do the same work.
Sorry - the fuel crunch is getting to me, sort of. That or the anticipation of driving down is makin me grumpy. Fortuantely due to a busted seat motor in the Volvo coupled with the fact that it still has the winter blizzak tires on and the fuel costs... we get stretch the legs on the Golf. Hopefully it won't cramp up on the way down. And finally i can try and shoot for the 50 mpg mark instead of mr. lead foot city driving 40ish i'm getting now. But all in all, with no regenerating braking, 130 horsepower, 250-290 ft-lbs of torque... that ain't all so bad in a car that with me and a full tank weights 2850 pounds, has a 5 star crash rating from its release...
That makes me wonder - what DOESN'T get a 5 star rating now? What is the point in having a 'rating' system that is all the same?
Why have grades of A,B,C,D,F (or E at certian places) if C isn't the average? How can you grade if mediocre people get Bs? There are exceptional and then really exceptional people out there. If a paper sucks i shouldn't be graded well. If one paper is markedly better then it should stand out.
No, i've never every given out a perfect grade in a course. I break it down into points. everything. some many points for format, images... that way it takes the subjectivity out of it, and when students bitch i can say "hey, sorry, these are the points and this is how you got what you got." they realize quickly (usually) that they actually have to improve and learn to do well. And usually they do.
Maybe that's the same for the crash rating. sure its a great feeling to buy a car that is safe, and yes they all should be safe. Anyway, i can feel my mood sink and get grumpier and grumpier and the turn of this writing ain't gonna be real positive if i keep going.
I need to keep the excitement veil up for the girls at easter. And some how i have to figure out how to get out of going to Mass. That'll be tough, i don't mind them going and its great for the girls so they can develope a strong moral framework and so they can rebel against something other than me as a teenager... and it makes MIL and FIL happy. Ah well...
My goal is to drag the laptop down and write in the spare moments, work on some alone quiet time. But... that prolly ain't gonna happen, esp with 4 cousins from almost 6 years old down to a couple months old. Ah well - it'll be fun, right? maybe if i could bring the bike down with me and really escape. But that ain't gonna happen, so the writing will just have to suffice.
peace, yall, and remember conflict resolution begins with acknowledgement, if you divide and separate it becomes impossible to find common ground to base a foundation of peaceful behavior on... and if we don't have common ground we'll never get along.
Heading down to the In-laws i should have tons to talk about. Speedpass, or the lack there of is gonna kick me in the pants again. I just gotta hope that the transition at the bottom of NJ is better than it was when we went north. I can hope that there are few hybrids trying to get maximum economy at the expense of excessive waste by others.
Just cause YOU are saving fuel, you are costing others time, creating aggravation, fueling hate... Just drive the damn thing like a car and just brake using the motor, NOT the brakes. cause just like me and my flywheel like wheels, as long as ya ain't trying to lose energy the motor's gotta do the same work.
Sorry - the fuel crunch is getting to me, sort of. That or the anticipation of driving down is makin me grumpy. Fortuantely due to a busted seat motor in the Volvo coupled with the fact that it still has the winter blizzak tires on and the fuel costs... we get stretch the legs on the Golf. Hopefully it won't cramp up on the way down. And finally i can try and shoot for the 50 mpg mark instead of mr. lead foot city driving 40ish i'm getting now. But all in all, with no regenerating braking, 130 horsepower, 250-290 ft-lbs of torque... that ain't all so bad in a car that with me and a full tank weights 2850 pounds, has a 5 star crash rating from its release...
That makes me wonder - what DOESN'T get a 5 star rating now? What is the point in having a 'rating' system that is all the same?
Why have grades of A,B,C,D,F (or E at certian places) if C isn't the average? How can you grade if mediocre people get Bs? There are exceptional and then really exceptional people out there. If a paper sucks i shouldn't be graded well. If one paper is markedly better then it should stand out.
No, i've never every given out a perfect grade in a course. I break it down into points. everything. some many points for format, images... that way it takes the subjectivity out of it, and when students bitch i can say "hey, sorry, these are the points and this is how you got what you got." they realize quickly (usually) that they actually have to improve and learn to do well. And usually they do.
Maybe that's the same for the crash rating. sure its a great feeling to buy a car that is safe, and yes they all should be safe. Anyway, i can feel my mood sink and get grumpier and grumpier and the turn of this writing ain't gonna be real positive if i keep going.
I need to keep the excitement veil up for the girls at easter. And some how i have to figure out how to get out of going to Mass. That'll be tough, i don't mind them going and its great for the girls so they can develope a strong moral framework and so they can rebel against something other than me as a teenager... and it makes MIL and FIL happy. Ah well...
My goal is to drag the laptop down and write in the spare moments, work on some alone quiet time. But... that prolly ain't gonna happen, esp with 4 cousins from almost 6 years old down to a couple months old. Ah well - it'll be fun, right? maybe if i could bring the bike down with me and really escape. But that ain't gonna happen, so the writing will just have to suffice.
peace, yall, and remember conflict resolution begins with acknowledgement, if you divide and separate it becomes impossible to find common ground to base a foundation of peaceful behavior on... and if we don't have common ground we'll never get along.
um...
the pressure - to get a good string of words put together before a potential hiatus. At least an unpredictable duration of a lack of posting.
maybe...
just not feeling inspired... the ride in was done, missed the rain. Missed the hill ride this morning. gonna try and make one of them for real. maybe...
oh yeah... kids... how ya supposed to fit training in with higher priorities running around? we'll see what i can do... i'm curious to try out my legs, group rides so far don't quite seem the challenge until we start screaming down a twisty blind sandy road... then i'm off the back... go figure... i need a bit more canibal in me
'
oh - i know - the coffee - the juice of the bean ain't at the saturation level yet. maybe i'll be back later...
maybe...
just not feeling inspired... the ride in was done, missed the rain. Missed the hill ride this morning. gonna try and make one of them for real. maybe...
oh yeah... kids... how ya supposed to fit training in with higher priorities running around? we'll see what i can do... i'm curious to try out my legs, group rides so far don't quite seem the challenge until we start screaming down a twisty blind sandy road... then i'm off the back... go figure... i need a bit more canibal in me
'
oh - i know - the coffee - the juice of the bean ain't at the saturation level yet. maybe i'll be back later...
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
the day is ending
And my search for any reference on how the SEM PMTs work on a specific level has failed.
I'm pissed. No wonder people can't discuss it rationally. There's no data. All freaking proprietary.
I want to beable to discuss the discrete levels that we can get. - to talk about 8-bit's failings and the problems with raw data collection and manipulation of images... i've heard rumors of hardware being 12 bit coded... the video boards generally are 16 bit anyway but often files are only saved in 8 bit but if the data is 12 bit... its a mess.
The biggest mess are the images that wind up from poor collection parameters. makes me grumbly. And by searching, first i did the whole skim of all SEM texts i have here, old school. Index, page numbers, read... One decent book with fantastic equations and explainations i hadn't run across (which will be helpful) but nothing really that i could use. The net was worse. Much worse. And it is terribly frustrating. Is the ADC (analog - digital - converter) on the PMT 8 bit? and then does it hit a DAC before the video out? What is that? how do the 8 bit data points get smoothed back into an analog signal?
I'm stuck and i figured i'd vent here and start the thought process before i bombard the microscope geek list....
and on a cycling note.. Check out her! Next Graham Watson, no? Cool Shots. Niceblog web log...
i gotta stop finding cycling blogs to read... what am i up to now? a bazillion? at least a gwadzillion... (oh i crack myself up)
Couple more PMT (which is photo-multiplier tube btw) focused things to look at before blasting out on the trailer machine... its 62°F out there... i'm gonna fry - too hot... too hot for jeans and this shirt...
I'm pissed. No wonder people can't discuss it rationally. There's no data. All freaking proprietary.
I want to beable to discuss the discrete levels that we can get. - to talk about 8-bit's failings and the problems with raw data collection and manipulation of images... i've heard rumors of hardware being 12 bit coded... the video boards generally are 16 bit anyway but often files are only saved in 8 bit but if the data is 12 bit... its a mess.
The biggest mess are the images that wind up from poor collection parameters. makes me grumbly. And by searching, first i did the whole skim of all SEM texts i have here, old school. Index, page numbers, read... One decent book with fantastic equations and explainations i hadn't run across (which will be helpful) but nothing really that i could use. The net was worse. Much worse. And it is terribly frustrating. Is the ADC (analog - digital - converter) on the PMT 8 bit? and then does it hit a DAC before the video out? What is that? how do the 8 bit data points get smoothed back into an analog signal?
I'm stuck and i figured i'd vent here and start the thought process before i bombard the microscope geek list....
and on a cycling note.. Check out her! Next Graham Watson, no? Cool Shots. Nice
i gotta stop finding cycling blogs to read... what am i up to now? a bazillion? at least a gwadzillion... (oh i crack myself up)
Couple more PMT (which is photo-multiplier tube btw) focused things to look at before blasting out on the trailer machine... its 62°F out there... i'm gonna fry - too hot... too hot for jeans and this shirt...
the 12th... the 12th
Middle of the week. Except its not. Headed outa here for southern haunts (in-laws) around 'THE' beltway... out 66 way... past Manasas, a touch.
Can ya tell? I read something and it has disjuncted my writing a touch.
I read gwadzilla's latest entry. Its not altogether strange, this thought i'm going to convey. He turned up first as a link from Kerry's... then i see him over at Yukon Jill (hopefully Jill doesn't mind that - no she's really in Alaska... but the Yukon Jack/Jill... can't pass up)... then this morning i catch a comment over at 32sixteen's place. Places i've started reading regular-like. Why? cause i like their stuff. I gotta remember to link ol gwad's stuff over there in that link thing that's growin. I've started just opening this and doing a middle click (firefox rocks btw - tabbed browsing kicks serious ass). I suppose i could just make a folder and do a open in separate tabs thing. Would make it simpler... but something about a direct click is good.
Couple things, first is the morning's ride. I should mention yesterday's as well. This is day two of taking the trailer with the toddler to daycare. And DAMN is that fun. She is so excited to get in the buggy. Its a trek solo thing. One of the ones with the big front wheel option as a jogger. And for the most part it was getting super duty as a jogger by my wife. Now, i'm a regular trailer dude. I like it. So does my daughter. The gals at Daycare seem to get a kick out of it, and i get some great smiles from the hottie mom's droppin their kids off. This morning i knew there was a "hill" ride heading out round about my location.. Description from the email:
that and they prolly pissed at me cause i think i've become one of those old guys who knows too much and sometimes can't keep their mouth shut... *shrug* i guess i'm guilty.
Now about that whole vehicle power plant thing... Diesel's get about 45% of work due to the type of ignition and the fuel and all that. Gassers sit about 30%. that difference is why gassers will always suck ;) and why diesel hybrids would so kick ass to the point it'd be SICK! Think like 100+ mpg in a Prius kinda thing. Okay - maybe only 90, but i've seen some industry stuff way back and Ford had Taurus Hybrid, diesel-electric, that was getting in the 90s on the proving grounds. I'll spare the words. And say this: the data is out there, and the best place to debate/discuss this (cause i'm a bit burned out) is TDIclub.
Something else... damn... Oh maybe it was the fact that i'm not sure if i'm bothered a little by my confession, and soul baring i did yesterday. The skinny thing. Not totally comfortable with it yet. Maybe that's appearant from the way it was written.
I should give Solobreak some big up props for one of the best written summations about gadget training (april 11th). Freaking awesome read.
Got an email with a gadget, cause ya know, i've got that 'Y' chromosome and am uber facinated by gadgets. The cool ones i'll either lust after if they are in financial range, or come up with a way to rationalize why 'not' having them is better when i can't afford em (powermeters). The one he's popped up is reminicent(sp) of the V-Brake adapter (travel agent) ... and those who have been around will have remembered them...
here's a picture for yall's reference. And yeah i've got em on my XTR v-brakes with my REAL components (non-linear pull) brake levers. And it works perfectly.
