Didn't take long. Lance was back in the saddle today as part of his recovery. I got a call from the boss to check it out and see what brand of saddle he was in, and this is what I came up with. It appears to be the latest Schwinn Startrack. Further, I had to cave in and join Twitter to get this, so RCVman is now learning those ropes, ya follow? If it is any consolation, we hammered a 55 minute session this morning, and the seven time TdF Champion did 30. Wonder if I can spin this enough to get me a yellow jersey??????
RCVman picks his favorite Huskies from the last 30 years (1979-2009)
LT Don Dow LG Lincoln Kennedy CE Ed Cunningham RG Bob Sapp RT Benji Olson TE Mark Breuner SE Jerome Pathon SE Mario Bailey RB Greg Lewis FB Rick Fenney QB Mark Brunell
DE Jason Chorak DT Steve Emtman DT Dennis Brown DE Ron Holmes LB Dave Hoffmann LB Ink Alliega LB Joe Kelley CB Vestee Jackson CB Ray Horton WS Lawyer Milloy SS Tommie Smith
Before you get all statistical on me (or nit-pick the OL) and say how could you leave Reggie, Nap, Brock, Tank, Beno and Chuck Nelson off this list, please accept my humble apologies, and know that this list represents the Huskies that gave me, me personally, many enjoyable and inspirational moments. That is my sole criteria. I could easily do three more teams using varying metrics but I'll leave that to Bob Condotta, TSN, ESPN and the color guys at Fox.
The photos: My autographed Ron Holmes pic against Arizona and The 1985 Dawgs against Colorado in the Freedom Bowl at Anaheim Stadium. Chris Chandler is a sophomore here along with VW and Aaron Jenkins in the backfield. I took this shot from the third level using a 100mm telephoto and it came out surprisingly well, as did the outcome of the game, UW 20-Colorado 17. The YouTube clip is of the 1990 Huskies, one of the greatest college football teams of all time, and it features several of my picks in action, watching Greg Lewis run still makes me wanna stomp my feet and yell Jose Cuervo. It was UW 31-USC 0 that wonderful fall day.
"The 2004 Killer Red Syrah is a sophistication of seriousness and reserve, playfulness and irony. We think we know all about it, but yet its characteristics veil a fascinating hidden self. It is private yet accessible. Dangerous, yet harmless. Robust, intense, firm, yet delicate, temperate, and gentle - it's a killer red."
This is the label of the 2004 Killer Red Syrah from Columbia Valley Winery out of Benton City, WA (roughly between Yakima and the Tri- Cities on Hwy 82.) I bought a bottle at Central Market on Thursday (mostly because of the above) and am about to uncork (it has that going for it as well) and sample. I am pairing it with roasted soy nuts, strawberries and a Japanese cult classic titled Gozu. I love reading these label promos and revere this exacting copy-writing skill, as it has always intrigued me, much in the same way that highly skilled folks concoct the names for interior house paints. Coincidentally, the wall color over at RGs carport expansion project is called Chardonnay White. Tasty (with Edam, sesame crackers and Fantasia.)
So, the wine snobs here at RCVman are kicking off the first (annual) "You write the copy" contest to see who can come up with a poignant paragraph of perfect prose to promote the pink and purple pulp. Just post your entry in 'comments'. Winner to receive a gift certificate for a bottle of something from somewhere. You might want to rent Sideways in preparation. Contest ends April 15th, 2009 at midnight. Let us uncork the festivities.
Had the distinct honor of spending six hours at sea with the crew of the FV North American yesterday. http://fvnorthamerican.com The assignment was to capture media to create a case study of the crew looking for the "sweet spot" in fuel consumption as a result of using FloScan instrumentation. http://www.floscan.com
You will be hearing more about FloScan in the upcoming months as they are the sister company to RacerMate, makers and manufacturers of CompuTrainer and their line of products, most notably, Real Course Videos (RCV). Dots all connected?
