Fake languages

These are fake in the sense that the words don't exist, but the sounds should. I remember doing stuff like this as a kid.

Italian English

American Chinese Russian and more

I wondered about all those new Harleys I used to see

For years, when Harley Davidson was booming I wondered "where is the money coming from to buy all these things?" They are very expensive discretionary items, and I doubted some of the "owners" could really afford > 20k to buy them. Looks like the HD bubble was a bit like, and related to, the housing bubble.

Details here http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/more-troubles-for-harley-davidson.aspx.

Where you should eat, chain edition

seen here.

pilfered from Marginal Revolution

Get Rich Slowly

Great article here. Sure, it is mostly a piece promoting someone's new book, but I think it is sound advice nonetheless.

The only quibble I have with the Millionaire Next Door guys is that they treat becoming a millionaire as an exceptionally worthy goal in and of itself. Nothing wrong with gathering assets, I think everyone should. I don't think that living like an ascetic is worth it, if you can afford not too. Don't forget to stop and smell the roses etc.

Palinomania

Andrew Sullivan columns on S. Palin can be found here. In my opionion, he is doing this country a favor by digging into this stuff. She is an ambitious, charismatic lunatic. The more people that know about the lunatic part, the better.

New Ballard Loop

In my continuing, but perhaps futile, quest to improve my hill climbing, I did my new Ballard coast loop this weekend. It has about 2,000 feet of elevation gain in around 25 miles. That's not a lot for some people, but quite a change for me.

Until last summer, I always avoided hills when I could. I'd detour a mile or more to miss them in LA. Now I turn toward them when I can - not to anything outrageous (I'm looking at you Counterbalance), but I don't mind moderate grades any more. I can slowly grind up all the routes I've tried so far, but I've been somewhat cautious. I spend a LOT of time in my smallest gear however.

I've noticed small, but continuous improvement in my uphill speed this year, so I guess this plan is working for me to some extent; my overall speed still hovers around 11 mph though. I need to keep it up, and hopefully I'll be ready for a SIR 200k next year. My goal for 2010 - finish a 200k with a "reasonable" cushion. Did I leave myself enough wiggle room?

Who makes the Subaru roof rack?

Is it these guys? Looks like it could be Mont Blanc, but I can't find any good info. Next question, how do I get my Thule accesories to work on my '10 Outback?

How to make a dinner plan

From Ben Casnocha's blog

When no party is willing to express a preference out of politeness or genuine deference to another party of the decision -- on what type of cuisine to eat for dinner, say -- the decision-making process often gets trapped in a death spiral of deferential indecision. Certain decision-making tricks are needed. One reader taught me the 3-2-1 rule for deciding where to eat. The first person person names three types of cuisine (Chinese, Japanese, and Indian). The next person picks two of those three (Indian and Japanese). The next person picks one of those two (Indian). Done!

See the whole post o' tips at http://ben.casnocha.com/2009/10/assorted-musings.html

You go Al!

Does it take a comedian to defend our civil liberties?

http://washingtonindependent.com/60611/al-franken-reads-the-4th-amendment-to-justice-department-official

Ketchup! We try Ketchup!

Some kids live on it, but not mine. This is a first.

School supplies - 20 years later

I went shopping for school supplies today, this time for someone else.

I haven't made a shopping trip like this in over twenty years now, since I graduated from college. My last trip was all about divided spirals, pens and blue books, at least as far as I remember. In my earlier years, the school district published an official list - pencils, loose leaf binder paper, dividers, compass, pens and more. (why didn't anyone sell these things pre-assembled at an extra markup?) My son's school did the same, but since he will be a kindergartner soon, the collection was modest. Some pencils, paper and markers. Kleenex for the classroom, glue and erasers all helped fill our shopping basket.

Suddenly, for me the memories came flooding back. Shopping with my Mom at Eckerd's for Big Chief tablets, the lined paper tables with perforated tops and double spaced lines for us to practice our cursive. Big Mo pencils - huge green ones about as big around as one of my fingers. Paste (remember that smell?), pink erasers, Tiny Tot staplers. The atrocious compass and protractor sets, the bane of geometers everywhere.

We'll repeat this process every year I expect, and every year the requirements will grow with his capabilities. I look forward to it, though I'm momentarily focused on the past and recollections of my own schooldays.

Persistence matters

Link here. I have definitely found that the intangibles matter greatly for success. Persistence, playing well with others and more. Just wish I had more day to day grit.