Now back to this gadget. And for some it might be pretty sweet. I don't have much application and i'm looking at it going? wtf how do they lock in the excentric... well duh - look at the schematics... pretty cool. Amazing what a CNC machine'll make ya ;-)
And if ya cruise through Cyclingnews today you'll see a sad story. Brad Lewis died. He died during a race. Cardiac Arrest. 38 years old (i wonder if that is his racing age or real age). Makes ya think: do we really have a finite number of heart beats?
Oh and when i see that pic of McQuiad gettin ready to hose the crossing jumpers, i see that gal with the glasses, blond hair + those glasses, dunno but i'm 'intrigued' - she's cute. And she's at a bike race... but then that could be any number of the million fake blond glasses wearing euro chicks... (did that work as a palate cleanser after the above? it did for me)
Till later - peace out yall
G
Can ya tell? I read something and it has disjuncted my writing a touch.
I read gwadzilla's latest entry. Its not altogether strange, this thought i'm going to convey. He turned up first as a link from Kerry's... then i see him over at Yukon Jill (hopefully Jill doesn't mind that - no she's really in Alaska... but the Yukon Jack/Jill... can't pass up)... then this morning i catch a comment over at 32sixteen's place. Places i've started reading regular-like. Why? cause i like their stuff. I gotta remember to link ol gwad's stuff over there in that link thing that's growin. I've started just opening this and doing a middle click (firefox rocks btw - tabbed browsing kicks serious ass). I suppose i could just make a folder and do a open in separate tabs thing. Would make it simpler... but something about a direct click is good.
Couple things, first is the morning's ride. I should mention yesterday's as well. This is day two of taking the trailer with the toddler to daycare. And DAMN is that fun. She is so excited to get in the buggy. Its a trek solo thing. One of the ones with the big front wheel option as a jogger. And for the most part it was getting super duty as a jogger by my wife. Now, i'm a regular trailer dude. I like it. So does my daughter. The gals at Daycare seem to get a kick out of it, and i get some great smiles from the hottie mom's droppin their kids off. This morning i knew there was a "hill" ride heading out round about my location.. Description from the email:
---> The Planand well... i'm thinking hell why not... lets see where they were. I hadn't seen em on the BLVD and it was a bit past 8am so i switched over to elmgrove, figurin i'd see em coming down or heading up... Sure'nuff... just turning on by the JCC, there was Kate, Jean and some dude on a nice Lemond. In some blue kit i didn't recognize. So i hope on... say good morning... ride a few hills with them and head to work. Of course it was my luck that they were on the two easier hills, but... it was little effort to stay with the girls as i was draggin the trailer full of my shit for work (messenger bag with crap in it). I think i may have pissed em off. Not only was i wearing street clothes, i was pulling a trailer, and wearing my Answer spd street shoes... I peeled off and headed down to the looooong hill that they started with and went in. The flywheel affect of these fat ass heavy wheels isn't such a bad thing and i love the extra drag of the buggy. It has a nice attachement system. Uses a beefy QR mount that goes flush against the drop out... not sure how great it is for the frame but there is no handling feedback except the tug of resistance.
meet at southern end of blackstone @ 7:30am
warm-up with laps around blackstone...
starting at lloyd, we weave up and down eastside hills.
start in easiest gear at base, settle in to cadence, shift every 10-15
pedal strokes, accelerating up the hill, leaving it faster than you
entered it. goal is to build hill strength.
cool down with laps around blackstone
that and they prolly pissed at me cause i think i've become one of those old guys who knows too much and sometimes can't keep their mouth shut... *shrug* i guess i'm guilty.
Now about that whole vehicle power plant thing... Diesel's get about 45% of work due to the type of ignition and the fuel and all that. Gassers sit about 30%. that difference is why gassers will always suck ;) and why diesel hybrids would so kick ass to the point it'd be SICK! Think like 100+ mpg in a Prius kinda thing. Okay - maybe only 90, but i've seen some industry stuff way back and Ford had Taurus Hybrid, diesel-electric, that was getting in the 90s on the proving grounds. I'll spare the words. And say this: the data is out there, and the best place to debate/discuss this (cause i'm a bit burned out) is TDIclub.
Something else... damn... Oh maybe it was the fact that i'm not sure if i'm bothered a little by my confession, and soul baring i did yesterday. The skinny thing. Not totally comfortable with it yet. Maybe that's appearant from the way it was written.
I should give Solobreak some big up props for one of the best written summations about gadget training (april 11th). Freaking awesome read.
Got an email with a gadget, cause ya know, i've got that 'Y' chromosome and am uber facinated by gadgets. The cool ones i'll either lust after if they are in financial range, or come up with a way to rationalize why 'not' having them is better when i can't afford em (powermeters). The one he's popped up is reminicent(sp) of the V-Brake adapter (travel agent) ... and those who have been around will have remembered them...
here's a picture for yall's reference. And yeah i've got em on my XTR v-brakes with my REAL components (non-linear pull) brake levers. And it works perfectly.Now back to this gadget. And for some it might be pretty sweet. I don't have much application and i'm looking at it going? wtf how do they lock in the excentric... well duh - look at the schematics... pretty cool. Amazing what a CNC machine'll make ya ;-)
And if ya cruise through Cyclingnews today you'll see a sad story. Brad Lewis died. He died during a race. Cardiac Arrest. 38 years old (i wonder if that is his racing age or real age). Makes ya think: do we really have a finite number of heart beats?
Oh and when i see that pic of McQuiad gettin ready to hose the crossing jumpers, i see that gal with the glasses, blond hair + those glasses, dunno but i'm 'intrigued' - she's cute. And she's at a bike race... but then that could be any number of the million fake blond glasses wearing euro chicks... (did that work as a palate cleanser after the above? it did for me)
Till later - peace out yall
G
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
I love it...
Rotate THIS
ahahahahah... so my tacit thinly veiled rationalization that heavier wheels make me faster is total horsepoop... if i never use my brakes... which makes absolute total sense... and could greatly affect the conclusions of my perception that its my pedal stroke that is so smooth... not that i'm pushing freaking massive flywheels.
yes... its a flywheel... and i'm 100% all about conservation of energy. Quite aware of the fact - go to the Diesel Gasoline argument. The simplest way to comprehend the efficiency difference is to measure waste heat of combustion... even the most efficient Gasser has a boat load of waste heat, so much so that well... never mind. Diesel's just don't.
Back to the wheels... The final letter was saying something about bouncing and all that.
Flex...
deflection and all that - and thus my long standing diatribe against 23 c tires at 125 PSI. It ain't pneumatic at that point... its a freakin solid. Bigger tire will be deflected less by small inconsistencies in the road than a smaller one at max pressure (mostly cause larger tires have lower max pressure limits). Essentially on an unsuspended road bike the only 'tuneable' suspension is the tire. And going to a larger diameter -25 or 28 on the same rim will make for a rounder cross section (better handling) and more supple ride (larger air volume). This is the same argument that Mt. Biker's use. It makes sense.
kinda leads to a suggestion i made to a list the other day... someone asks about buying a new bike... list a trek carbon and a giant carbon... bunch of people give good advice and then there was mine (and since i wrote it i want it here - with the rest of my ramblines and non-sense):
The key being the paragraph in italics.... Which brings it back full circle to what ol'Lennard's email friends are saying. or what they are not saying. Wheels are critical. And are often overlooked as a disposable interchangable and less critical part of the whole bike than the frame.
Frames are CHEAP. Wheels are expensive and rightfully so. They are the most critical element. They deserve the controversy and attention. Which one is best? It really depends. Am i totally anticipating getting back to the Rolf Vector's (before they were the Vector Pro)... Abso-freaking-lutely... but till then my Mr. Tuffy, wire bead wheels are working.
Well that actually is incorrect. These rims are getting trashed. Spoke tension is all over the map and i don't really trust them much. I should probably get something a bit stronger, and probably before i destroy these but... well... we'll see
ahahahahah... so my tacit thinly veiled rationalization that heavier wheels make me faster is total horsepoop... if i never use my brakes... which makes absolute total sense... and could greatly affect the conclusions of my perception that its my pedal stroke that is so smooth... not that i'm pushing freaking massive flywheels.
yes... its a flywheel... and i'm 100% all about conservation of energy. Quite aware of the fact - go to the Diesel Gasoline argument. The simplest way to comprehend the efficiency difference is to measure waste heat of combustion... even the most efficient Gasser has a boat load of waste heat, so much so that well... never mind. Diesel's just don't.
Back to the wheels... The final letter was saying something about bouncing and all that.
Flex...
deflection and all that - and thus my long standing diatribe against 23 c tires at 125 PSI. It ain't pneumatic at that point... its a freakin solid. Bigger tire will be deflected less by small inconsistencies in the road than a smaller one at max pressure (mostly cause larger tires have lower max pressure limits). Essentially on an unsuspended road bike the only 'tuneable' suspension is the tire. And going to a larger diameter -25 or 28 on the same rim will make for a rounder cross section (better handling) and more supple ride (larger air volume). This is the same argument that Mt. Biker's use. It makes sense.
kinda leads to a suggestion i made to a list the other day... someone asks about buying a new bike... list a trek carbon and a giant carbon... bunch of people give good advice and then there was mine (and since i wrote it i want it here - with the rest of my ramblines and non-sense):
Good comments. Talk to different bike shops. Don't just get one opinion (that's a good aspect about this place - different opinions).
I'd add a vote to the Hub, but only based on my interactions with Jessie and Jack in regards to my not quite but close to 15 years of bike shop experience. They know their stuff and are fair, honest and have good stuff and mechanical ability to back up the product. A great bike bought at a crappy shop is a bad way to support the better bike shops. With that said I STILL have yet to make it over to Prov Velo, or any of the other shops in town and around.
There isn't one brand that's better than others. Bike fit is critical though. And an experience mechanic/shop owner doesn't need the fit-kit crap to make the bike perfect. The fit-kit is a way to lock you into a sale and give inexperienced sales people a tool to get close to a proper fit. But they are massively prone to errors and ya gotta make sure its done correctly. Or just get a bike from an old school kinda guy who can size ya up by looking.
Its the Rebirth of road bikes right now. What the '90s was for mt bikes is the current trend to road machines. You don't and probably shouldn't settle for a standard 'racing' bike if you aren't really going to be racing. On the other hand you may want to just to have a change in bike style and so you can kick old slow luddites butts on the training rides ;). Sure its all about the engine but new bikes are a damn nice thing.
The other side - the Giant may be nice and you might be tempted to go up a size to get a taller handle bar, but that would be wrong. You should be on the same physical dimension Trek and Giant, despite the sloping top tube.
Don't get hung up on branding either. KHS, Fuji, Felt, Raliegh, Trek, Cannondale... the parts and the fitmet are far more important. Frame material is another key choice. Many people go at purchasing by making a selection then shopping. A nice carbon bike might feel hasher than an Aluminum bike. But look deeper.
The only advice i would hope you take is to test the different bikes out with the same wheel set. 5 psi of pressure difference can make or break a sale. Same thing for a forgiving vs stiff wheel set. You are first and formost buying a bike. Your tires will wear out and they make 50% of the ride feel up sometimes and often greatly affect a test ride. The wheels are also critical and you will have less choice in what you buy but, using the same wheels from bike to bike will let you best judge the difference between the frames.
good luck and have fun with the process.
G
The key being the paragraph in italics.... Which brings it back full circle to what ol'Lennard's email friends are saying. or what they are not saying. Wheels are critical. And are often overlooked as a disposable interchangable and less critical part of the whole bike than the frame.
Frames are CHEAP. Wheels are expensive and rightfully so. They are the most critical element. They deserve the controversy and attention. Which one is best? It really depends. Am i totally anticipating getting back to the Rolf Vector's (before they were the Vector Pro)... Abso-freaking-lutely... but till then my Mr. Tuffy, wire bead wheels are working.
Well that actually is incorrect. These rims are getting trashed. Spoke tension is all over the map and i don't really trust them much. I should probably get something a bit stronger, and probably before i destroy these but... well... we'll see
good MORNING
yeah right - its good but not nearly morning - it was morning at 5:45 when i got up...
