OK Europe is one up on us

Seems that the Europeans are always trying to break the rules. How many times have I have been over in Europe and seen a car pass right down the center of the road while another car passes through going the other way. Too many to think about, having been in a few of these cars. So having descended a lot of mountain passes on my bike trips, when I saw this video it made me realize, I was going way too slow coming down the passes. Watch, enjoy and dont replicate (kids).

Between the bike and the Porsche

I am a huge Porsche fan. Have been since I was pretty small. Once my father got one it was a sealed deal. Ever since then, I have become more of a Porsche fanatic and try and learn as much about them as I can whenever I get the chance.
The RUF Turbo R is a very special car and not a Porsche, despite having the exact body of a Porsche. The RUF is it's own manufacturer. This video embodies the RUF Turbo R.

Community on the web and the people who are in it

I spent the last couple of days in a meeting discussing the community on the web and how the new site I am going to be in charge of putting together helps bring a better world to the people both in the community and outside of the immediate web community. I really got a sense from the people that are currently running their online communities how much they truly feel like family with the people that are current community members.
I had a lot of interaction with the Zaadz and Lime community people over the past two days. It was great to hear everyone talk about the people and the content that is available on the specific community and try and think about how we can put together into a stronger community for current and new members. With the large amount of community 'hoopla' going on right now, the need to have focus on the specific reason to spend time on community initiatives is important to understand. Put your mind and heart into something you believe in and you can add a lot of value and change to the world.

Manual labor and the working stiff

So over the past week or so I have been tearing out the old deck to replace it with the recyclable 'trek' material that we have on the front deck. Let me tell you, doing computer work does nothing to prepare you for the hardship of manual labor. I used to do a lot of construction work in the summer to earn money but that was obviously a very long time ago. My hands are pretty sore from tearing out the old deck and carrying the crazy heavy trek deck material over the back deck.

Now the back deck is 32 x 32 so it is a very large deck and that is only about 1/4 of the whole deck on the house. I mean, back in the 70's I think it was a huge deal to have as much deck as possible but no one seems to have thought about what a pain in the ass it is to maintain and shovel when it snows like it does here in Colorado. So to all you people that think 'bigger is better', you are welcome to stop by and grab a bag of screws and start working over at my house.

One thing I am very happy about is putting the recyclable material down on the deck. I am all about the green and environment when it is possible. Getting rid of the stain that needs to go down on the deck for the preparation for each winter sucks and is super bad for the earth. So out goes the crappy oil deck and in comes the new recyclable materials deck. I hope in about a week or so I will be sipping margaritas out on the back '40', otherwise known as the over size back deck.

Fuel needed to bike to work

I dont see why I cannot write off some of my miles that I ride on my bike to outside clients. If I get to write off miles on my car and all the additional items that come with it, why can't I get that same thing on my bike?
Here is a great note about the bike messenger who wanted to deduct his 'fuel costs' from his Canadian tax's:

Drive it like you stole it

I have a huge love for Porsche's having been brought by the love of cars through my father in one way or another and this video is a great example of how a Carrera GT should be driven given the chance. I cant stand to see people who get a Porsche and turn the thing into the Sunday driver or worse. You have to get these cars out there and enjoy them, and this guy sure does that.


Carrera GT - Click here for more blooper videos

What a dog does to a Lightweight Obermayer wheel

Ouch this hurts both to the body and the pocket book...if you were buying the wheels that is. These wheels are about $5K so this one front is a nice chunk of change.

Looking for the Italian climbs

Every summer we head over to Europe to ride on the great passes of the region. Last summer it was Switzerland where we got some real miserable weather, despite it being August. The previous summer it was Italy and this summer we are going back to the Dolomites for some more Italian riding.
Finding the right place to go is always the trick. I like the Northern part of Italy and my German speaking wife enjoys it as she gets to talk the talk. So the hunt is on for the best bike rides in Italy. When you are over in Europe you need to climb, dont worry about the flats, get to the passes. I found this great site Climb By Bike that shows all the major passes in Europe. It is has all the major passes, photos, ratings and of course the gradients.
So this summer, I am heading to the Motirolo, Gavia and the Zoncolan. Those should keep me busy but if you know better passes let me know.

Cipollini get 'Punked'

Have to love seeing the 'Lion King' getting punked on the Italian television show. Someone tells him that his bike has been stolen by some guys in a camper van and he is out to get them as they pass by. This is when being able to sprint well comes in handy...

Does drinking and riding get you in trouble?

Check out this for 'having one too many'. Only over in Europe, OK maybe Alaska as well, would this be an action that is not punishable by a ticket.
BERLIN (AP) - An early-morning German bank customer had a bit of a shock when he found a horse already in line at the automatic teller machine in front of him.

It seems the horse's owner, identified only as Wolfgang H., had a bit too much to drink the night before and decided to sleep it off inside the bank's heated foyer, police said Tuesday.

The 40-year-old machinist told Bild newspaper he had had "a few beers" with a friend in Wiesenburg, southwest of Berlin, and decided to hit the hay in the bank on his way home.

"It was late, it was already dark and cold," he was quoted as saying.

Confronted with the lack of a hitching-post, he brought the 6-year-old horse, named Sammy, in along with him.

When a customer came across the horse and sleeping rider in the bank at 4:15 a.m. Monday, he called police, who then came and woke the owner up and sent him on his way.

No charges were filed, but there might be some cleanup.

You can find the article here.

