monster crossing

Monster cross 2.0. Get excited!

tnr 10/25

Late October and 10 riders, seven students. Awesome.

Anyway, as Woltemade said, it was a Fall day to bottle up and uncork in January. Such a nice day...

cross is boss

How can you not love this stuff?

I'll tell you how. When you drive 2.5 hours to a race and the officials stop it a half lap in, later to cancel your field altogether. Yup, that's how.

I mean, some dudes were hurt pretty bad in a pileup almost right as we started, at least one had to be airlifted out, and you get all sort of weird feeling when someone gets hurt that bad, but, you know, you still walk away feeling empty and gyped (yup, i used _that_ word) for not getting to race and the promoter not being willing to put you in another race or refund...anything.

So, yeah, that's when I don't totally love this stuff...

two morning complaints

first morning complaint:

Listening to the sound bites from what I guess was a Republican presidential debate last night (I didn't watch the debate, obviously) I'm struck again with how completely stupid these people sound. And I'm not, believe it or not, referring to the substance of their comments. I'm talking about the persona, the image, the caricature of a candidate that they are all trying so hard to sculpt and project. Because what are they projecting? Stupidity.

A couple of examples. Romney is responding to a Perry critique of the MA health care plan. Forget the substantive particulars for a moment and consider Romney's response. He says that in MA only one percent of children are uninsured. Sounds great. But then he tells us 1,000,000 children in TX are uninsured. He pauses for effect. The effect of a comparison between a little number like one and a big number like one million. But of course the comparison is absurd. It may be that TX has an unimaginably high rate of uninsured children, but I certainly don't know off the top of my head what the total population of children in either MA or TX is, so I'm completely unable to make a reasoned comparison.

Then Bachman... Apparently having nothing substantial to say at all, she criticizes Cane's 999 plan by saying something like, "If you just turn those numbers over...well, the devil's in the details..." Really? That's all you've got?

Seriously, it's like you get dumber just listening to these people.

But this is the thing, they're only giving us what we want...and by "we" I mean what polls well, or what they know will be rewarded or at least not punished. In other words, there's a clear incentive to act like a moron. If there weren't, we'd get intelligence.

second morning complaint:

Why doesn't Shippensburg University (the university where I work) hire students to fill it's unskilled labor positions? I'm talking about things like janitorial work, food service, and grounds keeping. I've nothing against the people who are currently in those jobs, but we've so many students either looking for work or having to travel long distances (which consumes so much time and such a large portion of their paycheck) to work, and usually working jobs no better than those on campus, if those jobs on campus were available to students.

So make all the jobs on campus part-time and accommodating towards students' schedules. The students won't have to travel to work, and whatever value is lost in having to spend more time managing odd schedules and in the training costs associated with a high turnover workforce will be more than balanced by the cost savings of having, well, a high turnover, part-time workforce.

iphone 4S pre-order complete

Check!

(I didn't get white.)

I can't help myself...I'm very excited!!

sticky-fingered lunchtime typing...

There's something especially distasteful (and perhaps degrading) to me about eating meals at my desk. It's just so...grubby.

There are of course several advantages to bringing food to work versus going out. It's cheaper. It's usually healthier. I usually eat less. I save time.

But it just feels so...uncivilized. Perhaps the word I'm looking for is uncouth. (I write between bites of my "Simply Asia Sweet & Sour Chow Mein." Yes, it's not 9:15 am and I'm eating lunch...)

I really miss my office at Vandy. Not only did we have a very nice break room, complete with patio table on deck for nice weather, but there were also so many and varied eating options within very close walking distance, both on and off campus.

Sometimes I really miss that place...

stationary trainers: the anti-awesome

Really?

You've got to be kidding me.

No amount of movie magic is ever going to make a trainer--or riding a trainer--awesome. And the people who made this video know that, and they know people watching this video know that, yet they still made it.

And then they had to punch themselves repeatedly.

(Though, watching this, I'm reminded of desperately wishing the other day that I lived my life to a soundtrack. I mean, really, wouldn't that be awesome?)

a test run with the GoPro

It's not all that awesome, but we're in business, which is awesome. (FB'ers, click here to see vid.)

I recorded A's cross country meet this morning, but it needs some editing (and some inspirational music) before it's ready for public consumption. So, stay tuned...

interbike 2011

Well, I've been terrible at blogging Interbike. I thought I was going to be awesome--posting pictures and witty, insightful comments--but I've been super busy running to and fro and, when not busy, way too tired to blog. So tired that I fell asleep in a couch that was part of the Hammer Nutrition booth, only to be woke up by some Hammer dude who sat down heavily next to me and, when I looked up, said, "Comfortable couches, aren't they?" I was so pissed I sat for another five or six minutes before leaving.

But I've had a great time.

I missed the first day of outdoor demo because my flight was cancelled (due to weather), but I rode 10 bikes the second day and have pictures of six of them.

Wednesday morning was spent setting up the WickWerks tent in the rain at the CrossVegas venue, the day was spent wandering the Expo hall looking at all kinds of cool stuff and quite a bit of lame stuff too. And the late afternoon and evening was spent back at CrossVegas watching the races and selling chain rings. (I bought a GoPro camera at special Interbike pricing yesterday--if anyone wants one while I'm here, let me know quick--and shot a bunch of video at CrossVegas. I haven't looked at it yet, but I'm hoping I've something cool to post when I get home and have time to sort out everything.)

One of the coolest things I saw yesterday was suction cup bike carriers.

