Had a nice pre-ride/race at Swope last night. Darkness came quick, so I was only able to get maybe 3 laps in. I played around a lot with tire pressure, and then once I finally got it dialed in, it was terrific. I still need to learn to trust the tires when cornering in the grass, but with all the nuts (walnuts?) on the ground, your bike got loose in a hurry.
Should be a great race, and I'm raring to go (as soon as my back loosens up).
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Somebody got me thinking today...
Given the seeming instability of the market, the growing gap between rich and poor, and the repercussions of a society built on consumption and the procurement of material goods, that maybe the American Dream is changing.
It started with a nice house with a white picket fence. Then we added a 3 car garage (at first for excess stuff, then for our 3rd cars). Then we went from 1500 square feet to 3k. Then to 5k. And beyond.
It started with finding a company that would take care of you for your whole life. A relationship was formed between employee and employer. Then we added 401k's instead of pensions. Then we added outsourcing. Layoffs. 200x-300x CEO comps over the common employee. Corporate jets with golden parachutes.
It started with having a few conveniences. Then we added remote controls. Then cordless phones. Giant SUVs, bluetooth, cooling/heating/massaging seats came next. Social networks replaced real social interactions.
Where is it all leading too? I think the lucky few are rediscovering a more simple life. Condensing instead of consuming. Handshakes instead of tweets. Smaller homes with smaller utility bills, less cleaning, less clutter and more contact.
Maybe I'm just a crazy old 30-something, but I'm starting to see more value in slowing down. As I was driving to work on a beautiful 72 degree day, I noticed I was the only one with their windows down. Have we gotten so used to air-conditioning, or is it that we shun contact? I don't know.
Ok, now I'm going to go for a bike ride. A hard ride in the mud with people faster than me. I'll try in vain to keep up, feeling my lungs sear and my vision blur. Somehow through this cleansing process, the world will seem to be a bit more warm and kind, maybe a bit more human.
It started with a nice house with a white picket fence. Then we added a 3 car garage (at first for excess stuff, then for our 3rd cars). Then we went from 1500 square feet to 3k. Then to 5k. And beyond.
It started with finding a company that would take care of you for your whole life. A relationship was formed between employee and employer. Then we added 401k's instead of pensions. Then we added outsourcing. Layoffs. 200x-300x CEO comps over the common employee. Corporate jets with golden parachutes.
It started with having a few conveniences. Then we added remote controls. Then cordless phones. Giant SUVs, bluetooth, cooling/heating/massaging seats came next. Social networks replaced real social interactions.
Where is it all leading too? I think the lucky few are rediscovering a more simple life. Condensing instead of consuming. Handshakes instead of tweets. Smaller homes with smaller utility bills, less cleaning, less clutter and more contact.
Maybe I'm just a crazy old 30-something, but I'm starting to see more value in slowing down. As I was driving to work on a beautiful 72 degree day, I noticed I was the only one with their windows down. Have we gotten so used to air-conditioning, or is it that we shun contact? I don't know.
Ok, now I'm going to go for a bike ride. A hard ride in the mud with people faster than me. I'll try in vain to keep up, feeling my lungs sear and my vision blur. Somehow through this cleansing process, the world will seem to be a bit more warm and kind, maybe a bit more human.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Pain and Glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Saturday marks the beginning of my favorite season, cyclocross season! I'm pretty excited, and hoping it should be soft/muddy for the race with all the rain we got today. The team is practicing out on the course tomorrow night, so I'm hoping that will be an excellent time to figure out where I am fitness wise and to get some good hot laps in. I'm beyond excited. No silly swimming in this race, thankfully.I'm raising my water glass to a 4-month season of good results, blurred vision, heart attacks, and throbbing legs, in no particular order!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Un-natural Nature Valley
So I picked up some Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Nut - Almond bars today. I'm mowing it down and wondering what's in. Let's have a look at the ingredients on our Nature Valley so-natural-it's-like-eating-tree-bark Naturelicious nature bars.
Almonds, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Rolled Oats, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Crisp Rice (Rice Flour, Sugar, Malt, Salt), Palm Kernel Oil, Wheat Flakes (Whole Wheat, Sugar, Salt, Malt), Fructose, Canola Oil, Water, Yogurt Powder (Cultured Whey Protein Concentrate, Cultured Skim Milk, Yogurt Cultures), Maltodextrin, Salt, Nonfat Milk, Soy Lecithin, Color Added, Honey Natural Flavor, Baking Soda, Sunflower Meal, Peanut Flour. Mixed Tocopherols Added to Retain Freshness.
Almonds - that's good.
High Maltose Corn Syrup - yea, that's crap.
Rolled Oats - sounds healthy enough
Sugar - not great, but hopefully natural enough
High Fructose Corn Syrup - devil food. America would lose 20 pounds a person without this chemically concocted crap.
Crisp Rice - fair
Palm Kernel Oil - mmm...oil. crap.
Wheat Flakes (more sugar I see)
Fructose - unnatural sugar. crap.
Canola Oil - didn't we already have oil?
Water - why am I so thirsty after eating one of these bars?
Yogurt Powder - maybe this is what the water is for?
Maltodextrin - sounds like something that causes cancer...
Salt - yea, we don't get enough sodium in our diets
nonfat milk - nonfat is good right? I don't know, I've never seen a nonfat cow.
Soy Lecithin - per wikipedia "Commercial lecithin, as used by food manufacturers, is a mixture of phospholipids in oil." Yummy, fats swimming in oil.
Color added - why? because naturally it's blue?
Honey natural flavor - why not just honey? Do they put bees in this stuff?
