riding the trainer in the winter
honestly, I find it hard to ride the trainer
right now I am not sure where my trainer is...
was going to dig it out today and ride it tonight
but, the weather was epice so I went for a ride in the outside world

it had been a full day of stuck in the mud and pushing kids around as they sat on skateboards
while grant napped I asked the wife if I could go for a ride

it always happens that way
a half hour ride takes me an hour.... sometimes it takes an hour fifteen
then the two hour plus ride gets finished in an hour forty five
got home to the hot seat
grant woke up early
dean and grant alternated between screaming and crying
one cried while the other screamed
they switched, they repeated
this continued for a while
luckily the dogs had to be walked
so I put on the Petzel and walked the dogs in the woods for 20 minutes or so

not a bad day
an amazing january day

morally bankrupt
these are troubled times
seems no one is honest
seems no one is good

people fail to understand the laws of society
people fail to see the meaning of laws and the reason for penalties

fire hydrants
people don't understand what these devices are for
they fail to see why they are not supposed to park in front of them
too often people park in front of them rationalizing... well, this is not a heavily policed area... I will not get a ticket
well, it is not about a ticket... it is about having the hydrant accessible to the fireman in case of fire

fender benders
this is the age of hit and run
if no one is there to see it... it did not happen
no one ever leaves a note anymore
people crunch and ding each others cars and keep on going
no cop no stop

red light cameras
seems that people fail to see the advantage of these cameras
so many people have plastic coatings or aresol sprays on their rear plates
I can understand not wanting the ticket
but how about changing behavior
rather than going through the effort of getting this best anti-camera device
why not stop at red lights?

speed limits
there is an understood standard deviation of exceeding the speed limit
but... seems that people have lost site of the actual limit
when passing a pedestrian crossing the street or a cyclist riding on the road
people should decellerate to a safe speed, preferably below the speed limit
sadly.... people do not slow at all

help me out here
this rant is losing speed
help me finish this thought...

spell with FLICKR
very cool
if you refresh the page it spells the name/word again with different images
or
you can click on the individual letter to have it select an new one

sent to me from rocco

once again...
thoughts minus action equals nothing
just as
talk minus action equals nothing

some time ago I had these craftly little chinese folk drawings made for my sons
they elderly asian gentleman artistically crafted my son's names with each character done in water color forming the character with various animals and plants

while I watched and waited for this many to complete the process of a heavily haggled deal there were some men selling an modern day rap version of School House Rock
I found it hard to listen to
having an aggressive rapper yell the solution of 2 plus 2 is not how I see my son's learning math

but
seeing this man who speaks very little english make this great little handy craft made me think of a similar project that the urban american could create
take photographs of graffitti art
have them find attractive forms for each letter in the alphabet
then
have a laptop and a printer with batteries charged
and bam
you could have people have a custom photo of their children's name...
well
looks like FLICKr has already done pretty much that!

pretty cool!
wish I thought of it
or should I say....
wish I had done more than just think about it.

redskins hat...
win or lose
the true fans love their team

me...
the weekend is too short for me to watch other people play sports
I am either playing sports myself
or playing with my kids (or my dogs)

toying with the camera
using the rapid shutter of the FZ30
this would be nice
should get some images of some more technical moves
like a messenger clearing a curb
a feat I have seen done on a track bike by many of the seasoned veterans of the street

my blog
my blog is what it is
while I am who I am
my blog is all over the place
while I am all over the place
my blog has long endless rants that meander and sometimes never finish their point
while I tend to forget what I was talking about

on my blog I like to share things
things that I think are interesting
things that I think are worth sharing
things that are often shared with me
things that if I had not read, heard, or seen.... I would like to read, hear or see

that is what my blog is about
that is what I am about
just trying to share ideas
just trying to share thoughts

glad you are listening
glad I could share

oh
I also I think I have a procrastination disorder
blogging is a grand distraction
chances are the more I am blogging
the more other stuff I should be doing

C.I.C.L.E.org
very cool
very very cool
wonder if stevie from mobile city is producing anything these days

read this

malcom bmx
you will thank me
and

I thank tino of bike lane diary for turning me onto it

i hate bikes

and unrelated

KRAFTWERK

VICTORY!

check out the clip!

