I know what to do.  Sit down, practice writing.  It’s like PHP, there’s constructs, logic, syntax… It all needs to come together.  The only problem is that I’ve written some one off pieces that I’m actually pretty proud of.  And for some reason if something starts to fall below that I have a hard time accepting it as a printable piece.  So, really I just need to suck it up and start writing just to write, hence this post.  So I’m going to call myself out right now right here.  I am going to write. And in doing so I’m going to tackle the several writing pieces that I need to get done.  Here is the order I’m going to do them in and I’m going to finish them all by the 21st.  So look forward to it, you can see a dyslexic Jew Mex in action printed across three different web sites withing two weeks.  And just to prove my conviction to this I’m going to list the articles I need to get done.

1. Corsa Concepts wheel review – Oregon Cycling Action
2. Uvex helmet review – Oregon Cycling Action
3. KCNC Pump Head Review – Oregon Cycling Action
4. Bottle Cage review – Oregon Cycling Action
5. English Cycles TT bike post – Fair Wheel Bikes
6. Dr Will Bar Update – Dr Will Bar
7. Dr Will Bar CX Magazine Review Announcement - Dr. Will Bar

With all that being said, I’m also going to work on this blog and my new company blog.   All in all that leaves me very very busy.  Because I’m then left with working tons on Fairwheel Bikes new template, Template Cascade’s new site including copywrite, Pro Edge Therapies new site with copywrite, and of course all the duties of Brand Manager @ Dr. Will Bar.  Crap!  Gots lots to do  so with the exception of product testing don’t plan on seeing me out on the road too often pedaling bikes.  I will of course though be taking up my new hobby of trying not to blow up my knee while I run.

Laurelwood Loves Papyrus

My new series, Portland Loves Papyrus.  Papyrus is a free font located in just about every pre-packaged program in existence. But never have I seen a graphic design trend so define a region with no apparent reason.  It just is… But maybe it’s what I was told when I first worked with Papyrus, “Don’t worry, Hippies love this.”  True… true.  But, just in case you missed out and want to be a part of this accidental PDX movement I’m going to host it for you to download here.

I’m going to kick this off with one of Team Oregon’s sponsors and a maker of one of the truly best burger and fries I’ve ever had, the Laurelwood Brewery.  And the Laurelwood Brewery LOVES Papyrus.  They have it everywhere in their NW location.  A sign noting their hours when you walk up the outdoor stairs, their entire menu is Papyrus, there are notes all over the store in Papyrus.  It’s surreal, so grab your wallet go grab a Workhorse IPA and a burger and eat away, especially since the sun is out now.

Download Papyrus here!

Laurelwood Hours

Laurelwood Beer Menu

This is just an explanation post to the one that is going to be posted in 20 minutes. Since this really is void on content I’m going to drop one of the funnier things I’ve seen on the interwebs lately courtesy of  pro interweber @alexclemens2.

That's right this wins... Don't pun again... Useless.

A while back I published some of my expanded thoughts on High Fructose Corn Syrup. I had done an absurd amount of research on the subject and how High Fructose Corn Syrup and Corn Syrup affected health. What I posted was a lot of left over thoughts that were either outside of the scope of the Dr. Will Bar article or were too much personal opinion.  One of the subjects I covered was the Sweet Surprise marketing campaign undertaken by the HFCS industry.  As a sub-subject to that campaign I mentioned the use of the term “moderation” and how it exempts their statement from any bearing in actual dietary trends and HFCS roll in it.  Well in doing some more research on the hot two weeks ago topic of Agave Nectar (you can look for this one on Dr. Will’s site soon) I came across a startling graphic.  This graphic is driven by data from the ERS/USDA Data – Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System. After review the data set, I’d have a really hard time thinking of any way to get a more accurate data set on a large scale consumption of a product.

The ERS Food Availability (per capita) Data System includes three distinct but related data series on food and nutrient availability for consumption. The data serve as popular proxies for actual consumption. Data are now provided through 2008 at the national level.

All this to say is that, I trust the data which is why this is even more shocking to me. I have a hard time believing that anyone really thinks an average US consumption of 59.2 pounds of HFCS per year entails “moderation.” This is why the Sweet Surprise advertising campaign is so misleading. I really do think that there is data showing HFCS and more specifically Fructose is increasing our obesity rate. However, I also believe that a general increase in consumption of sweeteners is the majority cause of the problem. Don’t cut out just one sweetener and label it as bad, try to reduce your general consumption.

