sydspinnin

Evidence-Based Fitness: Burn the boats: Why you're going to fail. Or not.

2012-01-03T10:55:00.000-06:00

Evidence-Based Fitness: Burn the boats: Why you're going to fail. Or not.: "I think that the reason why most people fail at their goals is because it's really not that painful to fail. "

'via Blog this'

In paragraph 3 there's a good rationale for qualitative inquiry.

Interesting parking experiment in LA

2011-12-31T00:05:00.000-06:00

Read the whole article here: http://www.lamag.com/features/Story.aspx?ID=1568281

Illustration only. Lifted from "EnglishRussia"

"Shoup can often be found dallying around parking meters and brings a camera to photograph illegally parked cars. Not long ago you could have spotted Shoup clicking on the corner of Pico and Fairfax, where the city had quadrupled its meter rates. (“Rates had gone too high there—sometimes there wasn’t a car on the street.”) In Westwood Village Shoup once rode the Raleigh back and forth for weeks tailing cars. He discovered that the average driver had to circle the block two and a half times before locating an open metered space. Westwood became a model for Shoup; the “cruising” he observed there occurs wherever drivers seek out inexpensive metered space to avoid pricier garages and lots. (A similar study in Manhattan in 1995 revealed that New Yorkers spent 11 minutes on average searching for a space.) In a year’s time in Westwood, space hunting by drivers consumed an extra 47,000 gallons of gas. It stalled traffic, increased accidents, and required 950,000 extra vehicle miles, about four trips to the moon and back.

The problem, according to Shoupistas, is that meters are priced equally. “Imagine what would happen at Dodger Stadium if every seat cost the same and went on sale game day,” says Dan Mitchell, an engineer at DOT. “Everyone would run for that seat behind home plate—it would be insanity. But that’s what we have now with parking—equal pricing.” This spring the DOT plans to introduce an $18.5 million smart wireless meter system based on Shoup’s theories. Called ExpressPark, the 6,000-meter array will be installed on downtown streets and lots, along with sensors buried in the pavement of every parking spot to detect the presence of cars and price accordingly, from as little as 50 cents an hour to $6. Street parking, like pork bellies, will be open to market forces. As blocks fill, prices will rise; when occupancy drops, so will rates. In an area like downtown, ideal for Shoup’s progressive pricing, people will park based on how much they’re willing to pay versus how far they are willing to walk to a destination. In a trendy area like Melrose Avenue’s shopping district, where parking on side streets is forbidden to visitors, Shoup would open those residential blocks to market-priced meters, wooing home owners by guaranteeing that meter profits would be turned over to them in the form of property tax deductions. (That benefit could add up to thousands of dollars a year per household.)

Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood is already experimenting with a version of the system, and so are San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. If adopted by more cities, the system would hopefully stop a Westwood scenario from ever occurring again, guaranteeing one open space of parking at any time of day on every metered block by pricing out drivers who are more willing to park on cheaper blocks. Should a block remain empty, its meters will drop their hourly rates over the course of a month. Nobody, of course, really knows what will happen once L.A.’s system powers up. After Seattle conducted its own study on performance-based parking, engineers noticed an oddity: When prices dropped on certain blocks, drivers actually parked less. No one can explain this.

“In San Francisco we’ve seen prices go up on one block, down on the next, then up again,” says Shoup. “Why that’s happening, we don’t know.” The DOT and Shoup expect ExpressPark to illuminate the static lives of automobiles. “All we need is to move one car off each block for the system to work and get rid of all cruising,” says Shoup. “It’s not like we’re talking about a problem as big as the Reformation or Prohibition.”

Faucet a quick & easy upgrade

2011-12-30T08:09:00.001-06:00

Well, relatively quick and easy. It just depends if the previous install was done per instructions. In our case a little extra muscle was required, but even then, we made quick work of the project.

A Toolbox article worth your time

2011-12-20T04:34:00.001-06:00

Toolbox: Comparing Yourself With Others

Duh. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out.

2011-12-16T09:22:00.004-06:00

"The state of Nebraska should take back responsibility for managing child welfare cases from private contractors. And it should create a new department to handle children's services, a legislative committee has recommended."
Get the story from Nebraska Public Radio.

Capitalism only works when consumers can take their dollar elsewhere the instant they believe they're being wronged, short-changed or otherwise mistreated.

In the case of private contractors handling child welfare, neither the state or the for-profit companies "win" if they spend more money to take better care of these kids. The state is interested in low cost, which is why the services were outsourced, the companies must make a profit or go under and the clientele is powerless and captive. The fact we're even having this discussion is ridiculous. DUH! The question of taking care of those who can't care for themselves is a moral and societal issue, not so much an economic one.

Don't buy it? Well, I challenge you to take on a foster child. The people who do the best job of caring for these children, providing them with the love and stability their homes lacked, aren't motivated by the money, I assure you. What does motivate them can't be bought.

It's better to have a large, stable slow-moving bureaucracy balanced by varied public interests than precarious private set-ups with profit motives. I mean seriously, who wakes up and says, "Hey, I can make millions off the disenfranchised."

Oh, that's right. Human traffickers.

30 day challenge: 02

2011-12-15T23:43:00.001-06:00

Erik drew a pic and I deleted and typed till I added about 800 words. Obviously word count doesn't reflect quality any more than mileage reflects race readiness, but it does lay groundwork for a practice.
Also today...a friend lost her brother and a young texas road racer, Megan Baab, died after being hit by a car on a training ride. Can't say I knew her beyond name, face and especially smile, but it's sad. She was just a freshman a Lees-McRae College.

30 Days: Erik 01

2011-12-15T07:41:00.001-06:00

1000 words/day off to a slowish start

2011-12-14T23:30:00.000-06:00

image from this site

I was only able to get a little over 500 words into my outline tonight. I expect as soon as I have a green light on this proposal, however, I can rol forward with much greater productivity. Right now, every idea has to be thought through. It takes a great deal of focus to try and anticipate all the implications of decisions made at this stage: Is it doable? What could undermine it? Can I really measure that? How many people will it take? etc. I'm doubly cautious because in the first study I undertook, I missed some of those questions and that lead to enormous challenges in the study's execution.

In other news, son Erik launched a 30-day challenge for himself as well. He's drawing a picture each day. I will try and get a pic of each one.

30 Day Challenge: What's yours?

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Mine's 1000 words/day.

Finally...something worth posting

2011-12-12T10:16:00.002-06:00

This guy should join us in the Rave Cave.
http://procatinator.com/?cat=13

Slowest lap?! Crowd favorite?! WTF?

2011-11-17T08:29:00.001-06:00

(Sheen declared unfit, even for mockery. Sigh.)

GET THE WHOLE SCOOP

and then prepare for

SHEnanigans

O my! Richards upgrades right into the leaders sox!

2011-11-02T00:27:00.002-05:00

Sunday is going to hear some severe CX cough as the top four cat 3 women battle for cash and seriously sweet gift certificates. In the cat 4 race, Grindcore will aim to keep to keep her lead over Julie Higgins.

Get some details on this....

Inadequate legs: Spooky 'Cross, Des Moines, IA

2011-10-31T01:37:00.001-05:00

Let's see...if you want to race seriously, then consider the course and verify the equipment you've selected it suitable. 42/26 proved inadequate for both day's steep climbs. Third on Saturday. Second on Sunday. I would like to note, however, that I did get the first lap prime on Sunday, so that was cool, if energy depleting.

The best part of the weekend was seeing the cat 3 and cat 4 women mix it up. Here's the summary:
http://sheclismo.blogspot.com/2011/10/spooky-cross-shook-up-midwest-cx-stitch.html

TALLSOX! Why didn't we think of it sooner?

2011-10-28T16:39:00.002-05:00

Yes. TallSox.

More cool stuff in the MIDWEST CX STITCH prize pool

2011-10-26T08:48:00.002-05:00

The CX STITCH prize pool continues to expand with two original paintings from Berly Brown. You'll be very lucky to take one of these home. Berly's career is taking off and getting one her works will just get harder. Check out a couple other samples of her work and learn more about Berly on SHECLISMO.

I wish I was a cat 3 or 4 again....

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

It is with a bit of envy that I announce our success at securing cool schwag for our MIDWEST CX STITCH winners, for Casey Sheppard, whose work is currently on display in Minneapolis at Gallery 360, has committed to donate a piece. Don't know which category it will be offered to, yet, but DANG, I'd ride harder. Seriously, this is a rising star and if you collect art at all, check out her work.

We'll also be having a bit of an art show at Saturday night's awards party. Of course, even if you aren't racing to win, you'll still want to come for the SHEnanigans!

Casey Sheppard

The following pieces are not the prize to be offered, but are samples of Sheppard's work. See her website and the Gallery 360 display for more fantastic pieces.

"Driftwood"

"Concrete Jungle 2"

"Scrap a Tron"

Buff up those race legs....

2011-10-25T10:35:00.003-05:00

The FINAL Flatwater Cycling Twilight CX race

at Van Dorn Park TOMORROW NIGHT

THAT'S WEDNESDAY, 11/26/2011

5:30 pm registration - 6:00 pm racing

Do good recovery, because THURSDAY, 11/27/2011
you'll need those gams for

THE MANCHILD HUSTLE

more info here.....

Do we know how to have some fun around here? Oh, HELLYA!

Berryman Trail Epic 2011 Recap

2011-10-23T20:51:00.003-05:00

The BTEpic is in it's 4th year if I remember correctly, but this is the first year I'd heard of it and when Big Pig Steven said that's what he wanted to do for his birthday, I said sure, but inside I was thinking, "Ridiculous. What are you thinking, Sydney? Are you insane?" A 60 mile road, or even gravel, ride can be arduous enough, but 60 miles in the woods when you've not been training for endurance?! Seriously?! Then, I thought, "What better way to practice skills, get some miles and have some fun than a mtb race?" Let's go!

"Stroke six times and see what comes of it," Grindcore said -- for luck, you know.

