Adventures of Lidarman

Testing Bike Camping Gear

2012-01-08T18:24:00.004-07:00

A nice sunny, but cold January day is a great time to test out gear.

I have been itching to bike camp for years. It came close three years ago during the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance sufferfest ride ( http://www.bma-mtb.org/events/sufferfest2008.php ) wheere I was going to ride with all my camping gear, camp, then ride to Boulder with my gear. The crappy weather changed my plans and I just put my camping suff in the BMA van and did the ride without it.

Since then I have been looking at plans to do overnight rides including the Colorado Trail and even the Continental divide trail.

There are several approaches to bike packing, and good advice can be found on

http://www.bikepacking.net/

Seems there are the races where one suffers with four hours of sleep--in a minimal bivy--and lives on gas station food, all for doing at least a hundred miles a day.

Another philosophy is to get all sorts of custom bags to hold stuff on the bike and camp in a somewhat minimal sense, using a light tent or bivy, etc.

I'm trying an optimal comfort approach for my perceived comfort.

1. I like a tent that shelters me from bugs, and the rain--and is cheap. I don't like bivouac camping.
2. I like my coffee in the morning along with a hot breakfast and dinner.
3. I like light gear and don't want to add a half-pound frame bag to carry a pound of gear. Thus if I can mount gear to my bike without special bags, I'm for it.

Here is what I have so far (and it handles nicely):

My tent is a golite trig2 which I got on sale for $60. It's in a compression sack where I use the straps to loop through the saddle rails and around the seatpost. It's rock solid and out of my way unlike many of the bike packing saddle bags that stick out the rear about 6 inches. I think keeping the mass of gear near the center of mass of the bike is a great thing. Sure, the tent is about three pounds and I could spend a lot getting a tent that weighs half this but I'm going to work with what I have. It definitely compresses down nicely.

On the handle bar is my sleeping pad and my light sleeping bag held to the bar by a Compression bag. Total weight about three point five pounds. The nice thing about the compression sack that I used here is that is has a zippered pocket on the end that allows me to put items in the top that I might use while riding such as a GPS, Camera and snacks.

The rest of my gear is a small stove, food, water and other small items.

Weight of bike = 27 lbs
Weight of gear on bike = 6.5 lbs
(oddly, my large bike weighs 33 lbs which is like the weight above)
Weight of gear on back, including pack = 6 lbs + food and water.
I still have room for a water bottle on bike.

I definitely need to test this stuff on a real ride rather than up and down my block but I'm confident and excited about making this come together.

The World Ended

2011-05-30T22:09:00.005-06:00

...But I'm still fine.

Here is a Billboard in Grand Junction before the terror.

I'm glad I got my booze while it was my last chance and given the weather, it was definitely a good year for snow tires.

Winter Bike to Work Day.

2011-02-13T22:00:00.002-07:00

Third annual event. The ride in was easy. The ride home,...well much easier than driving. It took me 45 minutes to ride home, normally it takes 30. But driving the same for many took two hours or more.

Oh the Irony

2011-01-03T19:55:00.002-07:00

Stay away Aron Ralston.

For those who don't know the story, Aron Ralston, in 127 hours, talks to the camera about the cheap multi-tool his mother gave him that came with a flashlight for $15 and how he couldn't find his Swiss Army knife. The comment was to say, "don't buy the cheap deal."

Fish Lidar in California

2010-11-09T21:50:00.006-07:00

Starting out installing in Montague, CA.

Mount Shasta, nearby.

The install...

Me testing the laser.

Installed in the plane.

Our pilot, Geno.

Plane with me, pilot and aircraft engineer.

Separation Anxiety

2010-09-19T22:11:00.004-06:00

My rear rim decided to spit....Yikes.

I thought it sounded kinda funny....click click click...on every revolution.

Amazing how major this was but it was still ridable. I've been lucky that way this year. A broken frame earlier with only a clicking sound too.

Four Mile Canyon Fire Photos

2010-09-07T21:38:00.001-06:00

Rides in the heat.

2010-07-15T22:47:00.005-06:00

Hot in Boulder, but good riding...]

New Singlespeed

2010-07-12T22:18:00.002-06:00

I broke my old commuter Singlespeed. It was a commute bike with 32-12 gearing. Great for riding to work but not for trails.

I got a new frame and decided to make it a two-option SS. I sometimes want to take it on the trail. So now I can.

Commuter gearing is 32-13 and Off road it set for 32-21. After commuting on it, I want to go back to 32-12 but I don't have a fresh cog. The 32-21 is pretty easy for most SS but I will try it first. With the cogs I have available, my next available cog puts it at 32-18...kinda tough for my legs on the front range.

The change is made by removing the quick link and putting in a 4-link section. The idler pulley is moved over. In theory a two minute job.

Freak-Flat

2010-06-30T20:47:00.004-06:00

Bike tire flats are common; stickers, pinch flats, and sidewall tears on rocks occasionally.

But this is one unlikely event.

I was riding across some rocky terrain, and hear a snapping rubber sound as the rear tire pops off a rock. I guess somehow that rock flipped up, into the wheel at just the right moment to intersect the tube stem and crush it.

Awesome Onion Article

2010-06-06T21:38:00.003-06:00

The Onion, the satirical newspaper, is always great to read.

This article, like others, digs deep into the real issue the earth faces.

Eco-Smokes

BP spill video

2010-06-03T20:26:00.005-06:00

The most distracting an memorable part of the video of BP's effort to stop the gulf oil leak is going to be the brain and stem (rope) in the foreground.

I guess it represents the effort of constant thought to stop this thing.

All-Pay Auction

2010-04-23T11:44:00.004-06:00

Swoopo is an all-pay auction site where you buy bids at $0.60 per bid and use them to bid up the price on items by one penny. If you win, you pay the price when it ends. The other cost is the cost of your bids. It's close to gambling and there are many sites that talk about these auctions.

Here is a hilarious example of a recent winner. The bidder won a voucher of 300 bids for $10.79. The funny part is that he used 403 bids to do it.

That is like buying $180 for $252.59.

Go figure out that logic....

Ok, someone did....Brilliant....

Martin Shubik Dollar Auction

Bike shuttle

2010-04-13T22:03:00.002-06:00

Not sure what to say here. This is a caption opportunity.

Bike light around the house

2010-03-28T21:00:00.000-06:00

My LED bike light makes a great around the house light.

New Weight Loss Plan-WORKS!

2010-03-17T20:47:00.015-06:00

My bust my gut project (a while back) seemed to fail. Mainly because I didn't keep strict track of calories eaten. Only a motivation from exercise. I mean it sorta worked. But that is just it....it sorta worked. I lost a small amount of weight.

I'm not young anymore. It takes both exercise and calorie monitoring to get to and maintain a good weight.

My current plan uses a "pay by cash allowance" idea. It's kinda like weight watchers or Richard Simmon's deal a meal idea. It uses an iPod touch or an iPhone with loseit.com software to keep track of the progress.

The idea is classic and simple.

You get a budget of calories for the day based on your weight, age, etc and weight loss plan. I chose a one-pound per week plan back on December 25, 2009.

Using the iPod, I enter my calories as I eat them. I started with an allowance of about 2000 calories so as I eat during the day, I spend the allowance. Nothing innovative.

But the key thing here is that it's on the spot and active during the decision making choice. This is a huge deterrent to eat too much in most cases. The other big thing is that it's like paying cash for something instead of using a credit card. If I eat a huge breakfast, I have less for lunch and dinner. But the cool part is that Working out with exercise, is like a job. It rewards the allowance with the ability to eat more for the day. It's an immediate reward too. I can exercise and have that ice cream or beer right then. It motivates exercise for the reward of food.

The other big idea I added to this goes against all diet plans I read about....and that is, I skip breakfast.

They say it's important but I beg to differ, especially if you have excess weight and exercise. Sure, if you don't have body fat, your body will suffer. But if you do, not eating breakfast allows exercise to force your body to look for energy somewhere. It taps those fat reserves. You can't exercise too hard though because it will tap muscle tissue for energy, but moderate exercise will induce fat metabolism. It has to. It's like bonking in a marathon. You run out of juice so your body goes after the fat. You push through it.

