Still Alilve

Photo taken July 1, 2009.

Hi world. I am still alive, and still have no car. I have been on my bike(s) pretty much every day. The weather is good.

I rode 200 miles on June 20th. It was the Annual Terrible Two Double Century ride.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I am selfish. And make more than enough money to get by. Now is the time to give some away: "charity", year-end giving. This is how it has worked lately for me now that I get the tax break. Oh it's the end of the year, I have to give some $$$. So I have been looking for eligible entities and came across this which is nice because Wikipedia sure has helped me along the way.



There is also the reliable, non-controversial human rights groups. These groups are really effective and help individuals a lot.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

You can also give and not get a tax break to groups like this:
San Francisco BICYCLE COALITION
INT'L COMMITTEE of the RED CROSS

Give AND avoid the crass commercialization that defines the contemporary holiday.

Kings Mtn and Bear Gulch West

OK - longs posts like the previous are verboten. Yesterday, I led a ride for the Western Wheelers but not much happened, just a nice, mellow ride, no crashes or anything. It was a C ride, which for me means pretty mellow, although there was some strong riders (i.e. D riders). But as the organizer/leader, I had to hang back. We went from Gunn High School to Kings Mountain Rd, gaining 1630 feet in the 4.2 mile climb. Then it was on to Bear Gulch West, this is a 3 mile road down to a dead end. The end gets very steep and a little hairy. This is a 1020 feet over 3 miles, but the first (or last) mile is mostly flat.

There was a good turnout, around 13 people. The ride started after 10am, so it had time to warm up a little since temps were in the mid-30s overnight. Quite a contrast from the prior week D ride, when one person showed due to the weather conditions. After the ride, I rode straight to work to help finish our project by Christmas (hopefully/doubtfully) and make some extra $$. It was a good ride, and kind of an easy one for a change.

When it ( ) Rains, It ( ) Pours (expletive deleted)

Well today I got hit hard by the rain on my bike. At least not as hard as Gary. But it (mostly) was not about commuting. I led a ride for the Western Wheelers Bike Club. It was supposed to be 50% chance of rain all day and cold. Wet and cold is a real problem on these roads, where you descend for miles, especially if you have Raynaud's Syndrome. By the way, the photos in this entry are all file photos, none from today. Unfortunately I did not have my camera and a lot happened. With my ziploc bag, I could have protected it from the rain which drenched me to the core.

So 5 minutes before the ride, no one is there. Then right at 10, Gary shows up. Kind of my worst fear because I was in demand at work for a change with a large, urgent project. I was thinking - good, no one showed. I'll just go for a 2 hour ride. But he shows, and we decide per his suggestion to go up Page Mill and down Alpine and turn around (we went into La Honda for coffee and warmth), the idea being you don't get too far away (although 20 miles) and if it rains, it is best to be climbing Alpine. So I was glad to be riding with him, after all.

The first of 2 legs went well. I can climb faster than Gary so I took it easy and stayed with him, did not get too hot or sweaty. Then we descended Alpine and my hands really froze towards the ed, being on the levers for 7 miles and having Raynaud's Syndrome (dammit). The coffee warmed them and all was temporarily well. Minutes later, Gary crashed hard turning left onto Pescadero Creek Rd. from Hwy 84 (see map for location). I was aware that he was going too fast. It was not raining but the roads were slightly damp. There was about a bike length between us. He went to the left, his bike went straight, and I was turning left so I just had to veer right (and pay close attention as it all happened). I think he must have hit the front brake as he was turning left - I don't know. He is a big guy, around 210 lbs., so it was a hard fall. I wish I could say he was alright but he never got up. And he had blood streaming from his temple, well not streaming but leaking. He never lost consciousness, at least and it seems the vital organs are all ok. UPDATE: He broke his pelvis in 3 places, hairline fractures, no surgery at least.

