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 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.

Now that would be a true turning point for the brand -- a brand that, for nearly ten years, dismissed brand advertising as a waste of money (“The last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America,” in Eric Schmidt’s words back in 2006), and built its entire fortune on turning the advertising model upside down.

- JOHN BATTELLE

As John mentions Google has been adamantly against traditional advertising methods for at least a decade. Why the change of heart. Well it makes sense. What Google has been referring to is still true. If you are trying to reach the largest market with the least money the quickest, a super bowl ad is not the way you do it. But when you’ve spent a decade creating the largest web presence on the internet and you want to grow you have to start thinking of new, or in this case old, avenues. They may be targeting the crumbs here, but when you have the money and your competition is mobilizing, why not? Mine a little deeper, hit the market that is less profitable for your money, it’s the luxury of being on top.

In my personal opinion, I like the ad. That’s about it. Maybe they’ll advertise during the 2010 Tour de France about dating an American woman. Now that, I would be excited about.

The Crowd at Bike N Hike waiting to win some raffle prizes. Photo: Oregon Cycling Action

Pat’s been nice enough to post my coverage of the Festival di Ticino on Oregon Cycling Action.

Read my coverage of the Festival di Ticino.

Festival di Ticino - BTA Fund Raiser

Bike N Hike is having a little raffle to support the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. I just found out about it, though I’m sure most of you already know. It looks like this, $4 bucks gets you in and a raffle entry and access to the Hopworks keg. Enough said.

For everyone else there will be plenty of Hopworks Lemonade and some wine. So grab fours bucks, three extra if you want another ticket and roll on down to Bike n Hike (map).

It's hard to ignore the beauty of Portland's late afternoon sky

I grabbed this shot late on my Sunday bike ride.  Maybe it’s because I’m from the Southwest but Portland’s sky is oftentimes just amazing. I also have no idea what building is tinted copper but I don’t remember it being that color before. I think it has something to do with the light.

That's what I'm sayin'

This video has me excited about the spring classics. A great watch! Thanks to Sprinting 4 Sings for posting this.

Cervelo Test Team Video by Bar Tape of the Tour of Flanders

From NPR's Story "Red Cross: 50,000 May Be Dead In Haiti"

I know I’m going to piss people off with this comment. What happened in Haiti truly is a terrible tragedy. However, once AGAIN, America is giving money to another country…$100 Million. Now, with all of the families that are losing houses, starving, and have lost everything this past year, WHY the f-ck couldn’t Obama just give us that money??? Ever heard the expression, “charity begins at home??” SIGH

Yes, I came across this on my Facebook wall today. I’m amazed by this sentiment, and this is going to be a long post. If this comment creates the strong emotion it did in me then you might need to be calmed. Although I’m tempted to leave you angry I’m not, so I’m going to group together some quotes to show some of the great minds in history do not agree with the above sentiment. The last is one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite quotable figures.

Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.
John D. Rockefeller

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.
Lao-Tzu

Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.
John Wesley

The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.
Albert Einstein

Lets get started…

The Comment

Walking Among the Fallen Bodies Credit: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

Now, with all of the families that are losing houses, starving, and have lost everything this past year

I have troubles with this. The best thing to say is that “everything” is relative.  The commenter is ignorant or glossing over the true reality of Haiti.  I myself, we, do not understand, are incapable of understanding the suffering occurring right now in Haiti. We are talking masses of bodies rotting in the open street.  Water is scarce clean water is non existent. Looters are smashing condensed milk cans over rocks to get what little water is in the thick syrup.  NRP reported on an 8 year old girl sitting in a camp after loosing her entire family with no medical, no water, and no one to talk to or comfort her.   I do not doubt people in the US are loosing jobs but I am so far ignorant of thousands walking around with no or little medical care dealing with crushed and severed limbs, head injuries, cuts bruises, bodily injury. These are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. I’d don’t mean to have a “bleeding heart” but how can you ignore this?

Idle hands are the devil’s tools (“Collections” 1808)

If you are a religious person, then I’m sure you understand this call to action. This is the closest I can imagine to hell and the Devil’s work. Imagine, walking over bodies, the screams of the injured, the trapped, the smell of decaying flesh, the thirst in your mouth… Now, imagine Hell.

However, once AGAIN, America is giving money to another country…$100 Million

Let’s put $100 million into perspective because really it’s nothing. The estimated cost of running our current mid east wars is $720 million PER DAY. The recent increase of troops in Afghanistan alone is $82 million, again, per day.  My personal opinion is that the same conservative groups that align themselves against humanitarian work like this also tend to align themselves behind huge military and government “war machine” spending.  While they are against public subsidized programs for health care or job security and creation. So while today we should stop funding Haiti’s national disaster, tomorrow…

Now, with all of the families that are losing houses, starving, and have lost everything this past year, WHY the f-ck couldn’t Obama

Tomorrow it’s that we should cut our public school funding, our public health funding, our…  And the key word there is “our” yet a part of “we” is consistently against funding.