Cycling vs the Tour de France

In the most recent CyclingNews.com daily entry there is a section about the new idea from the ASO company (they run the Tour de France race) on not letting in any of the riders Operation Puerto' even named in the investigation ride in the Tour. Come on. Most of these riders have had no charges made against them as there is no concrete evidence. You have plenty of really circumstantial evidence but nothing concrete that would tie a rider back to Fuentes as having had doped blood.
I think after all this pushing and pulling from the ASO company about the issue in Spain, they should look forward and let the riders who have been run through the ringer with no official charges made against them, ride the races they are/were paid to ride. I am all for not letting riders that are charged with positive tests ride in races WHILE they are serving their sentance, but once their sentance is completed, they should be allowed to ride. Now telling the teams that riders they have that have not been charged, or in Ivan Basso's case, been relased of all implications, is just wrong. ASO is just trying to prove a point and seems to be getting too big for their shoes. This is just ruining cycling and making it look like a kindergarten sport.
Please weigh in with thoughts. If you would like to check out the comments made by ASO click here.

Clean up...

So every night I have to go through and do the dishes and then put them all away. I am thinking after seeing this video have some work to do with my 'efficiency'. Take a look and let me know:

Unemployed Scientists Prove Dog Likes Beer

Unemployed Scientists Prove Dog Likes Beer

Dust to Dust article

Around dinner last night the article 'Dust to Dust' was brought up and argued over. It was amazing how quickly lines were drawn between the people at the table. The article basically states that a Hummer is more environmentally friendly than a Toyota Prius if you were to compare them through a typical life of 100K miles for the Prius and 300K miles for the Hummer.
Now once the arguments calmed down and people began to listen to one another, the actual learning process began. A lot of the pro-Prius arguer's began to learn what really goes into the construction of the 'green machine' and the effects these cars have on the environment through the construction process.
There wasnt much, 'well I am going to buy a Hummer' discussions but the discussions quickly turned to the other alternatives that are available to consumers when purchasing vehicles and other long term products. The education process at the end of the discussion was what proved to be fruitful as we all learned that without more discussion, the public was going to be fooled dooped on the products they were buying.

Conserving with a Prius?

What is the deal with all the Prius owners who haul ass all over town like they have an endless supply of gasoline. If you speed all over the place and from one stop light to another, it isnt saving much gas. Some of the Prius owners seem to think that because they bought a hybrid they are allowed to waste the smaller amount of gas by flooring it from every light and then driving 90 mph on the highway. What a joke.

Reflection

What can you say when you read the news that occurred today at Virginia Tech. Sad, angry, disturbed and confused. This event caused a lot of speculation this evening at home on how things are potentially going to change at Universities. After much debate the only thing agreed upon was that there needed to be change within the security of the schools and in all likelihood, there will be. How universities are able to make the kids and faculty at the school safer is a daunting task but something that must be addressed.

Schools and universities are not places where the occupants should be worrying about their safety. The administrations in all universities are going to be in the fire of this and rightfully so. There appears to have been a huge lack of emergency response put in place over this senseless act. I am sure there will be plenty of initiatives brought forward that are going to attempt to 'lock down' the universities but how they are going to do so without turning the university system into a prison like environment I don't know.

All thoughts and prayers should go out to the families that are now going to have to deal with the emotional tragedy that should never have been.

Observation

The need for outside observer often times show how messed up a system or implemented process really is. I have found that so often when you are embedded in a technology or process oriented organization, you miss out on the most obvious problems. without stepping 'away from the console' the company and its members miss the best ideas and ways to clean up and move forward.

Being in a new company and looking within the glass room allows you to get a real outsider look into what you are going to have to handle without having to trust others on their embedded opinions. I took this week to just watch what was happening before trying to come to sense of conclusion on what changes are needed to move the processes forward. Needless to say, the list is long.

OK, onto some more screwed up news. I know the whole Imus thing was blown out of proportion and all the advertisers got some great free ads in there before they took their money and ran, but this seems to be an end to having real people on television speak their mind. Now I am not saying that what Imus said was the right way to speak his mind but it does bring up the issue with free speech on a public forum. CBS to me took the easy way out of the issue and said they have 'rid the network' of those sort of small minded people. I doubt that. Just the ones that are on the air and can be recorded. I have a hard time believing that in the board room there hasn't been the odd slang word out of a higher up. So watch what you say when you are around the public I guess.

So watch...listen...formulate...react. My moto from the past week.

The end and the beginning

Whenever you leave a company to go to a new one, there is often some pondering on what you went through with the company and all the things that have changed since you started. A lot can happen in a short amount of time and when you start talking about years at a company, A LOT happens. Hopefully there was learning to be had on both sides of the fence.
I am going to a new company next week to start in a new role that has a healthy amount of responsibility and opportunity. The move should be both challenging and exciting. Setting some goals for the near term will allow me to get a better handle on where the position is going and what I can look back on after I have been there a short while.
Full-circle everything goes...

Moving forward

"If you follow you can never win". Those are the words I remember from when I was a younger. When I used to race motocross one of the pro riders I rode with, always told me that if you follow someone you will never win, at best you got second. With that always in the back of my mind, I decided I needed to venture out and try and make my own way in a new company. Changing companies is never an easy decision when you feel comfortable where you are, but sometime change is good and is the motivator for change. I am going to move onto the new company in the next couple of weeks and the transition is something I am looking forward to as it is going to be a new step in my career path. So it off the 'cush wagon' and onto the speed train of learning. I will post more as the awaking of the new position takes hold of me.

And now back to the more important world of road racing! The Spring Classics have begun, which means that the strong men of the sport have started to show their form. Boonen has been winning since February and Cancellara showed he is right there for the Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. So who is gonna take the lead in the Classics? I am going to put my money on Cancellara. First I think he has the power that Boonen, amazingly enough, doesnt have and second I am CSC fan.

Boonen seems to have the sprint part wrapped up but I think he has found a pretty fair match in Cancellara when it comes down to straight power. That was evident in last years Roubaix race. So put me down for $10 on Cancellara in the Roubaix and Flanders.