Sunday Ride.

Today I set out on a ride on my new Kenda tire on my all around bike. This tire was added to the bike a week ago and had not seen any mileage till today. I felt like taking a little spin over to my old stomping grounds; kids kingdom. When I showed up I realized that there was a great bicycling event called cyclocross or something. I had heard of this from a good friend Noel who has been dominating the elite class. While I was riding around on a hot lap I found Noel and to all of our surprise he was not racing. So to punish him Brooke tied his bike to a tree with extra race banner. I lined up at the starting gate, and since I had gate pick I decided to pick the outside lane. Once the gate dropped we set off. I got the whole shot and lead the first lap with 2nd and 3rd place right on my heals with no-one else in sight. As soon as we came to the first hill I totally hit a wall and was immediately passed. I then found my groove and ended up finishing seventh overall. When am I going to learn that you need to ride and work out on a regular basis to be competitive? One of these days I guess.

Daytona Bike Week!

This weekend is a much anticipated yearly event. It is Daytona Bike Week. This is where the motorcycle racing world takes over Daytona. We started with the 69th Daytona 200 AMA Pro Racing SportBike event on Friday night. Also Friday saw the first AMA race on Daytona’s new 1/4mile dirt flat track; this was as action packed as ever! Today we watched Jake Zemke Sweep both American SuperBike Races and then moved on to the AMA Supercross Series. Chad Reed came and practiced after being out with a broken hand and set fast time in practice but opted out of racing to heal for next week at Toronto. Ricky Carmichael designed a great supercross tack just like always. What a action packed weekend!

Traffic!

Today I spent my day traveling through the bay area visiting friends and co-workers. I have grown up in Redding and hate its traffic. I always said that I would never live in a big city because of all the people. As some of you know, I work in the bay area and now have become used to sitting in traffic. I even have a Fast Track so I don't have to stop at the toll bridges to pay. But what do you do for all that time in stop and go traffic? I see all kinds of things: talking on the phone, texting, makeup, reading a book, typing on a laptop, eating, and even playing with their kids. I like to spend my time listening to my ipod and talk to everyone on my phone. So next time you find yourself in Redding traffic, just stay calm and tell yourself it could be worse.

I can keep time!

This week I have proven that I can keep time. Time is not with us, but against us. It never sleeps, or takes a break. If we don’t use it productively it is gone and we can never get it back. There are a lot of people out there wondering if they are using time to the fullest. Some people are opting out of jobs that keep them from their families, others work themselves to death. I believe in finding a happy medium in life. We all need money whether we like it or not. How much of it is dependent on your lifestyle and needs. No matter what you do, life is expensive these days. Work is a double edged sward; on one hand you are away from your family but on the other hand you are providing money which will keep your family healthy and together. I am seeking comfort and happiness for my wife. As much as I want to do things for myself, I know that I must use my time wisely to make life easier for her and also for my family and friends. We need to make sure that when time runs out, that we used it wisely and accomplished what was needed.

Life without electricity.

It has been some 130 years since Thomas Edison’s breakthrough of artificial light. According to the "World Energy Outlook 2009" an estimated 79% of the people in third world countries (the 50 poorest nations) have no access to electricity. This means that the total number of individuals without electric power is about 1.5 billion, or a quarter of the world's population, concentrated mostly in Africa and southern Asia. In 14 nations worldwide, less than 10% of people have the option to use modern cooking fuels, relying instead on wood scavenged from the countryside. All told, about 2.5 billion people globally subsist on wood or charcoal. So what does this mean for us? Absolutely nothing; but we have been so dependent on electricity for generations now that when it goes away, life ends. How many of you have all the necessity things to survive a power outage? Look around your home and think: cooking, lighting, warmth, water supply, ect… The reason I bring this up to you is today this was our predicament. Around 10am this morning a middle aged male was driving down the road and had a seizure. He veered off the road taking out a tree and ultimately a power poll. This shut down power to our little tent trailer among all the other homes and businesses in the area. We were without tv and internet till 11:30 tonight! These things are many peoples main concern in America. But as nightfall arrived, we needed light, heat, refrigeration... Throughout our thoughts of what to do, we found that many ways we thought we could survive, we could not. When was the last time you trained on a true power outage. Think about things beyond the basics of candles and canned food. Do things you have for emergencies still work, fit, and perform like they should? Have things changed in your life and now new needs rely on power? Just purely food for thought. Now get out there and flip that main off and do some homework; or just don’t pay your bill for a month and truly play!

"Nostalgia" or "Better"?

These days everyone is rushing out and buying up things that are "Retro" or "Nostalgic". Are we just in another fad? Is it because we are not creative enough to come up with a new style; or is the old way really just better? I recently inherited a double edged travel razor from my grandpa. It was bought many years ago before he was converted to the more convenient electric shaver. Since I am away from home I am unable to tell you the make and model, which I will reserve for another day. I have a friend that has recently become fascinated by a straight razor and is likely going to convert. I have no desire to convert to the all out straight razor but am vary interested in attempting to use a double edged razor. I will embark on this journey by first doing a little research on some techniques and places where I can buy supplies. I hope to find razor blades, shaving cream, and a brush locally. Will this give me a better shave? The critics say yes, but at least I can be a conversation piece along the way. And I hope to find that this will not just fall into the "classic" category but truly be something that can be carried far into my lifetime of facial hair grooming.

Tent Heaven!

When you say that you are going somewhere, people wonder where you are going to stay. If you told them that you were going to stay in a hotel they would think you are normal right? Well as many of you know, I am not normal. I have made many things my humble abode over my 28 years of existence including: hotels, tents, automobiles, the starry sky, and even a cardboard box in the middle of the redwoods with a glow-stick as a nightlight. This week my home is a tent trailer. Some people would say that staying in a tent pop-up trailer is just ludicrous; but I find it a great compromise. The tent trailer upon first appearance looks ridiculously undersized when parked next to diesel pusher motor homes and Eddies RV. But once the top pops up and the ends are pulled out, suddenly you aren’t that little. And when you stay at a rv park with all the amenities; you have the best of all worlds. We have cable tv, a microwave, kitchen, radio, two queen beds, and a bathroom with no privacy! What more could one ask for? If we pushed the trailer with a diesel truck we could even say we had a "diesel pusher". So though it is not as custom as a cardboard shack, nor does it compare to the Hilton; it does make you feel almost adventurist. Would I ever want to own one? Maybe, or I could just pitch my tent in the backyard and take the door off my bathroom; same thing.