Pick #178

Vera - "Sound" from The Sound

An Accidental Week Off from Running

I realized yesterday that I hadn't been running in a week! I'd been in the pool for a few sessions and on my bike all but one of those days. I went rock climbing. I'd certainly not been sedentary, but there's something different, something special about running. I decided that I wouldn't go another day without it so I ran before school today. Looking at the weather forecast, I'm glad I did because it's going to be cold enough outside tomorrow to make me question running.

Rock Climbing

I went to the Tallahassee Rock Gym to attend the FSU Rock Climbing club's meeting for the first time last night. I felt inept. Everyone else was way better at climbing than I am. I guess they've all got plenty of experience on me.

Climbing works my body in a really nice way. It's like the best feeling you can have after lifting weights. And it's so much more fun than pumping iron. I feel like it's more practical too. I guess it has an application where you can go climb real structures.

I'm thinking about going about once or twice a week to climb. Mondays with the club it's only $3.50 to boulder and Wednesday is half price day on everything. Which means those are the times I would probably try to go. I might be more inclined to go if I had someone who wanted to go with me on a regular basis. Let me know if that someone is you.

Aligned Globe

On the equator...the globe is aligned with the earth...cool concept...meaning that if you're me (taking the picture that you see here), the north pole is to your right and the south pole is to your left.

On My Grind

I went to Bread & Roses yesterday to pick up some stuff (mainly quinoa so I can make a vegetarian meal for J & Shell when they come visit). While I was in the store, I saw the bicycle grinder. The guy who built it, Justin, was working there at the time and told me that it works pretty well and they were making peanut butter with it earlier and the product flew off the shelves. I am almost out of PB at my house, so I went to grab some and they were sold out of the not-organic kind. I told him that we'd better make some more. SO, he said that we'd better make more of both organic & not-organic PB.

The bike grinder works kind of like this: you sit on a seat and there are handlebars at your side for stability. You pedal and the chain is linked to an arm that spins a corkscrew which pushes whatever is in the basin toward the mill stones. You can adjust how far apart the millstones are from each other to control the fineness of the end product. It doesn't quite feel like a bike because you really get stuck at the 12&6 position. Justin said that he plans on adding a flywheel which is driven by your pedaling and in turn drives the grinder/corkscrew arm.

It was pretty fun to make my own PB. It tastes pretty good too. Only one ingredient (if you don't count man-power!). They could make flour there or I've heard about a possible blender attachment for making smoothies. I think it's got potential!

Drop Some Weight

PowerCordz look like a fairly cheap way to drop weight and improve performance on your bike. They are lighter and stronger than your current brake and shifter cables. I bet soon they'll be used on some high end bikes like Scott or Blue.

Pick #177

The Afters - "Forty-Two" from Never Going Back to OK