The people were great, the first 5 or 6 cars all stopped and offered help. One guy helped me tend to him and deal with traffic. Another woman went into town to the fire station for first aid treatment (they are not always staffed in La Honda so good thing they are on Sunday afternoons) since there is no cell phone service in that spot. (Crash location below).
View Larger Map Another guy and his girlfriend stopped and offered to take his bike and me back to Palo Alto. That was before we knew it was so serious and he needed to go to the hospital. I realized that if you are ever really in need of help for whatever reason and really need something, just put your bike in the road and pretend you fell and the world is your servant. (This thought occurred to me later when I was in severe pain, sopping wet with fingers like ice, shivering, and people driving all around me in the parking lot, coming from a church no less, but no help; they probably thought I was a perv b/c I had my hands down my pants on my warm legs, trying to revive them. But I could not bring myself to feign a crash.) But really, it was a testament to humankind's goodness when our fellow man is in dire need.

I soldiered on. Of course it soon started raining lightly as I climbed Alpine. It was only as I neared the top, 6 miles later, that it started getting really wet. I crossed Skyline for the 6 or 7 or 8 mile journey down Page Mill Road. Pretty quickly I was drenched. I wanted to get it over with ASAP, but I wanted to live to tell the tale so I had one or two frightful moments. I am pretty inexperienced in these kinds of descents, especially in the rain, and just seeing Gary, flat out on the pavement, immobilized, and carted off on a stretcher to the hospital, it was pretty intense. With my fingers glued to the metal levers (and did I mention Raynaud's), they turned to ice, although they kept working. You have to be keen on control, the descent gets steep and extremely curvaceous at times so you can easily gain too much speed to control turns, and with (sparse but some) oncoming traffic in blind turns, one overshot can be the end, or at least severe injury. Well I survived fine, thanks. No issues. It rained so much that it really wasn't first rain at that point, it was 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Once I got to the flats, I was able to generate heat, stop shivering. and feel fine even in the cold rain. Although, I had to spend a few minutes reviving my fingers from, what really seems like 40 degrees, get some heat and blood flowing there.

Then it was off to work. Good thing I have a lot of clothes there: dry shirt, shorts, socks, underwear. That's mostly because we have a gym but also my bicycle commute. So I warmed up, worked hard for 6 hours, my stuff mostly dried (with a fan on it, good thing no one was there). And then at 10pm, it started raining just as I left (Newman!), and it got harder and harder until it was just pouring. My butt got drenched and I was immediately cold. But again, I quickly warmed up with the pedaling and it soon stopped raining for the next couple of miles. But then it started up again near home. All in all, it was a tough day. A wet and dirty day. A tragic day for my ride partner. But real and fun, ultimately. And I feel really good right now. Although I did not have hot chocolate. All the photos in this entry are illustrative and did not happened this day.

I rode in the San Mateo Hills last night with some of the bikeforums nor-cal crew. I also went into San Mateo Pet Supply store to do my duty for the kitties. God knows they've been doing their duty. They are veritable shit factories. (So are we but with plumbing!) This means I rode my road bike to work, which is nice because it goes appreciably faster with less effort. I don't really want to sweat it, but occasionally I'll bust a sprint to make a light or something like that.

Things have been slow at work so I figured I'd venture into the shopping district of Menlo Park. It is a nice little town, too bad so many people have giant SUVs. As mentioned earlier, the firm keeps a bike room stocked with bikes and locks and panniers for employees to use. That's nice because I was not about to bring my $2K titanium road bike into town to leave cheaply locked outside. So I took out the company vehicle. Picked up a pair of trail running shoes [$50 - you don't need to spend more than that (I hope)], some base layer long johns for the cold evening, and a pair of gloves. I checked into the pharmacy to spend some FSA money on first aid kits and ended up buying electric toothbrush heads ($10 off) and some other items. I stopped by the hardware store and got masking tape and duct tape. The stuff easily fit in one pannier. On my way back, I stopped across the street for a photo of the bike.

Then after work, it was back on the bike for a 5-6 mile ride to San Mateo Pet Supply to clean up after cats. I have to take a bit of a roundabout route to avoid ridiculous traffic. Then I rode about to the train station in San Carlos, to San Mateo for a night ride in the hills. Lots of hills, up and down. It is awesome, Marco sets out a pretty nice ride. Their is a long, medium and short ride. The long ride is 33 miles, 4100 feet. The medium ride is 26 miles and 3500 feet. I took it easier tonight. You have to modulate because it is pretty cold out but you get so hot climbing and get drenched in sweat (that happened the week before), but then you descend and freeze and dry off and do it all again.