Baking soda - I'm all out of negative opinions. You may pass.
Sunflower Meal - I guess Sunflowers have to eat too.
Peanut Flour - How hard do you have to squeeze a peanut to get flour out of it?
Mixed Tocopherols Added to Retain Freshness - Once again, wikipedia "Tocopherols are sometimes used as a food preservative to prevent oils from going rancid". So the oils you shouldn't have to put in there to begin with need a preservative?
Needless to say, I'm staying clear of Nature Valley "of Sin" products after this. Seriously, way to mislead the consumers.
I like Kind bars as an alternative. These truly are all natural, and you don't have to Wikipedia have the ingredients.
Almonds, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Rolled Oats, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Crisp Rice (Rice Flour, Sugar, Malt, Salt), Palm Kernel Oil, Wheat Flakes (Whole Wheat, Sugar, Salt, Malt), Fructose, Canola Oil, Water, Yogurt Powder (Cultured Whey Protein Concentrate, Cultured Skim Milk, Yogurt Cultures), Maltodextrin, Salt, Nonfat Milk, Soy Lecithin, Color Added, Honey Natural Flavor, Baking Soda, Sunflower Meal, Peanut Flour. Mixed Tocopherols Added to Retain Freshness.
Almonds - that's good.
High Maltose Corn Syrup - yea, that's crap.
Rolled Oats - sounds healthy enough
Sugar - not great, but hopefully natural enough
High Fructose Corn Syrup - devil food. America would lose 20 pounds a person without this chemically concocted crap.
Crisp Rice - fair
Palm Kernel Oil - mmm...oil. crap.
Wheat Flakes (more sugar I see)
Fructose - unnatural sugar. crap.
Canola Oil - didn't we already have oil?
Water - why am I so thirsty after eating one of these bars?
Yogurt Powder - maybe this is what the water is for?
Maltodextrin - sounds like something that causes cancer...
Salt - yea, we don't get enough sodium in our diets
nonfat milk - nonfat is good right? I don't know, I've never seen a nonfat cow.
Soy Lecithin - per wikipedia "Commercial lecithin, as used by food manufacturers, is a mixture of phospholipids in oil." Yummy, fats swimming in oil.
Color added - why? because naturally it's blue?
Honey natural flavor - why not just honey? Do they put bees in this stuff?
Baking soda - I'm all out of negative opinions. You may pass.
Sunflower Meal - I guess Sunflowers have to eat too.
Peanut Flour - How hard do you have to squeeze a peanut to get flour out of it?
Mixed Tocopherols Added to Retain Freshness - Once again, wikipedia "Tocopherols are sometimes used as a food preservative to prevent oils from going rancid". So the oils you shouldn't have to put in there to begin with need a preservative?
Needless to say, I'm staying clear of Nature Valley "of Sin" products after this. Seriously, way to mislead the consumers.
I like Kind bars as an alternative. These truly are all natural, and you don't have to Wikipedia have the ingredients.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Last weekend with the goats
Yea, the video isn't terribly exciting, but I thought I'd try and upload a video from my Evo to youtube. I guess it works ok.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
It's been over a week
and the earth's population is still growing. Moving on...
I have my first cyclocross clinic tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to walk tomorrow and not experience bruising to my thigh from performing unskilled remounts all night. I actually am quite excited, as I went out for about 40 minutes and did some skills practice with sprints mixed in, and felt ok but see a lot of room for growth.
Hope to see some other 'crossers out there tonight!
I have my first cyclocross clinic tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to walk tomorrow and not experience bruising to my thigh from performing unskilled remounts all night. I actually am quite excited, as I went out for about 40 minutes and did some skills practice with sprints mixed in, and felt ok but see a lot of room for growth.
Hope to see some other 'crossers out there tonight!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The greatest issue of our time
is not Middle-Eastern conflict, green energy, or Sarah Palin getting elected to office. It's overpopulation. Dr. David Katz wrote a decent article that hopefully will get some discussions started.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/nine-or-12-billion-things_b_693757.html
I have a feeling though that by the time we get around to frankly discussing the issue, the Duggans will have bred out the rest of us.
Seriously though, while it's easy to poke fun or ridicule a family that thinks it is their divine right to bring 19 or 20 kids into this world, I'm not very fond of the thought of having starving people with flies buzzing on their eyelids gasping their last breath because someone half the world away likes big families.
There are issues of resource allocation, of course, but then you can bring up the fact that America is the land of conspicuous consumption, where we each use as much resources as 45 Ethiopians. So the Duggans have a village indeed, burning up the same amount of this planet's finite resources as 990 (22x45) villagers.
The issue is very frustrating to me, because you can look at any specie that overpopulates, and you can clearly see that their demise is both quick and painful. Not the future I want for my kids. Both of them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/nine-or-12-billion-things_b_693757.html
I have a feeling though that by the time we get around to frankly discussing the issue, the Duggans will have bred out the rest of us.
Seriously though, while it's easy to poke fun or ridicule a family that thinks it is their divine right to bring 19 or 20 kids into this world, I'm not very fond of the thought of having starving people with flies buzzing on their eyelids gasping their last breath because someone half the world away likes big families.
There are issues of resource allocation, of course, but then you can bring up the fact that America is the land of conspicuous consumption, where we each use as much resources as 45 Ethiopians. So the Duggans have a village indeed, burning up the same amount of this planet's finite resources as 990 (22x45) villagers.
The issue is very frustrating to me, because you can look at any specie that overpopulates, and you can clearly see that their demise is both quick and painful. Not the future I want for my kids. Both of them.
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