Our Position

We are a nation of un-imaginable wealth and comfort for an average Haitian.  We could, without affecting our selves in the least, give enough to partially relieve the Haitian population.  And I say partially because the long term, and emotional effects will never be relieved.  In 2008 the US consumed 8.6 billion gallons of bottled water alone.  Or 23,561,643 gallons per day, giving up a destructive habit, that has questionable health benefits, for one day would alleviate one of the biggest problems on the ground in Haiti. This is an example of our wealth, our waste, and what we could do if we chose to.

Haiti’s Position

By most economic measures, Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas. It had a nominal GDP of 7.018 billion USD in 2009 with a GDP per capita of 790 USD, about $2 per person per day.

Haiti is poor.  There is no doubt about it.  They were not blessed with the oil of the UAE or even Bolivia.  They had trees most of which have been logged for various reasons. But trees, are cheap and trees alone cannot afford the tallest buildings in the world.  When disaster struck Haiti they were both economically and structurally ill equipped to deal with such a disaster. But we are, and we should.

How do we progress?

When I read this post I wasn’t exactly angry, at least not at the commenter, but I was very disheartened.  On a personal note, I contributed to the Red Cross.  My belief in them is marginal at best but it’s better then nothing.  I will also be contributing, again, to NPR for stealing an image without asking in hopes that they nor Getty Images sues me.

But the main thing is, if you agree with my argument.  Did you donate? What’s ten dollars to you? It’s 5 years income for the average Haitian. If you do not agree with my argument and agree with the commenter, what did you do recently to contribute to our national well being? And paying your accountant to find as many write offs as you can does not count as paying taxes…

***This was hastily put together. Sorry for any typos.

Comments: Please be civil.  If you don’t agree with the commenter mentioned on this post, be supportive intelligent, and understand that education, understanding are the way to persuade him. Acknowledgment his rights to this opinion.  If you don’t agree with me… Again, this is a place for intelligent thoughtful commenting.

Links:

• Red Cross: 50,000 May Be Dead In Haiti
• Reliable Ways To Donate Money To Haiti Effort

Want to Use Images to their Full Extent?

(the quick and simple way):

1. Select an appropriate template for your Wordpress Blog:  I prefer simpler templates for blog in which I’m going to use images as an attention grabber.  Templates, especially those in diffused shades, white, black and gray allow the images to stand out and speak for themselves.  This blog is actually a good example of that. For several reasons I prefer fixed width blogs.  Step #2 is a good example of why.
2. Bigger is better: Figure out the maximum width you are allowed to use for an image.  In this blog it’s 588px including the border for a caption.  Crop your images to this and use them proudly at the top of your blog posts.
3. Don’t go stock: With the methods mentioned below it is very very simple to use your own images.
4. Find a process and stick with it: I keep a point and shoot camera on me at all times.  I never know when a photo opportunity is going to sneak up.  With modern cameras it’s easy to keep them in your pocket and shoot away. Next I take a little bit of time to organize them in Picasa so when I’m writing a post I can grab one of my personal “stock” photos. I also use Picasa to quickly edit the photo, adjusting for light balance, sharpness and contrast before I upload.
5. Details!!! This is my philosophy. And it works, again and again and again… and again.  When uploading photos fill in all the fields.  Think them over, write a gripping caption.  Do not use the default for the Title Field.  This value is not visually apparent on the blog so people often times skip over it.  I send emails to my clients all the time reminding them to use it.  So don’t be like some of my problem children, take my advice and use it!  Small things like this will get you better search engine traffic especially from image indexers like images.google.com. If you want to take image indexing a step further you can use the Media Tag plug-in. It’s finicky and sometimes it takes a while for me to get it going but it’s well worth it if your blog is image heavy.

A note on details: They are not the kind of thing that get you a high spike in traffic, they are not the front page of digg.  But if you are careful and detail oriented all your blogging and photography efforts become that much more effective.  Good posts have a better chance of ranking, getting noticed, linked to, etc. If you rank in a relatively unpopular term can get you 5-10 hits a day.  20 of those articles and you have a good base of readers to build on.

With Picasa the sunset becomes just a touch more vibrant.