Permission to push harder!

This article from the NYT talks about the brain's role in fatigue. I found it interesting because I've experienced something similar. After the SIR ride a few months ago, I found myself climbing better - and I think it is all because I found that when I pushed, my hillclimbing was better than I thought. It was as though I'd learned where my new limits were and my body now had permission to pedal harder. I thought it was all in my head, as it turns out, it is - but not in a bad way.

Things I learned from Slate. (today)

I really enjoy reading Slate, and often pick up a tip or two. Today, it was two.

1 - how to fix your passwords.

2 - I've always disliked warm soda, even after I put ice in it. Here comes the science. Scroll down to the bit about temperature and how the CO2 enters the head space in the can while warm. Also, I'm one of those who can taste the can, at least after the soda has been stored a while. For many reasons it is Mexican cane sugar coke in bottles FTW!

STP wrap up

Overall, I had a pretty good ride. I'm not really sure what my average speed was, as I managed to reset my bike computer several times, but I think it was in the 14 mph range. Of course, I had lots of help doing this, as I spent quite a bit of time drafting other cyclists - but not too close! I tried to get on the end of packs/pacelines and let people slide in front of me if they wished, as I know that riders following my recumbent get very little benefit.

Physically I felt pretty good after the ride, but had some saddle sore type issues on Saturday. Egads, that's painful, and I really need to find a solution. I'm pretty sure it is just one pair of shorts that give me trouble, and only on long rides. I used quite a bit of chamois creme, and still had problems. My legs were sore and tired Monday/Tuesday, but only a bit tired on Wednesday - back, neck, arms and the rest all felt fine.

I was also very hungry from about Saturday lunch until Monday afternoon, though I just didn't feel I could eat enough at one sitting to make a dent in it. It is pretty common for me to feel like my stomach is the size of a shot glass when exercising, and that makes it quite a challenge to keep the calories coming, and to replenish them when done. I finally had a giant sandwich for lunch Monday that did the trick, though it took me almost an hour to polish it off.

My jersey choices were perfect. A light synthetic one for the heat on Saturday, and a wool Swobo on Sunday. The Swobo was particularly good in the cool wet conditions, and I never felt like I needed a jacket. Any temp above 60 or so, and I'm good to go even with a bit of rain.

I think I spent more time in the big ring this weekend than I have the entire time I've owned the bike. I was frequently riding over 16 mph with bursts up to 20, and I found it easiest to keep these speeds on the outer ring. This is really a big step for me, and a good indication of how much stronger I am now than I was last summer.

I was still slow up hills, but not as slow as I was. Still, it was disconcerting to pass dozens of riders, only to have them pass me right back on the next up hill. I did a bit better on Sunday, but almost everyone passed me. Road bikes, hybrids, and mountain bikes, but not recumbents.

I saw quite a few recumbents, mostly bikes similar to mine or LWB easy racer type machines. Also a few trikes, tandems, and a handcycle. Most of them were pretty slow, my guess is that the faster riders started earlier than I did and stayed way, way in front of me. I only saw one highracer, a RANS F5 ridden by someone who'd just broken his Lighting. He slowed down long enough to tell me how awesome it was, then cruised off into the distance on a climb, not to be seen until the next day.

If I'm to do the STP again, I think I need a group that's committed to training and riding together. I spent a lot of time alone, or drafting off strangers, and that's not such a great way to spend 200 miles. No matter what, I'd prefer to do the ride on another bike next year, and see how much better, if any I can do.

Wine Descriptors

http://blindtaste.com/2009/07/02/do-taste-and-smell-adjectives-signal-valu/

I really enjoy this blog. Great to check out if you are interested in food, but less interested in pretension.

Things I learned on the SIR 100k

• I need a better hydration setup for my Lightning. One water bottle cage won't cut it, as switching stuff from my bags is too time consuming while riding to a time limit. Ditto for food.
• I need a place to put the cue sheet. Jersey pocket + recumbent = sweaty, inaccessible mess.
• If I'm going to ride with SIR, I need to ride more hills, and/or get a better climbing bike (or just use the Salsa). I was spent after the 100k, but part of that was underhydration and lack of calories.
• My stomach tolerated my gatorade/bread/luna bar diet quite well.
• The Lightning is flexible, and slightly scary on bumpy downhills.
• Need to accurately calibrate my cycle computer. Mismatch between my mileage and the cue sheet made navigation harder than it needed to be. I was off by about .3 miles a third of the way in, which made finding the turns harder than it had to be.