This freaking cracks me up! Big up props to Cyclingnews for putting it together.
Pat McQuaid considers action against
riders who break rail crossing safety rules Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
That's freaking CLASSIC... but it totally sucks...
the trains, sure they might be part of the 'landscape' and part of the racing, but WTF? totally stupid to have em decide the results of a race like Roubaix.
Oh and its total horseshit that they aren't gonna alter their decision. Sure the riders must have decided to duck through, but, no there was no train 'yet' and if they waited, boonen would have caught them, and they would have had NO chance in catching Cancellara. its total horseshit.
Not to mention George's bike failure. Okay... if you crash on a carpet fiber lightweight 'climbing' bike... and the headset feels loose... and you are about to go onto a cobble section... whadda ya do? "Oh lets see if it can make it." HUH? yeah... RIGHT... but that's what seems to have happened. And its a strong arrow in my quiver against carbon fiber. Call me old fashioned, but for riders who can't afford to buy a new bike every year or two, or at least a new frame... why risk it? Sure i know dozens upon dozens of people riding carpet fiber bikes and no failures. But lemme ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you play the lottery? Better odds of the carpet fiber bike failing spectacularly than you winning powerball. Yes, there are plenty of instances of Aluminum or Steel failing spectacularly... it ain't just carbon fiber... and no, my case against it stinks... but... it should at least give pause to those out there thinkin about that frame material.
now... i'm tall right? 6'6"? That's generally considered tall. I'm also skinny. Sure i'm bumping the 200 pound mark, and ya think damn that's heavy... well... skippy, it ain't. I'm a twig... always have been and probably always will be.
Unfortunately there ain't much positive support for skinny GUYs growing up, at least there wasn't for me. Coupled with being a bit too fact hungry, geeky and blunt for my peers, a ripe know it all, added to the problems. Self image. and when i look around, does the media portray skinny guys? Nah. Are they out there? Yeah. Skinny girls? They are worshiped and adored. skinny guys? um... no, the fat ones get the media acceptance. Kinda funny. No i don't have any bias against the genetically gifted who can attain the media shape. I'm just not able to do that. I'm skinny. And well, what precipitated this? Just before i turn around and head home from my bro's house... my wife says "Wow, you are skinny." And all the angst and anquish associated with it as an artistic geeky kid with little athletic ability flodded back. I'm not the best athlete, but i've grown into the cycling cause it fits me well. Being skinny is nice, my knees get nice and close to the top tube, my arms cut less of a swath through the air, the lack of belly fat lets me get nice an aero, the natural lack of extra muscle in the upper torso helps the power to weight ratio, and the constant riding and the recent weight gain has been 100% cycling specific muscle mass increase. My metabolism has always been hummingbird fast, it slowed down to a normal bird at about 25... the transition to a car commuter didn't really change it much, i just re-arranged my muscle mass and 30 pounds in 5 years really isn't that much extra weight in the whole six and a half foot frame i carry. Not sure why i'm getting this all down. Sure yall can call me skinny when ya see me, have feigned ridicule and mock shock at how skinny i am, but i'll expect it and it won't be the same. its when it comes off guard. That and it seems worse when i wear black bib tights cycling. So... no more freaking long thermal weight cycling gear on the legs... shorts and knee warmers only.
There was something else bouncing around in my head but damned if I remember. Maybe when i bite into my nice organic Fuji apple I'll remember. Damn i love those apples. Only one apple i find tastes more to my liking: a Gravenstien.
till i pull my head out of my ass and remember what else i was gonna say - tada for now.. Peace out yall... bros and sis'tahzzzzzzz
This freaking cracks me up! Big up props to Cyclingnews for putting it together.
Pat McQuaid considers action against
riders who break rail crossing safety rules Photo ©: Roberto Bettini
That's freaking CLASSIC... but it totally sucks...
the trains, sure they might be part of the 'landscape' and part of the racing, but WTF? totally stupid to have em decide the results of a race like Roubaix.
Oh and its total horseshit that they aren't gonna alter their decision. Sure the riders must have decided to duck through, but, no there was no train 'yet' and if they waited, boonen would have caught them, and they would have had NO chance in catching Cancellara. its total horseshit.
Not to mention George's bike failure. Okay... if you crash on a carpet fiber lightweight 'climbing' bike... and the headset feels loose... and you are about to go onto a cobble section... whadda ya do? "Oh lets see if it can make it." HUH? yeah... RIGHT... but that's what seems to have happened. And its a strong arrow in my quiver against carbon fiber. Call me old fashioned, but for riders who can't afford to buy a new bike every year or two, or at least a new frame... why risk it? Sure i know dozens upon dozens of people riding carpet fiber bikes and no failures. But lemme ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you play the lottery? Better odds of the carpet fiber bike failing spectacularly than you winning powerball. Yes, there are plenty of instances of Aluminum or Steel failing spectacularly... it ain't just carbon fiber... and no, my case against it stinks... but... it should at least give pause to those out there thinkin about that frame material.
now... i'm tall right? 6'6"? That's generally considered tall. I'm also skinny. Sure i'm bumping the 200 pound mark, and ya think damn that's heavy... well... skippy, it ain't. I'm a twig... always have been and probably always will be.
Unfortunately there ain't much positive support for skinny GUYs growing up, at least there wasn't for me. Coupled with being a bit too fact hungry, geeky and blunt for my peers, a ripe know it all, added to the problems. Self image. and when i look around, does the media portray skinny guys? Nah. Are they out there? Yeah. Skinny girls? They are worshiped and adored. skinny guys? um... no, the fat ones get the media acceptance. Kinda funny. No i don't have any bias against the genetically gifted who can attain the media shape. I'm just not able to do that. I'm skinny. And well, what precipitated this? Just before i turn around and head home from my bro's house... my wife says "Wow, you are skinny." And all the angst and anquish associated with it as an artistic geeky kid with little athletic ability flodded back. I'm not the best athlete, but i've grown into the cycling cause it fits me well. Being skinny is nice, my knees get nice and close to the top tube, my arms cut less of a swath through the air, the lack of belly fat lets me get nice an aero, the natural lack of extra muscle in the upper torso helps the power to weight ratio, and the constant riding and the recent weight gain has been 100% cycling specific muscle mass increase. My metabolism has always been hummingbird fast, it slowed down to a normal bird at about 25... the transition to a car commuter didn't really change it much, i just re-arranged my muscle mass and 30 pounds in 5 years really isn't that much extra weight in the whole six and a half foot frame i carry. Not sure why i'm getting this all down. Sure yall can call me skinny when ya see me, have feigned ridicule and mock shock at how skinny i am, but i'll expect it and it won't be the same. its when it comes off guard. That and it seems worse when i wear black bib tights cycling. So... no more freaking long thermal weight cycling gear on the legs... shorts and knee warmers only.
There was something else bouncing around in my head but damned if I remember. Maybe when i bite into my nice organic Fuji apple I'll remember. Damn i love those apples. Only one apple i find tastes more to my liking: a Gravenstien.
till i pull my head out of my ass and remember what else i was gonna say - tada for now.. Peace out yall... bros and sis'tahzzzzzzz
Monday, April 10, 2006
A new week.... "Holy Week"
Holy Sh!T its almost Easter! Damn this 'semester' has flown by. And yeah say what ya want but my life is still ruled by semesters.
I posted my saturday comments separately... I think the next major outlet for the writing is going to have to switch to a book. A book about the one aspect of microscopy i'm not super happy with the offerings. Some are too: blah, some are just flat out crappy. Too much, or wrong influences. On one hand some publications have nice review articles that help. But on the other, many people don't read em or understand em. I'd like to make that difference, eventually. Maybe. We'll see. Should help with that 'focus' i think i remebered talking about.
So well yesterday, with my mother visiting in the middle of the tour, she gets the virus... She's at our apartment right now, with a fever. Sucks. At least though for her they don't have a concert today, and she can rest and recover. I just hope she can fight it off as easily as the rest of use did. 24hrs max... Fingers crossed and pray if ya like doing that stuff. me? not quite sold on the whole prayer bit.
I wrote two notes to myself again on the phone. Kinda funny. I always have the phone and now am using that as the notebook. works though....
Two points.
#1 Tuna delima. Tuna are some of the damn coolest fish in the ocean. They are threatened, and they are potentially loaded with mercury and what not. Now the delima is that they taste sooo good. Esp sushi'd. So how to reconcile my gastronomie avec conservation and the right thing? Dunno. On the other hand i like Salmon with sushi (on or in - either way) almost more. So maybe i just stop ordering it. And impress others to avoid it. So AVOID TUNA... and for those with kids - don't feed em canned tuna, more cause the potential levels of toxins are absolutely insane, developing kids don't deserve that toxicity.
#2 Diesel Stupidity. This plauged me on friday. Totally pissed me off. Either someone was being deliberately antagonistic or they really were grossly mis-informed. Sad. Big comment was Nah, diesel's won't take off - they can never pass emissions. That got me freaking ballistic. OF COURSE THEY CAN! Oh the mountains of scientific evidence out there. One log in a medium efficiency wood stove produces more toxins and pollution than my car does over an entire tank of fuell! And soybeans grow one HELL of a lot faster than the tree. When i was driving 40,000 miles a year it would have only taken 25 acres to provide the 800-900 gallons of fuel needed. Sure that's pretty significant, but that's one season's growth. That one log tossed on the fire... well... another way is the cigarette analogy. No i don't smoke and as a cyclist the sheer number of butts i see flicked out the window or laying on the road pisses the freaking hell out of me. If i ever am in the position to watch someone flick a butt out the window and i can get it and get back to the car... i'm flicking it back in sayin "the world ain't an ashtray, use yours!"
Ya gotta love that. That's not even with BioDiesel. BioD is even cleaner and less toxic. Unfuckingbelievable. Sure smoking is bad... bad for you, but bad for the environment. gasoline engines have even finer particulates (something the Sierra Club nazi's won't tell you) and if there were no gasoline engines there would be no smog, cause the NOx emittied by a non-Nox scrubbed diesel don't do squat alone. They need the gasoline vehicle emissions to combine with to make the GD pollutant. Alone? Hell its closer to a useable form of nitrogen for plants than the elemental nitrogen.
ya can't improve the effienceny of the gasoline engine to match a diesel. with a ULSD or biodiesel you can put a NOx strubbing system in the exhaust that is more efficient than a Catalytic converter removes CO. not to mention Deisels emit nearly zero CO anyway. Kinda nice.
Using a hybrid system with either engine is markedly improved over not using it. Using the smallest vehicle absolutely neccessary kicks ass. It just pisses me off to no end the amount of outrageous lies that filter around the USA about diesels.
Oh and don't get me started on the total waste and stupidity that the 3,000 mile oil change is.
*deep breath*
I did get out for a ride. did i mention that? it was great, and once again a nice into the wind ride, but coming back against the wind (stronger than last week and more head on) i got home in less time, mostly cause i was racing the rest of the family.
its about 17 miles to my bro's house... most of it on a bike path... numerous stops... and what not... and into a still 15 mph headwind going back... the trip was just under an hour... Sure that's pretty shitty of an average... but that's door to door, stop lights, stop signs, I felt pretty good about it...
Anyway - so begins the week. So begins the week.
*sigh*
I posted my saturday comments separately... I think the next major outlet for the writing is going to have to switch to a book. A book about the one aspect of microscopy i'm not super happy with the offerings. Some are too: blah, some are just flat out crappy. Too much, or wrong influences. On one hand some publications have nice review articles that help. But on the other, many people don't read em or understand em. I'd like to make that difference, eventually. Maybe. We'll see. Should help with that 'focus' i think i remebered talking about.
So well yesterday, with my mother visiting in the middle of the tour, she gets the virus... She's at our apartment right now, with a fever. Sucks. At least though for her they don't have a concert today, and she can rest and recover. I just hope she can fight it off as easily as the rest of use did. 24hrs max... Fingers crossed and pray if ya like doing that stuff. me? not quite sold on the whole prayer bit.