It's pretty cool. Clearly, to sell these guys you've got to get over a major mental hurtle, but after seeing the demonstration and watching their videos, I'm convinced. And I want some. What a great, great way to carry your bikes (you can do it on the roof, or the back of your car like the picture above, which I think is really the way to go).

And CrossVegas was awesome. I don't think I've ever seen such an exciting cross race. Out of an elite group of 10 there came attack after attack, but nothing held for more than a couple of laps and the race ended pretty much in a nine-up sprint. The finish was too close to call...between _three_ riders! Good stuff.

there are hard men, and then there's Gilbert

"I'm tougher than the tarmac."

--Gilbert, to his teammates upon their expressing concern at the state of his hand after a crash.

Even when Gilbert doesn't win, he still plays the part of the hero in the last kilometer. Watch.

shipping on two tomato cages from ID to PA = $$$

This picture probably hasn't gotten enough attention:


Taken a few weeks ago, at a campground somewhere between Leadville and Buena Vista, Colorado. (A campground, btw, that was next to impossible to find at night. We drove past seven times before we found it.) Three bikes. Two indestructible tomato cages. Hauled from Idaho Falls all the way to Shippensburg. Via Ontario.

A map, you ask?

Ok. :-)


View Larger Map

Something like that.

Interestingly (to me), getting into Canada with my car thus loaded was no big deal. Getting out (even with two US passports and a PA license plate) was more difficult. Not difficult, per se, but the US border patrol agent had that sort of bad-ass cop attitude that we've all come to resent.

US border patrol agent: "Where are you coming from."

Me: "Idaho. Via Niagara Falls."

US border patrol dude: "You'll need to adjust that rack when you get out of here. A state patrolman will pull you over."

Me: "Oh, you mean like they haven't done in Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan...nor in Canada?"

Ok, I didn't really say that. I was all "Yes-sir, no-sir." Cops make me nervous. They have guns. And (yup, I'm going to say it) I don't trust anyone carrying a gun.

I will admit to enjoying a good ride in the rain (sometimes)...

Yup. I admit it. I do enjoy riding in the rain. Quite a bit, actually.

An archive photo. SoYoCo 2011.

What I don't enjoy is the aftermath. I don't enjoy how dirty everything gets, and when I say "everything," what I really mean is my bike. Which is not to say that I don't mind a dirty bike, it's that I mind the performance issues associated with a dirty bike that doesn't ever quite get clean afterward, even when you think it is.

I feel like I need to take things apart (pull the crank, pop the seatpost, take off the wheels and pedals) and let everything dry and wipe everything off. In the nooks and crannies. The bottom bracket bearing races, etc. And brakes, chain, derailleurs, etc.

And it seems to me that riding in the rain significantly decreases the useable life of cable housing, especially brake cable housing. I hate when brakes and derailleurs don't crisply spring back (when releasing tension) due to the crap that gets in there from who knows what. (I probably ought to look into that Gore sealed cable stuff, especially since I actually enjoy riding in the rain, but it seems expensive and complicated.) Seriously, though, riding in the rain leaves grit everywhere...

I also don't like wet shoes. Wet shoes dry quicker in the winter when the heat is on (and you put them next to the vent), but in this weather (and eastern humidity) it seems to take forever. Even with newspaper stuffed in them.

Anyway, I rode today. In the rain. For two hours and ten minutes. It was lovely.

But once home I had to drop everything in a hurry, shower, and get back to campus for a meeting. To which I was 10 minutes late. So I didn't get to take anything apart, and I didn't get to do any cleaning. So, now, when I do get to it, the whole thing will be worse. Which is a pain. But it's probably still worth it. Sometimes.

slumming in Tripoli

You can't make this stuff up...

From The National:

Chris Jeon, 21, a student at at University of California - Los Angeles, decided to travel to Libya to join the rebels for the last six weeks of his summer vacation. Here he is surrounded by rebels who are amassing about 130km from Colonel Muammar Qaddafi's hometown and stronghold.

Wow. What did you do with the last six weeks of your summer vacation?

crank brothers comes through

Last fall I bought a new pair of Eggbeater 3s. By early summer the bearings in one pedal had completely seized, to the point of not being able to turn the pedal with my hand, and only barely with a foot clipped in.

So about a month ago I sent them back to Crank Brothers with a description of the problem. Just now I opened a package to discover my pedals, rebuilt and as good as new. All I had to pay was shipping to one way.

Good on Crank Brothers.

...

So I've been pretty weak with the blog lately. Most readers won't care, but every now and then someone comments on it, lamenting my inactivity. That feels good, at least.

Anyway, I hope to pick things up again. I've a new camera on the to-buy list, and that might give me more to blog. And then last night I booked my trip to Interbike, so I'm hoping to blog a bit of that while I'm there. At least a post a day. So there's that. To look forward to. If you're the type that looks forward to such things.

I am.

And I'm excited!

a gorilla attack

I'm happy for the Gorilla.


Really, I've been a Greipel fan since at least this, and I think it's great he gets to beat Cav in a mano-a-mano shootout. It's good for everybody.

But look at this picture... Look at the size difference between these two! And what I love about the story of stage 10 is that it was Omega Pharma-Lotto's strategy to try to dump as many HTC riders (including, hopefully, Cavendish) on the Cat 4 climb leading up to the finish...assuming that Greipel, the dude nicknamed after the largest and surely the least adept at climbing of the hairy primates, would have a better chance making it through the difficult lead-up to the finish than teeny-tiny Cav.

Crazy.

I wonder how much more power Greipel had to put out over Cav to get over that last climb. I mean, compared to Cav...that dude looks huge!.