STP Plans

So in an effort to avoid watching the election like a hawk I focused on cycling today. I discovered a number of other cyclists in the office who may be interested in the STP. I would really like to do a work group for the STP. Maybe we could get custom jerseys from Portland Cyclewear. It would be cool to have a Digeo jersey.

So far Sudha, Jim B, David S, Leo and myself all seem interested so that looks good. Five is a reasonable group and we can train together as well. Lets hope it all comes together. In any case I will be doing the STP.

SUPERBARAK

This is a classic. I love it.

A mistake

I made the mistake of looking up various chain cleaning techniques and trying to decide what I should be doing to my chain. With my new Q-Rings I don't want to introduce any wear on them, so I want to keep my chain in good condition. There are huge numbers of options on lubes, etc. I believe I will just move to the lube every weekend and wipe my chain off nightly technique. The trick is picking a product. I will be buying a Park Tool CC-2 Chain Checker because a new chain is much cheaper than new Q-Rings and rear cassette. I will probably go with prolink chain lube for the lube. It seems pretty good and I read of many with good experiences with it.

Cycling update - personal goals

From Corsa Test Ride

With the new Corsa getting built for me at Angle Lake Cyclery I have been preparing for 2009 cycling with it. One of my major goals is long distance cycling. Club and charity rides like the STP are one way to rack up long distance rides but I also want to do smaller, more self-supported rides. So I am joining Seattle International Randonneurs and Randonneurs USA. This provides me access to all the rides that SIR runs which is quite a bit. I also joined Cascade Cycle Club, which is good for the STP.

I will send the RUSA paperwork out today and wait for the SIR paperwork as SIR uses calendar years for their membership duration and I want to get it for 2009. Once I get this done I can do brevets to qualify for the awards and potentially the PBP. I believe I will attempt the Super Randonneur award, which involves doing at least one of the 200k, 300k, 400k and 600k brevets. The 600k looks like it will be a stretch but hey, that is what goals are for.

Cycle videos

I watch videos on youtube looking for fun stuff about riding recumbents. One of the products of that searching is the realization of how much bad video there is out there. And secondly, how difficult it is to do good video production work.

There is one guy who's videos I like to watch NMERider on youtube. He also is a poster on BROL. His videos are well composed, have decent sound, interesting views and have other people in them too. His most recent riding video is an excellent example and very fine work. Take a look. BTW he is riding a Velokraft VK2

Cheney Endorsed McCain (Ad)

Classic. I like the light-hearted music. It also shows the Obama campaigns mastery of the snark. For more snarky Obama moments, check out Steve Benen

Still afraid Obama won't win?

A lot of people are making false equivalences to Kerry 2004. They say Kerry was ahead in 2004 in the polls, he wasn't. They say Kerry was ahead in early election results too, he wasn't. They say Republican's always do better on Election day compared to early elections, they don't. Check out Chris Bowers post on this subject for the real dirt.

But check out this chart of the polls in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Obama is doing so much better than Kerry did and much better than Gore did as well.


I am not trying to dampen your enthusiasm for Obama, I want you to still donate and volunteer. But stop being so defeatist, it is counter productive. Feel the joy of being ahead, revel in the fact that history is being made, in a good way. We will have a black president elected on his merits and because people think he can chart a way out of the morass the Republicans got us into.

Working on new route to work

View Larger Map
I am working to find a longer route to work for better training opportunities. Kristin and I drove this section from our house to the Burke Gilman trail in Kenmore. I brought the GPS to plot the map and get the elevation. The grade doesn't get above 8 degrees but averages to about 2.9. An average grade of 2.9 isn't bad. I can live with that. Here is the elevation profile:

My plan is to follow this route to the Burke Gilman trail, then take that East and South along the West Sammamish river trail until I get to the crossing of rt 908. I will then go up NE Old Redmond Rd to 132nd Ave NE. From there I go to 80th St. Then 80th St to 122nd Ave NE, and 122nd Ave NE to my office. All in all this should be roughly 25 miles with around 1200 ft of climbing. Once I get the Corsa I will test ride this route in sections. Then I will see if I can connect the sections and do it in one go. The first test will be Juanita hill to Burke Gilman as pictured above. The second test will be Old Redmond Rd to my office. Then I can connect the whole thing.

If I can manage this entire route it will be great training and I can work it into my commute starting once a week and gradually increase its frequency over the coming months. I expect this to only be my to work route, I see no need to take it home. I can use my existing 3.5 mile route home.

Trike Ride today

From September photostream

I road 30 miles this morning on the trike. It was a great ride though I did suffer from acid reflux the entire way. I ran into 3 recumbents. The break down is 2 Bacchetta Stradas and a Trice Q (see image to left). The Trice rider and I stopped and chatted for a while. Eugene and I will probably get together again to ride. It is nice to meet people on the trail. I also stopped and helped a guy with a flat, he was 10 miles from home so it would have been a sad walk for him. A sharp rock had pierced his tire straight into his tube.

The garmin estimates 2400 cal spent, which is nice. My weekly totals today are:
71.2 miles, 3741 ft of elevation gain, 6:52 hours of riding. Since my idler on the Vivo is still missing a nut, I rode the trike mostly this week.

I love how riding is a social activity even if you start out solo. I ran into a lot of people and waved, nodded, and chatted over my 3 hour ride. The fall colors were amazing too but I was a slacker and didn't bring my camera.

Great line from the New Yorker

David Sedaris at the NYer

I don’t know that it was always this way, but, for as long as I can remember, just as we move into the final weeks of the Presidential campaign the focus shifts to the undecided voters. “Who are they?” the news anchors ask. “And how might they determine the outcome of this election?”

Then you’ll see this man or woman— someone, I always think, who looks very happy to be on TV. “Well, Charlie,” they say, “I’ve gone back and forth on the issues and whatnot, but I just can’t seem to make up my mind!” Some insist that there’s very little difference between candidate A and candidate B. Others claim that they’re with A on defense and health care but are leaning toward B when it comes to the economy.

I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

Hilarious, and true. It is nice to see mainstream press owning up to the utter disparity between the candidates.