Bike & Build

Shell sent me a cool link to a totally awesome project called Bike & Build. It's a summer project where participants cycle across the country, stopping to build houses with Habitat for Humanity or comparable organizations. I perused their website and it looks totally sweet, but when I clicked over to the application page I noticed that I'm TOO OLD to apply. I guess I wouldn't be able to do it this summer anyway. And maybe it's best to put an age limit on it to keep creepers from scaring away the girls and to avoid injury/heal faster in case of injury.

Spreadable PB

Bread and Roses has been selling peanut butter made by people pedaling a modified bike to grind up peanuts. That's right, just 2 ingredients: peanuts & manpower. It tastes alright, but it's a little hard to spread on my sandwich.

I just bought a jar of it yesterday (at $1.89/lb, it's pretty cheap...compare to this 3 pack of 40oz Peter Pan @ $2.30/lb). I decided that Peter Pan has more than one ingredient (cottonseed oil, salt, sugar, something else) so I'll have more than one ingredient. I have tried adding sugar in the past and that didn't work too well. Today I added peanut oil, which makes it spread nicely, honey to sweeten it a little, and salt to do its thing. Result: yummy and spreadable and cheap.

Triathlon Banner

Designed by Javi's friend.

I'm not really big on the swim, bike, run icons, but it would look a little empty without them. Plus, if you do the work to design it, you get it how you want. I really like the use of Chief Osceola's face to make an O and I always dig a spear.

Tap Water

This is a water fountain in IU's student union.

Pick #186

Soular System - "Fire Extinguish-Her"

Bike Nerd Info

Man, there's a lot of excellent bike info on Sheldon Brown's website. Good for reference if you don't have a copy of Zinn sitting right next to you. Clear explanations and pretty pictures. I feel like I'll probably be spending a lot of time here learning.

Some Good Things Must End

Today was the last day of my month long membership to the Tallahassee Rock Gym. I had an alright day on the rocks...I finished the mushroom route twice in a row, something I've never done before. There were also plenty of challenges that I felt like I could master if I kept working. I've seen amazing progress since I first started climbing and I'm very glad I have had this opportunity.

Now I might go every so often on Wednesdays (when it's only $3.50 to boulder), but I'm going to shift to a couple other athletic activities: long bike rides to destinations like Panama City and Dothan, AL, swimming in the olympic size FSU outdoor pool, and off-road "barefoot" running in my Five Fingers.

It's going to be kinda crappy watching my calluses disappear slowly and even worse trying to build them back up in the fall when I start climbing again with the FSU club. It will be nice to have a break, though and come back with renewed gusto. Just like everything good, you need a little time without it to remind you that you like it.

Tell Your Parents I Said Hi

Observation I made tonight: "Tell your parents I said hi" has a very different connotation than "Tell your mom I said hi."

Pick #185

Coldplay - "Amsterdam" the final track on A Rush of Blood to the Head

or as TBW would call it, (and I paraphrase) "A Dutch capital by a British Rock Band"

Critical Mass for April

Go here to RSVP/ get details about critical mass this month. It will be a fun time. A bunch of cyclists just show up at Klemen Plaza at 5pm on the last Friday of the month to go on a bike ride. This month's theme is "SUMMER WOOT!!! BATHING SUITS AND GOGGLES!" Apparently there will be swimming afterward, so bring a towel.

Burned

So, Jennifer was making dinner tonight for her old roommates (and me). We had pinchos, which are basically kabobs undone and served over yellow rice if I understand it right. Her friend was grilling the kabobs which were on metal skewers. I took some to put inside because the first batch was done. I put the first 2 (with wooden handles) down, then I grabbed the bare and very hot metal with my right thumb and index finger thusly burning them. I've got a cool little circular depression of burnt skin. It's not too bad because you can still see the fingerprint underneath. It's not blistering or anything. But what a rookie mistake!

Otavalo Fence

man it was weird looking outside that day. Like I was in a photoshopped setting or something.

Race to a Red Light

I've noticed recently that I am getting better at climbing. I think I'm getting stronger all around because of climbing. All this improvement has come since getting a membership to the Tallahassee Rock Gym. Unfortunately, my membership expires on April 20th and I don't think I should get another one at least until I return from Sweden. I bet I'll lose a lot of the skills I've acquired. Probably the strength too. But somehow I imagine it will come back faster the second time, like a foreign language or math...but I'll have to rebuild the calluses from scratch.

Pick #184

Gaslight Anthem - "Miles Davis and the Cool" from The '59 Sound

Conversación con Carlos

Hoy cuando llegué a FSU, entré Bellamy con una "buenas tardes" a Carlos. Fue una mañana hermosa para afuera.

Carlos dijo: "Va a llover."

Respondí: "Ay! Se me quedó mi chaqueta de la lluvia...¿a que hora va a empezar?"

Carlos: "Cuando salgas"

Me reí.

on Pluto

Neil DeGrasse Tyson talks about Pluto losing its classification as a planet.

http://fora.tv/2009/02/04/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson_The_Pluto_Files

about an hour and 3 minutes into it, he talks about how the world won't end in 2012.

Critical Mass Incident, Orlando

I guess there were no tickets or video cameras involved in Tallahassee, but this reminded me of the cop telling us to get in the bike lane. This is absolutely crazy. Cyclists aren't causing harm.

See an article that goes with this video here.

Water in my Gas

Today I discovered that 2 of the 4 gas cans I have are somehow ridden with holes (well, they each have one hole in them). It looks like some bug ate through the plastic. This allowed water to get in the gas and it won't work in my mower. I don't really know how to best dispose of it. I think I'm going to set it on fire...maybe after pouring it on a cinder block. Maybe I'll see if someone wants to use it to start a bonfire or something.

Alley Cat

I did my first ever alley cat race today. The one I posted about on Thursday. It was a good time. I didn't have a date, but I rode over there with Long (who had done Red Hills in the morning). There was supposed to be a pool of single people that they'd pair up, but it turned out to be non-existent...so I rode with Long. I was on my mountain bike and he was on his time trial bike and he still had a hard time keeping up with me. I always thought that I wouldn't stand a chance to win an alley cat, but I have since changed my mind after doing some calculations. We came in 40 minutes behind the leader (which sounds like a lot, but there was plenty of room for improvement...especially if we cut out the back tracking).

After the race there was a cool setup at Bread & Roses. Vegan chili which totally hit the spot...I should have brought food with me. I got to show off my new headlight/taillight set. I'm definitely happy with it.

I'm going to try to head to bed early (I got up at 4am to help with Red Hills and I took a 2 hour nap after Red Hills) and sleep in. I'm actually trying to kick a little illness (I actually thought racing today might help with that). Wake up and it'll be Easter. I'm skipping the service, but I'll read the resurrection passages that is the standard at Easter services. I'll celebrate the end of lent by saying Hallelujah and eating some ice cream.

Pick #183

Blues Traveler - "Hook"

Red Hills Alternative

If you didn't get into Red Hills, you can still do a race this weekend. Here is a description of a race (copied from an email).

This weekend is the Tallentine 3 Sadie Hawkins Bike Race/Spring Fling! The event is sponsored by Krank It Up. The details are as follows:

• Everyone will race in couples.
• Formal attire is required.
• At least one person in the couple must be wearing a dress.
• Entry fee is $10. Proceeds will go to benefit the bicycle shop.
• There will be a dance after with a DJ, food, drink and a prom picture setup AT BREAD AND ROSES! Registration is at 3pm in kleman plaze downtown. The race will begin at 4pm.

These races are always a blast, so make sure to come out and support our local non-profit bike shop!