I wrote two notes to myself again on the phone. Kinda funny. I always have the phone and now am using that as the notebook. works though....
Two points.
#1 Tuna delima. Tuna are some of the damn coolest fish in the ocean. They are threatened, and they are potentially loaded with mercury and what not. Now the delima is that they taste sooo good. Esp sushi'd. So how to reconcile my gastronomie avec conservation and the right thing? Dunno. On the other hand i like Salmon with sushi (on or in - either way) almost more. So maybe i just stop ordering it. And impress others to avoid it. So AVOID TUNA... and for those with kids - don't feed em canned tuna, more cause the potential levels of toxins are absolutely insane, developing kids don't deserve that toxicity.
#2 Diesel Stupidity. This plauged me on friday. Totally pissed me off. Either someone was being deliberately antagonistic or they really were grossly mis-informed. Sad. Big comment was Nah, diesel's won't take off - they can never pass emissions. That got me freaking ballistic. OF COURSE THEY CAN! Oh the mountains of scientific evidence out there. One log in a medium efficiency wood stove produces more toxins and pollution than my car does over an entire tank of fuell! And soybeans grow one HELL of a lot faster than the tree. When i was driving 40,000 miles a year it would have only taken 25 acres to provide the 800-900 gallons of fuel needed. Sure that's pretty significant, but that's one season's growth. That one log tossed on the fire... well... another way is the cigarette analogy. No i don't smoke and as a cyclist the sheer number of butts i see flicked out the window or laying on the road pisses the freaking hell out of me. If i ever am in the position to watch someone flick a butt out the window and i can get it and get back to the car... i'm flicking it back in sayin "the world ain't an ashtray, use yours!"
TOBACCO CONTROL
[Particulate matter from tobacco versus diesel car exhaust: an educational perspective Tobacco Control 2004; 13: 219-21]
Newswise — The air pollution emitted by cigarettes is 10 times greater than diesel car exhaust, suggests a controlled experiment, reported in Tobacco Control.
Environmental tobacco smoke produces fine particulate matter, which is the most dangerous element of air pollution for health. Levels indoors can far exceed those outdoors, because new engine models and lead free fuels have cut the levels of particulate matter emissions from car exhausts, say the authors.
The controlled experiment was carried out in a private garage in a small mountain town in northern Italy. The town enjoys very low levels of particulate matter air pollution
A turbo diesel 2 litre engine was started and left idling for 30 minutes in the garage, with the doors closed, after which the doors were left open for four hours. The car was fuelled with low sulphur fuel.
Three filter cigarettes were then lit up sequentially, and left smouldering for a further 30 minutes. The nicotine and tar content of each cigarette was 1 mg and 11.2 mg, respectively.
A portable analyser took readings every two minutes during the experiments.
Combined particulate levels in the first hour after the engine had been started measured 88 ug/m3. Those recorded in the first hour after the cigarettes had been lit measured 830 ug/m3: 10 times greater.
The diesel engine exhaust doubled the particulate matter levels found outdoors at its peak; the environmental tobacco smoke particulate matter reached levels 15 times those measured outdoors.
Click here to view the full paper:
219_tc5975.pdf
Ya gotta love that. That's not even with BioDiesel. BioD is even cleaner and less toxic. Unfuckingbelievable. Sure smoking is bad... bad for you, but bad for the environment. gasoline engines have even finer particulates (something the Sierra Club nazi's won't tell you) and if there were no gasoline engines there would be no smog, cause the NOx emittied by a non-Nox scrubbed diesel don't do squat alone. They need the gasoline vehicle emissions to combine with to make the GD pollutant. Alone? Hell its closer to a useable form of nitrogen for plants than the elemental nitrogen.
ya can't improve the effienceny of the gasoline engine to match a diesel. with a ULSD or biodiesel you can put a NOx strubbing system in the exhaust that is more efficient than a Catalytic converter removes CO. not to mention Deisels emit nearly zero CO anyway. Kinda nice.
Using a hybrid system with either engine is markedly improved over not using it. Using the smallest vehicle absolutely neccessary kicks ass. It just pisses me off to no end the amount of outrageous lies that filter around the USA about diesels.
Oh and don't get me started on the total waste and stupidity that the 3,000 mile oil change is.
*deep breath*
I did get out for a ride. did i mention that? it was great, and once again a nice into the wind ride, but coming back against the wind (stronger than last week and more head on) i got home in less time, mostly cause i was racing the rest of the family.
its about 17 miles to my bro's house... most of it on a bike path... numerous stops... and what not... and into a still 15 mph headwind going back... the trip was just under an hour... Sure that's pretty shitty of an average... but that's door to door, stop lights, stop signs, I felt pretty good about it...
Anyway - so begins the week. So begins the week.
*sigh*
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Saturday
Once again I find myself sitting here with a sleeping daughter. The rest of the gang of family and visitors are off on an adventure. And I have a nice bit of peace, listening to the youngest’s breathing, so rhythmic and sweet as she recharges the incredible batteries, also the live BSO family concert with Keith Lockhart broadcast from Symphony Hall. The rain is coming down in a pretty massive flood; the streets outside here are pretty well filled. The standing water makes me feel not so guilty about not riding right now. I may miss the whole weekend, but there’s a chance I can make it up sometime this week. I’m trying not to let riding and ‘training’ dictate my life or hang over my head. Okay – Keith is talking about Mozart, and well its freaking distracting. Okay – back to the music. I’ll save my critique of Mozart for later. I’m definitely a Beethoven fan, and not really all that impressed with Mozart’s stuff. Sure it was prolific and load of catchy tunes… but there is something in Beethoven and Wagner’s music that is so much deeper, more meaningful and compelling.
But for a rainy Saturday afternoon, Mozart is a pleasant diversion from the other radio presets on the tuner.
Art in Science. Science in Art. How to best demonstrate the whole interrelationship between the two. Its somewhat a driving force for me. The art in science, and science for me really is a microscope. Taking images with the microscope, how do you best reconcile or educated scientists with a myopic vision of their immediate needs that critical review of their images and a comprehension of how the interplay between space, form, and color dramatically affect the perception and interpretation of their work. And when you swing to the digital side of things, why the entrenched relationship with 512x512 pixel data? Not to mention the complete shunning of 12 bit images in favor of a disturbing 8 bit data set? I hope to at least make an impact at the workshop I’m giving in May, but that’s for a different audience, not the audience at the hallowed Ivy halls I’m associated with now by employment. It is a quest, a focus for me, and a challenge. One I need to really make my own. How to make it happen? Well a bit past the 6 months here and things are, well things, I’m making progress with some more receptive students, but the strong tendancy to publish at all costs is difficult to overshadow with the importance of quality ‘art’ (images).
Complex challenges are life. People can ignore them, and those with limited mental capacity typically do quite well shopping at wallyworldmart driving their *really really cool hummer* and don’t get the overwhelming impact their obsessive consumptive greed has on the world, locally and globally. Its frustrating.
I had a thought about writers. And journalists, and Mikey F may or may not agree, but I’d pose a hypothesis, they write not cause they are good at it, but cause they don’t want to or ‘can’t’ do something else. Now I’m sure lots of people will, who write, take objection with the can’t. And I think rightly so. I said it and thought it but without thinking it through. Thinking it through though is a process. Not all processes should be as exposed but this one was. Patty O’G says it best, why hang up the pen only to have to work? The writing here lately has helped me focus and explore the written word. Part as an art form, part as an introspection, and yes I still like the title of this web log. And yes due in large part (completely) to Solobreak’s comments about the origin of blog, I just find it more veritas to use web log rather than blog. It’s a log on life in the massive servers at the new online giant. Maybe someday I’ll transfer it all to my own server/domain. Maybe. But being the economically uber conservative that I am (translate: cheap bastard) free works really well. I just try and make an offline copy every now and then. So writing, now where was I? Right, the art form of writing. The natural art of communication. Even just communicating to myself, the ability to sit and focus, without commercial breaks, email popping up, phones ringing, microscopes breaking… its nice to just sit. Sit and think and write. Sit and ponder why I never really got hooked up and on the bikemag board, like I did at TDIclub, or TSP… I think the answer really is… what? I dunno. Well cause I was focused then, on a car. I don’t regret it, I relished the opportunity to focus and learn. Add to the understanding and it provides more information/knowledge to draw on. Now, the shift of focus is a bit heavily back towards bikes. And things are different now. Rec.bikes still ruled the ‘net’ as the online source for stuff. Now there are all those forums, the blogs, the discussion groups and what now. Things changed since I was as *in* to the bike scene as I am now… if that’s what ya can call it. It being me as a part of the bike scene. On one hand though hard core commuter, definitely qualifies, potential cross racer… certainly qualifies… annoyance at The Hub, maybe that doesn’t but at least I’m showin up at a shop now and then…
Oh well – gonna say ciao! Peace out… spread the love
But for a rainy Saturday afternoon, Mozart is a pleasant diversion from the other radio presets on the tuner.
Art in Science. Science in Art. How to best demonstrate the whole interrelationship between the two. Its somewhat a driving force for me. The art in science, and science for me really is a microscope. Taking images with the microscope, how do you best reconcile or educated scientists with a myopic vision of their immediate needs that critical review of their images and a comprehension of how the interplay between space, form, and color dramatically affect the perception and interpretation of their work. And when you swing to the digital side of things, why the entrenched relationship with 512x512 pixel data? Not to mention the complete shunning of 12 bit images in favor of a disturbing 8 bit data set? I hope to at least make an impact at the workshop I’m giving in May, but that’s for a different audience, not the audience at the hallowed Ivy halls I’m associated with now by employment. It is a quest, a focus for me, and a challenge. One I need to really make my own. How to make it happen? Well a bit past the 6 months here and things are, well things, I’m making progress with some more receptive students, but the strong tendancy to publish at all costs is difficult to overshadow with the importance of quality ‘art’ (images).
Complex challenges are life. People can ignore them, and those with limited mental capacity typically do quite well shopping at wallyworldmart driving their *really really cool hummer* and don’t get the overwhelming impact their obsessive consumptive greed has on the world, locally and globally. Its frustrating.
I had a thought about writers. And journalists, and Mikey F may or may not agree, but I’d pose a hypothesis, they write not cause they are good at it, but cause they don’t want to or ‘can’t’ do something else. Now I’m sure lots of people will, who write, take objection with the can’t. And I think rightly so. I said it and thought it but without thinking it through. Thinking it through though is a process. Not all processes should be as exposed but this one was. Patty O’G says it best, why hang up the pen only to have to work? The writing here lately has helped me focus and explore the written word. Part as an art form, part as an introspection, and yes I still like the title of this web log. And yes due in large part (completely) to Solobreak’s comments about the origin of blog, I just find it more veritas to use web log rather than blog. It’s a log on life in the massive servers at the new online giant. Maybe someday I’ll transfer it all to my own server/domain. Maybe. But being the economically uber conservative that I am (translate: cheap bastard) free works really well. I just try and make an offline copy every now and then. So writing, now where was I? Right, the art form of writing. The natural art of communication. Even just communicating to myself, the ability to sit and focus, without commercial breaks, email popping up, phones ringing, microscopes breaking… its nice to just sit. Sit and think and write. Sit and ponder why I never really got hooked up and on the bikemag board, like I did at TDIclub, or TSP… I think the answer really is… what? I dunno. Well cause I was focused then, on a car. I don’t regret it, I relished the opportunity to focus and learn. Add to the understanding and it provides more information/knowledge to draw on. Now, the shift of focus is a bit heavily back towards bikes. And things are different now. Rec.bikes still ruled the ‘net’ as the online source for stuff. Now there are all those forums, the blogs, the discussion groups and what now. Things changed since I was as *in* to the bike scene as I am now… if that’s what ya can call it. It being me as a part of the bike scene. On one hand though hard core commuter, definitely qualifies, potential cross racer… certainly qualifies… annoyance at The Hub, maybe that doesn’t but at least I’m showin up at a shop now and then…
Oh well – gonna say ciao! Peace out… spread the love
Friday, April 07, 2006
Me Want
majortaylor
Thanks to smart ass loud mouth Bruce (his words not mine) for the link to ANT's stuff....