I was very impressed with Captain Sten Skaar and his crew, including the North American patriarch Erling Skaar, Deck-boss and engineer John Skaar and deck hand Henry. I was the videographer on board for the six hour sea-trial with FloScan sales manager Joe Dydasco. Here are some photos, with the two minute video spot to hit the blogsphere sometime next week, Good Lord willin and the boat don't capsize. I hope I can put a slightly different spin on the magnificent job the The Discovery Channel has already done with these guys. You can spend all day on YouTube watching their heroic efforts on The Deadliest Catch in the line of duty (feed the planet). We (FloScan) have already helped by saving the North American 20% on the coast of diesel fuel as a direct result of finding the elusive spot of sweetness, defined as that precise point at the intersection of efficient RPMs and fossil fuel consumption, thereby producing speed, power, endurance and economy of motion. YO ATHLETES, HEARD THIS BEFORE????? Remember when I suggested that everything was (and is) connected?
Erling, Sten and John are working on a project that uses the power output from the huge Cat engines to power all their on-board electrical requirements, thereby making the expensive need for a back up motor or generator, moot. It is green, it is clean and is working in perfect harmony with the FloScan products by reducing fuel use and lowering carbon emissions. And that, to me, tastes better than King Crab. Here is but one of the hundreds of clips ready for you on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIpEC5yLbTE
Looking for other ways to tell the story. Sometimes a slightly different approach can make a huge impact, connecting another dot or opening us to another idea or possibility. Here are two takes on the importance of the pedal rotation. Coach Evans talks about using the CT Spin Scan polar graph and the link is a detailed examination of the toe-heel relationship we employ (with our without focus) on each pedal rotation. Both are fully loaded with data, info and valid coaching tips.
Personally, I prefer the 'neutral alignment' approach allowing your individual bio-mechanics to set the default position. After that, with concentration and an eye towards efficiency, increased optimal muscle recruitment will follow. Oh, yeah and with practice. With these techniques, coaching services and practice, we can only get better. As Eddy Merckx once said when asked how to become a World Champion, "Ride a lot."
Here is an Elvis shot taken today on Capitol Hill, cleverly photo shopped in B&W to appear circa 1959 (and don't even ask where we found those dresses), writing directions to the next 20% hill start. He is a very nostalgic guy and prefers his Schwinn Varsity, even weighing in at 47 pounds and three gears, to that of his 10K titanium and carbon Cervelo. I guarantee you that the rest stop at the top of hill number 20 (of 20) will be Heartbreak Hotel.
Also got a call from the boss with four important tidbits:
1) We sold our first ever four-pack of RCVs as a result of yesterdays mass e-mail (see Rain & Snow). 2) I am back on the payroll. 3) I have a five hour shoot Friday aboard the crab boat they use on The Deadliest Catch. 4) Multi-Rider RCVs are almost ready for beta testing. Folks, this is gonna be BIG.
Question this morning about hydration and "sports drinks". Water, sodium, electrolytes and simple carbohydrates are what we are after. Everything else is hype and marketing. You can make your own at home for 2 cents a gallon, or buy it for $2.00/ 16 ounces. There are some good "complete" packages out there that use a lot of science for pre/during/post hydration, but it is MY opinion that water, salt and simple sugar will get you through a race (we are NOT talking about Ironman here) as long as it is combined with a FLAWLESS TRAINING PLAN. If you wanna talk about Ironman we need to have another discussion on this topic because then it is imperative that you have a sound nutrition and hydration plan. Or you can learn this lesson the hard way and that includes IVs and vomiting. Here is a GREAT Gatorade commercial, and links to the current leaders in race day fluid replacement. Questions?