When I registered, I noted a good sized women's field, but I really wasn't paying attention to names at the time so when I learned a bunch of Nebraskans had rolled up and that Roxy was rolling to the line next morning, I had a bit of mind shift. I think I mentioned something about her dropping me like a stone earlier in the season and that it still chaffed me -- or something along those lines. The net result was that instead of just chillin', I shifted into race mode. Of course, that still left me quite unprepared to meet Carey Lowery. I didn't recognize her on the start line, but at some point she complimented my leg strength and we traded names. When she said, "Carey," I asked if she was the one I was always seeing at the top of the results lists. Of course, that's exactly who it was and explained why she was so lean and seemed to float along the single-track. The other major contender was Laura Cleary Scherff. I didn't know her name before the race, but I did notice a woman in a red kit with black tall socks making terribly good time and who was also strong up the climbs.

My race strategy was simple: kick it off strong in hopes of triggering the other women to burn some matches before they were planning on doing so. I also thought I could build up a lead to give myself time to settle into the single-track. I then intended to pace myself and make the best use possible of any sections allowing me to make good use of my power. As it happened, the BT has some seriously long climbs, flat flowy sections and a couple long stretches of roads.

Roxy, Carey and Laura soon caught me. I wasn't paying attention to Laura so much at that point, but was keenly concerned about Roxy and Carey. Fortunately, the bottleneck at the stream crossing slowed them down and I was able to jump ahead again on the road section to the next stretch of single-track. At this point, the trail sections get fuzzy and all I really recall are instances. For example, seeing Laura ahead of me on a climb. Watching her and then passing, which is why her reappearance gave me quite a shock, but she wasn't far off my wheel and jumped ahead on a checkpoint. Maybe she'll visit this write-up and fill in my memory gaps. In any case, my attention was on Carey. I could tell she could drop me at will on the single-track and when she arrived at the bag drop checkpoint seconds after me, I went into full race-mode, quickly stuffing Gu in my pockets, ripping off arm and leg warmers and slamming some gatorade/heed mix.

I got a lead on her, but soon I heard a voice, "I'm going to pass you now, Sydney." And, she did. I felt a flush of frustration and tried to hold her wheel for a bit, but could tell I was rattled, and that I needed to keep my head together most importantly. I reminded myself that a crash would eat a lot more time than being slower and smoother. I also recalled that the climbs were long and more time could be gained there. I felt I was climbing stronger than the others and that I could make up time there and in the other parts of the course. Finally, if I had to be second, it wouldn't be bad to be 2nd to Carey. My mind calmed and my body found its rhythm despite the occasional cramp up the inside of my right leg. Eventually, I saw Carey on some switchbacks ahead of me. I increased my pace and the gap narrowed. Finally, I pulled onto her wheel.

To my surprise, she said, "My legs are done. Go on and catch some guys."

Of course, my roadie self thought, "How dumb do you think I am? You really think I'm going to let you sit on MY wheel?" But, she sounded sincere and moved over, so I went ahead and came through. Then, I tried to push the pace a little in case she did get on my wheel. But, she didn't. As Steven said later, "Uh, if she said her legs were done, they were done. She's a mountain biker, not a roadie." Oh, OK. Is it really that simple?

I did pass some men and as I went by one said, "There's one more woman ahead of you." I didn't think he was right, but in case he was and in case Carey was feeling better, I kept my pace as high I could. Finally, and with gratitude, I came to the end of the singletrack and turned onto the finishing four miles of road. In my memory, there had seemed to be more downhill to it, but my legs begged to differ. Nonetheless, looking up the road I spied a red kit with black tall-socks and despite the distance, the rear view definitely appeared feminine.

I determined that I would simply attack roadie style regardless. So, I got up to speed, came up behind and then attacked as hard as my legs were able. I was only able to open up 26 seconds between that point and the finish. It was such an exciting race. Thanks ladies! Can't wait to see more of you on the trails next season!

PIX

View towards horse pasture from front deck of the lodge

Steven and I both had some work stuff to attend to before Friday's pre-ride

Stream near the cabins

"I like the idea of yoga, Steven. Not actually doing it."

Steven can't resist seeing how cold the water actually is.

This draws other onlookers, which is how we met Tim and Dave.

The race organizer, Scott, points out the fine features of the bikes to be raffled.

Bikes ready for race time.

Steve is always fun. He won everything. Read his write-up.

Was cool to get to visit with Trudi a bit.

Shortly after this pic was taken, the beer trailer was swamped, but it never ran out.

Nothing quite as cute as boys on fire duty.

Thanks for reading.

The RAVE CAVE

2011-10-18T10:48:00.002-05:00

I don't have much of a basement, but cleared out, it accommodates 2 trainers and computrainer set-up pretty adequately. Two of my friends roll over in the morning round 5:30 am and we knock out a 60-90 minute workout on our bikes Monday-Friday. Though you can't see the riders, this is what it's like with this morning's lighting upgrade:

Rave Cave Pandora Station

JOULES CX - Lawrence, KS - Midwest CX Stitch #1

2011-10-17T10:14:00.001-05:00

Great time racing this weekend. Won the women's open both days. Legs feel great. Methinks the time in the Rave Cave is beginning to pay dividends.

Barriers are great place to gain time. Photo: Keith Walberg.

Sheclismo riders Elisabeth Grindcore, Berly Brown & Jen Deep rattled the cat 4 women in more ways than one. Lis got 2nd on Saturday and 4th on Sunday.

Nobody gets game face, like Grindcore. Photo: Roger Harrison, Laterne Rouge

Jen kept the crew cheerful with victory shouts through the spiral.

Deep demonstrates proper CX spirit! photo: Roger Harrison, Laterne Rouge

Berly won the Midwest CX Stitch Single Speeder points on Sunday.

Berly, Mistress of Chill. Photo: Vicious

"You, race the CX." - Grindcore.

Check out Grindcore's "My Week #130" for OCT10-16

Oh, and we even made Steve Tilford's blog. I think that was the highlight.

Having some fun at Freestate Brewery. Photo: Trudi Rebsamen


No end to the SHEnanigans on SHEclismo.

Road trippin' with the ladies is as much fun as it looks. Photo: Jen Deep

Tour de Lizard - Sept 10-11

2011-09-15T23:34:00.000-05:00

We were greeted with...

Jen "OF COURSE I'm gonna make it!" Deep was a great travel companion, who also takes great pix.

We met up with Steven Thompson from Big Pig Racing.

Who looks like this when he's not frozen in statue form:

Jen did her first full-on long and rocky MTB race:

She & Dennis navigated the many valleys of death together.

Thanks to pre-ride tips from Steven..

I was able to stay upright for the most part and win a trophy. Well, as the only woman, they congratulated me for the win at the start, but I was happy to pass a few men and earn 4th overall. Steven came back from a busted seat post to single-speed it to 2nd overall. We were both pleased.

Steven has a keen eye for perfect sunset watching locations, so we won at that too.

Tour de Lizard: Great venue, challenging course, fun folks.

A reminder of fun and goodness in the world

2011-08-25T11:32:00.002-05:00

Sprouts

2011-08-15T12:17:00.002-05:00

I love sprouts. They're nutritionally awesome, great additions to salads, sandwiches, wraps, and various stir-fries AND so very easy to do at home. This last bit is critical because countless are the times I've purchased sprouts only to find them funky in a day or two.

I've found using a salad spinner to be an easy way to rinse, grow and store them. I may eventually go to trays like these from SproutPeople.com, but for now a jar for the initial soaking and the spinner for growing, serving and storing is working pretty darn well. It does take up a little too much space in the fridge, though.

My process...let's see if I can remember.. I soak the beans overnight in a jar, then rinse and invert the jar so excess water can drain out. I have a screen sprout lid for a large mason jar, but also use some of that plastic netting that is used on potato sacks or other veggie sacks sometimes. Anything that lets air flow and water out. I rinse mine twice a day.

Once the beans begin to sprout, I move them to the spinner where the rinsing process continues, but where they have more room to grow. Alfalfa sprouts might do fine in a jar, but the mung beans get large.

When the sprouts reach the size I like, I move the container to the fridge. Simple as that.

The Dutch Way - Bicycles and Fresh Bread - NYTimes.com

2011-08-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

Go read the whole article....

The Dutch Way - Bicycles and Fresh Bread - NYTimes.com: "But while many Americans see their cars as an extension of their individual freedom, to some of us owning a car is a burden, and in a city a double burden. I find the recrafting of the city in order to lessen — or eliminate — the need for cars to be not just grudgingly acceptable, but, yes, an expansion of my individual freedom. So I say (in this case, at least): Go, social-planning technocrats! If only America’s cities could be so free."

Always time for breakfast

2011-08-04T02:34:00.000-05:00

Can't think of what to eat? Check out the flowchart from eatingright.com

Some good ideas I've come across lately

2011-08-03T01:29:00.000-05:00

Spent a goodly amount of time this weekend getting my basement bike area all set up, so am keenly aware my small cottage requires superb space management. Thus, I was tickled to find this idea for putting heavy-duty storage containers to double-use.

My teeny bathroom needs gutted and redone, but until then, this post has inspired some ideas to make it more bearable until I pay off the living room redo and new appliances I got when I moved in.

Finally, it bothers me to use all those little plastic sacks for my fruits and veggies. Here's how to store your stuff w/o the plastic. Note, you don't HAVE to put everything in a plastic sack when getting produce at the grocery store. And...at Open Harvest, you can take your own containers and avoid the plastic sacks even at the bulk bins.

Critical Bike Measurements

2011-08-02T10:39:00.001-05:00

Ok, I've said it once, maybe even 40 times, get your bike measurements and record them somewhere handy-like on your mobile.

When you shop for a new bike, you can give these to the sales people and they can set up your bike with some approximation to what's already comfortable to you. ALSO, if you are going to borrow or rent one while traveling, these key measurements might be the difference between pleasure and suffering - maybe even unintentional injury. Finally, if you are so fortunate to have team support and your director wants to set up a spare bike for you, you'll be ready. For special bonus points, record the components as well. Nothing is quite as annoying as needing a replacement asap and not remembering what exactly you require as the clock ticks down.

Make it a priority and get these handy. Huge thanks to Mr. Know Lots and superb team director - Mike Engleman for teaching me about this.

Basement bike area

2011-08-01T17:44:00.001-05:00

Still have to get tools hung and organized but it's coming together. Got the computrainer set up as it's good for any time one is time-crunched or the weather miserable.

