20 Miles again

This Sunday I did another 20 miler with no hills, but at a bit faster pace. I went down the Burke Gilman, and met up with 2 other Bent riders near Gasworks. One was on a V Rex with huge tires, the other on a homebuilt streamliner, both could drop me at will. :P It was a nice ride (except for the streamliner crash) up to Matthews park where I turned around. The weather was incredible, with occasional glimpses of Lake Washington and the mountain from the trails and perfect temps for riding, just above 60 or so.

Saturday I did about 7 miles on the Hybrid and pulled the boy on his Trail a Bike. Destination: Shultzy's for a beer and dog. Overall, it was not a net negative calorie ride, but the company, beer and lunch were great.

Next step, figuring out how to increase my mileage to 45 or so per weekend.

Ballard and Back

Yesterday, I did an even 20 miles on the Phantom. It was about 55 and raining when I left, and didn't change much en route. My new wool jersey and shorts kept me plenty warm though, even when soaked. The original plan was to cross the Fremont bridge, then take the Burke Gilman to Ballard, up to Golden Gardens, then ascend into the neighborhood above. From there I'd head north to a friend's place and have an easy downhill cruise home.

Along the way I discovered that the road up the hill is closed (has been for 6 months) and that 100th street doesn't go through from the Blue Ridge area east. Add those things together and you get a good bit more climbing than I'd planned on. The ride out of Blue Ridge was particularly tough, as it was steep and I was getting a bit tired since I'd been climbing slowly for several miles from the locks up to about 85th street. The good news is that I feel pretty decent today, and that the long climb from the locks went well too.

Ever since I've had the boom adjusted on the Phantom my climbing has been much easier. I'm going faster, more comfortably and with less effort. It has been a huge improvement. I need to keep up the hillwork though, as I'd like to be ready for the Chilly Hilly next year, and I'm a pretty poor climber in general.

Dollars per mile

Stuff I've bought for cycling so far since moving to Seattle:

Commute related items

• Fenders - 2 pair
• Tailpack - 1
• Tubes - 2
• Front light - 1
• Rear flasher - 1
• Mirror - 1
• Rack - 1

Non commute items

• Wool clothing items - 2
• Tubes - 2
• Tire - 1
• New boom for recumbent
• New seat for recumbent
• Seatpost - 1
• Adams Trail a bike

My guess is that I've ridden about 200 miles so far since I arrived, and spent close to 5 dollars a mile on equipment. I think I need to up the mileage a bit to make that dollar/mile ratio a bit more palatable.

I have often wondered about those little white things in potting soil. Now I know more. Via Marginal Revolution.

My first fancy Seattle latte is below (from Top Pot). The barista assured me that the design makes the drink taste better, but I'll repeat the experiment a few times to verify.

So the other day, the boy and I turned on the TV and caught the end of some mediocre animated movie. At 15 min to the hour -

Him: Daddy, this movie is almost over.

Me: Oh, why do you think that?

H: They're fighting all the bad guys. Usually, when they fight all the bad guys, the movie is almost over.

Interesting article here on the resentment the merely wealthy feel toward the ultrarich. I'd say this echoes some of what I'd heard here in LA.

Update, another take on the same article.

Ever wonder where nachos came from? No? Well here's the story anyhow.

Need spare parts for your bicycle or accessory? This is the place to go. I couldn't find replacement parts for my pump anywhere in LA, but Mr. Spicer at SpicerCycles.com was able to get them, no problem. He's got access to one of the biggest distributors in the country, and you can search the catalog online. What more could you ask for? Good service? He's got that too!

Fascinating post on why progressives lose elections. This reminds me a bit too much of my own experience in sales. I used to believe that people bought based on facts, hard experience has taught me otherwise.

Sure, sure one isn't supposed to talk about such things but hey - I just saw Robert Redford by my dentist's office! I can add that to my sightings list which includes

• Anthony Edwards - airline club/LAX
• Al Pacino - Toys R Us
• Jon Voight - LAX
• Pierce Brosnan - LAX
• Dick Van Dyke - Best Buy
• Ahnuld - several times in/around Santa Monica
• Slash - bicycle shop
• Lyle Lovett - motorcyle dealership (he later purchased it)
• Scott Bakula - LAX
• Dennis Hopper - art gallery

and probably some others that have slipped my mind. No biggie overall, but still - Robert Redford!