Holy schnikieees I'm in love.
Thanks to smart ass loud mouth Bruce (his words not mine) for the link to ANT's stuff....
Holy schnikieees I'm in love.
okay - i have another confession
I actually bought something for the bike that wasnt a Mr. Tuffy (still embarassed to say i'm runnin Mr. Tuffies and wire beads on the P-Mount), or a bike tube...
I broke down and bought a set of SKS Race Blades. I might have mentioned it - i dunno, but they showed up last night and man o man... sooooooo cool.
No i haven't bothered to put em on yet - soon as i get 30 seconds of peace and quiet.
but its supposed to rain sometime today... and i left the other "fenders" (or excuses for them) at home... so they'll be on...
I've go this feeling that ol'Mikey F don't take praise or critisim well...
looks like from this post so far its gonna be one of my more "classic" posts, than the more recent lengthy verbosity. At least i'm old... and amazingly i've finally started chewing through that last remnant of gut that i gained from all the time in the car in michigan... i may have to start eating enough calories to ensure i ain't one of those 6 pack abs guys... and by eating i mean drinking and calories i mean beer. or not... so little time for drinkin... work, rides, kids, dishes, cooking... yeah i'm the dishwasher and the cook in the house... damn straight. Obsessive scientist type... the kind that says "why by this pre-mixed powder crap... i'll get the individual stuff and make it my way, BETTER!" Key there is 'better' it might actually NOT be better but i've gotta try... Way back in the day as a wee-pipsqueak grad from UBI... a few mechanics told me not to bother rebuilding a freewheel... i said why not? "its not worth it" and no - i thought i knew better, and i rebuilt freewheel after freewheel (discarded junk ones) until i got it down, which oil or grease to use to hold the bearings in the race... just how to get the body back on and keep the pawls, springs and bearings in place... and those pesky feathery thin washers... my first one i mangled one up and didn't think much of it... well - it didn't work so good. All that practice was well gained when it came time to keeping my 6 speed dura-ace going long after the world switched to 7 and then 8 speed. 6 man, yeah... its all i needed. absolutely positive, crisp shifting... i accumulated old unwanted 6 speed shimano freewheels, typically 600/ultegra indexers... put new cogs on, when shops still had bins of individual cogs getting my perfect straight block... i still don't get why mt bikers or roadies need an 11 tooth... almost the stupidest thing in the biking world, its right behind BioPace and unround rings... a straight block of 13-18. That shit is old school. Mikey Freaking F is definately justified as not being old school. Why? cause he's got new school stuff handed to him to get in magazines, and he ain't gonna write about something he didn't ride... cause that'd be stupid and now worth a stack of Mountain Bike Action magazines...
How'd i get back to talkign about old school... and where'd these words come from? Dunno.
Anyway - Old School: Two types, by choice, by economics. Choice, you deliberately hunt Ebay for shit you SHOULD have bought when it was new, or for shit you wore out but cause you are old school you don't want something too new... Economics, you don't got the cash to be new school so you keep riding the old shit and use the creativeness frugality thrusts on you to keep your rides ridable...
crap there i went and blew a few words more than i intended... its a hybrid day - hybrid short one line paragraphs,,, and one big fat windbag section...
and a whole fart load of missspellings i'm guessin ...
oh well... *shrug*
peace - with those on the road that are too stupid to understand
shit... i was gonna close with a cool link!
This new pushbike fad... would be great to load the kids up and drive em around... downside: can't pass long lines of stopped cars... and with few good bike paths it can be slower going around than a normal bike...
I broke down and bought a set of SKS Race Blades. I might have mentioned it - i dunno, but they showed up last night and man o man... sooooooo cool.
No i haven't bothered to put em on yet - soon as i get 30 seconds of peace and quiet.
but its supposed to rain sometime today... and i left the other "fenders" (or excuses for them) at home... so they'll be on...
I've go this feeling that ol'Mikey F don't take praise or critisim well...
looks like from this post so far its gonna be one of my more "classic" posts, than the more recent lengthy verbosity. At least i'm old... and amazingly i've finally started chewing through that last remnant of gut that i gained from all the time in the car in michigan... i may have to start eating enough calories to ensure i ain't one of those 6 pack abs guys... and by eating i mean drinking and calories i mean beer. or not... so little time for drinkin... work, rides, kids, dishes, cooking... yeah i'm the dishwasher and the cook in the house... damn straight. Obsessive scientist type... the kind that says "why by this pre-mixed powder crap... i'll get the individual stuff and make it my way, BETTER!" Key there is 'better' it might actually NOT be better but i've gotta try... Way back in the day as a wee-pipsqueak grad from UBI... a few mechanics told me not to bother rebuilding a freewheel... i said why not? "its not worth it" and no - i thought i knew better, and i rebuilt freewheel after freewheel (discarded junk ones) until i got it down, which oil or grease to use to hold the bearings in the race... just how to get the body back on and keep the pawls, springs and bearings in place... and those pesky feathery thin washers... my first one i mangled one up and didn't think much of it... well - it didn't work so good. All that practice was well gained when it came time to keeping my 6 speed dura-ace going long after the world switched to 7 and then 8 speed. 6 man, yeah... its all i needed. absolutely positive, crisp shifting... i accumulated old unwanted 6 speed shimano freewheels, typically 600/ultegra indexers... put new cogs on, when shops still had bins of individual cogs getting my perfect straight block... i still don't get why mt bikers or roadies need an 11 tooth... almost the stupidest thing in the biking world, its right behind BioPace and unround rings... a straight block of 13-18. That shit is old school. Mikey Freaking F is definately justified as not being old school. Why? cause he's got new school stuff handed to him to get in magazines, and he ain't gonna write about something he didn't ride... cause that'd be stupid and now worth a stack of Mountain Bike Action magazines...
How'd i get back to talkign about old school... and where'd these words come from? Dunno.
Anyway - Old School: Two types, by choice, by economics. Choice, you deliberately hunt Ebay for shit you SHOULD have bought when it was new, or for shit you wore out but cause you are old school you don't want something too new... Economics, you don't got the cash to be new school so you keep riding the old shit and use the creativeness frugality thrusts on you to keep your rides ridable...
crap there i went and blew a few words more than i intended... its a hybrid day - hybrid short one line paragraphs,,, and one big fat windbag section...
and a whole fart load of missspellings i'm guessin ...
oh well... *shrug*
peace - with those on the road that are too stupid to understand
shit... i was gonna close with a cool link!
This new pushbike fad... would be great to load the kids up and drive em around... downside: can't pass long lines of stopped cars... and with few good bike paths it can be slower going around than a normal bike...
Thursday, April 06, 2006
i'm embarassed
no point to hide, cause lining up at a race in your group is... well rather telling about what Cat you are liscensed in. And no, i haven't renewed, but my expired liscense is still Cat5. blame it on my lackluster Collegiate carreer, the total aversion to crit racing and my immaturity of going out hard strong and alone (no team) in my C races back in the day (before Ds were invented). Blame it on my legs, my brain or what not. That and when i got to michigan, i was riding alot on the road but really really diggin Mt. Biking. And i mean loving the poop out of it. And being as there were no hills i had to re-learn road style, but Mt Biking was still mt. biking and it kicked ass. a kickass handful of amazing trails all withing 1.5 hour drive and the further ones, Ft Custer and what not really do kick some serious ass. The Pato trail i think is the one i lived for. 12-15 mile loop IIRC (no i'm too lazy/busy to google it - someone can and correct me if you are feeling curious) and it was supa killa. I did a handful of timetrial races and what not - was so stoked when i was able to race in the Clydesdale class (200+ pounds). Cause on the Mt Bike, when turning, and all that, the difference between me and my friends who were 150 pound little guys... The same little 'runts' that i could ride off my wheel on the road bike could dodge and weave around the trees like freakin English Sparrows, leaving this big ugly buzzard (me) to try and get through without clippin my head or shoulders on the damn trees (which i did plenty of times - ouch). This is really one where the mass side of the equation is critical... acceleration and change in angular velocity... lower mass is helpful... Esp when riding on freaking tires designed for those little pipsqueaks... Soo look for me lining up having fun with the squirrels and noobies, until i get my shit together enough... hopefully my slow deliberate progress will land me with enough fitness to move up this year... to the old fat slow group... and maybe next year or the year after i can move up again to the older fast as hell group and aspire to be pack fodder for the likes of Gunner and Co (Eric and Dave as well it sounds like)...
Reading that bit from Dirt Rag (the 2003 article) kinda made me feel better about only having one bike, and having one that is a total coblered together beast, not one bit except the POC stubby linear pull shitbrakes from Tektro and the tiny chainrings. And i think even i've got enough bits kickin to make a back up - nothing nearly as glamorous or historical as Marro's pit bike... but heck who knows what the year'll bring... maybe treefarm or one of the other tall freaks will be unloadin a cross bike next season...
I'll pop some more shizz up later - maybe...
peace out ... for now
Reading that bit from Dirt Rag (the 2003 article) kinda made me feel better about only having one bike, and having one that is a total coblered together beast, not one bit except the POC stubby linear pull shitbrakes from Tektro and the tiny chainrings. And i think even i've got enough bits kickin to make a back up - nothing nearly as glamorous or historical as Marro's pit bike... but heck who knows what the year'll bring... maybe treefarm or one of the other tall freaks will be unloadin a cross bike next season...
I'll pop some more shizz up later - maybe...
peace out ... for now
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
what a day
Got the presentation done - went well - audience was a bit subduded - kinda like the shitty 1/2assed crappy trashcan worthy digital projector they had there for me to use.
Why the FUCK can't anyone have a GD computer projector that is FUCKIN worthy of displaying images AS well as the damn laptop? They can't even TOUCH the CRT display - pisses me off... The crux of all my presentations is the images - and often they are single R or B or G images... but usually both and often grayscale... shouldn't be a problem, right? as you may guess - WRONG.
and other people are shocked when i'm bitching... they are like 'oh well it works for us'
WORKS FOR YOU? cause you are blind, don't give a shit or have no expectations for perfection.
grumble grumble
okay - now for some hysterical news: Just like on Dateline's pimpin old perverts show we've got this... Homer-land Security fer farks sake! This dude should serve time with a dad in the pen with a teenage daughter that he isn't allowed to see on the outside... Sick freaking "Press Secretary"
WTF? Oh and he's just being put on "Administrative Leave?" Of course until they've (homer-land central) conducted a full invesitgation... Sure lemme hear on Drudge of FauxNews that its a Democratic smear campaign...
Some freaky evolution guy in michigan told me to check out FatCyclist's stuff... i did - not the same draw for me as a few of the locals (solobreak, kerry and co) and the established guys like big jonny and no i'm too lazy to wiki style link em all (GD 32sixteen for now making me associate linkin words with wiki - GD=god damn... not like in Derek's which is General Discussion). Anyway... maybe i'll add that to the list of hey lemme check it out...
maybe not...
something else i think... Oh yeah... this: Penn and Teller's show (that i can't watch cause its on showtime and i don't get cable/sat TV, not that i could watch it if i did cause i'd prolly NOT pay for that 'premium' channel anyway) its about Gun Control. Freaking BRILLIANT. Donna matta what side ya on on the topic - its well worth the 30 minutes (if ya have a good broadband connection) to watch it (its a google video link).
Well its about the time to make like a tree in spring and leaf. I love that expression as a botanist but it makes me groan and go - gimme a break when i hear it... i love the dichotomy... kinda like a 7th chord... definately not right but a great conflict of emotions.
oh and it was snowing today... then it was raining when i walked down to the lecture... now it's mellowed out a bit and even warmed up... perfect for riding home... except of course that the Freaking GD wind is straight out of the north... headwind all the way... WHOOO HOOOO...