This just in from CT HQ: Seems Pro Triathlete and winner of last years Lake Placid IM is now training to defend her title using the Lake Placid RCV. If you will recall (and I will cut up a little video to jog your memory) it rained cats, dogs and frozen tunas last year, forcing our creative prowess to combine the GPS data from this year with the video from the 2007 race. Kinda like the old days when Japanese science fiction films were dubbed to English. Or vice versa. But Roger over at HQ mastered the technique and the LP RCV is now the seventh official RCV (joining Kona, Arizona, Coeur d'Alene, IM UK, IM OZ and Louisville) to make it all the way to the indoor bicycle training electronic ergometer (ibte) marketplace. Congratulations to Cait and good luck on the defense of your crown!!! More on RCVs here: http://racermateinc.com/
The Dow was up 500 points and Lance went down. He went down hard, breaking his collarbone and heading into surgery tomorrow. Here is the widely viewed video clip from the Spanish station RTVE that was covering the event. Also the GN/BN that (as we knew) red meat is b-b-bad to the b-b-bone, but worse when paired with your favorite varietal, as it creates a one-two punch that could send you to the tarmac as quickly as LA hitting terra firma in Stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León.
RCVman has bet what is left of the farm that LA will be back in time to attack the climbs in the Pyrenees in early July for the TdF. I hope to be there to cheer him on. More on this as the GN/BN continues.
I am just about finished with Haruki Murakami's marvelous biopic, What I Talk About When ITalk About Running. It interests me in many ways, the two most important, perhaps, being his willingness to share insights on writing, inspiration and interpretation, and, of course, his take on running and all that that entails. Maybe, as critics have suggested, his sums are much greater than his parts, as in, "This is what I thought about when running today". I do this all the time, and a great many RCVman blog entries are a direct result of the post run analysis of an endorphin induced brain storm. One of the many insights gleaned from his writing on this subject is this little gem: There are three reasons why one does not achieve their race day goals:
1) Lack of training, 2) Lack of training, 3) Lack of training.
Boy oh boy, ain't that the truth!!!!!!
Here is an excerpt from a review of his style and a link from The New Yorker about his running. The article was a main ingredient of the chapter I read last night at the end of a rather interesting and challenging day.
Murakami has long been obsessed with subterranean realms; his stories often wander into physical and psychic netherworlds. At the becalmed center of even his most extravagantly plotted fiction lies a steadying imperative: to make sense of the senseless. (...) Murakami not only renders the banalities of day-to-day life with a precision that borders on the tactile, he somehow evokes the queasy coexistence of something unnameable and altogether more bizarre. Dennis Lim / The Village Voice / 12.6.2001
Couple of items found inside today's bubble of opportunity: So THIS is what 20% looks like!!!! And, I can hear this. Happy Spring folks, it's almost time!
(from the Upajjhatthana Sutra) I am of the nature to grow old. But don't slow down. There is no way to escape growing old. So do it gracefully. I am of the nature to have ill-health. Balance. There is no way to escape having ill health. The opposite is also true. I am of the nature to die. And to live. There is no way to escape death. So you might as well have fun. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. Change for the betterthen. There is no way to escape being separated from them. It is all connected. My deeds are my closest companions. Indeed. I am the beneficiary of my deeds. My deeds are the ground on which I stand. Build a solidfoundation. Birth will end in death. What's between is what counts. Youth will end in old age. As ignorance can end in wisdom. Wealth will end in loss. Don't cling. Meetings will end in separation. Schedule more meetings. All things in cyclic existence are transient, are impermanent. This, too, shall pass. The Buddhas cannot wash our sins with water. We are responsible for our own cleanliness. They cannot remove our suffering with their hands. But they can suggest tools that can. They cannot transfer their insights to us. But they can try. All they can do is teach the Dharma. Pay attention. I am my own protector. You got your back.
This color = my augmentation to the original (the nerve!)
As in the old saying " We see bicycles as bicycles at the beginning of our journey". And then later on we find that "bicycles are not bicycles after all" and then even later still as we start to be really recycled in our thinking and so too, then is our vision and we once again see, " That bicycles are really only just bicycles after all". They always were.
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The state says those office betting pools on the NCAA basketball tournament are illegal.
