Day 9.171 PayPal was right

I just got a notice from PayPal, it read, in part;

You have 99 problems, your PayPal balance ain't one of them.

A very clever way to say that your account needs attention, but stay focused and don't sweat the small stuff.

And I appreciate that. More because I need all the focus I can muster and it IS small stuff. Like a bloody nose on a hot day - you are still going to climb that hill!

I rented the bravo side of a duplex today. Signed a year lease. The landlord looked at me funny when I said to please cancel the garbage collection. I would do the same with sewage but…. I recycle almost everything and what I don't gets hauled to a dumpster to which I have access. I have no idea what my electric bill will be but there seems to be a wi-fi hotspot somewhere so we'll see how long I can operate under those terms and conditions.

Paying rent is almost as bad as signing up for a race. Escape from Alcatraz is now $750. When was the last time you committed to an Ironman? If you aren't one of Bezos or Gate's minions, it will hurt.

Now it seems there are four disciplines, swimming, biking, running and paying for the privilege of participation. A Catch-22 paradoxical irony if ever there was.

But all this is temporary, right? I stealthily introduced the new brand today, adding some textual overlay to the Mt St Helens video. I gives me a spinal tap charge of adrenaline to know that the fledgling project has meaning - on both sides of the coin.

Heads is value to the consumer, client, user.
Tails is its importance to me.

I will tip you to a secret.

If Bestindoorcycling@Gmail.com earns enough net-net to provide me with travel expenses to continue to shoot, I will be a happy guy -  and stop complaining about the cost of living, inflation, or the other 99 things I have to worry about today.

PayPal is right.

Day 9.170 Happy Birthday to Us

Birth of a Brand.

You saw it here first!

We have officially taken the creative and monetary steps towards the goal. I will use the allegory of putting the target in the cross-hairs. And while this is far from a high powered sniper rifle, we nevertheless plan on using all available automatic arms loaded with armor piercing large caliber rounds.

This new baby, born on September 17, 2015, will feature the usual array of health, fitness, cycling, testing, training, riding and racing video, data and information that seems to have unlimited growth potential. It appears that there are new sites popping up on a daily basis. Some of them are very good. Some of them specialize in software, others in graphics and a few even claim to do everything.

We stop screechingly short of claiming to do everything. We don't. We want to do a few specific things very well. We want to do one or two, the best.

Any hence the genealogy of the brand, Best Indoor Cycling. My intrepid developer suggested using 'best' in the moniker for SEO reasons, I took it a step further by adding the acronym.

Bold
Effective
Smart
Training

If you haven't solved the mystery yet let me exercise my woefully inadequate skills at using the broad strokes to paint the picture.

Leveraging my seventeen years of archived media, including the CompuTrainer Real Course Videos, we create stand-alone workout videos to accompany your indoor cycle training. That is as succinct as I can get.

Other elements, components and ancillary features will include:

Workouts
Guest coach interviews
Packaged training plans
Instruction
Trips and tours
Garments
Live sessions

All delivered by download, DVD or on branded USB thumb drives.

Entertainment. Information. Structure.

Best Indoor Cycling.

Happy Birthday to us!

Day 9.169 Semper Fi

The only easy day was yesterday.

Heard that one before?

It strikes me as both relevant and applicable, usable and appropriate.

Last night I finally watched Lone Survivor. It has been out a while and by now you have considered the many debates it initiated.


The rules of engagement debate.
The special forces debate.
The Gulf War(s) debate.
The Marcus Luttrell debate
The chain of command debate.
The Hell Week of BUDS debate.
The Mark Wahlberg debate.

All these worthy topics aside, the debate I am most interested in is the:

How can we train like SEALS debate.

It happens to be one of my favorites. I have always been a fan of the Boot Camp format. Specifically the strategy of taking raw recruits into new and uncomfortable situations in order to build better animals. And make no mistake, by that I mean Bad Asses.

Or badder than before.

Not everyone aspires to this ideal. There is a good reason why. BECAUSE IT IS FUCKING HARD. You get worked. You get the business end of everything we know to be necessary for mental and physical adaption, e.g. improvement. It is absolutely crucial that your mind is in for the long haul. Focused, ready, committed. The nanosecond your doubts assume control of the situation, the end is near, very near. And I do not mean the finish. I mean the end. You are done, washed out and sent packing.

Why do I bring all this hoo-rah stuff up today?

Because today we put several of those tactics into play. We call them Super Eights, and, like any self respecting team player, which the SEALS embody, they are called eights - but we do ten. Because we recognize the value, the reward and the accomplishments they represent. We have a mission and will do (for each other) everything (anything) it takes to get it done.

This is the age old we aren't Navy SEALS, so why even try to make the comparison debate. And that is valid. We aren't. I wouldn't last a day under those impossible conditions. Maybe not even to lunch. But….

We can train like them. We can focus, commit, bond and work together towards a united, worthwhile objective. We have team support to climb that hill.

I salute my teammates on a successful sortie this morning. I also caution them to accept the reality that today was the easy day.

Semper Fi.