Gravel Worlds 2011

2011-07-31T23:07:00.002-05:00

If you haven't sent in your postcard, what are you waiting for? Get on it!
http://piratecyclingleague.blogspot.com/2011/07/gravel-worldsless-than-month-away.html

:D CX

2011-05-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

Today's icky weather and Jingle CX Rock's post on FB got me in a nostalgic frame of mind.

If this doesn't make you grin, something's wrong with you.

Redlands 2011: I need a hero ...

2011-03-30T23:40:00.005-05:00

...because I rendered my bike useless putting it back together with a bit too much torque to the bolt that tightens the thing that holds my saddle to my integrated seat post. Roller coasters make me nauseous, and so does the sound of cracking carbon.

HUGE THANKS TO STEVE

and all the guys at Cyclery USA

for getting me back on the saddle - so to speak.

Redlands Classic

News and Results from CyclingNews.com

Live updates on Twitter

Other shoutouts to ....

Erik for driving me up to Omaha

Tom for getting me to the airport

Teamie Christina for making me laugh, picking us up from the airport and for caring about food so much.

Ian, for helping generate fix ideas

and Chris, for everything he's done to make this trip possible for Rouse Bicycles.

Ropin' report

2011-03-20T08:44:00.000-05:00

Dad & his roping horses. His team got the day's fastest time.

I've posted race reports before, but thought I'd give you a taste of a ropin' report, courtesy of my dad, who's been tearing it up a bit on his yeller dink (horse on the left).

Yeller did fine. Did have him go to hogging with me on one run for a couple of jumps...was a bit late on the entry and I must have driven a spur into his flank a bit deeper than ever before ;-) ...but he got where he needed to be and I managed not to fall off and roped both feet....it enlivened the crowd at least. *L*"

176 teams and used up winter roping cattle made for a real header contest. I know that I'm not a super header, but I can rope most of them, and I know there were several in that run yesterday that I am sure I couldn't have caught by the horns. Mostly the headers took out the teams. Only 24 made it back to the 4th steer. Troy and I fouled our first steer with him breaking out and I legging so we had 15 seconds of penalties before we got started. they paid 5 holes in the average and we didn't get to run our last one because we couldn't beat the last hole... Lots of good ropers from pretty far away came...must be spring fever.
Anyhow it was a good day!

What's "Team Roping?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Roping

Redlands 2011

2011-03-18T11:38:00.000-05:00

podiuminsight.com | women

Rouse Bicycles has put together a great squad to send to the season's first NRC race.

Stupid ship

2011-02-26T16:58:00.002-06:00

The transporter beam's on the fritz and the holodeck keeps generating this dark, cramped basement room filled with bike crap. What kind of fantasy is that? So...after having some fun with the natives last night,

I again ventured out on the planet's surface, selecting the trusty single-speed Waterford as my conveyance.

The area outside the ship was rather quiet when I left.

And there was practically no one out and about in the country.

Stopped briefly at the Brown Outpost near Bennet to refuel and warm up, then returned to the city. Was a good way to spend about 4 hours.

More on NuVal - a recorded webinar - "Food as Medicine"

2011-02-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

This looks interesting to me. I may watch it over lunch.
http://www.acpm.org/FAM-Webinar.htm

What's this NuVal thing?

2011-02-16T08:09:00.002-06:00

The other night, Marc and I went to Hy-Vee and we saw prominent display of a new nutritional guide for shoppers called "NuVal." In fact, the Hy-Vee chain is hiring dietitians to help customers shop. In short, the system uses a 1-100 rating system where a higher score means better nutrition. The score is generated by an algorithm that puts a value into the numerator for foods which are research supported to have beneficial effects on overall health. If a food has been generally determined to have negative impact, its value is placed into the denominator.

numerator/denominator=NuVal score

This sounds promising to me. It's simple. Buying bread? Pick the bread with the highest NuVal score.

Previously, packaging would tout "Low Fat!" only to laden the product with sugar. And, who's not familiar with the technique of making what realistically is a single-serving packaging mislabeled as multiple serving in order to highlight the lower calorie count.

Check out the site and learn more about the NuVal system.

Attentional direction

2011-02-09T10:03:00.002-06:00

Image linked to from: faceupstudio

Jump to the section on attention, but really, the whole thing is more interesting than the title conveys. In fact, it made me pause and consider how it may impact the instructional designs I recommend to both online and classroom faculty -- most especially in terms of attention direction. That really is the challenge. and depending on where you spend your time online, you'll see that over the last 2-3 years, there's been a surge of activity, advice, methods and practically social movements (e.g. GTD & Minimalism), addressing the problem of attention fragmentation and the problems it leads to at work, in learning and in one's personal life. In fact, I would go so far as to say that having the power to direct and maintain focus at will is currently a huge competitive advantage.

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/AttentionandOther21stCenturySo/213922

When Netflix and Hulu come up dry, try...

2011-01-04T13:21:00.001-06:00

DisasterPiece Theatre

for full-length films

For snippets...head to Bad Movie Realm on YouTube

My Favorite Rapha Pic

2010-12-29T11:35:00.000-06:00

Elisabeth gets the Rapha pic of the year

Mom and Malcolm both made the "All Hail the Black Market" blog.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

2010-12-25T11:22:00.000-06:00

From Instructables

Now, it's official

2010-12-24T14:57:00.000-06:00

So, my fondest win of 2010 was the local "Hustle World Championships." Today, it was rendered completely official with a Christmas gift from my friend Ian. Pretty cool, huh?

Ian Robertson: Artitectus

Podium at the bar.

When I grow up, I want to be like this lady

2010-12-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

http://abcnews.go.com/OnCampus/video/biking-grandma-chooses-road-less-taken-12451475
Yep. Like my mom.

Regarding Ph.D's

2010-12-22T22:48:00.000-06:00

PhD like a tortoise. Unwavering persistence is needed.

I've been approached by a few folks in the last couple of weeks regarding whether or not they should pursue a Ph.D. Yeah. I know. Believe it or not.

I told them there are other hobbies out there. I don't mean to treat it lightly, but once you embark on the pursuit it becomes such a burden. Quit early if you begin to suspect it's not all you wanted. The last place you want to be is "ABD." That stands for "All But Dissertation," and this is not something to be proud of or roll out at a job interview. Yeah, you might have had all the coursework, but when it came time to put it all together and demonstrate what you learned, you waffled. That's hard to live with. Believe me, I tried it.

So, you need to know before you begin that you want it - maybe more than most anything else. A clear idea of what you want out of it is also important, critical even. That's the only way you can get matched with the right advisor and plan the experiences you'll need to reach your goal. However, the market changes rapidly and there's no guarantee that the job you've got your eye on will be waiting for you. If a Ph.D. is something you think you're interested in, I came across some good articles today via "The Daily Dish."

"The disposable academic" from The Economist. A rebuttal from Chris Blattman at Yale.

Top 100 tools for learning

2010-12-21T07:13:00.001-06:00

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100-2010.html

Happy Birthday Aunt Debbie

2010-12-15T10:07:00.000-06:00

Today is my Aunt Debbie's birthday. She and my cousins have the most complete James Bond movie collection that I know about and she's been quilt crazy for as long as I remember -- or at least since any earlier memories have her with hippy hair to her waist. :) Anyway, this post is for her.

And...did you know there was a super villain named "Crazy Quilt?"

"Crazy Quilt", an obscure D.C comics villain who ran around in a patchwork patterned tunic and tights which he accesorized with a jaunty scarf. "Crazy Quilt" referred to himself as the "King of Color Crimes"and he could shoot light rays out of a special hat. Sadly, he didn't last long. Crazy Quilt may not have been too successful as a comic book character but given what we're seeing today with the works of Newport, Kijima and Claytor, perhaps he was just a bit ahead of his time. - http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/snippets/issue3/comic_quilt (do read this page)

And...for comics as quilts.....and the value of grandmas (which my aunt is getting the hang of).... take a look at Ryan Clayton's Graduate Thesis Exhibition which he's graciously posted online.

http://www.elephanteater.com/news_pages/2007/113007p.html

http://www.elephanteater.com/news_pages/2007/113007q.html

Happy Birthday, Aunt Debbie.

"Driven by Flavor"

2010-12-12T11:50:00.001-06:00

Easy and incredible tasty.

Yesterday on "Being" with Krista Tippett, Dan Barber talked about food and the importance of flavor and how the pursuit of flavor can drive social reform in terms of food. That's not the best description, but if you care about eating, it's worth a listen.

I certainly enjoyed it while preparing a batch of bagels. Recipe from "The Breadmaker's Apprentice," by Peter Reinhart. They're getting good reviews from my menfolk.

Pitas ready to come out

2010-12-11T10:04:00.003-06:00

Pitas ready to come out

Originally uploaded by sydney_b.

Kyle preps his pizza for the 500° oven.

Pitas are one of the easiest breads to make. They can be used for sandwiches, dips, and mini pizzas. Just keep a containers of pizza sauce and toppings in the fridge. Quick and inexpensive kid food. The oven was already hot, at 500°F, but you could also just use the broiler. That would be less energy use and quicker. Layer pizza like this: sauce, cheese, toppings.

- from my mobile

Worth $4 for sure

2010-12-10T10:13:00.001-06:00

I read a lot of PDF-based journal articles and whatnot. This $4 app makes them completely coherent on my android phone. You can even copy and paste text from the PDF, so note-taking is possible. Be nice to have a highlighter and to be able to insert bookmarks, though.

================

RepliGo Reader for Android : Cerience Corporation: "RepliGo Reader for Android

RepliGo Reader for Android is the highest fidelity PDF viewing solution available. Use RepliGo Reader to view Gmail PDF attachments just like you would see them on your desktop. RepliGo Reader can also be used to view online PDF files. Use the device’s browser to navigate to a PDF online and RepliGo Reader will render the file for viewing."

I hope PhotoShop played a role in this pic

2010-12-10T09:30:00.000-06:00

What's cool about this screen capture?

2010-12-09T23:28:00.000-06:00

That's right. Katie's name is biggest, second only to "2010."

One of my favorite aspects of cyclocross is the balance of mens and womens media coverage -- at least here in the states in Cyclocross Magazine.

It's not so bad... at least when you've got the right company

2010-12-05T16:31:00.001-06:00

I needed a beard or a face mask. Photo by Cornbread.

