Bonne Route to Yehuda and Joe!

I think a lot of people, myself included, were really sad to hear that Rick Smith has ended the adventures of Yehuda Moon and all of his friends at the Kickstand Cyclery.  I really enjoyed this comic, from beginning to end – the story was compelling and the characters seemed like people I could be friends with.  In fact – I’m pretty jealous of Yehuda’s lifestyle at times.

Bonne Route!

 

Farewell Fred - we'll never know who the culprit was.

 

May the wind always be at your back.

 

Someday Joe...

 

All images (c) Rick Smith / Yehudamoon.com

Tempting Fate…

I am going to tempt fate and declare once again – 1 week free of aftershocks from the August 23rd earthquake.  Last time I did this a little swarm of 8 appeared, but hopefully that was a fluke.

And talk about the coolest job in the area right now… and the most famous engineer as well!  An engineer from WJE (Wiss, Janney, Elsnter & Associates) named Dave Megerle, gets to rappel down the sides of the monument this week inspecting the stones for cracking or spalling.  How cool is that?!  I hope he brings a camera.

Crashing

Crashes… Isn’t it funny that they always seems to happen in slow motion, but you rarely can do anything to avoid them?

 

oof

 

A few weeks back I was trying to read a cue sheet at a tricky T intersection where the traffic control was done through yield signs.  Kate was riding ahead and stopped alongside the island at the center of the intersection because a car was flying down the road and clearly had no intention of obeying the yield sign.  I partially saw what was happening, but it took a few seconds for my brain to register that I needed some brake action, hard and fast!  I slowed pretty well, but still bumped my front wheel into the rear derailleur of her (actualy my) Trek.  I bent a few spokes, but the wheel is still true.  I will be getting them replaced shortly when I bring the bike in for a fall tune-up.

FatCyclist.com gear is in!

I’m pretty stoked that I was finally smart enough to order the latest version of the FatCyclist.com gear when it came available for pre-order a few months back.  For those of you who don’t know, the kits are redesigned each year by Twin Six and sell out FAST!

This years designs are really slick – not too fancy but stil eye catching.  Kate even liked them because they are Orioles colors.  I got a jersey, a pair of socks, and a sticker pack (which I promptly lost). 

Can’t wait to show it off at the Seagull Century - or even sooner!

Lookin' good

Goal:222 – Week 2 Update

Better news to report after week 2 of my goal to shed 20 pounds before the wedding.

I lost 1 pound over the week, but an still up 1 overall.

Goal for next week is to eat healthier breakfasts and work out a few extra times.  We hopefully will be going for a hike in the Blue Ridge Mountains this sunday – looking forward to that.

Current Weight: 243

Goal: 222

Progress +1

Seagull Century

As of last friday I am officially on the books to ride in the 23rd Annual Seagull Century put on by Salisbury University!  Completing this ride was high on my list of goals for 2011, and I can’t wait to finish my second century ever (both this year).  I hear the course is flat (yes!) but windy (no!), but I think it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.  I’ve found I don’t need to race in these types of things – just pace myself comfortably and eat/hydrate on a reasonable schedule (regardless of huger or thirst) and I can last quite a while.

This will be the first time I am riding this distance as part of a supported event, which ought to make it a little easier than my solo effort in June.  I’ll also be accompanied by two other wonderful riders this time, and I know that the miles should go by quickly with some good conversation.

Some details about the plans:

- We’ll be riding the Assateague Century route (which should take us by the famous wild ponies)

- We’ll be riding in the 42-mile optional ride on sunday to a delicious Eastern Shore crab feast (Red Roost route).  And we have an extra meal ticket to the crab feast if anyone wants to buy it!)

-We’ll be camping friday and saturday nights Pocomoke River State Park at the Millburn Landing area.  Hopefully we’ll be able to make friends with some fellow participants – I hear that it is a popular camp site.

Will anyone else be riding, or have experiences or lessons learned from previous Seagull Centuries?  I’d love to hear.