East Coaster Goes West
some people are big fans of "the dead" at hampton
while others are fans of rob hampton
blogging from AZ
another cycling blogger

and this
GROUNDHOG ADVENTURE
got an email about it
liked the logo
so I am putting it up here
they said they liked my blog....
they did not read my blog
but I still like their logo

DC Alley Cats
although I am not a messenger
as a cyclist I feel a bond with any and all cycling subcultures
the DC Alley Cat races tend to intrigue me
although I have never done one... the temptation is always there
on a few occassions I met up at the starting point
but my type A personality and family schedule was not working with the several hour delayed starts

I have thought it would be fun to host an alley cat
two alley cat ideas come to mind...

one would be an Urban Mountaibike ride
with an alley-cat-ness to it
it is my understanding that you can take any route you care to
but you must hit certain check points
in the Urban Mountainbike Alley Cat Ride
the check points would all be small technical sections
usually a set of stairs or a similiar such urban obstacle
the trip could take the riders through Malcom X Park for a very long bumpy stair descent
other short cuts through parks would offer more of a cyclocross single track path
loops around monuments
etc.
etc.
etc.

another DC Alley Cat idea that I have floating around my brain is an Alley Cat where the check points go through different DC Traffic Camera paths
this Alley Cat could be documented
it the checkpoints are ordered
then it could be clear not only through the lists at check points
but also through the rapidly refreshing still images of the DC Traffic Cameras
someone would have to have access to several computers
all these computers would have to be on the internet displaying the various traffic cameras
then there would have to be a way to capture the images in video
sounds like a bit of work
but
in the end it could all be spliced together to give an interesting perspective of an Alley Cat Race

just another idea that will never develop into an action

DC Traffic Cameras: there are more maps then just this page
TRAFFIC LAND: have not gotten a chance to scope this out yet
EarthCam: not useful for this idea, but interesting
Windows Local Live: also fun, this could be fun for giving an added idea of each intersection and the path of the race

soldier ride

wounded warrior

Know anyone that would be interested in this?

From a friend that works for Disabled Sports USA:

There is an opportunity that has come up which I wondered if you knew of anyone that might be interested. The Wounded Warrior Project conduct a program called “Soldier Ride” which involves members of the military cycling across the US between the end of April through mid July. They need a technician to ride with the group (on bike or in the support vehicle). This is a paid position (do not know amount yet) and expenses are covered. It is an awesome ride and would be a wonderful experience for a student or someone who had the time. Do you know of anyone with the necessary skills to support these guys? There will be hand cycles as well as regular bikes.

Contact Julia Ray - events@dsusa.org

this was shared with me from aaron, brother to ezra
artists commuter pics
by laura domela

Whale Story
the sad ending of this story sort of puts a damper on my joke
but
I will present my joke just the same

my wife often likes to share with me pieces of news that she knows that I would find interesting
this is something that I always appreciate
after our morning goodbyes I may sip my coffee and read the paper
somtimes the paper sits out in clear view with a note directing me to various stories

the other day lisa shared with me this story of the Whale headed up the Thames river...
I read the article and turned to lisa and said,

"well, I can understand the whale's goal
as I have heard that the Fish and Chips in London are the best in the world."

to that my wife replied...