NW 27th ST, I think. Photo by Cornbread

I can do a couple of hours on the trainer, but more than that, it's nice to get outdoors if I can, so last night, I laid out all my clothes and equipment and joined this brave crew at 8 am to ride the gravel north of Lincoln. My bottles were nearly frozen solid in the first hour, so drinking had to wait for the midway stop in Ceresco. I need to get a neck gaiter thing and wear a camel back under my coat. That might keep the liquids liquid. Rhino and I did bring Hwy 77 south to Lincoln instead of the more circuitous gravel route.

Temperature: 25 degrees, wind chill 15, I think it was.

It's coming --- trainer time

2010-11-10T09:38:00.003-06:00

From the Cycle-Ops newsletter. Read more...

Brain Rules: The #1 mistake parents make with praise (VIDEO)

2010-11-08T11:40:00.000-06:00

Brain Rules: The #1 mistake parents make with praise (VIDEO): "Rather than praising him for being smart, they should have praised him for working hard. On the successful completion of a test, they should not have said, 'I'm so proud of you. You're so smart.' They should have said, 'I'm so proud of you. You must have really studied hard.' Big difference. This appeals to your child's controllable effort rather than to mysterious, unchangeable talent. It's called 'growth mindset' praise"

Daylight Saving Time - History and Cost from CBS

2010-11-08T08:56:00.002-06:00

So what do you think of this?

2010-11-08T06:00:00.001-06:00

Learning, Doing, Being: A New Science of Education [On Being]

2010-11-07T08:11:00.000-06:00

Broadcast 10/21

Learning, Doing, Being: A New Science of Education [On Being]: "What Adele Diamond is learning about the brain challenges basic assumptions in modern education. Her work is scientifically illustrating the educational power of things like play, sports, music, memorization and reflection. What nourishes the human spirit, the whole person, it turns out, also hones our minds."

Joules CX a good time

2010-11-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

My friend Michelle's team, Women's Free State Cycling Team put on a race today. The course was a long one, and bumpy, but fun all the same. Pinky and I won the women's 1/2/3 and Sheclismo chicas Kat Shiffler and Sara Nispel took 2nd and 5th in the women's cat 4. There was a good field of women 4 and masters women. The women 1/2/3 was small, only 6 or 7 of us. Probably should have toughened up and did a masters race, but even though the course was only, how did Michelle put it, mildly technical, there were a few spots where errors and fatigue could you get you pretty well, and I just wasn't up to it. The days and months of disciplined training and racing are on the horizon and I'm going to just enjoy this CX thing through Jingle CX. My son, Nick, says its a good start towards learning how to just relax. :D

Solving the candle problem

2010-11-05T06:00:00.001-05:00

This is worth 18 minutes and 37 seconds of your time and it explains to a large degree why I like my job.

Dr. Steel PSA, "The Singularity"

2010-11-04T09:19:00.000-05:00

Ran across this while perusing "Accelerating Future"

In case you need some reading material, "The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis"

I am not a mobile keyboard nerd, but...

2010-11-01T23:00:00.001-05:00

...this is cool and I hope it comes out for my phone asap. See, a proper keyboard nerd would already have some type of test version and I don't.

BlindType looks ok, too, but SwiftKey, which I'm currently using is my favorite so far.

Android Central has a round-up of keyboard apps if you're not thrilled about what you're currently using:
http://www.androidcentral.com/android-centrals-keyboard-roundup

A description of CX from Bill Strickland

2010-10-29T09:07:00.000-05:00

Bill Strickland, editor at large for Bicycling Magazine and author of Tour de Lance had nice description of cyclocross at the end of this Podium Cafe interview:

Cross, I love. One part of the appeal, I think, is purely social. With just a few exceptions, my friends and I aren't very serious about cross at all. We try to race hard when we're out there, but before and after racing, cross is just a good old get-together in a way that road racing isn't. Someone drives down a trailer or an RV, or pitches a big revival tent at a good spectator spot right on the tape, and we gather there and drink beer (yes, often before racing) and goof around. We heckle the riders in the most dumb ways: We yell ‘beardy' at the guys with beards, and ... I know this sounds inane, but I think that's the point for us. There was one guy this year, an elite, who looked like David Lee Roth, and every lap, for minutes as he climbed toward us, went around a turn and rode away, we kept yelling the Roth whoop and screaming, ‘Might as well jump,' and doing rock-star kicks. We were ridiculing him mercilessly, just crucifying him. But somehow the good-natured, dumb fun of the whole thing rose to the top, and instead of feeling picked on he felt - I don't know what he felt, but he came over afterward and drank some with us. I guess everyone knows that we race too, poorly, so there might be an understanding that we know what it takes to go fast at a high level, and that we respect what the racers are doing.

Racing cross - it's just a mess. A glorious mess. Compared to the tension of road racing, when you're in the pack and one stupid thing can end not just someone's race but someone's season, or ripple out and ruin a lot of people's seasons, cross is like being twelve years old again. It's a very childish kind of thrill: dirty, out-of-control, laughing with your friends, some senseless heated rivalry you'll forget about in thirty minutes, and that sort of slapped-together feeling like when you were so bored in the long summer months that you and your friends combine several sports to make a new one: ‘Hey, what if we ran with our bikes?' At the same time, cross can be as intense as you want to make it - when you're out there racing, you can be flat-out racing. The few times I've happened to get to the front of a cross race, I've been amazed at how like a road race it feels - swapping pulls, working together to bust off the guy you don't want around at the finish, modulating the gap back to the pack. When you're in the middle or back of a race, when you're just learning, cross kind of feels like you just go as hard as you can the whole time and there's no strategy. Up front, you're going as hard as you can while trying to employ some strategy.

Still, for me, cross is almost not all about results and almost entirely about my friends, about goofing around, about loving bicycles.

HAUNTED HUSTLE DETAILS POSTED!

2010-10-28T12:29:00.002-05:00

http://sheclismo.blogspot.com/2010/10/haunted-hustle-details.html

Haunted Hustle is this Friday Night

2010-10-26T09:45:00.002-05:00

I expect to see you there -- unless you're chicken.

That's right. October 29, 2010

The Haunted Hustle

brought to you by Sheclismo

Can you find all the checkpoints without freaking out in fear?

What are we going to do tonight?

2010-10-15T11:26:00.001-05:00

from Velonews

Velonews has been doing a series on CX bikes and featured the Specialized Crux Comp as a budget buy. I've had mine built up know for a couple weeks and I'm starting to love that thing. Weds nite CX was the first time I've been on it CXin' and not crashed it tho. Takes a while to get the hang of new handling experience. I do know one thing though, if it feels unstable, the best cure is to just gun it, so we'll see how it goes tonight in Des Moines.

I think this is gonna be fun!

2010-10-14T16:25:00.002-05:00

Hey y'all we've got invitations from the one and only Reverend Kim West to join the biggest, craziest event next to Jingle CX. Tomorrow night in Des Moines there will be CX racing under the lights, a band and a big party. I'm not gonna miss this. We've got host housing offers so we don't have to drive back till dawn. Come on! Second race is only $5. You know you want to go.

Check it out: http://www.bikeiowa.com/asp/calendar/RidePopUp.asp?e=5227

Then, pop me an email if you're interested. sydney.e.brown@gmail.com

Chris Cornetto of Rouse Bicycles in town

2010-10-12T08:48:00.002-05:00

"If you see someone riding on the South Austin today that has a plume of diesel smoke coming out of his A$$ while going up hills at 5 mph, that would be me."

http://www.rousebicycles.com/

My friend, Chris Cornetto, will be in town today and tomorrow, so I'm hoping you'll all give him a welcome. I may have him ride the Crux so you can recognize him. ;)

Chris is from Austin, TX, and fairly recently got into the bicycle biz with his company, Rouse Bicycles.

We'll be at Neighbor's Park at 6 p for Technique Tuesday (provided there's no rain), then Bread and Cup at 7:30 p. He'll also join us for some CX action Wednesday.

Chris and his adorable boys.

Adventure Racing in the city

2010-10-11T13:34:00.001-05:00

Last week, Lefler said adventure racing was "like something you might try in college, y'know, just try it out." After the Warrior Challenge, I thought it was rather like binge drinking, something you managed to let yourself get caught up in, but of which you don't really want to make a habit. Nonetheless, yesterday found me chasing checkpoints with fellow Silly Roadie, Ian, once again.

From Racing

Seriously though, how could we resist? We were still stung from the beating we took a couple weeks ago. OK, maybe we heaped the suffering on ourselves, but all the same, we could've done better and we wanted to have another go. This was further inflamed when we saw "Road Rash" members show up. We spent the other adventure race passing them and then being passed when we made stupid decisions or couldn't find the flag thing. It was quite frustrating and we were determined to do better this time.
As we sat on the curb in the bike corral we overheard other racers talking about "just having fun." Ian turned to me, stating, "Winning is fun, " before returning his gaze to the competition. Having been brought up on that sort of ethos, I gave my quads a bit of a rubdown and stretched the hammies while apologizing to them in advance.

Will there be a podium, do you think? Silly Roadies.

We were split at the start. Ian went to copy the checkpoints from the large map onto our small copy. I got the bikes. We determined our general route together and then set off. Zero to 60, time and time again. We got smoother. It worked best if Ian took care of the punch card and I studied the next destination. I do think the folks who use the large map holders are on to something though, because when you fold the maps, it's easy to miss marks you made. That contributed to my failure to spy checkpoint 4, I think it was, that we missed. It was a 5-pointer and we were within a mile of it after trekking from the Jamaica up behind the the Cooper Y for the playground punch.

We finally made it back to the start/finish and completed the final team challenge - eat a twizzler no-handed out of a cup (Ian) and consume a slim jim (I got stuck with this). Our time: 2 hours 51 minutes, if I remember correctly.

It was a good time and thanks to Jim Craig and the Cycleworks/Moose's tooth crew who must have worked like the dickens to put this thing on.

Worth a view, if you're not too distracted by your FB'ing

2010-10-08T12:26:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed this presentation on SlowTV a great deal.

How the Internet is rewiring our brains
Nicholas Carr with Gideon Haigh

"Like lab rats pressing a lever," when referring to the way technology facilitates our craving for new information so much that we will disregard what we are currently concentrating (already procured) on to replace it with something new.