Oh wait, Did I say this plan has no suffering? Sorry. Nothing is free. That is why it works. You do suffer.

Since I'm not a doctor doing research, I'm probably wrong. But least that is my wild theory. So far my wild theory works for me. Consult a doctor before attempting my wild theory.

Regardless. I can survive till noon without breakfast and so far, it's working for me. I do this even though I ride my bike to work. I feel like the reward of a bigger meal at night makes up for skipping breakfast.

By the way, part of my theory comes from the fact that a person can actually survive without food for nearly a month. No, I'm not kidding. Primitive man was used to not having food on a regular basis, not like we are. When you woke up in the morning not having food, you had a long day ahead of you searching for it. Thus, The body can deal not having breakfast.

Oh, did I mention the price you pay is hunger? It's not all that simple after all. I'm usually famished by noon.

One other thing I am doing here is eating really healthy foods. The more healthy the food, the less the calorie density. A Burger King small burger has 450 calories while a large spinach salad has less than a couple hundred. I can eat a lot more salad and get full this way. This is a key thing....but I do miss those burgers!

I set my goal for 170 lbs on December 27th, 2009 and made my goal today. As a result I set a new goal of 165 lbs. Not sure I need to since I feel great, but I feel I might benefit from another five pounds for my bike rides.

I actually did a little better than 1 lb a week. I'm shocked and happy with the amazing results.

So the keys for me are

--skip breakfast
--earn by exercise
--eat healthy
--record everything

The graph for my new goal. Lets see how it plays out.

I'm feeling better about doing my White Rim in a Day ride with much better results than 2008.

Most erotic animation

2010-02-26T19:05:00.003-07:00

I was watching one of my favorite movies of all time, Pink Floyd--the Wall again and the first part of this has got to be it. Art-erotica. perfectly executed.

Simplified Acquisition Procedures.

2010-01-18T16:53:00.002-07:00

I found this while looking at my photos from 2003. Funny government stuff.

Good to visit New Mexico Again

2009-12-08T21:55:00.003-07:00

The state of the Zia.

The barbed wire.

The Cactus.

...and Contradictions.

Snow riding in North Boulder

2009-11-16T19:34:00.001-07:00

Good stuff on a Sunday morning.

Progress of computers

2009-11-06T23:08:00.011-07:00

I know it's an endless story, but I was reminded of it as I built up a new computer over the last few days. It's amazing to think of the pace of computers has been over the last three decades that I have been using them.

My first computer, circa, 1980 was a zx81. I was a teenager eager to learn how to program a computer. It had 2k of memory and a very slow cassette storage mechanism. But it used a standard audio cassette player. Does anyone even know what that is?

Then I got the color version, sold in the US as a Sinclair 2068. This was the age of the Apple IIe.

Not being able to afford an Apple, I got my hands on a Commodore 64 and had a blast. It had 64 k of memory but a slow 5-1/2 disk drive that stored around 170k of data.

Finally after college, I got a decent PC (1991 or so) that sported Windows 3.1 and a huge drive of 220 MB. I sweated over the details on this one since it was around $3000. All that sweat was rendered obsolete soon after.

The story remains the same; Yesterday, I built up a new computer which has 4GB ram and a 1-Terrabyte hard drive. Yes, 1-Terrabyte = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes.

And the scary part is, it's really not a big deal these days.

My first real pc (1991) cost $3000 and had
200 MB Hard Drive
Intel 486 processor running at 20 MHz or something like that
8 MB RAM
cheeseball graphics
Windows 3.1

The computer I built yesterday (A very conservative build) cost less than $600 and has
1 TB Hard Drive
AMD Athlon II 4-core processor running at 2.6 GHz
4GB RAM
High speed 512 MB3D graphics card with two DVI outputs
Windows 7

I also found some interesting things while cleaning up:

Lotus 1-2-3. It pushed the need for computers to go beyond the 640k memory barrier in the 1980's

Mosaic. One of the first ways to browse the web.

Big Snow In Boulder

2009-10-29T17:35:00.005-06:00

Seems every other year the front range of Colorado gets a huge dumping of snow in October. Likewise, another in March.

This one might have come close to breaking--or broke--a record. I think the tally is 22 inches and counting--it's still snowing lightly.

Unfortunately, some trees that are still bearing leaves have felt the carnage. We lost the upper half of a Hawthorne tree that was full of berries.

The broken Hawthorne.

Nala doesn't mind.

Interesting features deep within a collapsed tree.

Thunder Mountain, Utah

2009-10-27T22:03:00.002-06:00

Near Bryce Canyon. A nice easy few miles on a paved path, some up and down in a forest and some amazing hoodoo singletrack. If Alice rode a bike, she would be riding this wonderland.

A short video taste. Music: Massive Attack, Butterfly Caught.

The Machine that Changed the World

2009-10-09T21:42:00.004-06:00

Produced by WGBH Boston, and first aired in 1992 (I recorded it on VHS and actually still have it)--this is an incredible documentary. It's ironic because it was just the tip of the iceberg and profiles the technology that makes this post possible. It's seems so dated now, yet is still so insightful.

Luckily someone put it on Google videos.

I highly recommend watching it--even as long as it is. It not only tells the history of the computer, it kinda implies amazing foresight in the future of the computer that lead the the present internet. It even implies some ideas in the future that we have yet to see.

It's narrated by the famous Frontline narrator, Will Lyman. It's well written and and an amazing educational experience.

Enjoy.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

A Change of Ridestyle

2009-09-23T21:13:00.004-06:00

Sunday, as I was maintaining my Schwinn hardtail bike, I found the rear dropout broken. Yes, It was broken and simply held together by the rear wheel. It's history.

After 20,000 plus miles, it's no more. Sad actually.

I could find a cheap replacement frame--but not yet. I pulled my dusty 1993 Raleigh M500--that I made into a single speed--off the wall. Might as well ride it a little and see if I like it as a singlespeed. If not, I will pull the parts over and build it up with some gears.

The first day sucked. 32-17 gearing is too easy for commuting. So when I got home, I switched out the rear to the smallest I had, 14. Now I have 32-14.

Not too bad today. It was ok on the climbs and not terrible on the down. I might look into 34-14 later but for now, this is a go. My bad knee doesn't particularly like the fast spin on the flats but I can lay off.

UPDATE: The gearing was still too easy. So I put on a 12 tooth, making it 32-12--Very nice. It's good on the flats and makes me stand and use the bars on moderate hills. Not sure I could do any real trail on it but I intend to try Marshall Mesa at some point.

Threw the bell and a speedometer on the sucker tonight. I definitely need the bell with the clueless people on the trails here. Some people almost have to be run over to let them know you could run over them.

Funny Irony

2009-09-20T23:00:00.002-06:00

I get my latest movie from Netflix--'Idiocracy.' Along with it comes a postcard for a free trial offer from Netflix. Delicious. If you have seen the movie, you might find it ironic too.

BMA Sufferfest

2009-09-14T19:03:00.002-06:00

(Originally posted on mtbr.com)

It happened again. Saturday was the second running of the Boulder Mountain Bike
Alliance "Sufferfest" The idea is to have a difficult ride that starts at the South end of
Nederland, heads north and ends up at a party.

This year, the weather couldn't have been any better for suffering. I woke up at 5:00 AM with
it raining at my house. My intentions were to ride to the bus stop, leaving at 6:00 AM,
with all my camping gear so that I wouldn't even involve my car. When I found it raining, I
decided to back off plans and drive to the vanpool spot instead. That meant repacking
my gear, choosing a warmer sleeping bag, and loading up my camelbak instead of my
backpackers pack. But it bought me another hour of decision making.

I arrived at the pick up spot at 6:45 AM with a lot of optimism. It was cloudy up near the
divide but didn't look like it was too threatening. We headed off to Nederland High School
welcomed by huge group of smiling folks all ready to ride. I guess if you are willing to ride
this kind of ride, then the weather isn't going to necessarily change that.

I was among about eight who are bike patrollers and took that roll on the trail. For me, I
helped with a mechanical only two miles into the ride and a couple flats later on.

The riding was excellent with 505 being in really good shape. It starts to sprinkle about
half way up. It was a nice sprinkle and make the climb easier since it was easy to stay
cool.