Interesting piece on L.A. schools (and attitudes towards low income students generally)

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh030106.shtml

If liberals care about public schools, and about low income people in general, why are schools in a liberal Democratic stronghold so darn bad? I don't have the answers, but the article raises some great points.

Many affluent liberals in the L.A. area shell out approximately 20k/year for private school - why not spend the same time/attention on our local district?

A note to some less experienced employees:

Yes you are smart, and yes, you are knowledgeable. But you don't know everything, or even everything about the things you think you are expert in. Before opening your mouth and inserting feet, you might pause to consider that maybe, just maybe, someone else knows how to do their own job, and suggesting otherwise is not endearing.

Just a tip.

Right now, I'm reading the Cryptonomicon, an interesting book all the cool kids were reading a few years ago. It's the best story about cryptography, warfare and cross generational treasure hunting I've ever read. The sad part is everyone else has moved on.

Ditto for Freakonomics, Blink, and just about everything else I've read recently. I used to stay quite current with books, but now not so much. I'm sure part of it has to do with being the father of a 2 year old, but it also has to do with the way I get books these days. As I learn about a book that sounds interesting, I add it to my Amazon wish list. Then once a year for Christmas, I send a list of those books around, and I hope I get some. So in general, I don't even bring a book in my house until many months after it has been published, and I usually don't read it until many months after that (in my annual pre Christmas book reading/shelf clearing frenzy).

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to break this cycle, but I am going to give it some thought.

MAC 3 Stroller - Avoid if you can

My wife and I bought one of these about 18 months ago, and at first we loved it. It was easier to handle than a "real" jog stroller, looked nice, and was easy to fold. Unfortunately, as the review notes, the design/build quality leaves something to be desired. Screws have fallen out (no locknuts or similar fasteners), we've had several flat tires, and the thing almost never tracks straight.

The official Maclaren site doesn't even list the stroller anymore, which is probably for the best.

Whew, big Day for Max today.

1. Playdate at the park - swings, trucks, swings, sand, swings and more swings. Yes, he does like swinging. If you take him out too quickly he yells, points at the swing and arches strongly in its direction.
2. We went to the public library! No books for Max though, he likes to eat them as much as look at them right now, and I think the librarians would frown on that.
3. First time we played with crayons. In this case play = eat, but only after trying to scribble a little bit. It was rather amazing how quickly he got the crayon in his mouth. Mmm, crayon.
4. First time we ordered Max his own dinner at a restaurant. True, it was a horrible little cheese pizza, but that didn't seem to bother him any.
5. We watched planes take off and land at the Santa Monica airport. The highlight had to be watching two Great Lakes biplanes take off one after the other - one of the passengers even gave us a wave!

Hey blog, long time no see.

So much to say, and apparently little inclination to say it.

1. The Boy is great. He's so happy and gregarious I'd question his parentage (If I didn't know better) He's just started to move, sort of an infantryman crawl where he drags himself along by his arms. When he tries to crawl, he just pushes himself backwards - I'm sure he'll get his limbs synchronized soon, then look out.
2. The company is good. We're making money on a consistent basis, and growing at a decent clip. Now we're having trouble finding good people...
3. Life in general is good. Wife is healthy and happy, as am I. We're a bit boring, but really, that's not news eh?

Not much in the way of cuisine hunting lately, guess I'd better get moving. I'm having Moroccan this weekend though, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

9 lbs. 6 oz! Delivered by C Section. More details later.

Still blogging from hospital.

Wow, way way better nurse after the shift change, she is a real pro. Not too talkative, but at least she's doing her job well, to our untrained eyes at least.

No significant change recently, we are at 6cm, but are due to be examined soon. We'll cross our fingers.

Dandy.

She hasn't been turned in two hours, I got the wrong meal, her IV bag ran dry, and worst of all the doctor is over an hour late.

I can't wait to get the comment card.