For those of you who can't focus on one thing for 24 minutes, here's a few points of interest -- not that you can jump to the points, b/c SlowTV insists on providing full context, so you have to watch from start to finish.

Throughout, Carr does a good job of basing the cases he attempts to make on how the brain functions.
Video games: Part I at the ~10 min mark.
20:35 Adding links to text decreases comprehension b/c it activates decision making in the brain, reducing working memory that can be allocated to focusing on comprehending the text.
Pt. 2 Danger in our tendency to start thinking of the Web as a replacement to our long term memory (LTM) instead of a supplement. "I don't have to remember that because I can just remember the search string."
Pt. 2 a 3:10, claims Google (and other search engines) are dangerous because they serve up fragments and "return the most popular stuff instead of perhaps the best stuff" and everyone gets the same thing. I disgree with problems on the fragments... for me, fragments are like hand-holds on a cliff, or clues. Oftentimes when doing research, especially in new areas where one doesn't have a developed understanding of the domain, one doesn't even have the language for asking questions, thus the fragments and having something like Google to help guess what I mean is of enormous help. The danger is stopping there, which I see many students do on campus.
Pt. 2 at 8:40 - putting journals online has hurt scholarship. Mixed feelings about this. I am working on a lit review right now, and I am so very thankful for the electronic PDFs and ability to search databases, but Carr says having them online has narrowed the scope of research instead of broadening it as people thought it would.

Blood drawn at CX

2010-10-07T09:41:00.000-05:00

Monsignor Tucker needs stitches, but he rode home photo: Bruce Thorson

Check out the album on Facebook. I've made it publicly accessible, I think, so let me know if you have problems checking it out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=293411&id=729574523&l=7b7a593384

This explains it all

2010-09-30T22:29:00.001-05:00

Just browsing my collection of research articles as I put a paper together and came across this one. Now, if I were going to indulge in further procrastination, I would go find in which paper I cited this article. --sydney

DUNNING, D., K. JOHNSON, et al. (2003). "Why people fail to recognize their own incompetence." Current Directions in Psychological Science Current Directions in Psychological Science 12(3): 83-87.

Accession Number: 2003-06087-004. First Author & Affiliation: Dunning, David; Cornell U, Dept of Psychology, Ithaca, NY, US. Release Date: 20030623. Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal (270). Media Covered: Electronic. Media Available: Print; Electronic. Language: English. Major Descriptor(s): Competence; Insight; Self Concept; Self Confidence; Self Perception. Minor Descriptor(s): Knowledge Level; Metacognition. Classification: Personality Traits & Processes (3120). Population: Human (10). Content Type: Empirical Study (0800)Qualitative Study (0880). References Available: Y. Successful negotiation of everyday life would seem to require people to possess insight about deficiencies in their intellectual and social skills. However, people tend to be blissfully unaware of their incompetence. This lack of awareness arises because poor performers are doubly cursed: Their lack of skill deprives them not only of the ability to produce correct responses, but also of the expertise necessary to surmise that they are not producing them. People base their perceptions of performance, in part, on their preconceived notions about their skills. Because these notions often do not correlate with objective performance, they can lead people to make judgments about their performance that have little to do with actual accomplishment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)

Yikes! That had to smart.

2010-09-21T08:09:00.001-05:00

Image from Wisdom Quarterly's "Unknown Pain Facts"

So yesterday, I'm riding home from work, running a little late, but when you single-speed it, there's only so fast you can go. Thus, I got caught at the light at the 27th & J ST intersection.

As I sat there, I saw a once upon a time athletic, but now 30 pounds over, guy flying up the sidewalk on an old road bike. His sweaty t-shirt was sandwiched between a bag and his meaty back. His oversize basketball shorts flapped in the wind as he hovered over the saddle, accommodating the bumps and cracks in the walk.

He approached the intersection. Across from me a SUV sat in the turn lane. The driver and I watched. The man jumped off the curb and the entire front end of his bike crumpled. It was as if the landing impact sheered off the front skewer ends, allowing the fork to be driven down to the pavement. The momentum of his body carried him over the front end of the bike and laid him flat out on his belly, face down. The driver and I watched, horrified, hands over our mouths. He didn't move. And then, a thick arm swung up from the prone figure and out popped a thumbs-up sign from the softball sized fist. A moment later, he drug his bike out of the street to examine the damage. The light changed. The driver and I made eye contact as if to confirm we'd both just really seen that.

Sunday Endurance/Tempo Ride

2010-09-19T14:32:00.001-05:00

Saturday Ride

2010-09-11T16:09:00.002-05:00

Let CX begin

2010-09-09T06:23:00.001-05:00

Will I make this turn & can that dude be caught?

So...we have a local CX training series going on for the first time since I've been riding and I'm digging it. There's something about pinning on a number that helps me care enough to drive my body on up to race pace.

I've been thinking I've become a little wimpy, opting for pretty high cadence instead of driving the pedals with more force, so I opted for some single-speed action last night. I know, I know, I've said, "You want one gear? Then just don't shift." But, I didn't want to give myself a chance to lose my resolve once I entered the pain cave.

Forty-five minutes later, feeling pukey, but satisfied, I'd got all the muscular workout at a threshold heart rate I could've stood. In fact, had to hit the anti-inflammatory pills when I got home. The right shoulder is still not quite ready for this kind of hammering, but it did OK. I still can't lift through the barriers, but I'm thinking a couple more weeks ought to cure that.

First CX Race 2006 Fall KS

Same bike 2010 NE

Nearly two months, huh?

2010-09-08T06:30:00.001-05:00


Masters Worlds Start/Finish

For pix from this trip, see Facebook and my Picassa collection.

Nearly two months without a post. The scoop:

07/11/10 - Hit in a race = broken clavicle. 6 weeks to season's only "A" race. Morose doesn't quite cover it.
07/16/10 - Yes. I can ride the trainer if I strap the arm in place.
07/26/10 - You know, so long as I avoid the bumps and don't try to shift, I can go outside once in a while. Trainer is going better, but hating indoors.
08/02/10 - Happy birthday to me
08/04/10 - You know, there's hope! Power's picking up. Maybe I will be ok at Masters Worlds. I can even get in TT position. I have got to get out of this basement.
08/08/10 - TT Intervals. Outside. Woo hoo! I'm flying. Numbers are OK. I can do this. BAM! WTF?! I can't move. I'm on Hwy 77 and I can't get up. Help. Dislocated ribs. Overnight at Bryan West. Two and a half weeks to Masters Worlds TT - the objective I had drawn a bead on November 2009. All shot to hell. Don't make me sneeze or cough. Off the bike for a week.
08/15/10 -Mom crashes during the Senior Games 20 km road race. Her knee is swelling up - volleyball size - from what I can see. Yikes. Are both our MWorlds races shot?
08/16/10 - Riding a little. I've already filled out the paperwork. Paid my money. I'm definitely going, but won't race. Can't even lift my bike, how will I get my stuff through the airport? Just give it a couple of days. Might be OK.
08/17/10 - Oh heck. I'll take both bikes. I'm already entered in everything. maybe I'll feel OK. Think of it as an extravagant pre-ride of the course. Encourage Mom to take her bike too. We'll feel better. It'll be beautiful. We're certainly not going to wan to walk everywhere. Who knows? Maybe we'll even feel like racing.
08/19/10 - We're outta here. Dad helps mom and I get our bikes to the airport.
08/22/10 - First ride in Austria. It's gorgeous. My legs actually feel pretty good. By golly, I think I will do that world cup race tomorrow.
08/23/10 - So many butterflies in my belly. Haven't been this excited and nervous in a long time. Wow, they're taking it from the line. This is a terribly long climb. Will that german ever ease the pace? Whew, made it over the hill with the lead group. Climb two. The Russian attacks. I knew it! I knew she'd go. She was so antsy and I could see the power. Kept a clean line and stayed with her, but YIKES, what an expensive surge. Five of us are left. We work together until nearly the last. They start to refuse to take pulls. The Russian is yelling. Confusion. It's earlier than I'd wanted, but maybe I could get away here. I attack and fly clear. O darn. They're not going to let me go. I've given them cause for unity. They catch, and the German fires the counter attack. They let her go. The Russian and I chase a little, but our heart's not in it. I get fifth. I guess I had 3 matches.
08/25/10 - The TT. Day couldn't be more perfect, but legs are still a bit tired from Monday's RR. It's just a pre-ride. Don't get your hopes up. I race. Start goes OK, but just can't lift the power. Come on legs. Pleeaase? No? Argh. Seriously?! This is all you got? Oh well. 5th, really? Hmm. Those women must hate TT's more than me. Winner really smokes it though. I'll have to come back. Mom does great, knocking 4 minutes off her best 20 km time thus far.
08/26/10 - Road Race. Lots of faces who weren't there Monday or for the TT. I make my watch list and tape it to my stem. My legs are tired. Got no fitness. Must make it over that first climb with the lead group. The Russian from Monday and a strong, lean woman in a full on Saxobank kit spend way too much time talking off by themselves before the race start. They're not smiling the way friends chit-chatting do either. I may not understand what their saying, but I know something's up. Maybe should have done a trainer warm-up. Race starts, I slide up and secure Saxobank's wheel. A couple of women try to push me off it. I get in my drops and round my elbows out a little, bracing for contact. They back off. I hold the wheel. Within 4-5 minutes we're at the base of the first and largest climb. Yep, I was right. Saxo and the Russian intend to shatter this pack like eggs. Holy crap. Is the top near? I'm sliding back. I can't hold this wheel. My legs are going dead. Dammit. Mom cheers. I love her. I dig. I look over my shoulder. The pack is gone. Wow. Hmm. Maybe they'll start fighting and I'll be able to catch them. I crest the climb. Another has been dropped. I'll work with her. I chase. I near, hoping she'll look back and wait. She doesn't. I even holler a couple of times. Finally, I get her wheel. We work. And work some more. We see them. They see us. They're gone. Climb three. She says the field is coming. I look back. Sure enough, the field nears. No freakin' way. I can't let them get me. I don't have anything over threshold. My legs are complaining already. I push as hard as I dare up the climb. Can't blow up. My chase partner drops off. I top alone and no one is in sight. Settle in. Keep it just under popping. I focus on catching rider after rider on the open course, hoping to see the back end of my race. I don't. Some Slovenian guys jump on my wheel. One comes around and offers to give me a pull. I wave him off. No. I pull around him. I've worked too hard to get disqualified. Finally, he understands and drops back. I persist and pick up my pace eventually coming across the line alone for 8th place. It's deeply satisfying.
09/04/10 - First group ride with the Shiclismo women. Turns out to be the ride I've been waiting for since I started this sport. Unity. Focused effort to cheat the wind. Good company. This is awesome. What a great day.