Day 9.168 Harmonic Balance

This zinger caught my eye like a road sign:

Pounds are lost in the kitchen;
Fitness is found in the gym.

We all know this to be true. The challenge has been, to this point, of finding harmony and balance in their synergy.

If I had a dime for every time I have heard someone say that the reason they work out so much is so they can eat whatever they like, I could buy a waterfront island mansion (with a great kitchen and a pain cave.)

In another timely article, the authors suggest that if we find joy in one important area of life (exercise) then the likelihood of needing it elsewhere (food) is substantially reduced.

For the sake of experimentation, let's mix and match a little.

We know that diet, specifically what and how much we costume plays a vital role in overall health and fitness. The minutia is identifying sugar, processed carbohydrates and saturated fat as the usual suspects.

We know that exercise, movement and strength training are key components of a functionally sound body with corresponding evidence that consistent increases in heart rate augment cerebral capabilities as well. A strong body and a strong mind. Pump that oxygenated blood to the brain good sir!

We know that these two work best together.

We highly suspect that with focused awareness this process plays out to impact our overall appreciation of the magical miraculousness it creates. In other words, when we are present and processing the complex componentry of a living system, such as ourselves, a natural by product of this awareness is happiness and joy. We appreciate the labor we are orchestrating as preventative maintenance for our frail and weak bodies. Put yet another way, we like to work, we like to feel ourselves working and we like to work the work.

The sum of these parts, the net takeaway bottom line becomes:

Eat the best as you can afford.
Move your body consistently.
Learn to enjoy the training process.

I have long preached that stress management is a big part of optimum health and fitness. So I will leave you with this new and improved abstract:

If you eat well, avoid sugar and hydrate properly, if you train, play, race, recreate every day and if you have fun doing it - you will take a giant step towards managing the stresses we all face in this day and age.


Find a joyful and harmonic balance.

Day 9.167 Wish Us Luck

I am rendering video from the Mt St Helens shoot. It looks OK. A little washed out because of the capture time of day, 4p-6p, but decent. I found out yesterday that this is fairly common around the devastated area surrounding the volcano. Mornings are spectacular but as the day progresses a thin cloud layer covers the vividly stark panorama with a translucent veil that acts like a UV filter on a camera.

A touch of saturation boost should get the blues bluer and the greens greener. There are precious few reds.

As much as I liked the somewhat barren terrain, the shoot was fun and productive, but paled in comparison to riding the course (route) after the video work was canned. Despite my late start, 1044 to be precise, traffic was light (I wonder if the hunters in full cammy think we - in full Lycra - look as comical as we think they do), the plentiful shoulders and the 52 miles up and 52 back, were never boring, always relentless. Toss in a semi-severe side wind for most of the return, my gross underestimate of fuel and water, and a rapidly approaching cover of ominously dark clouds, it made a challenging return. I was surprised at my second-wind ability racing the clouds, into the wind.

We are meeting in an hour to discuss terms and site design. I have the support of CompuTrainer on this endeavor, which helps a lot. As of right now the RCV software is proprietary and the brand way under promoted. Two things I hope to change in short order. Opportunity is rapping at my chamber door.

Two sessions today and I start a five week house sit as OZ and Co head to Italy and France to get in some end of season International miles, or kilometers as the locals count them.

Looks like I am going to miss the UCI Worlds in Richmond and Ironman Hawaii.

In their place we will set this new puppy in motion and she how she rolls.

Wish us luck.

Day 9.166 Boom

You want my day?

0400 Wake up call from campsite
0500 Drive 52 miles to Johnson's Ridge, stopping 3 times for time-lapse video
1030 Return to Toule HS (Home of the Fighting Ducks)
1035 Assemble bike, change front tube, fill water bottle
1044 Ride 52 miles to Johnson's
1544 Return to car wishing I had packed more food & water for the ride
1600 Begin drive home
1729 I just walked in the door

I have neither the time nor energy to begin the downlaod, clean the car or fix diner. I am going to enjoy an IPA, watch one episode to debrief (Friday night Air Force One was just shot down by a jacked Stealth bomber and that scumbag Charles Logan is the POTUS), and go to bed.
My hip is on fire but my heart is warm. I think we nabbed some good stuff. If you haven't been - please seriously consider.

I am especially happy that the mountain goat I filmed trying to four-wheel repel his way off a sheer cliff face made it to the top OK.

Sleep well.

Day 9.165 A Blast

I was 33,000 feet above Mt. St. Helens when she blew on May 18, 1980. Every passenger crammed to the right side of the aircraft to catch an eyeful of the inorganic carnage, so much so that the pilot came on to ask everyone to return to their seats because we were creating an imbalance and should we not do as directed IMMEDIATELY, coffee service would be curtailed.

We sat.

It was incredible. My flight from LA to Seattle was an escape of sorts. Volcanic and eruptive.

Today I will drive down and shoot the route of the infamous Tour de Blast, hopefully reaching the rim at sunset. Dinner and a down bag and then the second summit by bike tomorrow at first light.

I probably will not have wi-fi there so this is today's modest post.

I am off.