I need a Beer... The PBR i had last night was dated May 5th 2006... so what's 112 days before that? well may 5th is day 126... so... damn some time around christmas... this beer is OLD... fark ah well its still a PBR - the beer the penny pinchin trendy messengers have been drinking for 30 odd years... or should i say the NON-Trendy ones... the ones with local messenger bags and twiggy pysiques....
alright - i'm out... and with that - peace to yall... and if ya are chatting inappropriate like with a 14 year old girl - may YOU get run over next time... spare good people like Bill Corliss, Kendra Payne, and the long long long list of people nailed by busess or cars this year so far...
Why the FUCK can't anyone have a GD computer projector that is FUCKIN worthy of displaying images AS well as the damn laptop? They can't even TOUCH the CRT display - pisses me off... The crux of all my presentations is the images - and often they are single R or B or G images... but usually both and often grayscale... shouldn't be a problem, right? as you may guess - WRONG.
and other people are shocked when i'm bitching... they are like 'oh well it works for us'
WORKS FOR YOU? cause you are blind, don't give a shit or have no expectations for perfection.
grumble grumble
okay - now for some hysterical news: Just like on Dateline's pimpin old perverts show we've got this... Homer-land Security fer farks sake! This dude should serve time with a dad in the pen with a teenage daughter that he isn't allowed to see on the outside... Sick freaking "Press Secretary"
WTF? Oh and he's just being put on "Administrative Leave?" Of course until they've (homer-land central) conducted a full invesitgation... Sure lemme hear on Drudge of FauxNews that its a Democratic smear campaign...
Some freaky evolution guy in michigan told me to check out FatCyclist's stuff... i did - not the same draw for me as a few of the locals (solobreak, kerry and co) and the established guys like big jonny and no i'm too lazy to wiki style link em all (GD 32sixteen for now making me associate linkin words with wiki - GD=god damn... not like in Derek's which is General Discussion). Anyway... maybe i'll add that to the list of hey lemme check it out...
maybe not...
something else i think... Oh yeah... this: Penn and Teller's show (that i can't watch cause its on showtime and i don't get cable/sat TV, not that i could watch it if i did cause i'd prolly NOT pay for that 'premium' channel anyway) its about Gun Control. Freaking BRILLIANT. Donna matta what side ya on on the topic - its well worth the 30 minutes (if ya have a good broadband connection) to watch it (its a google video link).
Well its about the time to make like a tree in spring and leaf. I love that expression as a botanist but it makes me groan and go - gimme a break when i hear it... i love the dichotomy... kinda like a 7th chord... definately not right but a great conflict of emotions.
oh and it was snowing today... then it was raining when i walked down to the lecture... now it's mellowed out a bit and even warmed up... perfect for riding home... except of course that the Freaking GD wind is straight out of the north... headwind all the way... WHOOO HOOOO...
I need a Beer... The PBR i had last night was dated May 5th 2006... so what's 112 days before that? well may 5th is day 126... so... damn some time around christmas... this beer is OLD... fark ah well its still a PBR - the beer the penny pinchin trendy messengers have been drinking for 30 odd years... or should i say the NON-Trendy ones... the ones with local messenger bags and twiggy pysiques....
alright - i'm out... and with that - peace to yall... and if ya are chatting inappropriate like with a 14 year old girl - may YOU get run over next time... spare good people like Bill Corliss, Kendra Payne, and the long long long list of people nailed by busess or cars this year so far...
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
F* Yeah
everyonce in a while you come across a bit of writing that makes you go F*ck Yeah! (using the * cause the word ain't burried in the text).
And this is it. Thanks to Google and Gunnar... i stumbled gloriously on this article
Revel in it ya Cyclocross Freaks!
And this is it. Thanks to Google and Gunnar... i stumbled gloriously on this article
Revel in it ya Cyclocross Freaks!
‘Cross is for Yuppies
by Nick Verstain
My cyclocross race was postponed on Sunday—because of snow.
Now that makes about as much sense as postponing the Kentucky Derby because there was horse crap on the track.
‘Cross is supposed to be done in snow, rain, mud and ice. We’re supposed to pretend we’re in some Godforsaken burg in Belgium, tramping through the drizzle and dung for an hour, then washing up in a freezing stable with a bucket of ice water between our knees.
But in 2003 in America the Bootiful, we’re sitting at home watching the NFL while a perfectly good ‘cross course sits covered in a delicious frosting of precipitation. I shouldn’t be surprised. This wimping out is just another chapter in the yuppie-ization of cyclocross. Might as well pass out the brie and chardonnay, boys. Add another $200 in chi-chi Paul parts to those $3,000 cross-specific bikes sitting in the warm garage, snuggled next to the $50,000 Lexus SUV. Go to the Internet and buy another pair of $179 Assos bib knickers.
Put on your Bose anti-noise headphones, ‘cuz here comes the sermon. Back in the day, which was about five years ago, we would have not only had the damn race in the snow, we would have ridden our bikes to the course. And we wouldn’t have worried about a little moisture corrupting the integrity of our SIDIs and skinsuits because we’d probably be wearing Sorel boots and red-toed socks. With tights under knee-length shorts. And a hooded sweatshirt, dude. And must I say it: platform pedals.
In those not-so-old but very good days, ‘cross was not a weekend holiday in honor of St. Mastercard, but another tribal celebration that involved a bunch of guys and gals tooling around a muddy park on pieced-together rigs, hooting and hollering and falling in the slop and puking the leftovers of Saturday night’s revelry onto the mulch under the kids slide at City Park.
There were organized races, but the goal wasn’t a spot in the USAC rankings or even a check for a couple hundred bucks. Our patron was Saint Gunnar of Shogren, the coolest biker to ever wear a mullet. C’mon, admit it: there is no better hairstyle for a bike racer or hockey player than a damn mullet. Short on top fits under a helmet and long in back just looks good. The burr-cut X Games skateboard wannabe look is fine if you’re getting strapped into the electric chair, but there’s nothing like a mullet blowing in the backdraft as you glide over the finish line.
Gunnar Shogren showed us how to do it with style. West-by-God-Virginia style, with a rusting van full of Pixies cassettes, bike parts and a tandem sleeping bag. Before the races began, Gunnar would be out with The People, giving tips on how to negotiate the creek crossing or carry your mountain bike over the barriers.
Yes, there were barriers. Big ones. Too damn big for the latest Hot Todd to bunnyhop. Part of ‘cross is carrying the damn bike over the damn barriers. Trix are for wabbits. ‘Cross is for men and women who believe in the triumph of pain over style, that if you suffer enough at the steel plant or Wal-Mart or the bike shop, you’ll be rewarded or at least not slapped in the face by some Mountain Bike Action twit. The Slick Ricks who hop their 4-pound frames probably bunnyhopped over Algebra and honors English. ‘Cross is the sport for all those lunch bucket guys in South Boston or Oakland, PA or Dublin or Ghent, poor saps who needed to race to pull themselves out of the drudgery of a potato field or a Chevy bumper factory.
They don’t need to pull that old F-150 into the parking lot full of Acuras and Expeditions and Cayennes and feel bad because their ten-year-old battered and nicked Bianchi frame isn’t high-gloss and tricked out like a $1000-a-night hooker. So what if they ain’t running Candys and TUFOs and don’t have six sets of wheels in the SUV, two for every possible weather forecast.
There’s a class war going on in America and I’ll be damned if I’ll let it kill ‘cross like it has killed mountain bike racing. One of my best friends, a guy who makes his living writing about cycling and should know better, is showing signs of the disease. After every ‘cross race this season, he’s in the bike shop the next day, tweaking and freaking his rig because he can’t admit that he’s getting beat because he’s friggin’ slow. His Cannondale XR800 used to be his pride and joy: a bare-bones frame, Shimano 105 and a set of Speedmax tires. Now it looks like a sad moose weighed down by redundant brake levers, anti-chain suck devices, carbon chainring protectors and a Ti-railed saddle from Italy. He’s not buying speed, he’s investing in excuses.
And get this: he has a cyclocross coach. That’s like admitting you use Viagra. He’s huffing and puffing on a trainer before races, trying to get his heart rate purring to perfection before the start of the race. He’s drinking Echinacea and OJ instead of Excederin and Red Bull. He used to worship Gunnar and now he won’t even admit that he’s been to Morgantown.
Gunnar is out there, folks, He’s keeping it real for us. You gotta believe that there’s more to bikes than spending money, that there’s more to fun than funds. We can turn the tide by taking back ‘cross. One mullet at a time.
Well, whadda ya know
I think i'm feeling better. So far. It was a touch and go last night, but i think i pulled through okay.
A bit weak from lack of caloric intake, but on the whole, not too bad.
Simple day today - it rained on the commute, sort of. It was dumping on us waiting at the bus stop, but when i got outside to ride to work. It had stopped raining and had gotten a bit foggy. To the point the glasses were collecting so much mist i had to tip em down a bit to see better. One of those days that ya get soaked even though it isn't 'raining'.
Still it felt great to be on the bike. Played around a bit with pedaling uphil with one leg... even in the 'weakened' condition it was pretty smooth, i could definately feel the surge on the down stroke when the quads engaged, but it wasn't a massive one, and with the idle foot sitting on the rear wheel QR the feeling of accel was very noticable. No real decel felt, just the wee surge. With the trailer QR and the hook up attached i've got a great foot rest... maybe i'll add this to the diversity of playing with pedaling form. I think in the first edition of my bike commuting i never was this concious of form. I just rode the bike. pushed the pedals. Maybe cause for a long time i used a set of Suntour XC-Pro grease guard platform pedals with toe clips... and now i'm exclusively SPD.
I broke down and ordered fenders for the bike. Woulda bout them from the Hub if they were in stock but that REI dividend, and the 20% coupon that expired Sunday were too much of a swan song, and i broke down and ordered some SKS race fenders in black. Neither the cross or the P-mount have fender eyelets and well i've seen em on a few messenger/commuter bikes around here and they look cool at least. gonna give em a try. can't work worse than the retarded fender setup i've got now.
Oh and a few things - How old is your beer. VERY important to know:
this post helps (i'm gonna hold of hard copy/quoting cause a certain Dave in Germany said i write too much).
Check it here!
and Un Pimp your ride... i've only seen the third one on TV... its no where near as funny as #2...
Its part of the gotta follow the rules ALL the time part of riding i do. stop at stop signs, red lights and what nots. Yeild when appropriate all that shit. All that shit that i see tons of pompus cyclists deliberatly ignore cause they feel that on a bike they are better than a car.
Having an elitest attitude, and a devisive nature is the wrong course for peace and reconciliation. How can we expect the motorists in cars to give cyclists respect if 'we' as cyclists are constantly blowing the rules and flaunting obnoxious behavior (running reds, and what not).
Anyway... Oh i was reading around and got to Meg's page and the name Gunnar Shogren was like.. hey - that's way more familiar than any normal name... sort of the name that says i 'think' i've got a personal connection/meeting thing to go with it more than the 'cyclist name who has had cyclingnews coverage.' Just strange cause i can't place it other than Michigan somehow.
*shrug*
time for food - and some fresh air...
gonna redeem some Antonio's points... but looking at the card - sumbitches only give you a free slice of cheese, or 1.75 towards any other slice... damn freaking cheap bastards... that's like less than $0.18/slice i bought... oh well - its better than a kick in the pants.
Peace Out
A bit weak from lack of caloric intake, but on the whole, not too bad.
Simple day today - it rained on the commute, sort of. It was dumping on us waiting at the bus stop, but when i got outside to ride to work. It had stopped raining and had gotten a bit foggy. To the point the glasses were collecting so much mist i had to tip em down a bit to see better. One of those days that ya get soaked even though it isn't 'raining'.
Still it felt great to be on the bike. Played around a bit with pedaling uphil with one leg... even in the 'weakened' condition it was pretty smooth, i could definately feel the surge on the down stroke when the quads engaged, but it wasn't a massive one, and with the idle foot sitting on the rear wheel QR the feeling of accel was very noticable. No real decel felt, just the wee surge. With the trailer QR and the hook up attached i've got a great foot rest... maybe i'll add this to the diversity of playing with pedaling form. I think in the first edition of my bike commuting i never was this concious of form. I just rode the bike. pushed the pedals. Maybe cause for a long time i used a set of Suntour XC-Pro grease guard platform pedals with toe clips... and now i'm exclusively SPD.