On broken clavicle

2010-07-15T19:51:00.001-05:00

The way everyone talked about broken collar bones I thought they might be kind of like a bad cold or some nasty road rash. Annoying, but not that big of a deal. The reality, however, is they are EXTREMELY inconvenient and sporadically eyepoppingly painful. Empathy and sympathy meters have been recalibrated.

More later. Marc's on his way to help me get my bike set up in the basement.

I'm not ready to give up on a solid performance at masters worlds. That might be the voice of inexperience with these types of injuries. I'll let you know how it goes.

Nerd out with HTC & Google

2010-07-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

Seems as if the technophiles are going to have to embrace HTC-Columbia during the TdF.

"I'm thrilled about the opportunity to leverage Google's My Tracks application to deliver real-time racing information to fans watching the Tour de France," explained former pro cyclist Dylan Casey, who is now a Product Manager at Google. "This is a unique, engaging way to help cycling fans all around the world get a sense of what the riders go through during each stage of the race and follow the performance of the world-class riders on Team HTC-Columbia. We're fortunate to work with such great partners - High Road Sports, HTC, SRM, and ANT+ - to make this possible."

From VeloNation

Tulsa Tough 2010

2010-06-07T13:36:00.001-05:00

Nothing says tough like surviving Tulsa Tough with most of your skin intact and a finish in all three races. My write-up for 2010 is on the TREADS.COM/DFT blog: http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/06/tulsa-tough.html

Memorial Weekend Racing Report

2010-06-02T21:52:00.000-05:00


Jenny Willhite & me (front 2)

After filling out but not yet dropping the Iowa registrations in the post box, my friend IM'd me and said, "Hey, did you see the payouts at this race?" I looked and holy moly... a first time race in Woodward, OK paid $400 to win the crit and the road race paid $700. After some more investigation to find more crits to fill out the weekend, we decided to drive south.

Surprisingly, there were only 10 of us on the line at the start of the crit and most of those were cat 4 women, but that did not ensure success, especially since Miranda Long showed up. She's pretty quick on the sprint. I didn't know that at the start, but my 2nd place finish testifies to her effort, especially since she had to come around a couple of us. In retrospect, I should have started my wind-up further out, but that's OK, I'm still working on that. Right after the women's race, I jumped in with a large group of masters men and finished 13th in that. With half the course restricted to a single lane of traffic, the battles for position were fierce. It was excellent prep for my season's crit racing. Thanks, guys!

The next morning's 100K road race went off at 7 am. That was a little brutal and I opted to eat before the race, instead of waking up at 4ish to start the nutrition. Thinking back, it might have been better to have stuck with my regular prep and gone w/o the sleep, but at the time, I really wanted to sleep.

There were only 4 of us in the W 1/2/3, and one woman asked me if I wanted to ride with the masters men. I said sure. That'd be great, even though I do dislike what mixed fields do to a race.

The break went at less than 10K into the race. I looked up the road and saw every strong men's team represented except one, which I'd overheard one guy say not to worry about, so I jumped and bridged. It was expensive, but worth it as the break held for the rest of the race. I took a share of pulls, though I did sit out a couple of rotations after hard surges. The guys might have let me sit on, but in the spirit of racing and for the benefits of training, I did my best to shoulder a fair load. The win felt earned.

On the warm-up circle while Ian races.

By that evening, we were in Frisco, TX where one of my traveling companions, wanted to do a track race at the Superdrome. He had also called ahead and arranged for me to get some time on the track. I was going to back out because my legs were so fried from the road race, but opportunities for track time are rare, so Ian took me through some after the event concluded.

Sunday was hot hot hot. There were 20-25ish women in the race with two teams quite well represented. I attacked a few times and got off the front for while, but the field wasn't having it and in a few laps they reeled it in. More corners would have helped, but the other seemed quite determined to keep me in the fold. Tired, I acquiesced and at that point, of course, one of the teams put a girl off and nobody chased. Sigh. However, I'd decided my field sprint needed work and here was a chance to practice, so I continued to sit in even when another woman went off. It hurt to let them go, but I didn't think they'd let me jump clean and I wasn't going to drag the pack, so sit I did. The finish went perfectly. Followed two wheels, jumped hard accelerated up the hill all the way to the finish line for the field sprint. That felt pretty good.

Monday, we went to Ft. Worth for the Texas State Criterium championships. Lucky for me, the women's race was right after the cat 5 men at 8:55am. Normally, I'd be bummed to be so early, but even then the temp was 90ish by the time 30ish of us put our wheels on the line for the 60 minute race. My legs were feeling Ok, but not great. The heat had my HR elevated, but I liked the 10 corner course. They called it a chicane, but they were actual turns in a parking lot up a rise, so with 10 corners, a break could make time on a pack and I'd been given a heads up on who had legs.

Thus, when the first attack went on the 2nd lap, I impulsively countered and turned to find I was way clear, and that there were two women also separated from the field and coming my way. One of these, Jenny, had been identified as "having legs." Perfect. I slowed it down, they joined me and two of us started 30 sec pulls. The heat beat down and the minutes crawled by. Periodically, I thought about harassing the 3rd woman about not pulling, but I didn't want to waste the energy. I figured so long as she didn't jump us for the primes, we could solve that problem later. Eventually, I looked back and she wasn't even there. The heat must've done her in. Finally, because of Willhite's team and perhaps some disorganization on the part of the other teams, our success looked secure and I attacked before the last corner on the final lap to take the win.

It was a weekend of good racing and wonderful to meet so many nice people. The Oklahoma and Texas women ride their bikes well and race hard. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to returning.

You wouldn't let him do all the driving, would you?

2010-05-18T10:29:00.000-05:00

So, why let him do all wrenching?

My grandmother used to tell the women in my family not to let their men do all the driving because driving was an important skill to maintain, not only for one's own independence, but also in order to be a more able and prepared partner.

How many of you let, or have let, other people do some or all of your wrenching? Don't worry, my hand's up, too.

When I started riding, I wouldn't have known where to start. I bought a book, but with no experience, it was simply too much to take in and I was too scared I'd mess something up, but over the last four years I've fumbled towards greater independence:

Changing my first road tire: I'd just got the Bridgestone RB1 and I was off to ride it to work. Three blocks from home, "pssssst." Of course, it was the rear one, and yes, I'd bought tires I liked the look of without regard for the bead type and I simply couldn't get it off. More than an hour later, several web searches for tips, near tears, fingers skinned a bit and sore, I FINALLY had fixed that stupid flat and was back en route. I rode off to work - with a spare and tools packed - feeling that "ok, freakin' bring it..." kind of feeling.
Gluing my tubulars. This was a job I was quite happy to outsource. It seemed a stinky and messy job where screwing up could yield disastrous outcomes. However, on the walk back to the pits during a cx race, after rolling a tire and getting pitched into the biggest sticker patch I'd ever seen, I resolved to do my own gluing. After all, it was my body that would pay the price. The first attempt was messy and didn't look at all like something to be proud of, but I was, and they were solid. Really solid. I'd used so much glue I was kicking my own butt post-season trying to get them off. My third attempt was beautifully done -- just the right amount of glue -- no mess -- perfect. For an instant, I was so very proud. Then, I looked at the tread and realized it was directional and I'd put it on wrong. ARGHHH.
A couple of weeks ago, Turbo, with the apparent patience of Job himself, walked me through dismantling Swerks (my Specialized Amira), changing my cabling and tuning the shifting. Not only did we go through it, he explained how the mechanisms worked so I would be better able to apply my knowledge to other bikes and situations. The creak that got the ball rolling on this educational experience remains to some degree, but at least I am no longer hesitant to go looking for it.

In any case, if you've been letting others wrench for you w/out learning yourself, you're putting yourself at the mercy of events and other people's time. Make an effort to learn how to take care of the basic issues you're going to need addressed.

If you're a racer, you need to be able to tear down and build up your own bike such that it's ready and safe to race. There's no guarantee you'll have a mechanic at hand to help you, and more importantly, there has been at least one instance I know of, where a woman missed a spot on a team because she would be too much work to take care of due to her lack of knowledge about her bike. Don't let it happen to you. Go get your hands dirty.

Riding across the USA

2010-05-17T10:47:00.000-05:00

I've enjoyed reading about this Australian woman's trip across the U.S. Yesterday was day 1 of the actual ride. She wrote all about her preparations for her trip as well. Quite entertaining and informative.

Check out No Direction Known

Oh, and she's riding a 2010 Specialized Tricross Comp by the name of "Precious."

Skins Compression Tights

2010-05-04T14:11:00.001-05:00

There's been some local talk about compression tights from Mod and here (Redemske). I can't say I've used them much post ride, but I'm going to get a pair for driving to the race. Up to now, I've used the industrial strength compression stockings in an attractive clinical white and regular support hose, but the time has come to upgrade to the real thing. Help support my team and get your Skins here.

http://www.definedfitnesstraining.com/SKINS

Tour de Omaha

2010-04-30T05:35:00.000-05:00

Since I'm having a bit of a staycation, I asked Redemske over at GamJamsMidwest for a route around Omaha. I wanted to try something new and something with a bit of climbing. He sent me this. Later today, I'll decide if I still like him. I'll tell you one thing, though, I hate MapMyRide. I've never known such a site to pressure a visitor to become a premium member to such an annoying degree.

<p><a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ne/omaha/775127242197191416">04/27/2010 Route</a><br/><a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/ne/omaha">Find more Bike Rides in Omaha, Nebraska</a></p>

Albuquerque sourdough turns one year old

2010-04-29T08:36:00.001-05:00

Last year, Marc, Aaron and I headed to Tour of the Gila early and stayed a few days in Albuquerque. I was getting into bread making and had become interested in sourdough. While at our host house, I took a couple kumquats and mixed the juice with some whole wheat flour and let it sit out overnight. The subsequent days, I kept it covered and fed it each day with a little more flour and water. Sure enough, by the time we arrived in Silver City, I had wonderful bubbling and kicked off my first Tour of the Gila with a breakfast of sourdough pancakes. Yes, I know it might have been foolish to do a new food on such an important day, but I was confident and pancakes have always stood me well. I've not made pancakes any other way since. The flavor is just that much better.