I recall seeing large snowflakes near the top of Caribou thinking it was stuff falling off the
trees. They were oddly large and very infrequent. I wanted to say they were snow flakes
but convinced myself that is was unlikely.

But as we rode, those flakes came down in more and more frequent numbers. It was
snow alright. That was fine. I rather a light snow than drizzle. We passed aid station 1
with smiles.

Unfortunately that wasn't the problem. On top of Caribou Flats, the temperature had fallen
significantly so when you have a person with wet gloves and shoes going downhill fast,
you get frozen extremities. When I arrived at Rainbow Lakes road, I had to take my
gloves off and thaw out my fingers. That burn was the low point in the ride for me.

However, once I thawed them, they lasted me the rest of the ride. I think some of it was
due to dropping down into a warmer mass of air, and another part was the ride slowed
down dramatically after that with the technical climb on Sourdough.

That was when it really started snowing--winter like snowing conditions with cloud banks.
It was surreal and exciting to ride in. In addition, some of the Aspen were shedding
leaves so it added to the beauty.

Arriving at aid station 2, I noticed the scene was completely different that station 1. There
were visibly suffering folks. They were tired from all the climbing, soaking wet and cold.
Some people were putting plastic bags on their feet.

From there the technical downhill was extra fun with the water and ice on the rocks. It
was even more challenging with cold fingers.

I couldn't have hit the end with worse timing. As I climbed the burned out section of
Sourdough to the Beaver reservoir Road, the lightning peaked and the hail started. I was
sure I was going to get struck. However, the lightning seemed to contain itself withing
the clouds. I never saw a single ground strike.

I arrived at camp with cheers and tasty hot cocoa. It was incredible. I felt great.

There were two bonfires going with Oskar Blues arriving with lots of food and more beer
than could be drank. We had a terrific time.

The next morning, a few of us decided to ride back to Boulder. We took Sourdough back
to the south trailhead and Switzerland trail to Sugarloaf and home. The ride back was so
fun after the moisture. It was a great way to end the event.

I'm not sure I actually suffered when I look back and the great time it was.

BTW, Nobody that I know of did the extra credit Buchanan Pass loop.

(PS: Thanks again to all the hard working volunteers who made this happen).

More Stove Experiments....

2009-08-31T21:24:00.010-06:00

Is there an optimal choice?

Lets start with the goal. A light compact stove that can boil water for a few-day bike camping trip. Looking at it as a package, the stove, fuel and boiling pot should be light and compact as possible.

I apologize in advance for using both ounces and grams. I should have stuck with grams. Weights of stoves do not include fuel or fuel containers. That will be discussed later.

First up. Jetboil:

What a great stove. Boils water in 2 minutes (in normal conditions), has a nice neoprene koozie for insulation and it self starts. It's said it can boil 10 liters of water per 100 grams of fuel--I believe it. It's a winner in all regards except that it weighs a lot. Even a minimal configuration with foil as a cover weighs 14.4 ounces (408 grams).

Next, Jim Wood's "Super Cat" Ethanol Stove:

After fussing with penny alcohol stoves of different designs, I made a simple stove that worked well using a Redbull can. Then I discovered a robust version called a "supercat". It's a quasi-pressurized stove that is as simple as it gets, a can with holes. It serves at a pot stand and is one single piece.

The idea is that the pot itself seals the stove and helps pressurize it. It works better than any alcohol stove I built. Using a beer can pot, the entire package sans fuel--but including windscreen--weighs barely 1.5 ounces (or 43 grams). It's an elegant system.

However, there are two issues, fuel and control. One has to learn from experience to determine the amount of fuel to use and once it's going, it's hard to control. But this is not that much of an issue. The other problem is the fuel efficiency. It takes about an ounce of Ethanol to boil two cups of water. That turns out to be about 23 grams of fuel to boil two cups. In contrast, the Propane/Isobutane mix uses only 5-8 grams of fuel to boil the same amount of water.

Finally, A balance in this is the Brunton stove using the canister and beer can pot. Total weight is 4.9 ounces (139 grams) before fuel. It's the compromise--Light weight with control.

The Brunton in action on a Fosters lager can pot.

It seems to come down to the fuel package weight, thus trip duration or number of people using the stove--or total boils per trip. A full canister of Propane/Isobutane weighs 200 grams( 100 grams of fuel in a 100 gram container), but can boil water for many boils (about 10 quarts), whereas 100 grams of Alcohol can only boil 2 quarts. A long trip or many users go with canister, short trip, alcohol.

As great as the jetboil is though, it gets beaten by the Brunton/Beer pot combo. The Jetboil is super slick and convenient but has a half-pound penalty over the cheaper and lighter Brunton...and that is when you strip it down.

That said, the Jetboil is plug and play while the Brunton is hacker rolled.

To summarize, here are the weights, neglecting ease of use.

Jetboil: 608 grams = 20-2 cup boils
Brunton: 339 grams = 20-2 cup boils
Super Cat: 43 grams + 23 grams per 2-cup boil.

I assume 4-2 cup boils per person day camping. That means the super cat can do 12, 2 cup boils for the same weight as the Brunton--or 3 full days. You can camp for 6 days with the Super Cat when you match the weight of the Jetboil.

That translates to using the Brunton if the camp will be three days or more, or if shared, at or more than 1.5 days.

Oddly enough, a propane/isobutane stove is cheaper per boil than alcohol.

PS: An amazing thing I learned when making the Super Cat stove (while acquring cans) is that potted meat for humans is half to one-third the price of cat food in those three ounce cans. Think about that for a minute. This is Boulder prices at King Soopers.

Ultra light Camp Stove Experiment

2009-07-09T21:43:00.004-06:00

As I suddenly ponder the idea of ultra-light self-supported bike-camping--or just ultralight backcountry camping, I decided to mess around with a home-built alcohol powered stove.

Two beer cans, some ethanol, some foil and a light can boil a cup of water in a few minutes. It weights so little and costs so little, It's not even worth noting.

It worked so well on first try, it's almost hard to make it better. But after messing with it, I will--especially in regards to stability.

Bike to Work Day

2009-06-24T11:39:00.004-06:00

The day is here again.

The feed line was long at places. This was one of the best spots. Vitamin Cottage.

I wound up with a generous supply of swag.

Tobacco Warnings

2009-06-21T15:00:00.007-06:00

If you think the surgeons general warning on cigarettes is blunt in the U.S., look at what is on the packs in Canada.

I saw these within two miles from each other. Makes me think their litter policies should be as aggressive.

Grape flavored? Definitely a teen-smoke. This reminds me of the anti-meth campaign photos here in the states.

Wild Flowers are in Bloom

2009-06-12T19:15:00.002-06:00

Hall Ranch, CO. It's Amazing the diversity. Here is a sample.

Goodbye Yeti

2009-06-02T19:08:00.003-06:00

October 22, 1995 - June 2, 2009.

Undersea Science 1000 Feet Above the Water

2009-05-22T17:09:00.004-06:00

Photos from todays flight above East Sound, WA. Looking for plankton. We ran about 20 tracks up and down the sound, profiling the water to about 15 meters depth. Two flights today for a total of 3 hours in the air and 250 miles of distance covered. Most plankton are in layers between 8 and 12 meters deep.

There are many jellie blooms in the sound. This is understandable given the abundant plankton in the are. It's a spectacular sight from a plane.

Pilot Jay and myself on taxi.

Looking across the islands at the south end of the sound.

At work.

Jellies in a bloom.

Yummy

2009-05-21T20:55:00.002-06:00

I like articles like this. This is one of my favorite sauces--since 1995.

Sriracha

Seeking Plankton

2009-05-21T17:55:00.004-06:00

East Sound, WA.

East Sound and Orcas Island. (google maps)

It's an aquatic laboratory with the narrow sound on Orcas Island having the essence of the open ocean with a slower changing environment. Excellent for studying ocean life.

Looking south down the sound from the town of Eastsound.

Thus we come here with our lidar that detects scattering in shallow waters to study the plankton dynamics and compare it to in situ observations by biologists sampling and profiling the waters from a boat. It's an exciting study. It's a beautiful place.