Before I get into this let me take a few sentences to tell you who I am.  I’m for lack of a better term, an “internet professional.”  I manage and consult for blogs, e-commerce sites and anyone else trying to build an internet presence or turn a profit.  I believe in standards, white hat practices and doing things the right way to see long term steady and profitable growth rather than short term irrelevant spikes in _____.  I’m proficient in PHP, CSS, HTML and a bit of JavaScript.  I design and implement fully custom sites or custom installations of Zen-Cart or WordPress. Both of which I develop plugins, modules and templates for.  This blog is not only a place for me to have some fun it’s also my public sand box and a way for me to thank my partners clients and friends.

Images, cheap fast and effective.  All the images on this site are shot with my little pocket camera and almost non of them have seen Photoshop.  That’s right there isn’t an expensive nor technical side to effectively using images, infact I use a $130ish camera (Nikon CoolPix S560) that I tend to keep in my pocket or jersey so it’s with me when I need it.  For light and image adjustment I just use Picasa to touch things up a bit.  Simple effect, my mom could use it, and above all else free! What do I get? Lets take a look at some images from my past posts:

Blog Photos Shot Edited and Uploaded in Under 10 Minutes!

5 minutes: Dr Will Bar Energy Bars

Dr. Will Bar has sponsored me for the 2010 season and they deserve credit as a great tasting nutritous bar. So when my first box arrived I went to go do a review and snap a few photos.  I quickly took out the hose and washed the side walk down. This was good for two reasons the twigs and leaves were now out of the shot and the wet concrete offered a better contrast allowing the bright colors of the box to “pop.” I also enjoy the industrial look of the concrete contrasting with the the colors and complimenting the simple lines on the box.  After a bit of adjusting in Picasa the photo took 5 minutes.

Sheets; A cheap white background! Bill Peterson's Cycling Orthotics

With a white sheet already draped off of a curtain rod for some E bay photos it was easy to throw my insole on the white and snap a shot.  With a simple macro setting on my camera I was able to get relatively good detail of the sole and highlight the curves for my foot. No Picasa needed, this took less than 1 minute, 10 including setting up and pulling the sheet down.

It's good to live across from a Rose garden: Kinlin Wheel Review

Be creative, use your surroundings. From the previously mentioned sidewalk to taking advantage of the City of Roses’ abundance of rose gardens I’ve tried to accentuate images by simply walking out the front door.  Again using the rain to highlight the colors of the garden I walked my bike outside and let the bike’s colors blend with the garden while the rims (the focal point of the article) “pop.” This took 15 minutes to set up, snap, adjust, and upload.

Not for the Vegetarians: Vodoo Donuts' Bacon Maple Bar.

Taking advantage of a recovery ride with some friends in Portland I snapped a few photos during a coffee shop stop. This is the first image I used Picasa on and found out I’d be using it more than Photoshop for quick touches.  Jokingly snapping a few shots, adjusting the photo, and uploading probably took all of 10 minutes.

Snapped during a bike ride: Sunset in Portland

I was riding my bike along PDX’s river path when I saw the sun set. I have hundreds of images similar to this I’ve tried to make work. This one for some reason just did. Fall leaves, sun flairs, and Portland’s Steel Bridge from an angle only a cyclist or pedestrian will ever see make this image complete for me. A touch of contrast and light adjustments in Picasa made this image come alive. Done in under 10 minutes.

A delicious snack looks warmer after Picasa

The power of Picasa

For 99% of the bloggers our there Photoshop is going to be over bloated, cumber-sum and hard to learn.  It’s array of features are great if you’re a professional but for the rest of us we could do more damage than good.  For a simple to use, free download Picasa will add, take away or adjust that last 10% needed to make your photo truly ready to represent you blog and interests.  The common mistake when referencing Picasa is the perception that it’s only the web based Flikr competitor.  Since Google took it over the desktop application has become a great stand alone feature.  Not to mention one touch synchronization with your web based profile. I now use Picasa to organize my photos, manage my screen saver, upload photos to the web, and of course perform minor on the fly photo adjustments.

The contours of my foot in Dynamic Foot Systems' Orthotics

I’ve waited for a bit before writing this post so I could ride my new orthotics for a while to see how I felt about them.  I would have to say I think they’re great.  The last set of insoles I had worked perfectly and solved all of my issues.  But the new set seems just a little bit more refined.  Bill Peterson is the kind of guy that never leaves “great” alone.  He’s had more years, more experience, and worked with a larger variety of athletes than anyone in the industry I’ve ever come across.  Yet every time I talk to him he’s on the edge of what’s new, never resting, always learning, improving and working.

I last visited Bill in the winter of ‘08 and a lot has changed.  He has put into practice and done extensive testing on a theory we had previously discussed about cleat position.  His foot scanning methods now include a 3d foam impression and a computer scan.  But is all this improvement good? Is it measurable steps forward and not sideways or even backwards?

