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Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Bakery Ride and Sloppy Buffalo Joe
About 20 or so cyclist showed up this morning for the Bakery Ride. I was looking forward to this ride today. The group rides this winter have been absolutely awesome....the best I can remember since I started riding a road bike.
Here we are heading out towards Turkey Creek and Earlies Gap. We had one climb on the ride. We all stayed together in the fog and no one went sprinting for KOM points today.
Along the way there were some roadside inflatable shenanigans going on. Marc is seen here pumping up Victor's tire. This scene must look disturbing to the locals driving by and standing on their porches....grown men in tights playing with each others bicycle equipment. A local was standing on his porch of his trailer offering advice to these two gentlemen on how to inflate the tire.
A coffee stop at Zuma's Coffee in Marshall, NC. Don't like to stand around for too long after riding because you start to get cold. Time to start rolling!
Take a close look at this picture (you can click on it to make it bigger). How many bicyclist can you count both in the store and in the window reflection?
Well, since I had the camera it is usually difficult to get a picture of myself. But today there was no way that I was going to blog without a picture of me....I's gots to satisfy my terrestrial admirers. So here are the instructions in case you can't figure them out yourself: extend arm, pretend to act normal, and snap the picture. It isn't that simple really. I've done this a few times now....and honestly, you have to try several attempts before you get a good shot. I went through 4 or 5 pictures before this one came out (thank God for digital cameras, huh). AND in addition to the complexity of this rather simple procedure, there is something just weird about taking a picture of yourself when nobody is watching that starts to spin your mojo into a fuss. This shot was snapped after the group ride when I ventured off for another hour and 1000-ish feet of climbing.
Here is ride profile downloaded from my cyclocomputer. You can see towards the end of the profile my extra hour and 1000-ish feet of extra climbing (the yellow data peak). Total ride was 4 hours and 65 miles and 4478 feet of climbing. Good for me this time of year. I could probably have used another 1 hour of base riding. But, I got other things to do.......like write stupid blogs about my bike rides and after-ride meals.
Minus the red top on my water bottle this came out quite contrasty. I was going to make up a story about a flash of bright light from a meteor impact or maybe a hovering alien space craft (yes, I have extra-terrestrial admirers too) or something else. But actually, I took the picture and used PSP to "enhance" the contrast to make the shot look more interesting so that I can increase my blog ratings and viewership in an effort to increase sponsorship so that I can take more pictures and post more blogs in the future. So, this picture is admittedly doped up man....but I assure you, in an effort to keep my PSP/anti-PSP ratios down, that the other picts only have flash or no flash applied to them, which is within the limit and entirely legal in the world of blogging.
BONUS BLOG: Here is the after-ride meal. Usually during the last couple hours of my rides I start thinking about what I can eat when I get home. After a stop at my friends coffee shop, I came home and threw together ground buffalo, diced fresh mushrooms, and 3-grain tempe.
Then I popped open a can of DelMonte Sloppy Joe and added it to the meaty mix.
Hey, I'm not a vegetarian, but my meat has heart! Can you see the heart? This is a result of glycogen deficiency in the blood stream from long rides where you only have one clif bar. Light headedness causes me to do things like this. No actually, this is a special heart-felt sentiment meant for someone off on a distant island in the middle of the Pacific. :-)
BONUS BLOG BONUS QUESTION: Okay, guess what I do with the gatorade that I did not drink during my ride......I pour it into a glass and drink it with my special sloppy buffalo joe sandwich......notice the bed of spinach underneath. This was yummy. I'm trying to meet my red meat quota for the year. Buffalo is the way to go.....very tasty, better for you and a nice link in the circle of life.
Here we are heading out towards Turkey Creek and Earlies Gap. We had one climb on the ride. We all stayed together in the fog and no one went sprinting for KOM points today.
Along the way there were some roadside inflatable shenanigans going on. Marc is seen here pumping up Victor's tire. This scene must look disturbing to the locals driving by and standing on their porches....grown men in tights playing with each others bicycle equipment. A local was standing on his porch of his trailer offering advice to these two gentlemen on how to inflate the tire.
A coffee stop at Zuma's Coffee in Marshall, NC. Don't like to stand around for too long after riding because you start to get cold. Time to start rolling!
Take a close look at this picture (you can click on it to make it bigger). How many bicyclist can you count both in the store and in the window reflection?
Well, since I had the camera it is usually difficult to get a picture of myself. But today there was no way that I was going to blog without a picture of me....I's gots to satisfy my terrestrial admirers. So here are the instructions in case you can't figure them out yourself: extend arm, pretend to act normal, and snap the picture. It isn't that simple really. I've done this a few times now....and honestly, you have to try several attempts before you get a good shot. I went through 4 or 5 pictures before this one came out (thank God for digital cameras, huh). AND in addition to the complexity of this rather simple procedure, there is something just weird about taking a picture of yourself when nobody is watching that starts to spin your mojo into a fuss. This shot was snapped after the group ride when I ventured off for another hour and 1000-ish feet of climbing.
Here is ride profile downloaded from my cyclocomputer. You can see towards the end of the profile my extra hour and 1000-ish feet of extra climbing (the yellow data peak). Total ride was 4 hours and 65 miles and 4478 feet of climbing. Good for me this time of year. I could probably have used another 1 hour of base riding. But, I got other things to do.......like write stupid blogs about my bike rides and after-ride meals.