The idea is to get ground proof that a lidar can detect and profile plankton remotely using aircraft in a short period of time. Not only mapping the area, but completely enough that the dynamics of the biology can be observed and tracked.

Our lidar (light detection and ranging) system fits nicely in a Cessna Cardinal.

Testing of the lidar before flight.

A little cramped for the operator but it works.

The plankton detecting lidar as seen from the operator.

We have a boat of biologists making measurements of the water where we see layers of stuff from the lidar.

Boat where in situ verification is performed.

Scientists recover an ocean profiler

A microscopic view of a critter in the sound.

Goobye Anthony

2009-05-12T00:13:00.008-06:00

1970 - 2009. You've lived many lives with yours.

Anthony's experiences

My dedication ride Slideshow

Sweet bike helmet

2009-05-08T00:07:00.001-06:00

Nice choice.

The last moment of a life

2009-04-29T21:04:00.006-06:00

Yes, this might be disturbing. It's the imprint left on the dirty window of a bird that might have thought the window reflecting the sky was a clear path.

It's an image that is disturbing and fascinating at the same time. It's shows the futile effort of the bird trying to flare it's wings to stop itself.

Renee's New Scooter

2009-04-28T21:38:00.003-06:00

A beautiful Yeti ARC bike. She scored it on Craigs list. It's got some really nice parts on it. I drooled over it and wow, does it ride nice.

Might be best urban biking ever

2009-04-20T22:27:00.001-06:00

Making the rounds on the websites. I figure I would help.

2009-04-14T20:45:00.001-06:00

Twitter has nothing over blogspot. . . But please add photos capability. . . Sent from my cell phone

Same old Moon

2009-04-07T23:03:00.000-06:00

Different clouds.

Looks like the same old moon anyway.

A Fantastic Pizza

2009-04-07T22:22:00.007-06:00

Ok here are the goodies.

-a crust...duh
-sauce...duh again...chose what you like. I like spicy.
-ground beef grilled
-black olives sliced
-sliced tomatoes
-green chile. (New Mexico roasted are the best)
-cheese. Of course
-Spinach--the key visual and texture ingredient. This is the secret.
-feta cheese sprinkled on top.

Enjoy!

Directions: put everything on but the spinach and feta. Then toss them on and bake till good at 450 F.

If you are vegetarian, you know what to substitute....I would just eliminate.

Airline Rap

2009-04-05T20:13:00.005-06:00

Here I am helping making it viral. But given I was a fan of the Sugar Hill Gang; Rappers delight, and have flown plenty of times on Southwest Airlines--and also hate the usual dull airline gig--I appreciate this.

Boulder Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-29T10:37:00.018-06:00

Last night something happened called Earth Hour. It's a campaign to show awareness of electricity use by encouraging people all over the world to turn their lights out for an hour between 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM local time.

Being that Boulder is so conscientious regarding environmental awareness, I decided to document this great event. I figured, it would make a dramatic photo and set the example.

Plus, I'm a science guy. So yay, this is an experiment.

I headed up to Flagstaff road. Flagstaff road is a road from town up the hills, having great views of Boulder. I headed ther just after 8:00 PM to get some before-shots. I found a great spot, looked around, and wondered why there weren't droves of other people doing the same. It was cold and there was snow on the ground so maybe that turned people off. But I also wondered if those people weren't aware. I also thought, if they are aware, they wouldn't be a hypocrite, like me, and drive their car up to see this.

So I snapped shots, lots of them. there were a lot of lights to potentially turn off. This was going to be good.

At about 8:25, people start showing up to check it out. I was wrong, it's going to be a mob scene after all. People show up with cameras and set up. We all laugh at each other for thinking the same thing.

8:30 rolls by.

Out went a light close by....but no "black-out" effect that one might expect. Nothing. Minutes pass, still nothing. The chuckles and remarks from the crowd start being shared. One could feel the disappointment wasn't so much as the dramatic scene we expected didn't happen. It was more like the disappointment was that the city of Boulder, couldn't step up and participate in something they are so known for. It felt like the facade of Boulder's pro-environmental image fell down.

Here are two photos: Top is before and bottom is during Earth Hour. It's hard to tell the difference. I would think for a awareness campaign, the differences should be dramatic.

To really see what is going on, I ran a difference filter of the two images in photoshop. What this shows is what is different (for you computer science people, it's an exclusive OR). If the images were exactly the same, the shot would be black. If there is a light turned on or off, it will show up as a light. Thus if there was a blackout, the difference would look like the image with all the lights on. The brighter the difference image, the more lights that were turned off. This image indicates that very few lights were turned off--you can basically count them. The blue streaks, I believe, are cars on the roads. BTW, the difference filter is sensitive to noise so even those subtle bright spots might just be errors in the intensity differences between each shot due to vibration or camera effects.

Just to be complete, it's certainly possible this experiment has problems.
Possible reasons for hardly any difference:

1. My exposures didn't convey the actual number of lights that went out even though the difference image shows that.

2. People turned their lights off far ahead of time and I am actually photographing a really dark city (even though it didn't seem that way to my eye), making it look like there are more lights than there are normally.

3. People got the time wrong and didn't start till 9:00 PM.

Forms From the Storm

2009-03-28T01:08:00.004-06:00

After our desperately needed snowfall, there are some curious curves to be found.

Tracks in the harsh sunlight. One has to wonder why that path was chosen.

Water in the creek. This should really be a movie given the dynamic nature of the flow.

A slideshow

2009-03-07T17:05:00.003-07:00

From our recent trip to the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

Jared Polis Needs a Geography Lesson.

2009-03-03T18:43:00.003-07:00

A little homemade movie with Democrat Representative Jared Polis from Boulder, CO and Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz from Utah.

Highway 93 goes from Boulder to Golden, not Denver to Golden.

But interesting style in trying to chum up to the common folk for both parties.

The other notable thing is that you can clearly see the lines between Democrat and Republican here.

On my ride today...

2009-02-07T19:27:00.003-07:00

I met a horse.

It was still all about me!
+++

Online Continuing Education

2009-02-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Have you thought of taking an online course to have fun, learn a new skill or hone one you already have? Many community colleges have online courses these days that are fun and easy to take. They can also be inexpensive.

But inexpensive is relative. Shop around.

What? Shop around for an online course? Why?

Here's why. Because it's online, you don't necessarily have to take it from the local school if you are not trying to get credit for it, especially since the course might be supplied by a company such as ed2go. Because of the varying tuition between different colleges, the course price can vary significantly from one college to another, even though the courses are exactly the same--down to the instructor.

For example:

From ed2go, you can take a course called "Secrets of better photography" taught by Beverly Schulz.

ed2go

The price: $139

Wow, she teaches at the college near me, Front Range Community College, too...

Front Range Community College

The price: $89

...And at Brookhaven College...

Brookhaven College

The price: $100

...And at Wake Technical College.

Wake Technical Community College

The price: $55

She sure gets around.

If you look, the classes are exactly the same except for a college specific template. As you can see the price range is from $55 to $139, this is significant variation between schools. Why take the class for $139 when you can for $55 --unless you wanna support your local school. You can take another course with the extra money saved.

Of course the ultimate is to find online courses or tutorials that are free. But sometimes it's nice to take a course with good instructor interaction.

+++

To the docks

2009-01-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

Off to Charleston, SC to retrieve our lidar from the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown. Nice to be back again.

The Basil Thai restaurant is really good.

Wet Willy's has an array of frozen drinks...not my thing but it's a neat place.

However, Andolini's pizza rocks. I had a Calzone this time and it was great.

I was "admiring" at this bike in a cigar shop. I wish I had a photo of the owner, who worked there. He was equally decked out with gadgets.

The "Killers" in Boulder

2009-01-17T01:12:00.001-07:00

Second surprise showing in Boulder at the small venue Fox Theater.

I got lucky and scored some tickets. It was an incredible show. I thought the Killers were catchy and okay before, but seeing a band like this at the Fox is a treat. They really show their talent.

And a treat it was. Brandon Flowers is a charismatic lead who can woo the crowd. One of my favorite shows at the fox.

Rack of Bass.

"This is Your Life." Sorry that the sound is less than perfect.