A year later, a container of sourdough continues to be cultivated in a container sitting on my counter. Each day I feed it an equal volume of water and flour, building it up for a recipe. When I travel, I feed it and put it in the fridge. Try that with your kids or pets. :D

I use the sourdough for bread, pancakes, pizza dough, biscuits, muffins, pitas and tortillas.

There are lots of ways to get starter going. I used citrus and flour. You can also soak raisins in water and flour. That whitish color you see on black raisins contains wild yeasts. You can also order cultivated strains like that from San Francisco, the "mother dough" has been cultivated since 1849.

My starter's flavor is mild in terms of sourness. I have considered making some with local wild yeasts to compare flavors, but haven't got around to it. I don't think it would be that different though. All the times of opening and closing the container have probably allowed enough local wild yeasts to take over the culture, but it might be a cool experiment.

If you have kids in need of non-screen entertainment, get them into the kitchen.

About sourdough from Wikipedia
A history of sourdough

Purported health benefits of wild yeasted over commercially yeasted breads:
from Jacques de Langre
http://www.ranprieur.com/readings/natleavbread.html

Specialized sourdough tolerated by celiacs
"A double blind test was then conducted in which 17 celiac disease patients were given 2 grams of gluten-containing bread started with bakers yeast or lactobacilli. Thirteen of them showed distinct, negative changes in their intestinal permeability after eating the bread, and 4 of them did not show any negative effects. The specially prepared sourdough bread was then given to all 17 patients and none of them had intestinal permeability reactions that differed from their normal baseline values.

The researchers conclude: "These results showed that a bread biotechnology that uses selected lactobacilli, nontoxic flours, and a long fermentation time is a novel tool for decreasing the level of gluten intolerance in humans.""

http://www.celiac.com/articles/752/1/Study-Finds-Wheat-based-Sourdough-Bread-Started-with-Selected-Lactobacilli-is-Tolerated-by-Celiac-Disease-Patients/Page1.html

Lower blood sugar levels
"With the sourdough, the subjects' blood sugar levels were lower for a similar rise in blood insulin," said Graham, whose findings are to be published in the British Journal of Nutrition. "What was even more interesting was that this positive effect remained during their second meal and lasted even hours after. This shows that what you have for breakfast influences how your body will respond to lunch."
http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2008/07/sourdough_bread.html

Iowa City weekend race report

2010-04-27T14:15:00.000-05:00

Posted on the TREADS.COM/DFT blog

http://dftwomen.blogspot.com/2010/04/suffering-in-iowa.html

How to make yogurt -- the illustrated guide

2010-04-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

We go through yogurt rapidly at our house, especially now that the boys have discovered thick, creamy yogurt with honey and fresh fruit is quite tasty. Yogurt is one of the easiest things to make at home that can save you lots of money. Case in point, I like the greek-style, which runs around $5/lb. I can make 4 lbs. at home for the price of a gallon of milk (2.80-3.20) and a 50 cent container of plain Yoplait yogurt.

You can use whole or 2% milk. The whole milk is a little richer, but since we'll be draining off the whey, creaminess is unaffected.

Heat up the milk to 180 degrees F. If you don't have a thermometer, this is when it's hot enough to be frothy, but not boil. If you use whole milk, you can bring it to a boil with no problem.

Cool the milk to 110 degrees. I put mine in a bowl like this with a little cold water. Doesn't take long. If no thermometer, test on the inside of your wrist like you would for a baby's bottle. It shouldn't feel ouch-your-mouth hot, but it should be pleasantly warm.

Take about 2 cups of the warm milk and mix it with a container of plain yogurt in a separate bowl. I like the plain Dannon, but you can use any kind of yogurt so long as it says "live culture" on the label. Different yogurts have various bacterial cultures which affect the flavor. This is what I like and for consistency, I use a fresh container each time. Once mixed in the smaller bowl, add to the large container and gently stir. You don't want to mix a lot of air in. Just stir to distribute the culture throughout the milk.

Cover the yogurt and let it sit and place with a consistent temperature from 5 to 12 hours, or until it firms up to a desired level. I heat my oven at 400 degrees F for 1 minute, turn it off, and set my covered yogurt in it overnight. This is convenient. Less time would probably be fine, but the trick to working "slow food" into a busy life is fitting it into the rhythm of your days.

When checking how it's "set up," I tilt the pan and it will pull away from the edge. You can kind of see it in this picture, but the pan was too heavy to take the pic and tilt it as I normally do. You'll know if it's firm or not. Trust me.

The next step is to strain off some of the whey. I line a colander with dampened coffee filters because that's something I have in abundance right now, having thought I was out and buying bulk. Others use cheesecloth, but I find that a pain to clean. The coffee filters work great and then go into the compost pile.

Here you see the yogurts been poured into the colander and is set to chill for another 5-12 hours in the fridge. Since I let the culture go over night, I usually do this step in the morning.

By the time I get home and finish my workout, the whey has drained out. You can see the yogurt is thick and pulling away from the sides of colander. Put the whey in a storage container to sue for soups. Then, flip the yogurt into the bowl and peel off the coffee filters. This is an easy job if you've flipped with confidence.

To further develop the creaminess quotient, I vigorously mix the yogurt. Those of you who prefer the yoplait custard style yogurt --- I'm talking to you.

Pour the yogurt into a storage container and put it in the fridge along with the whey.

Yogurt: My teen boys like yogurt best with fresh fruit and a drizzle of honey. If you're craving chocolate, mix in a chocolate syrup to taste. I eat mine mixed with rolled oats and blueberries for lunches. I also use it in place of sour cream and add it to baked goods to enhance moistness and often reduce the amount of butter or oil. If you enjoy indian food, you'll love having a large quantity of high quality yogurt on hand.

Whey: Add to soups and breads instead of water. Whey greatly improves the flavor of both.

First races in the bag - patience is key

2010-04-19T11:44:00.003-05:00

Many of you know I struggled with early season leg problems (baker's cyst) which culminated in a plantaris tendon rupture the beginning of the month. Thus my season has been late in starting and has been highly modified, with me sitting out planned stage races like Gila and Joe Martin. Nonetheless, I did get to race this weekend and felt better than I thought I would, leaving me optimistic for later season competition.

Saturday, I spent two and half hours with the men 1/2/3 doing 5 laps at Branched Oak. It was pretty fun and perhaps I should have ridden more conservatively and been able to finish with the group, but I spent as if I were in a women's field and my legs turned in their resignation about 5 miles from the finish. Nonetheless, I thought that was a good thing since I was using my powertap and having spent it all, I'd be able to look at the file and get a picture of where I was capability-wise after the injury related layoff.

Later in the afternoon, I busted out the time trial bike and joined forces with friends to form the Dixon Slayers. Could have also been called "Three chicks and strong dude." We finished up second overall in the team time trial competition, which was pretty darn cool.

The 1/2/3 men's crit in Pioneer's Park Sunday was a 16 or 17 lap hill repeat. The first two laps, I went up the hill with the guys, but I did have to jam it pretty hard out of the saddle to do so and that wore on my leg enough that I decided to let 'em go, do six laps and then just go get in some endurance and tempo work, which doesn't hurt at all anymore.

I believe it was the right decision. When coming back from an injury it's so important not to let the joy of healing up override your good sense and lead you to push too hard. Though, I do have to admit, it's much easier advice to give than to adhere to.

Huge congrats to all the Joyridians who turned out for the event. As the Dixonator likes to say, "the 'J' stands for 'Just awesome'," and that's that.

I am so going to try this -- Ginger Ale

2010-04-17T06:05:00.000-05:00

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ginger-ale-recipe/index.html

I'll let you know how it turns out.

A time, space and financially constrained cyclist needs to eat

2010-04-16T07:50:00.001-05:00

As a time, space and financially constrained cyclist, the food I eat and prepare for my guys has to meet four standards.

Nutritionally sound - I'm a cyclist, remember? My body is my engine and part of keeping it strong is proper fueling. Those I often cook for include another elite cyclist, a young man on a mission to become an officer in the Marines, and two teen boys in the midst of going through that Incredible Hulk transformation requiring so very many high quality calories.
My kitchen is small and has little storage space, thus each pan and tool must be carefully selected. How often will it be used? Is it really worth storing? For example, I was dicing some celery last night and my eldest told me I needed one of those dicer things. This isn't the first time it's been suggested, but each time I've said no. Why? Because while it might make dicing marginally faster, the time to clean it takes longer. Personally, I'd rather spend the time dicing that washing. Additionally, I enjoy the feel of a quality chef's knife. It's a pleasure to wield and is a much more effective flourish when underscoring an important discussion or lecture point. I mean, seriously, imagine you have a group of male teens invading your kitchen. You really think shaking a "Slap Chopper" at them is going to give them pause? But a gleaming blade -- that's communication.
Coming in on the budget it is a challenge. If you've ever noticed, coupons are primarily pushing packaged, preservative-laced boxed and canned items, so I don't do much of that. Mostly, I keep an eye on the going prices and my pantry fluctuates with what's currently plentiful. For example, due to Florida's recent strawberry problem, prices dropped like crazy last week, so that was our "fruit of the week." I buy things in bulk and make several things of which we use a lot. Thick greek-style yogurt, for example, is a staple for smoothies, my lunches, breakfasts, toppings, etc., but if you've noticed, it's pricey: $5-7 a pound. My recipe for yogurt yields ~4lbs and costs about $4, plus a little time. In a month we go through about 16 lbs., so you can see the savings adds up and rapidly makes it worth the effort. Another staple is granola. I won't buy snack foods and boxes of cereal can disappear in a matter of hours. But, homemade granola meets the nutritional bar and the price point, providing hungry teens a much liked bowel of cereal any time of day. We use about 10 lbs a month. The cheapest granola I can buy at the store is about $3.50/lb and I don't know what's in it as it comes from the bulk bin. My basic recipe costs me ~$2/lb. and has high-quality, known contents. So, that's $15/mo. savings that also results in better nutrition. Finally, we eat a lot of chicken, but I no longer purchase chicken breasts or anything like that. They simply cost too much at ~$5-6/lb. when you can buy the whole bird for about $1.50/lb at a nearby place like Ideal grocery. I roast two at a time while out riding my bike. Upon my return, the family eats its fill, leftovers go to next day's soup.
The food also has to be simple. I love to cook and there have been periods of my life where the time I now spend on the bike was allocated to more elaborate dishes and dinners. Not now. These days, the inclination is a 5-ingredient or less approach. There haven't been any complaints. In many ways, I believe this is helping me appreciate each item's contribution a little more. For the boys, it means recipes they can easily do.