The New Cycling Orthotics

The new insoles are significantly wider... A very good thing.

First off, I feel the new foot scanning procedures result in an improved product. I’m very comfortable in my new insoles and it only took one ride to break them in and jump right back into training. Before continuing let me just say my feet are wide, actually let me say that again, my feet are wide! So in the following I’m referring to the increased width of the insoles being a result of a very accurate scan. Notice in the image the blue peaking out from behind the (sorry, how dirty they are, but two years is a long time to ride insoles) red, it’s only a millimeter or so but that is very significant in the shoe world. But the sole isn’t just wider, it’s wider in the bed itself. The mid part of my foot doesn’t feel as cupped which I like. This is not to say it’s not supported, the heel is deep(er) and keeps it locked in place, also the high(er) arch support fits my foot perfectly. What I’m saying is that my foot is allowed to spread out and breath where it needs to.

Dynamic Foot Systems and Cleat Position:

Last time I went to Bill he was excited and talking about cleat position.  Now on my return trip, he had it dialed in.  Not only had he done extensive testing in the lab he’s had riders riding the new cleat position.  As we sat down and discussed the effects, science, and philosophy behind this it made more sense than anything I’d heard to date.  He walked me through the fit taking measurements drawing lines on an imprint of my foot then measured my shoe noting where my cleat now needed to be.  It looked back, very far back.  In fact Bill mumbled something in the general direction of shoe manufacturers as he walked to the back to get the drill.  Having something like this done to your position takes a certain amount confidence in the person doing it.  So I sat back grabbed some food and let him work.

Frikin' Lasers were used

After getting set up on my new cleats we looked at my over all position.  Which is still pretty spot on.  No hip rocking, leg extension is good, now if only I was 5′2″ I might climb a bit better.

The new cleats didn’t take long to get used to in the sense that I could ride them right away.  But the new rearward position is always noticeable. It’s more in the position that I put my foot on the pedals when I hop on my cruiser to the coffee shop. Not the position I’m used to being in when I race.  But maybe that’s the point.  Maybe the most efficient place to pedal is where you do it naturally.  There is a lot more toe overlap, which is to be expected.  But I can’t image it being a problem unless you’re in the habit of doing bad track stands with your front wheel flopping all over the place.

Overall I’m very happy.  I would have, and did, recommend Bill to anyone after my last experience.  But now I’d say you have to go see him. Now that I’m taking a step back from racing, joining a local team, and focusing on my business I’m going to need all the help I can get when it comes to generating power.

For a little more reading you can check out my post about Bill Peterson before I went down to visit him for the second time.

* I also unpacked a set of running insoles with my new cycling orthotics. I’m going to be writing a bit about them soon.  So far in the gym they feel like they’re working with my feet wonderfully.

More Reading:

1. Bill Peterson Does Feet

The before and after we unloaded one load of rocks...

No matter how I actually feel about the details of Thanksgiving and what it truly means I do enjoy the excuse to travel and visit family.  For 2009 I spent the great Turkey day in New Mexico at my mom’s house.  It’s been a great time.  My mom hasn’t wasted any time replacing my brother, Javier, and I after we moved out.  She’s taken to being a foster parent with all the effort and enthusiasm she had while raising us. So aside from seeing my brother and mom I get to meet a new, albeit temporary, addition to our family. I’m proud of my mom, and am happy that others are sharing in the experience of growing up with the strong, creative, and powerful influence of such a beautiful woman.

Gripworks or missing toes.

So for Turkey Day Javi and I moved some rock for my mom.  This doesn’t sound like a big project but trust me, mom needs a lot of rocks and she uses phrases such as “as big as possible” and “high density.” So I spent the day feeling like part of a giggling two man chain gang hauling rocks all over northern New Mexico.  This is hard considering I’m a cyclist, and well, we’re famous for a lack of upper body strength.  So it was a lot of locked arms and clean and jerk movements. But I did have one thing on my side.  I had just got some Ironclad (Ironclad Cycling) gear I was going to use strictly for racing and training but the good thing about getting cycling clothes from a construction company is that you can actually use them more for what they’re intended for.

My Ironclad gear of choice happened to be a base layer for the cold, compression socks to help with my still sore injured ankle and a set of Gripworx gloves.  These things are serious.  Like Spidey climbing walls serious, they have a textured palm that you could hold on to a warm stick of butter with. Perfect for a person hauling large wet rocks around with complete lack of the proper muscle structure to be doing so.  Ohh yeah and they also grip a beer really well.

Gripworks Grippin' a Beer... The way it should be!