"Tidal Wave" acoustic. Maybe I'm crazy, but the guitar reminds me of Pink Floyd, Pigs on the wing.

New Toy: Camera

2009-01-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Wanting a camera for easy access and mountain biking, I'm drifting back from DLSR to a point-and-shoot. But I wanted good image quality and wide angle. I still favor DSLR but for those outings where I can't take the goodies, I wanted a second choice.

Thus, I'm trying this out; Panasonic Lumix DMC LX3.

Wow, 24 mm effective focal length and a f/2.0 lens with low pixel density (= low noise at high ISO settings). Yummy.

and it in a case that is very water resistant and excellent.

Boulder Foothills on Fire

2009-01-07T21:41:00.001-07:00

I have seen three fires in the foothills of Boulder since I have moved here in 1995. Here is the latest. The fuel is mostly grass, not good, but not a disaster...least not so far.

This one isn't in such good conditions. It happened due to really high winds and as a result of those high winds, it makes it that much more dangerous. The winds were so bad, it caused two different powerlines to fall and short. There are two independent fires started by the same wind.

I live East of the fires. This was my view tonight.

The winds are slowing down and hopefully fire crews can contain these blazes before the winds pick up again tomorrow.

Hilarious Real Estate Signs

2009-01-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Everyone has seen them. Here is one of the goodies; "priced to sell"

As if the house would be priced to sit around or something else? More of an admission it was way over-priced to begin with and probably still so.

What is additionally interesting is that the sign is a typical canned sign which means it in the standard stockpile of signs that a Realitor has in their stash.

A photo every day.

2009-01-01T20:16:00.001-07:00

I have seen it done by various people...And yep, I'm doing it this year. Hopefully creativity and attention to the camera will improve.

The blog is here.

Bye Bye 2008

2008-12-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hall Ranch for one last ride.

Ice at the Reservoir

2008-12-27T20:17:00.000-07:00

Growing up in a dry land-locked state, I never experienced a lot of water around. Even Colorado, being land-locked has more water than my native state of New Mexico. And being colder, the lakes are generally frozen in the Winter.

I came across the freeze effects of the Boulder reservoir on Christmas day while riding. Not only were their odd sounds echoing on the ice due to cracks. There was this frozen wave of ice pushing outward.

I was so fascinated, I didn't know what to do. My hands were so cold, I could hardly shoot. I plan to get out again.

Cheap lighting

2008-12-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Well not super cheap since I had to use my expensive flash. But I made a cheapo cardboard softbox (aka a large diffused light source) for softer lighting than just a flash. Making it was simple. I taped some white paper on a cardboard box, cut a hole for my flash and inserted my flash at an angle. I could probably improve the performance by lining the inside of the box with aluminum foil but I just wanted to see the effect

Update: I added foil by lining the sides and placing a long diagonal piece from the top behind the flash to the bottom edge. This improved the output by reflecting much of the lost light in the direction of the while paper.

And example shot using this box with a pair of sunglasses.

Ride out East

2008-12-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

I never venture East of my house other than the East Boulder trail or Niwot, but due to the snow, and suspected wet conditions, I needed some pavement. I'm tired of my normal trek North and my usual commute route south and since the mountains to the West might have snow, I decided to try something new. Go East man, go East.

I rode the farm roads around to Erie and back.

It seemed to be a ride where I noticed a lot of energy extraction. I found irony in the oil well cranking away while I was cranking away on my bike as I rode by.

Then the corn field with a well.

Then, Erie, a town founded on coal mining.

It was a fun ride actually. After living here 14 years, I saw some places that I had never seen before. Riding the bike makes it even better because at 15 mph, it's so much easier to get the full feeling and the scents of cow pastures that are out east. Yummy!

PS: I actually found some dry trail to ride on the way back. Boulder dried out fast after this last storm. Ready for another please.

Cold Weather Riding Gloves

2008-11-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Just like tires, I'm always trying to find the perfect glove. And just as ground conditions vary, so does weather.

The ideal riding glove keeps the hands warm, and especially the fingers that are on the handlebar exposed to moisture and the wind, yet not allow the hands to overheat, sweat and make the glove wet. Plus, they should have great mobility so the rider can still shift and brake--A tall order.

Here is the set of gloves I usually use from the fall through spring.

1. Some off the market Azonic brand. It's a normal full fingered glove but because it has some neoprene, it makes a great glove when the temps are above 50F. In fact, despite sweating hands, it makes a great glove at 90 deg temps too. It's one of my favorite gloves. I wish I had gotten a couple more sets. The nice patch on the back is soft and good for wiping sweat and snot. It's a very soft glove and never gets stiff after drying out.

2. Seirus ultra-light. I got this glove with high expectations after owning a glove from Seirus. This is a nice soft lined glove with leather palms and breathable back. It feels like it would be a nice warm glove. Unfortunately, it's not as warm as I expected. It's good from around 35 F to 50 F but the fuzzy liner is not all that breathable and it seems to be poor at wind resistance. Wind is a real issue on a bike because even if there is no wind, riding a bike creates effective wind.

3. Seirus all-weather. This is a great glove. It's light and agile and very breathable. It's also wind resistance but unfortunately, it's less waterproof than claimed. I have been caught in sleet and cold rain storms --and froze my fingers. Maybe the waterproofing wore off. It also had a nice grip that wore off fast and without it, it's kinda slippery. I use it in temps from around 35 F to 45 F.

4. Pearl Izumi Amphibian. This is the best glove I have ever used. It seems to work at nearly any temperature below 35 F. It's not as breathable as one might want but when I'm using it, my hands are not likely sweating. I have rarely had cold fingers using this, despite it being a five-finger glove.

5. Pear Izumi Lobster. The extreme choice. Everyone knows that mitts are best for warm fingers but it's hard to ride a bike in mitts. Thus, split the fingers and make a hybrid. The lobster. It's not quite as agile as a five-finger but it does give protection beyond what the amphibian does. Usually when I wear this glove, the temps are below zero F and my toes and face are my main concern.

If I had to recommend the "kit" it would be a glove like the Azonic + the Amphibian. Those cover a majority of all riding. That is unless your climate is a lot different than the front range of Colorado.

Snow...finally.

2008-11-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

A little coating of snow on the ground. I had to ride but it will be short lived.

More Bike Trail in Boulder

2008-11-24T10:30:00.001-07:00

After many years of getting the short end of the stick as far as access in Boulder, we have yet another piece of Mountain Bike trail opening.

This is in addition to the High-plains trail and Doudy Draw trails opened in the last two years. The new loop is a 2.5 mile piece called the Spring Brook trai. It will be open in early December. It's also in addition to Boulder Counties recent trail projects; Wild Turkey and Picture Rock.

The Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol attended a pre-ride vetting of the loop this past Saturday.

More here along with information on the bike patrol.

Warm Dry Night

2008-11-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

So nice to ride a bike on dry trails when it's like this. It's nice to have this over a month of solid ice. Will this continue?

I hope so..least on the front range. But a nice huge dump of snow in the mountains would be great too.

Indian Summer weather in Boulder, CO

2008-11-16T17:27:00.000-07:00

And even warmer days in store this week. 75 F forecast for Tuesday.

A sample from my Hall Ranch ride from yesterday. It was rather dead on the trail and seeing it completely dry mid November was amazing as well.

Old and pharmed up

2008-11-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is what your counter looks like when you get old.

...or in my case, when my dog gets old.

Nala gets a total of 6.5 pills twice a day. She has respiratory problems that are common in over-bred huskies and she currently has a yeast infection all over her body. We grabbed Nala from the humane society almost 12 years ago, but despite the woes, she is a good catch. I can't imagine Nala not in our life. She is a happy girl.

One thing is for sure, the steroids she is on, makes her so hungry, getting her to eat the rest of the pills is no problem at all.

Nala after a nice bath with some special soap.

Riding near 10,000 feet in November

2008-11-03T22:24:00.001-07:00

Usually it's snowed in by now. We enjoyed the opportunity.

Global Warming?

17 miles and 2300 feet of rockiy climbing with the best DH on the front range was a November gift.

This is cool

2008-10-31T10:07:00.000-06:00

I wish I could have witnessed this large meteor crossing Colorado at 76,000 mph on Tuesday night.