Portland's famous College climb

A while back I posted a few of my favorite little tricks for blog photography.  It can basically be summed up as a very simple way to constantly have imagery for your blog or web site.  It combines a few simple tools like Picasa and something to easily crop photos.  The other key and often forgotten, overlooked or discarded concept is, use a cheap easy to carry camera.  This facilitates pictures from where ever you might go.  Carrying a nice expensive camera is great, especially if you know how to use it, but the logistics around it’s size makes your entire activity revolve around your camera.  Not a great idea for documenting everyday life.  Something in my opinion a blog should be about.  Don’t get me wrong, I am amazed by the quality and art of photographers, in fact, I recently decided I wanted to participate in the PDX Tweed Ride. A ride I had previously not given much thought about but had a change of heart due to a photographer’s creative and talented eye.

Okay…. Sorry, I’m getting a far bit off track. The real reason I wanted to re-hash this subject was to say “told you so.” Yup, I’m not above it! I’d like to think that my photos attribute to my traffic and I would even consider doing A/B testing but proof came even easier than that.  During a ride, while chasing Lions around Portland’s famous De Ronde van Portlandia, I took a fair amount of photos, touched them up in Picasa and then posted them.  All in less than 20 minutes.   Well, aside from getting a fair amount of search engine traffic from the post, I received a phone call from CX Magazine editor and friend Josh.  Basically he wanted to use an image I took for an article team Ironclad’s Robert Carver was doing on the Ronde van Portland.  Win for Low Brow Photography!  Also, in case you read this Robert, great post.

Follow the Lion: RondePDX, 2010

I’ve recently ridden the famous De Ronde van Portlandia three times in the span of 7 days, and yes, it’s been rough. It’s involved a crash (my girlfriend the first time I did it), one close call with a car, one flat tire, 21,906 vertical feet of climbing over 136.8 miles, too many gels, Dr. Will Bars and Nuun tablets to even begin counting. I have learned a lot though.  Like, it’s actually a lot easier when it’s done fast.  It’s going to hurt no matter what might as well give it full gas, get it over with quicker and give your legs less time to cool off between ascents. The first two times I did it I was hanging out with friends, chatting, drinking and eating at the top of every hill.  The third time, I was testing a set of wheels for Portland start-up wheel company Corsa Concepts (review to follow @ Oregon Cycling Action).  With the wheels as an excuse I decided it was time to test how I could go.  Well, I did ease up a few times and even stopped for a beer feed half way through, but I ask you what would Brad Ross think of me if I didn’t? So 3hrs 7 min and a few seconds later I was done.

I was also feeling good.  Probably could have given it another go.  But the point is I had more fun than I had previously.  I’m not going to lie, I was one of the few that tried this at 95%, there were people that could have beaten me, there were also a handful down in southern Oregon racing, but I did come in 6th-ish.  I was sliding my rear wheel up Saltzman, I was braking hard into turns, I was bunny hopping rocks on single track and correcting my line over cobbles.  But for the most part I was having fun.  I smiled when I saw two houses flying flags with the Lion of Flanders on them. I didn’t not however take my own advice on photography and therefor am lacking any pictures so aside from one for the one from the first time I did it and the staged one for the Corsa Concepts review you’re going to have to take my word that I was at the 2010 De Ronde Von de Portlandia. OR! you can track my progress via GPS on the map below. Simply click play and watch the dot follow the route at some speed proportional to my actual speed.  Yup, that’s right, as low as 3 mph at the top of Brynwood and 50+ mph on some of the descents.  I think this is going to be a favorite testing ground for me as I pick up more equipment reviews.

De Ronde von Portlandia Map with 2010 Speed

*** Full Ronde PDX Course map with no trip data.

In the mean time make sure to check out Oregon Cycling Action for my upcoming review for what in my mind were a surprisingly great set of application specific wheels. Or… check out this amazing video thanks to Josh!