"is that a joke?"

ah....
if one person finds me funny
or at least gets my jokes
I would think it would be my wife
okay
she gets most of my jokes
most of my jokes are not all that funny

rock creek trash
rock creek treasure
this morning as I walked the dogs I surveyed some log steps that I have been gradually working on over the past few years
yes, this is rogue trail work
yes, this is not sanctioned by the national park service
but some of these heavily used paths are not maintained by the park service
fallen trees are not removed
trash is not picked up
trail repair is most definitely not done on these unmarked yet very popular trails
so I often try to pick up the slack

as I looked to see if the latest log additions were starting to take hold
I looked at the area around me
the dogs were panting heavily showing their hot breath in the cold air
the large natural log bridge over the ravine had a slick icy sheen
over to my side was the glistening of a glass bottle
a combination of erosion from the recent rains and perhaps the contraction of the winter earth revealed this bottle to me

so I stepped off the trail and approached the fence that borders the Rockefeller property
to my pleasure the bottle was intact
filled with dirt somewhat indiscernible
I picked up the bottle then continued a short walk with the dogs
as I walked I inspected my fresh find
the bottle was unique in its shape very thick glass
far more aesthetically pleasing then the bottling of today's soda products
at a glance it appeared to read, "TRY ME SODA COMPANY"
on the bottom of the bottle was a patent date of the 1920's
the final character unable to be read

I walked I day dreamed about all the project I plot
then I cursed myself for all the projects I never do
ending in a personal promise to at least start some projects
which is better than thinking of them then forgetting them

finished the wooded walk
leashed the dogs and walked the final sidewalk blocks home

a bottle collector's page Chosi's Deco Bottle Page
wow... these folks at the Potomac Bottle Collectors are geekier than me
I wonder what the date of this bottle may actually be
I wonder who tossed it there this does link up to the Roosevelt Trail
wonder if Teddy tossed aside as he was shooting squirrels with his buddies

gone fish'n
this whole experience with the camera is like an afternoon fishing
I put out the line and sometimes I get a bite (bike)
sometimes I go home with nothing
occassionally I get home and I look at the images and find a welcome surprise
other times it is not until I start cooking up the images that I see that I have something
so much has to do with time, timing, and my mood

some people do not want their picture taken
sometimes the cyclists just are not around
most of the time I lack more then the time to walk around the block
so this is what I end up with

what inspires many of these shots are the shots I see from other bicycling bloggers with cameras
there are those in the mountainous states of colorado and even alaska who put up their posts with the glorious vistas
vistas that are an everyday site for them
then I realized
my everyday sites may be interesting to them as well
sites from canadian and european bloggers showed me the similarities of our cities
these blogs also act to inspire

hope you enjoy the images
even if the images are often of nothing

sly makes a second visit to the electronic pages of gwadzilla.blogspot.com

http://www.levelcomponents.com/

testing
testing
testing

every week should start like today
even better... every day should start like today
this morning I hugged the pillow until nearly 7:30am
woke up slowly as I moved from the bed to the couch
dress my younger son
issued orders to my older son to dress himself
drank my coffee
passed off younger son to babysitter
drove older son to school
drank more coffee as I drove across town
handled a few school related things
spent a few minutes with the kids as my son settled in

drove home
took the dogs for a moist and misty hike in the park
drank more coffee as I hiked
short, but a tad longer than the standard pre-work walk
working the late shift rather than the standard 9-5 freed me up so that I could move about a little more slack

returned the dogs to home
changed into some cycling gear and packed my bag for work
went out on the old, tired, and too small for me Jamis Nova cyclocross bike
did roughly an hour on the bike
the Jamis Nova could use some coffee
got to work
glanced at the clock as I walked in the door
was significantly later than had planned

rushed upstairs
took a hot shower with magnificent water pressure
got my body core temperature back to normal after a brisk ride on the bike
was able to clear the mucus from my nose and from my brain
a hot shower after a ride is much like a cup of coffee
settled into my office by 11am
maybe 30 minutes later than planned
swapping pedals, air in the tires, cleaning and lubbing the chain, putting on a rear fender
these things along with a slew of other morning activities took longer than expected

the morning was not perfect
but
if I could streamline my efforts
I could have all the good and strip away the bad

last week was started in the same way
only this happened on Tuesday rather than Monday as Monday was a holiday
making last week a more desireable model for weeks to come
now how do I get the government to alter the schedule that every monday is a federal holiday?