Gambling Commission spokeswoman Amy Hunter says the only legal pools are the grids used in football. She told The Olympian that when the Gambling Commission gets complaints about NCAA pools it issues warnings.
The paper says betting in an office betting pool can be a misdemeanor or felony depending on the size of the pool.
State workers sign an ethics agreement the specifically bans taking part in betting pools.
Distractions, annoyances, irritants. Life. We try not to allow them to interfere with the goal at hand. If you take charge of a seemingly overwhelming circumstance, you have played the hand, taken charge, and are personally responsible for the dramatic new you. 'Cause only YOU has your back. Often when we get out of the pool there is a rainbow waiting at the top of the hill.
Recognize any of these responses? The truth is everybody gets good and bad luck at some point. That is what is called 'so what' as was a quote in the recent film 'The Secret'. It is not our place to question past events or the way the cards were dealt. Every person has a sob story, a bad childhood experience, a feeling of failure, maybe had sad family times or just days that didn't go their way. The point is that all of these experiences have moulded you to cope with the current situation. The cards you have in your hand. At this point the Wise man searches his mind for anything useful that he has locked away in his box of memories and disregards the rest. You see the Wise man understands that now is the time for action, and how he plays his cards is totally within his power, his control and are his choices. (Sorry about the masculine connotations, the story works just as well with a feminine touch). When we are in the now, and are holding the cards, our actions 'is the flow' so we are active players in the game of life. This is not the time to 'see how it goes' or surrender to 'whatever will be will be'. This is your chance, your time to participate in the process and everything that happens from this point begins by the seed that you place at this given moment. The past is merely an illusion and the future is pure speculation. There is only now and at this point I urge you to play your hand like it is the only hand that exists, because now IS the ONLY time that truly exists.
This interesting little expose on paradigm shifting from Time Mag (in conjunction with CNN) http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1884779_1884782_1884758,00.htmlwas send over by loyal reader ej. Some really good stuff in the article from which I have cut a few of my favorite parts. The cube shot above is: RCVman studio 5, My friend who reminds me of the cost of petrol, my coffee mug from the 50th PI Seattle Sports Star of the Year banquet in 1985, and a still from Fridays shoot of Wildflower. You can figure out what they collectively mean after reading the article. So long PI, it was fun.
All the while, we blissfully ignored a little concept economists like to call human capital. The cognition you've got up there in your head — your education and training — it's worth something. We can extract value not just from our homes and our portfolios but from ourselves as well. The mechanism for extracting that value? A job. "The income you earn from working is like the stream of interest income you might get from owning a bond," says Johns Hopkins University economist Christopher Carroll. "Think of it as a dividend on your human wealth."
The construction of the interstate highway system, which Congress authorized in 1956, was one of the great can-do enterprises of the post-World War II era, the largest public-works project in history. But now the interstates look like a vast monument to the law of unintended consequences. They turned out to be the great enabler of America's car culture and the fossil-fuel consumption that goes with it. And by making it possible to live far from where you work, they were the key element in the phenomenon of suburban sprawl.
Notions of age-appropriate behavior will soon be relegated as firmly to the past as dentures and black-and-white television. "The important thing is not how many years have passed since you were born," says Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford, "but where you are in your life, how you think about yourself and what you are able and willing to do." If that doesn't sound like a manifesto for revolution, it's only because amortality has already revolutionized our attitudes toward age.
Now that major banks in the U.S. are getting by on a government bailout, the idea of creating yet another repository to safeguard your most valuable assets might seem downright ludicrous. And even irresponsible. But that's exactly what some federal officials are hoping to do.
Once the economy rebounds, the survival store will be a relic, right? But hold on. We've lost too much wealth to return to the old days. Even if the economy roars back, could we really be dumb enough to revert to our old habits of conspicuous consumption? From here on out, the market for sensibility will be stable. Survival will always be in season.