From Cloudbait Observatory

The videos on the site are spectacular.

Same bits, ..a new thing to hold them together.

2008-10-26T20:20:00.000-06:00

...while playing with lighting techniques.

2008 Turner 5-spot with parts from another bike.

Things in the garage

2008-10-23T22:07:00.000-06:00

Naked bike chicks and naked frames on the wall...wow! Heaven.

Going to put some parts on it this weekend (the frame not Marla) and jump on.

It's called WRIAD

2008-10-20T20:00:00.000-06:00

It's an acronym for White-Rim-In-A-Day, WRIAD. The White Rim trail in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

The white rim trail is 102 miles long--a loop that encircles a section north of the confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River within the park. There are several campsites and there are exciting opportunities to hike and bike here. One common activity is to do a multi-day sag-wagon trek on bikes around the canyon, sleeping at various campsites along the way. These trips are excellent and fun and usually involve camping two to three nights during the trip. I have done this twice and highly recommend it.

There is also the option of just riding it all in one shot, like the jeepers do. Like many endurance cyclists do.

That is what we did this past weekend.

Michael, Rob and I arrived in the area Friday afternoon and set up a nice little cooler of water and food near the entrance to Canyonlands National Park. We then drove west on Mineral Bottom road and down into the canyon seeking a nice campsite. That section of the trail is BLM land so camping is fine without a permit.

We found an excellent site just a few miles from the steep hill we planned to ride up the next morning. Our plan was to ride clockwise up the canyon and East on Mineral Bottom road hitting our cache and filling up for the remaining 80 miles.

We chowed-up on spaghetti with meatballs and salad along with a beer before crashing early. The food was good and filling. The beer was soothing.

It was three days after a full-moon so the night was very bright once the moon was high in the sky. I was up around 3:00 am viewing a very spectacular canyon in admiration. I tried to take a photo but without a tripod or stable platform, it was too difficult.

Up at 5:00 am, we made coffee and breakfast and loaded our packs. We left at 6:30 am in the dark with lamps ablaze.

After a nice flat warm-up of a couple miles, we climbed out of the canyon to Mineral Bottom road. It was a nice climb in the dark. Steep but manageable.

At the top, which took about an hour to get to, the sun was rising. We had climbed 1000 feet already. Whoo Hoo.

The next 12 miles on Mineral Bottom road must be the longest and most boring riding ever. But I have to say, at least it was cool and smooth.

Then there was the five miles of even more boring pavement to Shafer trail.

This was when I found my water bottle cage broken--out came the zip-ties.

Anticipation of the views was exciting though.

We climbed 2300 feet and are ready to get our cache and enter the park. Michael is not feeling the vibe. We discussed it and he decided that he'd rather not chance it and just go back. Rob and I pushed onward (Later we will find that Michael made a good choice). We grabbed our food and two bladders of water. My food was two turkey sandwiches, two chocolate milks, trail mix, two Bobo bars and another bottle of Gatorade. Rob took around five sandwiches, pretzels and other stuff.

My pack seemed to weigh too much--25+ lbs. Luckily it was downhill for a while.

On the way down Shafer trail.

The views of course are overwhelming...and continuous. Out in the distance are features and every few miles the White Rim trail skirts to the edge of a canyon that usually has a dramatic cliff.

Musselman Arch was early on our stops.

There were many more

The trail seemed endless. Miles 35 to 50 were very rough. Rob and I sought out the dirt edges of the slickrock were were riding on. I normally hate sand but any smooth sand here was a welcomed feeling.

After 60 or so miles we encountered Murphy's hogback. It was very steep. Normally it's steep, but after all the riding, it was very steep, I mean too steep.

Once Past Murphy's hogback, there we were on the Green River side of the trail, and the sun was falling fast. Fatigue was setting in but the views were as spectacular as ever.

I recall mile 75 being a major point in the ride for me. I describe it as waking up with the flu, drinking several shots of hard liquor and then going on a 25 mile ride. I felt intoxicated, aching and ill, and had really no choice but to ride. I told Rob to ride ahead and make sure Michael knew were were coming. Rob was riding strong and didn't need to babysit me.

When I got to the top of Hardscrabble hill, I realized I was going to spend some time in the dark so I got out the light. I also noticed my drive train was packed in sand and crunching so I poured oil on it. I slipped on my arm warmers and set out for my final 10 miles. I could feel that sense of urgency and survival instinct already setting in.

Those ten miles were rough. It was dark, my eyes were playing games with my brain, there was loose sand everywhere that I couldn't see even with my light and I was wiped out.

I recall looking at my cycle computer and GPS, thinking I might have gone a half mile and all I went was a tenth. It was brutal and long.

Finally I rounded a corner and saw the light of our camp, 11 hours of riding and 13.5 hours of total time elapsed. I almost collapsed when I got to the campsite but the feeling of finishing gave me the last jolt of adrenaline that kept me on my feet.

It was amazing. It was hell. It was over.

The lessons I learned:

--My shoulders were the most sore part of my body. I was worried about sand and saddle sores but never expected my shoulders to ache--and they really hurt.

--If Michael had driven back toward me and I met him at 15 miles before the end, I would have given up without hesitation--I was even hoping for it. You can push yourself a lot longer than you think, even if you are suffering to the point of severe pain.

--I read about a lot of people riding this and thought it would be easy with moderate training. I trained by riding a lot of 40+ mile rides on easy trails and roads and think I really didn't train enough.

--We stopped too often. 2.5 hours of stopping was a long time. Oddly, we never realized we stopped that much.

--I would rather get up earlier and ride more in the dark when I'm fresh than in than at the end when I'm wiped out.

--Tire choice really didn't matter. The sand wasn't all the bad.

--Camp at the end of the ride. Driving somewhere else is a crazy notion and just adds to the suffering--even if someone else is driving.

Utah

2008-10-11T19:14:00.001-06:00

Renee and I took our bikes and camping gear.

First stop, Black Dragon canyon, UT.

Torrey, UT and Capitol Reef N.P.

Bryce Canyon and Red Canyon, UT.

Arches N. P., UT

Autumn Color

2008-09-22T15:18:00.000-06:00

It's started.

Dan, Michael and I rode somewhere near Fairplay, Colorado on Sunday. It was amazing since we were the only people on the trail.

The color and scenery were fantastic.

Crossing hills,

Crossing valleys,

Crossing beaver dams,

Crossing creeks,

Crossing meadows,

And finally, crossing over my handle bars and breaking my shifter with my knee..Ouch!

Grays Peak

2008-09-22T15:06:00.000-06:00

On friday, September 12, four of us hiked up Grays Peak, Colorado. A 14'er 14,270 feet high. Our intent was to do the neighboring 14'er, Torreys peak, but there was unexpected snow. We decided to just stay with the one peak. It was an amazing climb in all the snow.

Grays looking up.

Torreys peak looking up.

Nearby Terrain.

View from the top.

Torreys from near the top of Grays

Mountan Goat.

The four of us on Grays with Torreys in the background.

Nerd Rap on Youtube

2008-09-02T21:11:00.000-06:00

The buzz on youtube is this large Hadron science Rap video. What amazed me is the accuracy and detail of the physics. Click and learn about some particle physics and the reasons behind the research.

Searle Pass

2008-09-01T22:03:00.000-06:00

It's a nice hard climb, bike or hike....but worth it. 12,062 feet. Colorado, start at Copper mountain ski resort and crank.

Some Mountains this day...Yay!

2008-08-22T22:42:00.000-06:00

Off to the high country...To Mt Evans.

Goats....

Looking east, can you see the entrainment layer (of the boundary layer) here trapping in pollution from the front range? Nasty, but cool from an science point-of-view to see it so clearly at 14,000 feet.

Sorry to be negative, back to those gorgeous goats--they seem to like the fresh air.

More Peak Oil

2008-08-15T18:25:00.000-06:00

Even as oil prices plummet, I have ramped up my buy-in to the peak-oil theory and the consequences. Based solely on the price of oil decreasing lately, maybe I should be skeptical, but, sadly, I think the decrease in prices is temporary.