So there it is. The nutritional envelope of this household. The next post will be about how I make yogurt and a few of the ways it's used around here.

Masters Worlds Trip Booked

2010-04-14T08:07:00.000-05:00

Thus far in my cycling career, I've aimed to do one or two "big things" each season. Last year, I went with Mom to the Senior Olympics in San Francisco where she got 7th in the time trial, and we also went to Louisville, KY for Masters Nationals where I got my first national jersey. This August, we'll be returning to Louisville, and then it's off to Austria for the Masters Worlds road championships. I'll be focusing on the time trials in both events, but will also be participating in the road races.

It's a little nerve-wracking to have your season's goals rest on one or two events, but it's really the only way to structure everything to channel towards success on those targets. Thankfully, things appear to be falling into place. My early season injury knocked out my 2010 stage racing, but seems to be clearing up rapidly and I have so much support. All that remains is for me to execute the plan and do justice to everyone's efforts on my behalf.

On a lighter note, I'm also going to have a little fun next week and see what this Lincoln Hustle is all about -- at least for April. No doubt it will be something I'll be terrible at, but it'll be fun to meet a new two-wheeled crew and see what else is going on in my town. If you're game, come join me. We'll get our asses kicked together.

2010 Race Calendar

2010-04-08T11:03:00.001-05:00

Due to injury, I've revamped the race calendar somewhat. To locals: see something you want to go to, let me know. Maybe we can travel together.

Kyle spends spring break on hydrocodone

2010-03-24T09:02:00.007-05:00

I've been so busy. Am doing most of my bike related posting over on JoyrideNebraska.com. Here on the home front the kitchen is busy as usual, cranking out homemade yogurt and other healthy things - most of the time. However, Kyle has us hooked on those chocolate haystacks, which might be great for long endurance rides, but are insanely addicting and bad for the lycra look the rest of the time.

Speaking of Kyle, if you didn't see the pix on Facebook, he had quite an accident on March 21st, and has been enjoying a stead diet of smoothies and hydrocodone.

Sunday evening, we had dinner with family at the farm, then Kyle and my 5-year-old nephew, Sean, headed to the barn to get the shooting stuff out for some after dinner recreation. Next thing we know, Sean comes into the house and says, quite calmly, "Kyle's hurt."

Sure enough, after a couple of blood-related questions along the lines of "is it like a dribble, or like a fountain?" We go out and Kyle's bent over, blood streaming between his fingers. A bath towel and ice pack are secured and it's off the ER in The Big Black.

At Bryan East, they admit him and start the preliminaries then send us to Bryan West, where there's a plastic surgeon on duty. They offer to call an ambulance, but say a private vehicle will be faster. Heck yeah. Arriving at Bryan West's emergency, Kyle gets a shot of morphine while decisions are made for surgery. Being as one of the knocked out teeth had been located, they were going to try and put it back in. Unfortunately, once in surgery, they discovered Kyle's gum area had been shattered and that was going to have to be rebuilt before anything could be done about the teeth.

Tomorrow, he'll get the stitches out of his lip and the ones in his gum will dissolve on their own. April 1st, we'll visit with a plastic surgeon and map the plan from bone grafts to dental bridge to finally permanent replacement teeth.

The good news is that the Tooth Fairy met me on the bike trail and asked for the one located big honkin' knocked out tooth in exchange for a new Diamondback ViperX from Joyride Bicycles. Of course, I agreed, and then proceeded to try and ride Swerks while holding the Viper in the middle of the bar for three miles. Talk about shoulder stiffness. Nonetheless, it did put a smile on the patient's face and methinks he'll be having some fun on Lincoln's BMX track later this spring and summer.

Could you stay hidden for a month and win $7500?

2010-02-11T12:24:00.001-06:00

It's tempting isn't it?

The Repo Men Are Coming: Do You Have What It Takes to Disappear? | ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network

Lone Shark Games, in conjunction with Wired Magazine and Universal Pictures, are searching for a few good men (and women) adventurous enough to put their regular lives on hold for a month, starting in late February. Selected “Runners” will be provided vital technology along with seed money to escape detection for a month. Every Runner to make it a month without getting caught receives a $7,500 reward. But, as the contest notes, “people will be trying to find you, and they’ll use any means allowed in the rules to try to figure out where you are.”

"My Tracks" pretty darn cool

2010-02-09T09:43:00.002-06:00

After hearing the road condition report from my son this morning: "Holy crap! It's deadly slick out there!" I decided to walk to work instead of riding. Of course, I could have taken the bus, but why stand still in the cold when you could be moving towards your destination and arrive at the same time, or maybe even sooner?

It also offered me an opportunity to test out a new app on my Sprint Samsung Moment, Android-based phone -- "My Tracks." The program uses the phone's gps to keep track of your route, pace, etc. and then sends it to your list of Google maps. You can make it private or public.

The easy to use interface had me recording in three thumb presses and 24 minutes and 27 seconds later I arrived at my destination having managed a 4.8 mph pace. I wonder what my pace is when not tip-toeing over ice?

Anyway, I uploaded the route and found it to be meticulously mapped -- every 4 meters, in fact. This was the recommended default setting. I may change it, assuming the phone uses more battery life each time it pings the satellites. The program will also upload to a Google docs spreadsheet, which is really cool, if you're tracking miles or time or whatever for fitness. Great app.

This is an app I'd pay for, but it happens to be free of charge from the Android Market.

No substitute for reading the labels yourself

2010-02-04T11:01:00.001-06:00

Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

Consumer Ally columnist Mitch Lipka points to the 158-page “Food Labeling Chaos” report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest that identifies several misleading labeling tactics used by food companies. Here are six common but misleading claims included in the C.S.P.I. report.

I'd been wanting to try it --- track racing

2010-02-02T11:37:00.000-06:00

Got to try riding an indoor track this last week-end. Twas a good time. Write up on Joyride Bicycles.

Pepsi support - Please place your vote for Tulsa Tough Kids Program

2010-02-01T11:23:00.000-06:00

from Chris Zenthoefer...
This month Pepsi will donate $50,000 to 10 organizations with fresh ideas. Tulsa Tough's kids bike program was selected as one of the ideas that can be voted on and the rest is up to you. This will be our fourth year of our kids program and we'll be celebrating the 1,000th bike we've bought, built, trained and delivered to a child in the Tulsa area. Help us continue and grow this program by voting now and encouraging everyone you know to vote as well.

Votes can be cast until February 28th at:
http://www.refresheverything.com/tulsatough

"The case against the iPad" - what I think, only more eloquent

2010-01-28T14:47:00.001-06:00

I was an apple fan for a long time, but the relationship started to go sour after disappointing iTunes interactions and now I gotta say I'm in agreement with Lee, whose article linked below represents my views quite well.

Read the whole article: http://unclutterer.com/2010/01/28/the-case-against-the-ipad/

My second problem with the iPad is more fundamental: The iPad appears to be Steve Jobs’s attempt to roll back the multi-decade trend toward more open computing platforms. Jobs’s vision of the future is one that revolves around a series of proprietary “stores” — for music, movies, books, and so forth — controlled by Apple. And rather than running the applications of our choice, he wants to limit users to running Apple-approved software from the Apple “app store.”

What would your data look like?

2010-01-26T06:00:00.001-06:00

Janeen McCrae over in Facebook group, SpecializedWMN, created a poster of her first year in cycling. It's pretty cool. 2010 just started. What will your poster look like in December?

So you wanna be a bike racer -- Nancy Brown

2010-01-25T10:56:00.000-06:00

Nancy Brown
Category 4, Masters 65-70
Years racing: 3

It was never my intention to race a bicycle when I asked for a bike for my 65th birthday 3 winters ago. I just wanted something pretty nice to ride to Wal-Mart 8 miles away and use my basket to carry home a few purchases. Riding to see some of my farm wife friends with-in a 10 mile radius and just enjoy the nice summer days. Yes, that was my intention.

It was my daughter, Sydney, who first suggested that I should try racing in a couple of CX races that first fall. At first I thought she was really out of her mind. An old lady racing? How could that be? And when I mentioned racing to my friends there was not a single one that didn’t roll her eyes heaven ward and ask me if I really wanted to do that sort of thing. Well, I did half-heartedly train and won a National Championship Jersey in CX at Kansas City that December. I was the only one in my class, but I still had to ride/walk the course.

With renewed interest and my competitive spirit fired up I started 2008 with more determination. Since then I have raced enough to get a large handful of medals and now have 3 bikes. A personal trainer, two new pairs of shoes, new saddle, Power tap, etc, etc have now invaded my chef cook and bottle washer/housekeeper/babysitter/

play the organ for church/gardening life. Doing my workout is one of the top 3 things I try to do each day.

There is something magical about riding a bike. I no longer get speeding tickets, because I can get the same thrill by screaming down hill on my bike. I really enjoy the sweat running off during a good hard work out. The satisfaction you get when you finish a race or a work out knowing that you gave it everything you had in the tank is completely unexplainable.

I do not necessarily race to beat anyone except myself. Can I focus the whole time? Will I remember the game plan? When it begins to hurt will I have the “quitzies” or will I fight through to the finish? Will I finish well?

I want to finish well. Not just in a bike race, but in this race of life. I helped bury my dear brother, Glenn in December of 09. Cancer took his life, but through it all he finished well. When he was young and wrestling with his brothers he would never say “give”. He was a fighter to the finish. This is my goal when I race. Fight to the finish, never say “I give“. And oh, the exhilaration when the race is over! The satisfaction. It is all worth it. Give it a try!