2010 Ronde PDX theme song?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evj5EYM_PNQ

Problem was he was racing for the win and the others for second.  So he got beat to second but earned more of my respect in the end.  Boonen has in this case proven to be a true champion and the type of racer who is going to stick around.  It’s easy to like him or Fabian Cancellara when they’re on top but the way Boonen has handled himself over this period made me like him a lot more than I had previously.  In fact it’s grown more than my opinion of Cancellara.  For a while I’ve been a little unsure of Boonen and wondered if he’d ever act the brat.  Now I’m pretty sure he won’t.  I can now like him more, when he wins and when he looses.  Which if his trouble really are behind him, we’ll start seeing a lot more of soon to come.

There’s my two cents in under 5 mintues.  Sorry this post is of such poor quality, and with no picture, AND more than likely riddled with errors AAAAND short to boot.  Horrible, I know.

Follow the Lion... Up and down

The Lion of Flanders.  For a lot of us the RondePDX (Official Site)  is as close to the real thing (Tour de Flanders) we will ever come.  A brutal combination of hills on Portland’s West side.  Being one of the first rides I had aver done in Portland I quickly realized that although the climbs in the area weren’t notably long they could be brutally steep.  My first RondePDX for 2010 took place this weekend, a dozen of us rolled out determined not to let the weather or the hills keep us down no matter what they tried.  Do they try, the creators of the route are sadistic, combining some of the steepest grades I’ve ever ridden.  In Tucson there were secret locations that we had to ride dirt roads to get to that had these types of gradients.  But here, they lie out in the open for all to ride with yellow little lions painted on them.  The ride totals 47 miles and features an astounding 7,800 feet of climbing [Route].  It’s entirely made up of leg torturing climbs ad hair raising descents.  Never for the faint hearted.  This year it sounds like the ride is “officially” not going to happen.  So try your fate with a group of friends, you are going to suffer!

Sorry for the poor English, I’m pretty tired.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Half Truths

We all use these and most of us started using them in Kindergarten. “Mom, I ate my broccoli.” Should have been “Mom I ate some of my broccoli, and Scooter ate most of it.” Well, I found a glaring, not so innocent, half truth in my research on High Fructose Corn Syrup. Industry groups stick to lines based on the idea that HFCS is made up of fructose and glucose, both naturally occurring sugars in fruit and other common dietary staples seen as healthy. This implies that high fructose corn syrup is as safe as cane sugar (mostly sucrose) and has the same metabolic effects on our body. There really are two problems with this line of thinking.

Glucose/Fructose Bonds

In naturally occurring sugars the fructose and glucose are two components of sucrose (cane sugar) making them two parts of a disaccharide not monosaccharides as they exist in HFCS. The difference here is in how your body uses them. In sucrose your body must first break the glycosidic bond to access the highly energetic fructose and glucose molecules. The breaking of this bond forces your body to expend energy in order to gain energy. Although the energy release is obviously much greater than the energy expenditure it’s still important to point out that this is something the pro High Fructose Corn Syrup industry lobbyists and ad campaigns chose to overlook.

Fructose and Your Blood Sugar

This is important and goes to the “this is natural” argument so often used. High Fructose Corn Syrup is rated by its fructose content, the more fructose the sweeter the overall taste experience. Common mixtures are HFCS 42, HFCS 55 and HFCS 90, Representing 42%, 55% and 90% fructose. The problem here is that since there is no bond between the glucose and fructose the mixture is much more bio-available. Combine this with the rate that HFCS is consumed and we reach sugar consumption rates our bodies are just unable to handle. The problem is highlighted with the fact the our bodies response to fructose is especially poor. As mentioned in the Will Bar post the American Diabetic Association has done studies which have found that our bodies are poor at regulating blood sugar with insulin when ingesting fructose.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Vs. Corn Syrup

So where does Corn Syrup lay in both of these arguments? Simple, Corn Syrup does not contain any fructose. It is the equivalent to HFCS 0 granting it a 100% glucose composition. Glucose is not as sweet as fructose but our bodies handle it much better. We can regulate our blood sugar and maintain a steady energy level without the especially high highs and low lows (we have all heard of sugar crashes).

The “Sweet Surprise” High Fructose Corn Syrup Advertisements

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9vZYj-aJ4

“It’s made from…”

This is one argument I love. It rears it’s head in many different ways, “it’s close too…” “It’s like…” “it’s one ______ molecule from ____” etc. The counter example I like to use is monoxide, a very deadly gas is really close to or like or made from the same thing as, Oxygen (O2) one of the building blocks of life as we know it. Think of other examples, coal vs. diamonds, plastic vs. petroleum, Corn Syrup vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup.