The term peak-oil is debatable and can either be what is meant as half the oil extracted from the earth or that the ability to produce more is peaked. I believe in the latter and the latter also includes that crazy theory of Abiogenic oil. Abiogenic, if exists, doesn't mean there are no worries. The theory seems refuted by most geologists but if say it does exist, it's so slow that effectively oil production will still peak.

The problem with peak oil production is a simple economics problem. You reach the limit to where you can produce it. If the demand increases, then the price will rise due to the limited supply. Fine, that is basic economics. But the problem is that oil has been taken for granted and very necessary in modern society. It is expected that oil be cheap to live the lifestyle that people have lived for the past 50 years. If people have to spend more of their income to get to work and get food, and then food prices rise due to the same effect, the economy has to necessarily shrink due to money reallocation to fuels and inflation factors.

Money allocation is what determines prosperity. When you have lots to spend on fun, you are prosperous. When it's spent just to survive (and you have to work more to get it), you are not so prosperous. Peak oil seems to very well define prosperity in some sense unless alternatives are found that are just as cheap. The question is whether that is possible and whether if it can be done in time before some huge economic crisis occurs.

I have to recommend a great lecture by David Goodstein, vice provost at Caltech University. He is a terrific lecturer, who did a great series of basic physics called the 'Mechanical Universe.' The lecture is definitely directed toward a person with college science background but still can be understood for the most part by most people.

It's based on his book, 'Out of Gas.' I have learned a lot of physics from Dr Goodstein that helps my career, but I feel it's one of the most important lectures I have seen in my lifetime.

Watch it here in Cable or dsl , Modem, Broadband Requires RealPlayer

I have watched 'A Crude Awakening,' 'The End of Suburbia, 'Escape from Suburbia' and 'End of Oil,' They are all excellent documentaries, But unlike them, this lecture doesn't have the dramatic music and editing they do. It's a straight lecture by a scientist like you would see at a science conference.

Keen Should Owe Me...

2008-08-11T21:37:00.000-06:00

But will they even notice my rave review? Freebie for you... I know the Keens CEO is going LOL..Idiot.

My wife got me these for commuting. But they are so comfortable and useful, they are my main bike shoe. I'm not kidding. The feel and comfort make them a great bike shoe. Sure they don't have the solid attachment of some shoes like Sidi, but wow, when riding normally, they are spectacular--Cool and comfortable. Heck they work well on killer technical rides too.

And you don't have to worry about walking on water, you can walk through it.

I pretty sure I have 1000 miles plus on them since I got them in May..and have ridden all but two rides in them.

Sights in North Boulder County (via bike)

2008-08-06T17:51:00.000-06:00

...On a 50 mile ride to Hall Ranch and back. Pix of Hall Ranch, if that is what you are looking for, can be found somewhere in my archives.

Classic Colorado farm grain elevators. This was interesting because the trees are growing in the elevator.

Radio telescopes at Table Mountain test facility.

"true Grit" north 63rd and Hwy 66.

A rotten wooden fence on North 63rd

The wheels continue to spin

2008-08-03T12:36:00.000-06:00

What a great summer it is. I have been riding and riding and riding.... I was worried that these high temps in the upper 90s would dampen my riding opportunities but after a few rides in them, I love it. I have hit some fitness threshold that makes it hard for me not to have fun.

For the first part of the year I struggled to get below 184 pounds, then suddenly a breakthrough. Now my scale typically reads 178 and it even hits 175 after a hard ride.

But the best part is I have obtained a level of fitness that allows me to keep my body temp regulated better. Part might be lower body fat allowing faster cooling, but part is probably more efficient energy use in not having the weight to carry.

Another odd thing that has happened in that I like riding my hardtail more again. I felt before like it beat me up, even though before I had a full-suspension bike, it was all I knew. But I have started to get my arms back and am finding the snappiness of my hardtail exciting again--especially out of the saddle. Sure, I'm not going to be riding it on all the rocky trails up in the mountains but it's sure fun to ride it on the local area trails that I would normally take a bike with a little more travel on.

Sole Searching In Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park

2008-07-20T14:05:00.000-06:00

Back-country Crocs.

My hiking boots sole failed while hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park to Boulder Brook campsite. Hiking the last 1.5 miles with a fully loaded pack in Crocs was not too bad actually--it was better than bare-footed.

The Lidarman Adventure

2008-07-17T23:49:00.000-06:00

Putting lidar on a plane.

The NOAA Twin Otter aircraft is here in town for deployment. In the wonderful NCAR hanger. The plane in the background if you can see it, is a G-V.

The lidar after hours of sweating to install it, it's ready to fly.

Props...feathered.

..and Navy P-3 visitation.

Some Steamboat

2008-07-15T10:52:00.000-06:00

Good camping and mountain bike riding over the 4th of July.

Amazing to look back at this

2008-06-26T20:14:00.000-06:00

Bust my gut project

195 lbs when I started.

This morning I weighed in at 178 lbs.

17 lbs less--nearly 10%.

Yes, it's been a long time and a lot of frustration but it's paying off and I feel good. I had ambitious goals then and didn't achieve them but I kept pushing and tweaking my routine.

Notable is that is was harder than I thought. I recall when I was younger, this was easy and everyone reads all these plans on how easy it is to lose pounds a week. It's not that easy once we get older. This is the most important thing I have learned based on my lifestyle.

The 10 pound in ten days plan is for suckers sending money to temporarily dehydrate themselves while making a salesperson rich.

The two pound a week plan is for dreamers or extreme and lucky people.

The one pound a month plan is for real people devoted to it.

Like I said, you also need to realize if you have lost weight successfully in the past, it's not that easy now--you need to up your game now that you are older. It's harder. You are older and slower and the hill is steeper and longer. Sorry for the bad news, but you cannot live in fantasyland. Reality is painful and unavoidable.

I seemed to be at 184 lbs for the last six months but suddenly had a breakthrough. Part was keeping my bike mileage at 100+ miles a week but other things were making unsweetened iced tea at work and keeping moving when I was not riding. They key I found was keeping happy...for many people food is happiness under stress and if you can find a zero calorie substitute, you win.

What is really important here is that not only have I lost the mass, I have increased my endurance and fitness to achieve a long term goal or riding the white rim in a day without killing myself. Long term goals are very effective and important.

I still have a goal of 170 lbs and I plan to achieve it by August.

White rim is in October.

Sorry Sandisk

2008-06-26T19:52:00.001-06:00

I love my 8GB sansa and was excited about the new 32 GB Sansa View for more expandable storage.

Adventures of Lidarman: What I have been waiting for.

But I did some research and found that there is no way to change the battery. Sad. Other players like the Zen are less expensive and yes, you can change the battery. I use mine every day and wind up killing the battery in about a year. I have changed the battery in my iriver and feel close to needing to change it on my Sansa 8GB.

Thus, I have changed my opinion on Sandisk so much, I am looking at other players and I sold my 100 shares of stock (SNDK--luckily I sold a while back and didn't lose my azz but now it's so cheap maybe I will buy it back :P ).

Of course this is a moot point if I wind up buying a new player before I kill the battery every time. Most people probably do this.

I still like your cheapo and reliable compact flash cards though....the ones I use for all my photos.

Bike Week Begins in Boulder

2008-06-22T21:11:00.000-06:00

To kick it off, the cruiser swap was happening at the Farmers Market on Saturday.

It was so exciting to see all the wonderful bikes.

A couple of were adopted by this household. Here is one of them.

Wednesday is Bike to Work day with breakfast stations everywhere. For more information go here. Some call it the "Tour de Breakfast." whereas we hit as many as possible on the way to work. One of my favorites is the Premier Credit Union at 55th and Arapahoe, which has great breakfast burritos. Rumor has it that there is an excellent one (at least it was last year) on Gunpark Drive in Gunbarrel.

Owls

2008-06-01T20:34:00.001-06:00

There is a family of great horned owls at Twin Lakes, Boulder, CO. An owl has been seen at twin lakes in the past, but recently there is a nesting owl, along with it's apparent mate--with babies as well.

One of the owls caught here.

The other proud parent

One of the babies

The other one

Mileage summary for the week

2008-06-01T17:55:00.000-06:00

Total miles (mostly offroad): 135
Longest ride was Home to Heil and back via dirtroads: 37.5 miles.