I broke down and ordered fenders for the bike. Woulda bout them from the Hub if they were in stock but that REI dividend, and the 20% coupon that expired Sunday were too much of a swan song, and i broke down and ordered some SKS race fenders in black. Neither the cross or the P-mount have fender eyelets and well i've seen em on a few messenger/commuter bikes around here and they look cool at least. gonna give em a try. can't work worse than the retarded fender setup i've got now.
Oh and a few things - How old is your beer. VERY important to know:
this post helps (i'm gonna hold of hard copy/quoting cause a certain Dave in Germany said i write too much).
Check it here!
and Un Pimp your ride... i've only seen the third one on TV... its no where near as funny as #2...
Un-Pimp Your Ride I, II and III. The new VW Golf ads. These ads crack me the hell up every single time. EVERY SINGLE TIME. "Representing Deutschland, yo." AHAHA.That was pimped from Limon's blog. Who i stumbled on from Fixedgear's post of this. A magnet? does it work? Granted traffic around here is heavy enough for that not to be needed but it'd be sweet to have none-the-less. I just wonder about the efficacy of it. And it is a delima, but in general i'll wait for a car to show up to trip the light before blasting through.
Its part of the gotta follow the rules ALL the time part of riding i do. stop at stop signs, red lights and what nots. Yeild when appropriate all that shit. All that shit that i see tons of pompus cyclists deliberatly ignore cause they feel that on a bike they are better than a car.
Having an elitest attitude, and a devisive nature is the wrong course for peace and reconciliation. How can we expect the motorists in cars to give cyclists respect if 'we' as cyclists are constantly blowing the rules and flaunting obnoxious behavior (running reds, and what not).
Anyway... Oh i was reading around and got to Meg's page and the name Gunnar Shogren was like.. hey - that's way more familiar than any normal name... sort of the name that says i 'think' i've got a personal connection/meeting thing to go with it more than the 'cyclist name who has had cyclingnews coverage.' Just strange cause i can't place it other than Michigan somehow.
*shrug*
time for food - and some fresh air...
gonna redeem some Antonio's points... but looking at the card - sumbitches only give you a free slice of cheese, or 1.75 towards any other slice... damn freaking cheap bastards... that's like less than $0.18/slice i bought... oh well - its better than a kick in the pants.
Peace Out
Monday, April 03, 2006
palate cleanser
There are three perfect shapes, as defined by someone: a hull of a boat, a violin, and a woman's body.
And yes i know who said it:
I just wanted to rephrase it.
And say, its dated, horribly. esp in light of current american standards... boats around here are rarely the sleek gorgeous forms of old, or of sail power. When all ya need to do is add more horsepower you can overcome any uglyness. IE the Mustang for example (yeah the car - i'm switching metaphors).
The woman's body 100 years ago was a more perfect from, free from the irregularities induced by american eating habits... and the desire to pump full of silicon or McDs. The ideal still exists and like the hull of a boat, prime examples are not the norm anymore.
Comes down to the violin. Fortunately the bastardized grotesque electric fiddles are an exception and the beauty of the instrument is well represented.
And yes i know who said it:
Edward and I both agreed with the view of a Greek friend of ours, Jean Varda, who was fond of saying there were three perfect shapes in the world ... the hull of a boat, a violin and a woman's body.
Charis Wilson
I just wanted to rephrase it.
And say, its dated, horribly. esp in light of current american standards... boats around here are rarely the sleek gorgeous forms of old, or of sail power. When all ya need to do is add more horsepower you can overcome any uglyness. IE the Mustang for example (yeah the car - i'm switching metaphors).
The woman's body 100 years ago was a more perfect from, free from the irregularities induced by american eating habits... and the desire to pump full of silicon or McDs. The ideal still exists and like the hull of a boat, prime examples are not the norm anymore.
Comes down to the violin. Fortunately the bastardized grotesque electric fiddles are an exception and the beauty of the instrument is well represented.
pissin in cornflakes
Forgive me Bill for using that to memorialize you. But when i read about what happened over at Velonews my day took a bitter awful turn.
This is the story posted at Velonews:
Bill Corliss was our rep in michigan from what i recall, the memory from the days in the shop are marred by the beer and burger lunches and long drawn out rides... I'm pretty sure he was our rep. Even having a tacit, barely know the guy kinda relationship, it is a stronger bond than say any one of the other cyclists that get taken out. That coupled with the fact that he was a father, make it especially hard.
Reading about things like this make it hard sometimes to keep riding, make it hard to carry on as a cyclist. I almost feel the most for the rider who witnessed it all. And I hope the guy driving the construction truck and trailer feels the same pain. It is a different kind of tragedy than the Doc in Cali who was crushed by the tree, and strangely there is a giant chasm between the two. I can't really reconcile the difference. Both are tragic losses of human and more specially a cyclists.
We've gotta ask Patrick O'Grady to add a panel for Bill. He's got a great series started in the book... this could ad a great memorial panel.
peace out, and be careful out there... crosswind, debris, and trucks... not so good
This is the story posted at Velonews:
You just never know
Dear Fellow Riders,
This year winter in North Utah was quite tough and very unpredictable for riding on the road. Finally, Saturday morning was the first promising morning for a group ride.My good friend and neighbor Paul Moote, from Mad Dog team, sent me an e-mail about a group ride and I sent his message to my buddies. Bill Corliss met Paul and I at my house and Paul drove us to the meeting place in Lehi. We were planning a very nice 90 mile ride by Utah Lake, to Eureka and back through 5 mile pass.
The entire group had ridden this route many times. The trip to Lehi took about an hour and 15 min to drive and on the way we were having great conversations, especially about our kids. I have three - two teenage girls and little son - Paul has six kids from 8 years and up to 20 and Bill and his wife adopted their 12-year-old boy from a foster family a little over a year ago. It was a very nice conversation, especially interesting and inspiring to hear Bill talk about his experience with his little boy who went through a real hell in his short life and how Bill and his wife were dreaming on raising this special guy and making the rest of his life special.
Upon arriving at the meeting spot, Bill and I quickly rode to the Coffee shop. Bill bought me a coffee and I promise that it will be my turn to buy after our ride. We came back to the car, changed and by that time all other friends had gathered together; our friends from Mad Dog team with whom Paul and I just raced the 24 Hour of Old Pueblo: Chris with his wife KC and Adam; my good buddy Dave Reynolds and Adam invited a new guy Alan.
The group was a good, strong group of eight and every body was excited for the first long spring ride. We quickly lined up on the road: Paul was first and I was on his wheel. After setting good pace, Paul went to the back and I started pulling the group. I thought that I should keep pulling for a while as the road was narrow with busy traffic.
Then all of a sudden, I was passed by a construction truck with trailer full supplies for concrete framing. The truck immediately went to the right and stopped. The Driver jumped from the truck and yelled something about the accident that took place behind me, I immediately turned around; from this moment on it was absolute nightmare and I'm still in shock as I write this message.
None of you need to imagine it. Bill was on the road, still clipped in to his bike, hands on the bars, helmet on the side, blood from his head and he was DEAD. My good friend had died instantly.
Paul Moote witnessed this tragedy, as he was on Bill's back wheel, in the strong cross wind, with heavy construction debris; Bill rubbed the rider's wheel in front of him and crashed to the pavement, as the Dodge pickup and trailer passed by, unknowingly crushing Bill.
In a tenth of a second, the world lost a great person, dad, racer and mentor. The road was narrow, there was a strong crosswind and construction debris littered what small shoulder was available, so many obstacles could have kept this tragedy from ever happening. The truck was traveling too close to the riders and should have yielded a few feet which could have saved Bill's life.
Our community lost one of the most caring, loving, intelligent persons many of us will be lucky enough to know and call a friend. Bill Corliss was a friend to just about every one he ever met. He was originally from Michigan and was a graduate of the University of Michigan. He worked in the bike industry for over 20 years, working with companies such as Schwinn, Vetta, Sports Instruments and most recently was the Director of Electronics Development for Bell Sports.
Back in the 1980's in Michigan as a member of the Wolverine Sports Club, "Wild Bill" mentored new members to the club and the sport of cycling. He continued giving back to the sport he loved and most recently was a mentor of the Park City Cycling Academy and a member of the Cole Sport Cycling Team. Bill recently placed seventh at the Masters National Championships in Park City. Bill loved the mountains and the outdoors. His hobbies also included Nordic and alpine skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, running, skating and walking his Huskies.
Bill was also very active in bike advocacy. He fought hard for bike lanes and state legislation that would make the roads safer for all cyclists.
This tragedy is a reminder that bike safety and advocacy still needs a great deal of improvement. The Bill Corliss Bike Advocacy Fund has been set up to continue Bill's love of cycling, bike safety and new rider mentorship. Donations can be made at any Frontier Bank.
Bill leaves behind his wife Deb, 12 year old son Jordan, parents Bill and Jessie and two Husky puppies, Boris & Natasha. Bill touched all of our lives and will be sorely missed.
Boris Lyubner
President
The Endurance 100
www.theE100.com
Bill Corliss was our rep in michigan from what i recall, the memory from the days in the shop are marred by the beer and burger lunches and long drawn out rides... I'm pretty sure he was our rep. Even having a tacit, barely know the guy kinda relationship, it is a stronger bond than say any one of the other cyclists that get taken out. That coupled with the fact that he was a father, make it especially hard.
Reading about things like this make it hard sometimes to keep riding, make it hard to carry on as a cyclist. I almost feel the most for the rider who witnessed it all. And I hope the guy driving the construction truck and trailer feels the same pain. It is a different kind of tragedy than the Doc in Cali who was crushed by the tree, and strangely there is a giant chasm between the two. I can't really reconcile the difference. Both are tragic losses of human and more specially a cyclists.
We've gotta ask Patrick O'Grady to add a panel for Bill. He's got a great series started in the book... this could ad a great memorial panel.
peace out, and be careful out there... crosswind, debris, and trucks... not so good
dynamic plans
meaning - as my wife was barely over throwing up all day friday, we didn't load up the BioDiesel machine and head north to New Hampshire... we stayed home, did load after load of laundry, and cleaned up the place. A much needed day, and we got the second of the big things hanging over our head taken care of, the taxes. Sort of. Well we paid the crazy part timers at H&R Block some cash cause well.. it was one way to get it done. And to get the stuff finished up was a good thing. Much relief. While extremely dissapointed not to have gone to see everyone up at the HO5Gs, the day was much needed. Alas, no ride. And so by about 4pm i stopped into the office with the youngest to check some email for potential Sunday rides... much to my dismay, nothing. Turns out if i'd come back and checked at 8pm I would have found a perfect ride to join. As it was, i took off after the girls went up to the Wrentham outlet mall for some shopping. Just myself, a nice mellow slowish ride down the East bay bike path. Part of me was thinking, should be some great people watching. Well i was the only one except two small sweaty women running that had the minimal kit on. They were running in jog-bra and shorts, (and had very good form BTW), and i was riding with just a shortsleeve jersey and shorts. Of course i took off at 11:30, and tootled down to Warren, popped off the bike path for a 30 mph interval to the stop sign, before crusing on to my bro's house. Chatted there for a bit, say my youngest niece (damn she's tiny) and had a GreenRockLight. Maybe not the best thing, considering i had a big bowl of Mueslli for breakfast at 8am and that was it. Anyrate, i grabbed the pedal wrench from storage so i could swap the 747s off the p-mount and put them back on the Cross bike and the Ultegra spds back on the p-mount. Rode back into the wind the whole way. And yes... i'm the one blasting people here for taking off on a ride with the wind, and that's what i did. But i was alone and could ride at my own damn pace. Two or three good intervals under the belt and a whole ride focused on form, balance between quads and hammies nice smooth circles. The timing of the ride might have been better for the first bare skin ride. See i'm one of those pastey white welshmen... Taning just ain't my style.
see? Nice eh? Well my arms are worse, and i'm stuck wearing the shortest of short socks cause that's what i had on and the ankles are a bit tender. Okay so the picture sucks... you try taking a picture with sub par lighting in a hurry with your pants around your ankles...
okay - so maybe that wasn't the best visual to include.