Adopt Me - Humanimal Connection

I've been cleaning up after the kitties at Humanimal Connection. The cats seem especially happy there, even as it is hopefully a waystation on their path to permanent homes. in their populous cat community, things seem quite orderly and fun but they are also very good with the humans, even reverential. They know who butters their bread. Here are some shots from last night. Click to enlarge.

Bike to Work day

Every day is bike to work day. And it is easy, although the seasonal rains have yet to begin. My commute is about 5.5 miles and easy, relaxing. I use a commuter bike with fenders, etc. with my regular business casual pants. It helps me keep casual. No real bike gear. No bike posturing. I almost feel like one of the East Village hipsters, although not as hip, or pretty.


We have a locked bike room in the parking garage so that is nice. Especially on a day like today when I have my titanium road bike since I will be doing a night ride after work. Not only do we have a bike room, though. It is stocked with bikes. And panniers, and locks. Is that awesome or what? And it is also helpful to me when I have my road bike, which is rare, since I can take one of the commuters into town for errands, lunch, etc. Which I will be doing shortly.

Trader Joe's Rediscovered

When I lived with my parents in the summer of '95, I ventured out to Trader Joe's once or twice in Westfield, NJ. I remember liking it a lot. I don't know why 13 years passed since I entered a store. Mostly NYC I suppose. But boy I feel stupid. There was a Trader Joe's in Union Square in NYC (although my friend told me the crowds were stupendous so that kept me away). There is one near my workplace in Menlo Park. There is one in San Carlos, near where I live, probably the closest major supermarket. And I've been here over 2 months. Yet I've been ignoring them, acting like they don't exist, are not convenient, cheap and fine. Since I've been to 2 different stores 4 times in the past week, those days are over.

This blog is going to be a lot about food and transport, namely transporting food home via bike. I guess that's my life. Got to maintain it. Love would be nice but food is required. Here is my haul from San Carlos Joe's on Monday, as transported and as unfurled. (I know... I drink too much.)

Oh Boy Blagoy!

As with the rest of the world, I am pretty shocked that the Illinois Governor refers to his power to appoint Obama's Senate successor as "f***ing golden. I am not going to just f***ing give it away." Oh no, you are not. Not at all, low-life. You just don't expect this kind of stuff. But I don't want to pile on that sorry excuse for a leader. 2 points really struck me on the story:

1) Do they now listen to everyone and everything? I think he should be put in a stockade in the public square for a long time where people can throw rotten tomatoes at him. Just humiliate and make suffer. BUT, he didn't even get to do the crime, he was just talking of it. So there is the issue of the Feds, there is the issue of privacy, of a sense that every thing we can say someone is listening to. But now it is legal it seems, PATRIOT Act, RICO, war, police-worship, military-worship state. This is a real problem.

2) Prosecutor Fitzgerald says "Lincoln is rolling over in his grave." Well I hope so since he was honorable. The fact that a titan or righteousness would be appalled is no measure. How about, "Nixon would roll over in his grave." Is not that what you meant, Fitz. Oh well, it is a weird saying and probably should not have been uttered.

Speaking of climbing hills

It is funny that somehow Bach came up at Thanksgiving and I love Bach and was asked for a recommendation. But while I love him, I don't really know the names of pieces or his ouvre so much that I can just whip out recs. I thought of the Cello concertos but since those are for one instrument, it does not capture the man. So I said, "The Brandenburg Concertos." I was nervous. Are they that good? Is that what I should recommend to newbies. I have hardly stopped listening to them since. Good pick.

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra has their version of the Concertos up on YouTube. When they say allegro, they mean fast. Really fast. And the pieces have been swirling in my head. And they really help me. They are full of love and joy but mostly they are fast. And that really helps when you are climbing for hours, i.e. Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton. This one really helped me up Quimby/Hamilton.