Riding Update

2008-05-27T09:02:00.000-06:00

May 12-18:
Didn't record but near 80 miles

May 19-25:

157 Miles including Rabbit Mountain from home, 43 miles. Interesting how I feel on any given ride. I started out thinking I would do Rabbit, then Hall Ranch and back, but even though Rabbit is an easier trail than Hall and my total mileage was 10 Miles less than riding Hall from home, I was struggling. Some subtle mental aspect with the wind and a slight chill crept up on me.

Peak Oil

2008-05-25T12:34:00.000-06:00

With the focus on the global warming being the big thing in the news, many people might not have heard the term "peak oil."

I have been watching this and trying to decide if I should be worried.
life after the oil crash is clearly an alarmist site but there is a lot of factual information there. One can discount it but one might want to make sure they at least keep an eye on it once in a while.

Here is what worries me.

-Fact is there is a finite amount of oil in the ground...unless the abiogenic oil theory of oil is true--unlikely but possible.

-Oil demand is growing due to India and especially China ramping up demand. People want cars here and there are a lot of people in both places experiencing more prosperity.

-Peak oil theory says we might have or will soon peak in the production, which means after the peak, it's being depleted faster than it's discovered. Prices are expected to skyrocket.

-Prices of oil ARE skyrocketing. There is debate as to why but if the market is correct, it might be a good indicator that peak oil has hit. People say speculation but maybe it's a foreseen speculation. The bubble might pop but then bulge right up again.

-I ride my bike to work, saving about a gallon of gas per day, but oil affects everything, so I can't just do my part and not drive to work. Energy prices effect all other prices.

-Senator McCain made a slip recently that we were in Iraq for oil. But this follows a game theory scenario that requires us as a oil dependent country to position ourselves to control oil, once peak has passed and the situation is critical. A conspiracist theory for sure, but it's also a game theory solution and game theory is a very valid field of mathematics.

-Progressive countries like Sweden are shooting to be oil free.

On the other hand, if you inflation adjust gas prices to those in the past, the price now is around the same price as in 1982. Thus, there might be some factor that is causing this that will go away. At the time is was the Iran-Iraq war. Prices might finally be catching up to what they should be. Maybe we were just getting a huge break for the past 20 years.

The question I ask myself is whether I should worry and act somehow or ignore this behavior as overreactions by the world? Say all this hype is true, and gasoline will be $10 a gallon in 5 years. What will happen? In Holland, the price in US dollars including the weakness versus the Euro is about $12 a gallon.

Training Update

2008-05-12T18:43:00.000-06:00

Last two weeks

April 28 - May 4

103 miles

May 5 - May 11

128 miles including Riding Hall Ranch from the house which was 53 miles in under 4.5 hours. This included 3000 feet of climbing and mostly offroad riding. It was a great metric for riding White rim since it is almost exactly half of the 104 mile white rim trail which also has 6000 feet of climbing. When I rode into Lyons at mile 34, I felt really good, then I had a beer at Redstone Cyclery and my energy levels plummeted. The last 19 miles was brutal, especially since I had a head wind and a time constraint. However, I didn't take the shortest rout back, I took the most mentally stimulating route back.

If I had to do white rim tomorrow, I think I might be able to do it--as long as I don't have that beer in the middle.

The route:

Some of the experience along the way.

Free Music

2008-05-06T15:34:00.000-06:00

Well sorta...you have to like Nine Inch Nails and give Trent Reznor an email addy. I'm sure this is an experiment in viral marketing, but really there are no catches other than giving out an email.

Get 'The Slip' here

Training Update

2008-04-27T18:31:00.000-06:00

After a sweet trip to Fruita, this week was "get on the cranks" for me. I was really motivated. Why? I just felt motivated. I had a great time in Fruita, rode strong, I guess it motivated me. It motivated me and seeing my friend Rocket Rob spin up the hills motivated me too.

Summary
Monday: 16 miles
Tuesday: 31 miles
Wednesday: 26 miles
Thursday: 16 miles
Friday: 16 miles
Saturday: rest
Sunday: 38 miles (Heil Ranch from Boulder via North Boulder trails and dirt roads to Lefthand Canyon road).

I think the total is 143 miles! Yay me. Off-road miles mostly too.

Rocket Rob in Fruita

Fruita was most excellent

2008-04-22T21:52:00.000-06:00

....but funny to look at the goals compared to reality. I was very ambitious.

Week of April 13-19

Miles ridden(goals vs actual)

Monday: 24, actual: 16
Tuesday: 16, actual: 16
Wednesday: 24, actual: 16
Thursday: 16, actual Snow = 0
Friday: 10 in Fruita, Actual: 13
Saturday: 15 in Fruita, Actual: 15
Sunday: 10 in Fruita, Actual: 4

But Fruita was really fun.

If you hit Fruita or the Grand Junction area, ride the Pet-E-kes trail up to near the Colorado Momument. Great hiking, running and biking trail. Ride up and take the Holy Cross trail down. Supreme riding.

18 road cannot be missed. Sweet smooth singletrack. It's like another planet. No really, it is like another planet. Do it again and again. If Disney knew of it, they would buy it and put a gift shop at the bottom.

Training Update

2008-04-13T16:23:00.000-06:00

Weight 184 lbs. Despite the weight not dropping, I feel pretty strong on the bike. I still want to shed 15 lbs before we do the white rim. Mainly because I will be carrying all that water and gear.

Total mileage for the week: 88. Kinda surprising since the week was so wet. I managed to get a 24 miles one day by going the long way home from work, pull off 27 yesterday and 21 today--plus one 16 mile commute.

Our trek to Fruita happens at the end of the week but in the meantime, I hope to rack up some big miles on the predicted warm week ahead.

Goals:

Monday: 24
Tuesday: 16
Wednesday: 24
Thursday: 16
Friday: 10 in Fruita
Saturday: 15 in Fruita
Sunday: 10 in Fruita

Total: 113

All Your Cookie Are Belong To Us

2008-04-12T20:05:00.000-06:00

Aka ethnic food laughs.

We went to get some food tonight. Some sushi and some Thai at a local joint that has both but also sells knick knacks and other food items.

I browsed and found these....could not resist. I had to know and experience them.

We take them home and proceed to munch on our Sushi and Thai food--yummy. The sushi was salmon and tuna plus some spicy Tuna Rolls. Very delicious. The Thai entrees were Pad Thai with chicken and red curry tofu. It was delicious as well.

So the moment of truth came. What in the world are the "Every Burger?" Gosh even the sound of every burger makes my mouth salivate from the anticipation of what looks to be a McDonald's single burger. This was in spite of me being full from the Thai food and sushi I just gobbled.

I studied the packaging before opening. The only other engrish, (er, uh, I mean english) words on the box were the ingredients and where it was produced, Tokyo, Japan. Ah ha, a Japanese treat. Ok, whatever.

Finally, after carefully opening the box and the silvery plastic foil, every single burger was revealed...ok only half of them, but I know every one of them are in there--it says on the box.

Yes, they are a tasty chocolate cookie treat. Very tasty indeed, despite being a burger.

Training Update

2008-04-07T15:13:00.000-06:00

Current Weight: 184 lbs.
Last week mileage 57 miles.
Prior weeks mileage 46 miles.

The days are longer but I still can't get the mileage in due to wet days. I need to get 10 + hrs a week to get that fitness level desired for a great summer of riding.

My normal commute is 8 miles one way. If I ride a long offroad way home, I can add another 8 making it 24 total for the day. Two days of this a week is my goal starting next week since this week is forecast to be wet and messy most of the week.

New Mexico Kilos

2008-03-30T13:00:00.000-06:00

Not quite a kilo but close. I just starting thawing my second one of these today.

It was February. Not a great time to be seeking chile. But it's available in frozen form--Roasted, chopped and peeled. Some of the better stuff I have had for not actually getting it fresh roasted and packaging it yourself. Bueno has been my past choice when resorting to prepackaged frozen. This place also makes outstanding tortillas.

In fact, I might start loading the freezer up with this instead of doing the annual trek in August. I still think it's legal to bring New Mexico green into Colorado, but since the restaurants seem to not do it, or know how to make decent food with it, I sometimes wonder.