Minus the red top on my water bottle this came out quite contrasty. I was going to make up a story about a flash of bright light from a meteor impact or maybe a hovering alien space craft (yes, I have extra-terrestrial admirers too) or something else. But actually, I took the picture and used PSP to "enhance" the contrast to make the shot look more interesting so that I can increase my blog ratings and viewership in an effort to increase sponsorship so that I can take more pictures and post more blogs in the future. So, this picture is admittedly doped up man....but I assure you, in an effort to keep my PSP/anti-PSP ratios down, that the other picts only have flash or no flash applied to them, which is within the limit and entirely legal in the world of blogging.
BONUS BLOG: Here is the after-ride meal. Usually during the last couple hours of my rides I start thinking about what I can eat when I get home. After a stop at my friends coffee shop, I came home and threw together ground buffalo, diced fresh mushrooms, and 3-grain tempe.
Then I popped open a can of DelMonte Sloppy Joe and added it to the meaty mix.
Hey, I'm not a vegetarian, but my meat has heart! Can you see the heart? This is a result of glycogen deficiency in the blood stream from long rides where you only have one clif bar. Light headedness causes me to do things like this. No actually, this is a special heart-felt sentiment meant for someone off on a distant island in the middle of the Pacific. :-)
BONUS BLOG BONUS QUESTION: Okay, guess what I do with the gatorade that I did not drink during my ride......I pour it into a glass and drink it with my special sloppy buffalo joe sandwich......notice the bed of spinach underneath. This was yummy. I'm trying to meet my red meat quota for the year. Buffalo is the way to go.....very tasty, better for you and a nice link in the circle of life.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Mud Snow and Mtn bikes
So here is the little perfect egg and sesame bagel pre-ride breakfast sandwich....with melted Parmesan cheese inside the egg. yummy! 
My camera wanted to take a picture of itself....and I guess I had to be in it also.
A mountain biking we go at Dupont State Forest near Etowah, NC. I hadn't been to Dupont in years and could not pass up this opportunities with the Wednesday un-usual suspects ride. We got muddy and there was snow on the ground. About 1/2 way through the 3 hour ride I was experiencing chain-suck and could not use my small chainring. By the end of the ride I had so much mud and crud in my gears and I was down to a 2-speed....rear derailleur was locked up and I only had the granny gear cog in the back and my big and middle chain rings up front. It was nice to get back to the car.
Rockin down the forest roads together in Dupont. There were about 10 of us riding. We rode forest roads, single track, slick rock and paved roads. I'm not sure how far we rode but we were out for about 3 hours. 
I was covered with mud after the ride. I was wet on the outside but pretty dry on the inside. It was a great ride.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
If I weren't human, I'd want to be a winged creature......
....but maybe I can still be human and fly!
Sunday, December 16, 2007
A Day to Ride the Mountain Bike
It has been since December 2004 that I last rode a mountain bike. I've received several invites to ride lately, so I figured that I was meant to ride when I got another invite today.....especially since I didn't know exactly what I was going to do today when I woke up. The weather was windy and a road ride was out of the question.
This (the bike) is where it all started for me, the mountain bike. I used to visit Pisgah regularly to ride and camp. See the mud on my mountain bike. It is from December 2004. Still caked on there. The shifting is still quick after 3 years of hanging on the bike rack. Everything worked well.
There were four of us on today's ride in Pisgah. Dan, Laura, me and Ehrin are pictured here. Zona, the dog, is not pictured. She was great trooper and ran with us the entire way, even on the fast descents. It got a little cold on a forest road descent, but we quickly warmed up on the climbs. The single track downhills were a little tricky for me since I had not been riding for a while. I forgot how much I loved mountain biking. Can't wait to do it again.
This (the bike) is where it all started for me, the mountain bike. I used to visit Pisgah regularly to ride and camp. See the mud on my mountain bike. It is from December 2004. Still caked on there. The shifting is still quick after 3 years of hanging on the bike rack. Everything worked well.
There were four of us on today's ride in Pisgah. Dan, Laura, me and Ehrin are pictured here. Zona, the dog, is not pictured. She was great trooper and ran with us the entire way, even on the fast descents. It got a little cold on a forest road descent, but we quickly warmed up on the climbs. The single track downhills were a little tricky for me since I had not been riding for a while. I forgot how much I loved mountain biking. Can't wait to do it again.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Attack of MRGAC
We (NC Center for Geographic Information & Analysis) hosted the MRGAC (Mountain Regional GIS AllianCe) meeting today. I was on the agenda to give a presentation on a project I did titled Upper French Broad Landcover Project.....or something like that. This was the first time in a while that I got to get up in front of a group and give a talk. It went well and I had a great time with everyone.
As you can see I'm enjoying myself. I have a good time giving presentations when I can make the audience laugh a few times. I won't bore you with the technical details of the presentation, but it dealt with using moderate resolution satellite imagery, in addition to other geospatial data, to generate landcover data for a Streams Statistics model created by the United States Geologic Survey and NC Department of Transportation. You can learn more about the technology at my inactive geospatial imaging blog.
Right now at work I am working on another landcover project using Landsat imagery to generate landcover data for the High Rock Lake area in NC. This project is testing some new technologies to generate landcover data.
As you can see I'm enjoying myself. I have a good time giving presentations when I can make the audience laugh a few times. I won't bore you with the technical details of the presentation, but it dealt with using moderate resolution satellite imagery, in addition to other geospatial data, to generate landcover data for a Streams Statistics model created by the United States Geologic Survey and NC Department of Transportation. You can learn more about the technology at my inactive geospatial imaging blog.Right now at work I am working on another landcover project using Landsat imagery to generate landcover data for the High Rock Lake area in NC. This project is testing some new technologies to generate landcover data.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Early Santa Visit
My Santa visit happened a little early this year. Bianchi track bike, Ibanez acoustic guitar and Crate acoustic amp.
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