Well, I finished

Update - photographic evidence here (last manned control) and here (Loretta's dining al fresco). Lovely yellow helmet no?

Yesterday I rode my first rando event, the SIR "The Sound and the Fury - 100K" populaire. The course had some incredible views - Mt. Rainer, Tacoma Skyline, and lots and lots of water views. There were some killer hills, as advertised. I think I ended up walking three of them. I rode the first really steep hill in West Seattle, but it took so much out of me, that I thought I'd be better off hoofing the rest of them. Thankfully, all of the worst hills were over by about the 50k mark.

There was one other recumbent rider there, with a brand new Carbent - John (whose last name escapes me). He was new to recumbents, and his bike in particular, and I think he suffered a good bit on the hills. I saw him about 20 miles in, and he passed me, or I passed him, but either way I didn't see him again. Duncan was planning on riding the event, but life intervened and he had to miss it.

The ride started out at a pretty sedate pace in a good size pack. Everything blew apart by the first big hill. Suddenly we were many small packs, and I was toward the back, as expected. At the second hill, we fragmented even more, and I ended up in a pack of 1. Not much later, coming down Fauntleroy, I saw the biggest raccoon ever loping across the street, that thing looked a like a tiny bear.

A few minutes later, someone caught up to me and gave me a navigation/riding/suffering companion. Ryan was suffering a bit, as he'd replaced his front triple with a double after a mechanical mishap. Our paces were almost the same, and we stuck together through a quick 7-11 stop and some bio breaks.

Somewhere around mile 25 I checked the time against the cue sheet and control open/close times and realized we needed to step it up. It seemed to me Ryan was slowing a bit, and I needed to pass him, but I didn't quite have the oomph. At the manned control near Tacoma, Vincent helped us with water and snacks, then mentioned "Gentlemen,the control is closing, that means you have no time in the bank." At this point, Ryan and two other guys were chatting about who worked where at Microsoft, and I realized I needed to go. I said "point taken! I'm out of here", and none of the other riders seemed interested in departing. With that, I was off on my own for the rest of the ride.

The next few miles were quite favorable to my recumbent, and I averaged 17+ mph for quite a while and really made some time up. After turning north, up a longish climb, I had my first "maybe I could just quit now" thought, but I pushed on. I could see another rider a few hundred yards ahead of me, but couldn't close the gap uphill. At the top of the climb, we turned east with a descent (that I flew down) and some rollers, but I never saw him again.

I missed a turn not long after that as I couldn't see a street sign, and my odometer was out of sync with the cue sheet. That gave me a few bonus miles and a bit of extra climbing, though not many of either, as I realized my mistake pretty quickly.

At about mile 45, I think I started to run low on energy and had some bread and gatorade, but probably not enough. The terrain was mostly rolling the rest of the way in, and I struggled a bit on the uphills, and didn't even make particularly good time on the downhills. Nevertheless, I pulled into Loretta's with 7 minutes to spare, so I finished in time, and got my pin. I did go to the wrong door to check in, so I really could have finished a minute or so earlier without that minor mishap. I was so concerned about time at that point that I ran, pushing my bike down the sidewalk and through the parking lot to check in. I was pretty sure that would be faster than getting on the bike, riding and dismounting again.

All in all, it was a good, but tough ride. I shared a beer and burger with a few other riders, then headed home for some rest.

Climing getting less pathetic?

Today I managed over 10 mph up the hill on Dexter going Southbound. Not setting any records to be sure, but several mph faster than I could manage last summer. Of course, I was on the Salsa which helps a lot, but still.

Post STP, I plan to do quite a bit more hill climbing. Hopefully I can improve even more by next summer.

Bike Diet?

This morning, when I had a few minutes to spare, I weighed each of my bikes. The Salsa Casseroll came in at 27 lbs with a Tubus rack and a pump. The Lightning Phantom was a whopping 39! That was with a rack, tail trunk and seat bag. Otherwise, both bikes have 1 waterbottle cage, computer, and fenders. (The Salsa also has a bell)

I think I may need to cut back somewhat on the amount of stuff I carry when I ride. I've been doing hillier rides recently, and I can really feel the extra heft of the recumbent. I'll probably start with removing the rear rack and tail pack, and see where that gets me.

I hope this doesn't mean I'm in for a case of Titaniumitis, or even worse - Carbon Fiber Flu.