Below the megacorporate level, start-ups like the website Good Guide are sifting through rivers of data for ordinary consumers, providing easy-to-understand ratings you can use to instantly gauge the full environmental and health impact of that T shirt. Even better, they'll get the information to you when you need it: Good Guide has an iPhone app that can deliver verdicts on tens of thousands of products. Good Guide and services like it "let us align our dollars with our values easily," says Goleman.
Guess the headline writer missed her swim this morning. Despite the error (after all I have put many an e before i), the article states what we have known to be fact for some time now. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/403472_stayyou16.html
Here is a video composite of my last few days. On Thursday night I flew to San Francisco (via the very cool Virgin America), drove to San Jose (did you know that you can't buy beer at 7-11 after Midnight now?), rose at 5 (inhaled a French Slam at Denny's) then motored down 101 to King City in my free upgrade Town & Country Chrysler Mini, to be at the top of the infamous Nasty Grade at 9am. The fog lifted on schedule and I (re) shot the last 15 miles of the Wildflower bike course. This to be inserted into the 56 miles we shot on race day last May. Here is your sample, along with the musical accompaniment from Brian Wilson multi-tracking Pet Sounds. After the shoot I got in a killer trail run in the deserted park, took a nap in the sun (thinking I might even get a tan), drove back to SFO, flew home, caught the 12:15 boat to the island, spun at 7am with very sore quads from the run, downloaded the video and promptly hit the wall and went upstairs for a nap.
It is Sunday morning, snowing again and I am working the Ironman Wisconsin RCV as well as assembling the aforementioned Wildflower course. Some random thoughts from the last three days, however, before I build another pot of coffee get back to work:
AIG arguing for their slime is almost as low as you can get. Almost. WMG has now muted almost half of my videos. It is now officially a boycott. Sir Richard Branson understands how big the little stuff really is. There are more baby strollers in Salinas than bikes. It's colitas, not carnitas, silly. I had my camera tested for explosive residue in SF. I know it's a Canon, but...... Appaloosa by Ed Harris, is very flawed, and very good. Mamma Mia is very flawed and horrible. The Deal (WH Macy and Meg Ryan) is about flaws, and mirrors us being us. (hairs in the gate). There is no need to be rude, assbite. Congrats to Husky Men for winning PAC10 hoops. Can football be next? I have a lot of work to do, so Via con Dios amigos.
Found this little gem from Down Unda this morning. My fave is still the classic two arm "touchdown" salute, demonstrated in the photo above: Just wish I could use it more often. But then again, in triathlon when we finish the bike, we still have to run. Here are the other accepted styles along with a wonderful and worthy commentary by the Cycling Tips author. Salute! http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2009/02/how-to-victory-salute-like-a-pro/
As part of the Calories for Kids promotion, we did a 90 minute session this morning. Twenty of the regular crew showed up, each with a $25 donation in hand. This netted 21,000 calories (by my count) and $525 in donations (Tom's count) to the Boys & Girls Club http://www.bipositiveplace.org/
I think it is safe to say that we had a good time for a good cause. From the session came the idea for the summer CH build up of 33, 66 & 99 miles over three weekends. I really like this idea and will see what kind of response it gets as we move, with the passing of each frigid day, closer to the outdoor riding season (often described as anything over 32 degrees.)
Thanks to everyone who participated in our event today, as the T-shirts said: You were GREAT!
I have always been fascinated by threes. Father, Son & HG. Mind, Body, Spirit. Swim, Bike & Run. Morning, Noon & Night. Eric, Jack, Ginger. Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria. You get the idea. Lately I have been acutely aware of them in a 'not quite random-but not yet a pattern' manner. As an example, I received a wonderful e-mail the other day from one of our spinners, very simply and sincerely saying thanks. This as a result of my pending sabbatical. (More on the pending saga tomorrow.) He used three words that I thought were most interesting in his note, 1) Challenge, 2) Informative, and 3) Entertaining. Nice. That has always been my goal even if not stated in this trinity of value. Secondly, in my meditation practice I have evolved the 'opening ceremony', where one asks for 'special attention and assistance from the cosmos' for a trilogy of what I consider to be wholesome and worthy requests. They are: 1) Courage, 2) Wisdom and 3) Love. Go ahead and laugh but then I will ask you, what's so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?