On a different weather note. I knew it would get cool again. why? Cause sunday after the ride i decided that with the first ride sans winter gear would be the end of the mountain man beard. So i shaved back to a trim goatee... and what happened? its gonna maybe snow tonight and get in the 30s for an overnight low the rest of the week. Fun freaking stuff... oh well and oh the time change aslo was a factor in contributing to the loss of my 'winter coat' now to make my wife happy completely, i need to find some stylist to trim this hippie long hair of mine. By summer i should be back to the #2 from the barber, but between now and then i'm gonna hold on to the longish locks.
The funny thing, maybe suprising, is that i felt the ride more than normal in my legs. Could be the lack of riding, or could be the solid steady solo riding with no draft rest, no descent rest (very flat michigan-esque ride). That and finally i got a ride in. Finally.
Oh and the time change sucks. Back to being a challenge to get the oldest up and fed and off to the bus stop. But it wasn't bad, she did get up, she did eat breakfast and get into the uniform before the critical departure time of 6:59. Oh and we had fun walking, we tried walking like the youngest has been lately. She's stompting (little L), knees coming up and feet straight down. I dunno what she's doing that, maybe from playing outside at daycare? but it's funny, and rather loud. its pretty entertaining how much noise a little 25-30 pounder can make stomping around on a wood floor. She was amazing everyone at the playground yesterday (after the ride, while the sunburn was developing I took the girls out to play). She climbed right up to the top of a slide that was roughly 7' tall. maybe 6'8". Tall enough that i could reachup and help but not see the top. And she did it over and over and over, by the last time she wasn't using her knees to climb up at all. Ah the fun times... We just need some rain to clean up the sand and playground. The Rain needs to wash the tinyiest bits of dust back down into the ground... it is just damn dry 'round here.
Oh well - so begins another week of fun...
see? Nice eh? Well my arms are worse, and i'm stuck wearing the shortest of short socks cause that's what i had on and the ankles are a bit tender. Okay so the picture sucks... you try taking a picture with sub par lighting in a hurry with your pants around your ankles...
okay - so maybe that wasn't the best visual to include.
On a different weather note. I knew it would get cool again. why? Cause sunday after the ride i decided that with the first ride sans winter gear would be the end of the mountain man beard. So i shaved back to a trim goatee... and what happened? its gonna maybe snow tonight and get in the 30s for an overnight low the rest of the week. Fun freaking stuff... oh well and oh the time change aslo was a factor in contributing to the loss of my 'winter coat' now to make my wife happy completely, i need to find some stylist to trim this hippie long hair of mine. By summer i should be back to the #2 from the barber, but between now and then i'm gonna hold on to the longish locks.
The funny thing, maybe suprising, is that i felt the ride more than normal in my legs. Could be the lack of riding, or could be the solid steady solo riding with no draft rest, no descent rest (very flat michigan-esque ride). That and finally i got a ride in. Finally.
Oh and the time change sucks. Back to being a challenge to get the oldest up and fed and off to the bus stop. But it wasn't bad, she did get up, she did eat breakfast and get into the uniform before the critical departure time of 6:59. Oh and we had fun walking, we tried walking like the youngest has been lately. She's stompting (little L), knees coming up and feet straight down. I dunno what she's doing that, maybe from playing outside at daycare? but it's funny, and rather loud. its pretty entertaining how much noise a little 25-30 pounder can make stomping around on a wood floor. She was amazing everyone at the playground yesterday (after the ride, while the sunburn was developing I took the girls out to play). She climbed right up to the top of a slide that was roughly 7' tall. maybe 6'8". Tall enough that i could reachup and help but not see the top. And she did it over and over and over, by the last time she wasn't using her knees to climb up at all. Ah the fun times... We just need some rain to clean up the sand and playground. The Rain needs to wash the tinyiest bits of dust back down into the ground... it is just damn dry 'round here.
Oh well - so begins another week of fun...
Friday, March 31, 2006
the last day of march....
Okay - gonna edit and add this:
Ergomo Pro
COOOOOOL stuff and it'd work perfectly with the Q-pro and the octalink BB...
mmmmm POWERmeter... MUST..... NOT......GIVE.....IN
(no worries - i'd buy a second cross bike AND a more robust commuter before a power meter) its just damn cool to get all gadgety about stuff....
and this starts the post i started this morning
Trying to judge if i feel markedly different now that the house has sold and we've managed to move on. Hard to tell. It was great opening the bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin that we chilled back in Michigan when the first offer was accepted. Little did we know that the first offer would fall through, the second offer made it farther, at least that made it to inspection. The third was a major emotional roller coaster, the buyer had a bad lender and bad advice and offered 18% lower than asking after we'd already lowered the house price 10%... we got her to come up abit, then her lender crapped out and then she got a real lender and then she got fired from her second job and well - there ya have it the deal fell through. So on to #4... So this one ultimately was the final. That's good. But, we got to inspections, and well the weather conspired to take the remaining measely 3-4% equity we had left in the sale price and dump it in the basement. It rained for two days ontop of the frozen ground PRIOR to inspection. Whats that mean? A wetter than normal basement. What did that mean? Well the inspector said we needed to put a trench drain system in to alleviate the hydrostatic pressure (i think that's his word choice) that was forcing the water up through the basement slab. But he thought just the unfinished side (laundry, furnace, waterheater side) would need it and that's only 54 linear feet and the buyer agreed to split the cost. Cool. But that wasn't really where the whole 3-4% went. See on Monday, the drain/sump system guys came out to do a few more measurements and well it rained more than an inch (and yes despite the rain, the ground was still frozen) that morning heavy heavy rain all at once. And poof - we had standing water in the basement were in the 4 years we were in the house we never did. It sucked. Well the house NOW has a complete perimeter system 104 linear feet that the buyer didn't think she needed to contribute anymore. We got lucky, our agent was able to keep the deal together and well, it finally sold. And while we didn't get any cash back out of it, meaning we eat the couple grand in a few major issues we fixed recently, and we eat the 10 months of writing checks for the house... we are Free. Free from the constrains of home ownership, and esp absentee home ownership. Thus completing the process of moving out of michigan and to rhode island for this amazing job (where the phone hasn't stopped ringing all morning) that started in January last year.
And to make the last day even better, i'm out of coffee here at work, but have emergency back up Folgers stuff (and this time i didn't add too much but it still tastes like crap, just not bitter strong crap), and i didn't toss the lock in the bag this morning so i can't go to WholeFoods (university heights one) and get more, well i suppose i could put the bike inside somewhere by the carts... anyway oh and my wife seems to have finally picked up the puking virus the girls had for a while. No freaking fun.
I got in pretty early this morning despite all the fun at home. Solobreak's got a fantastic entry today. Sounds like a roadtrip road to try out. And I watched The CALL from Pirelli films this morning... damn cool movie. Kinda took a long time to build it up but it was worth the wait.
Stopped at The Hub yesterday, and man - do i miss wrenching, just working on bikes, makin em function properly. Routing the cables the right way, using the proper tools, debating hair-spray vs alcohol... (for Mt.Bike grip install). Seein what $400 bones will get ya nowdays (hugi hubset wheels, chris king headset, thompson seatpost, Kore skewers on a Jamis full sus mt bike with a shitty oldschool manitou fork). Just flat out sick i tell ya. That and my P-mount crank or BB is kinda messed up... getting increasing chainring deflection... and i'm not thinking its a good thing. My luck what ever it is will give way when i'm just getting to the top of Tower Hill Road... I suppose i could actually look at it... we'll see maybe i'll get a chance to.
Oh and i'm jealous of those IF guys... hell i'm jealous of all those guys out there getting new road bikes to start the season. But, i know, i should be content with the kit i've got, it works, i love riding. Maybe it was easier to deal with the old when more than a grand a month was headed to a vacant house we owned. Now its time to start funneling that cash towards the debt and a down for a home out here somewhere... such is life, but now, we have shed the shackles of Michigan and are free!
peace out yall
Ergomo Pro
COOOOOOL stuff and it'd work perfectly with the Q-pro and the octalink BB...
mmmmm POWERmeter... MUST..... NOT......GIVE.....IN
(no worries - i'd buy a second cross bike AND a more robust commuter before a power meter) its just damn cool to get all gadgety about stuff....
and this starts the post i started this morning
Trying to judge if i feel markedly different now that the house has sold and we've managed to move on. Hard to tell. It was great opening the bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin that we chilled back in Michigan when the first offer was accepted. Little did we know that the first offer would fall through, the second offer made it farther, at least that made it to inspection. The third was a major emotional roller coaster, the buyer had a bad lender and bad advice and offered 18% lower than asking after we'd already lowered the house price 10%... we got her to come up abit, then her lender crapped out and then she got a real lender and then she got fired from her second job and well - there ya have it the deal fell through. So on to #4... So this one ultimately was the final. That's good. But, we got to inspections, and well the weather conspired to take the remaining measely 3-4% equity we had left in the sale price and dump it in the basement. It rained for two days ontop of the frozen ground PRIOR to inspection. Whats that mean? A wetter than normal basement. What did that mean? Well the inspector said we needed to put a trench drain system in to alleviate the hydrostatic pressure (i think that's his word choice) that was forcing the water up through the basement slab. But he thought just the unfinished side (laundry, furnace, waterheater side) would need it and that's only 54 linear feet and the buyer agreed to split the cost. Cool. But that wasn't really where the whole 3-4% went. See on Monday, the drain/sump system guys came out to do a few more measurements and well it rained more than an inch (and yes despite the rain, the ground was still frozen) that morning heavy heavy rain all at once. And poof - we had standing water in the basement were in the 4 years we were in the house we never did. It sucked. Well the house NOW has a complete perimeter system 104 linear feet that the buyer didn't think she needed to contribute anymore. We got lucky, our agent was able to keep the deal together and well, it finally sold. And while we didn't get any cash back out of it, meaning we eat the couple grand in a few major issues we fixed recently, and we eat the 10 months of writing checks for the house... we are Free. Free from the constrains of home ownership, and esp absentee home ownership. Thus completing the process of moving out of michigan and to rhode island for this amazing job (where the phone hasn't stopped ringing all morning) that started in January last year.
And to make the last day even better, i'm out of coffee here at work, but have emergency back up Folgers stuff (and this time i didn't add too much but it still tastes like crap, just not bitter strong crap), and i didn't toss the lock in the bag this morning so i can't go to WholeFoods (university heights one) and get more, well i suppose i could put the bike inside somewhere by the carts... anyway oh and my wife seems to have finally picked up the puking virus the girls had for a while. No freaking fun.
I got in pretty early this morning despite all the fun at home. Solobreak's got a fantastic entry today. Sounds like a roadtrip road to try out. And I watched The CALL from Pirelli films this morning... damn cool movie. Kinda took a long time to build it up but it was worth the wait.
Stopped at The Hub yesterday, and man - do i miss wrenching, just working on bikes, makin em function properly. Routing the cables the right way, using the proper tools, debating hair-spray vs alcohol... (for Mt.Bike grip install). Seein what $400 bones will get ya nowdays (hugi hubset wheels, chris king headset, thompson seatpost, Kore skewers on a Jamis full sus mt bike with a shitty oldschool manitou fork). Just flat out sick i tell ya. That and my P-mount crank or BB is kinda messed up... getting increasing chainring deflection... and i'm not thinking its a good thing. My luck what ever it is will give way when i'm just getting to the top of Tower Hill Road... I suppose i could actually look at it... we'll see maybe i'll get a chance to.
Oh and i'm jealous of those IF guys... hell i'm jealous of all those guys out there getting new road bikes to start the season. But, i know, i should be content with the kit i've got, it works, i love riding. Maybe it was easier to deal with the old when more than a grand a month was headed to a vacant house we owned. Now its time to start funneling that cash towards the debt and a down for a home out here somewhere... such is life, but now, we have shed the shackles of Michigan and are free!
peace out yall
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