Typical Post-Long-Ride Me

Bikes are meant for cities, Cities are meant for bikes

It’s true, 100% verified.

When I first moved to a city (Boston) I drove to and from work, and the grocery store.  I walked or took transit to friends apartments or other fun things.  And in doing so I missed out on some of the best features of the city.  The physical barrier of a car, bus or train limits what you can see and how you see it.  Go ahead, try looking up to the top of a building to see neat architectural features from the drovers seat of your car.  Feel free to ask the bus driver to stop in the middle of the bridge so you can take a moment to take in the view of the river.  Oh, and the train conductor totally has no problem with taking a detour down that one road that you’ve never noticed before but it actually looks pretty awesome.

I know you can do better...

Please sir... can you just turn left at the next overpass?

I bet you’re disappointed right?  I was.

At this point you are probably saying, John, really – what about walking around.  And to a point I agree, you – but when you look at pedestrians in a city you are typically going to see folks walking fast with their head down, or people stumbling around with their eyes to the sky, looking but not seeing.  Take a guess who the city dwellers are.

On a bike you have to be alert, looking everywhere – and in turn you see so much more.  You are fast and flexible, so you can take that detour down that side alley and still not be late to your appointment.  The connection to your surroundings intensifies, and in turn your feelings towards the city intensify.  I distinctly remember feeling like I was just another ant wandering the asphalt and concrete pathways in Boston when walking – but on a bike I felt like I was part of the community.  I had a place in this city, a responsibility and an obligation to use it to the fullest extent.

The daily grind can always get in the way of that connection and dilute it slightly – but once it is established I firmly believe that it sticks.

I would have never known this exists if I didn't bike by it

I’m going to be writing a bit about some of the great events that I have participated in that really highlight the city  – and hopefully will stumble upon some new events that I haven’t had a chance to participate in.

Five Boro Bike Tour - New York City

Hub On Wheels - Boston, MA

 

Oh jeez – Sorry Everyone (Earthquakes)

I swear, I swear, I swear!  This blog is not an earthquake blog – but it appears that I may have jinxed the central VA population by celebrating 1 week without earthquakes on Friday.  Sure enough, starting on the same day as my post 8 more aftershocks (or pre-shocks?) have hit the area of our famed 5.8′er last month.  The max magnitude appears to be a 2.6, which shouldn’t really be felt in DC, but is quite possible to have awoken some slumbering residents of Mineral and Louisa. 

Image: USGS

Goal:222 – Week 1 Update

Bad new to report after week 1 of my goal to shed 20 pounds before the wedding.

I gained 2 pounds.

For the week I had 2 resistance band workouts, 1 run of 2.75 miles and 1 bike ride of 45.5 miles.  I also had no will power when it came to eating healthy, and I think that is what killed me in the long run.  Parents are in town this weekend, but I should be able to avoid anything too bad.  Bike ride tonight and a run before they get here tomorrow should help too.

Current Weight: 244

Goal: 222

Progress +2

Congratulations DC – 1 Week free of Earthquakes

Let the celebrations begin!  As of this morning the DC/Virginia area has now been free of aftershocks for 1 week.

I am a geotechnical engineer - so earthquakes and seismicity are an important topic in our work.  We often provide the engineering design criteria for earthquakes to structural engineers when they are desiging buildings.  Since I have lived in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states all my life, I had not experienced a real earthquake until the afternoon of  August 23, 2011 when a magnitude 5.8 quake hit near Mineral, Virginia – about 60 miles from where I was sitting on the 8th floor of an office building.

The event was surreal, it took a few seconds after all the shaking stopped for anyone to realize just what had happened.  Then we all went to the interwebs, USGS Earthquake website, facebook, twitter, gmail to find out what had happened.  Oh yeah, we evacuated the building at some point as well.

The quake happened in an area known for seismicity - the Virginia Seismic Zone - just rarely at the extent felt on this day.  All told about 20 aftershocks above M1 were felt in the region in the weeks to follow, some of which were in the M3 and M4 range.