As I was researching this topic tonight (and it's still light at 6:45 YESSS!), I came across this marvelous site dedicated to, yuppers, threes. Hence its name: The Book of Threes. http://threes.com/cms/index.php Spend some time there and then share your favorite or inspirational treys with us. All three of us Kings, Musketeers, and Blind Mice.
Found this delicious item on today's special menu. The AUTHENTIC HAPPINESS INVENTORY. Posted are my results. I am very surprised (kinda) that my percentage amongst my age group peers is only 88%. If you would like to try your AHI luck (and we're not talking about dinner in Kona with rice, salad and red wine on the lanai), go here: Be forewarned that you must register (free) in order to partake of their lunch special. http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/default.aspx
I that that tuna would have a higher AHI if he was still swimmin in Big Blue, however.
OK, lots to cover today as a result of BoB the DJ playing Hotel California in class this morning. Here is an interesting site on rock lyrics that spends altogether too much time trying to decipher the song's meaning, but is enjoyable and informative NTL (depending on to who's theories you subscribe). http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1121
Also was the continued search for meaning coming off today's theme of "Change is Good" and my comparison of a Chevy truck versus a Porshe. http://thefuturebuzz.com/2008/02/11/work-vs-play/ So I got into a PC vs Mac, speed vs power, knowledge vs wisdom, and (you ladies will love this one), passion vs power search. http://www.technologyoforgasm.com/
All submitted for your thought provoking approval (with apologies to Auguste Rodin).
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. —Ruba
I was innocently searching for supporting documentation regarding a statement I read the other day. It said that every nine seconds someone in the US dies of an obesity related issue. Additionally in the same article, it was stated that over 40% of all the deaths in the US last year were directly related to lifestyle choices. That means all forms of heart related disease, smoking, most cancers, and cirrhosis of the liver and drug overdoses (both popular with musicians). As I was googling, cutting and pasting, this article popped up and kinda summed up what I was trying to say. So here it is. The author Donald Miller http://www.donaldmiller.com/ also happens to be a MD at the UW and has written on a vast number of subjects, including the Beats, http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller19.html whom will always have a safe place in the reading room of my heart's library (to stay true to the thread). Say what you will of caffeine and cannabis fueled, stream of consciousness, free form poetry, or the libritatrians, or zazen, but he makes six solid points. His six-fold path to optimum health (and hence 90% of nirvana) suggests that we:
1) Eat a Mediterranean Diet. 2) Drink Filtered Water. 3) Control Weight. 4) Exercise Daily. 5) Manage Stress & Meditate. 6) Get Enough Sleep.
This just in. Seems Gold's Gym has taken the RCV concept to the next level. The RCV entertainment staff remains skeptical for a number of reasons with initial concerns over ratings, genre, sound, smell and safety. The general consensus is that it would be more logical (and not just from the Vulcan perspective) to:
1) FOCUS on your workout, and then, 2) Go see a movie.
As all members of the BAC HOP know, in this scenario, you can have popcorn with each.
7. Don't be a Darren Stevens. In the old sitcom "Bewitched," Samantha merely had to wiggle her nose to make incredible things happen. Darren was always trying to get her to stop using her magical powers.
Even as a little kid, I thought the guy was nuts. He could have had anything he wanted. Instead he tried to get Sam to stifle her gifts. Encourage your partner in her gifts.
In 2007 RacerMate Inc of Seattle, Wa. hired me to produce their new software line of products to be called, TA DA, Real Course Videos. So almost overnight I became (cue the theme music) RCVman. This is the story of my work on the road, filming triathlons and searching for true love. Some things never change.