“High Fructose Corn Syrup is bad for you…”

Obviously the anti-HFCS lady in this commercial did not do her research. She just gave a sound bite, a sound bite I’ve heard spoken with as little reasoning as provided in the commercial. The obvious reason its “bad for you” is stated in this blog post: the increased bio-availability of HFCS due to the lack of a molecular bond between the glucose and fructose and the body’s inability to regulate, with insulin, the additional fructose.

Moderation

Another point to look at here is the quick mention of “in moderation”, almost mumbled as the pro-HFCS line is finishing. Moderation to manufacturers of HFCS might mean an 8 oz. glass daily. I don’t know, as they don’t mention portions, but in that lays the point, “moderation” is a broad term with no legal definition. An evolutionary viewpoint on flavor points to the fact that our taste buds could have been programmed. Hard to find or difficult to obtain food sources that are vital to our survival could have been made to taste better in order to encourage us to forage and or hunt. Sugars, salts and fat all potentially fall into this category. It’s an interesting viewpoint and one that explains why common grains, starches and vegetables aren’t as tasty. Or even why we react to bitter and certain naturally occurring flavors by spitting them out. Certain flavors have a high probability of being from a poisonous or otherwise potentially harmful plant. Today with the more tasty products being as available as everything else our taste buds are capitalized on by the food industry. This is why much of the foods we crave end up being poor health choices in modern diets, they taste good due to their historic scarcity. All this to say that moderation in this case is probably fractions of what we actually consume even in a relatively conscious diet.

The Bomb, Cherry Gatorade, Coca-Cola

Dr Will is going to hate this one.  We’ll talk, the merits of the high quality fats that the nuts in his energy bars provide will surely be mentioned, as will the proper sugars of fruits and the lasting power of peanut butter. All I have to say is “yeah, I know,” however it was more desperate than that, 4.5 hours in, 3 Dr Will bars, 4 gels and I was feeling a bonk coming on. It’s a hard feeling to describe, a lingering look at a doughnut sign, a craving for salts and Trans, High Fructose, Saturated something or other fats. A tingling and aching in my neck and an empty-ness in my legs. At this point all I can recommend is going big. I mean really big, The Bomb, big.

940 calories, 378 from fat. 397 grams of which 40% is fat, that’s right, 160 grams of the artery clogging stuff. But don’t stop there, if you’re going to go big make sure to properly wash it down. I had two bottles of coke waiting for my burrito to warm up. Then I filled one more with coke and one with Gatorade. The fact that the clerk adhered to the pro rule* is surprising. So I sat outside on the curb marveling in the bajillion calories my $2.89 just bought me. I ate the burrito and saved the drink for the ride home. It’s amazing what this kind of shock treatment will do to your body. I was able to go really hard broken up by intermittent feelings of “ohhh crap I am going to see the bomb again.” But for the most part I was able to get home really fast and 1.5 hours later I was showering. And by showering I mean curled up on the bathroom floor lamenting the bomb.

But this is the dichotomy of going big. You know what’s going to happen but you do it anyway. It’s like having that last round of shots as the bar is closing. You know more than likely it’s going to just contribute to the hangover and spins and not really to the fun, but hey, there is that small chance you’ll be stumbling home and something awesome will happen and that shot will go to good use. In this case you know you have another hour and half of training. And you can let it go to waste as your body fights off the bonk. Or you can give it The Bomb, and make that last bit of training the most productive of your week. Sure you could have brought enough food in the first place, but hey, we’re beyond that point. So go big, to get home. Just remember you won’t be able to look at fake cheese sauce or coke the same for a month, but that’s probably a good thing anyway.

* Pro Rule: There is a long list of pro pules this one is the more specific “soda refill pro rule” which goes as follows. If you go into a 7-eleven (actually on a national scale Cirlce K is the worst and Chevron gas stations more often than not follow the pro rule) with your own water bottles and look destroyed enough you usually get free refills. It’s equal parts pitty, confusion on what to charge you, I don’t care enough about my job and get the awkward kid in bright spandex out of here as quick as possible.