iPod Install

I never really gave a step by step on the iPod/Honda install. I was just looking through some pictures and I found a couple but it's a far cry from a full on step-by-step. It's really just a shot of the dash removed and a picture of the converter sitting on top of the stock radio.

AM Ride Foiled

I tried to squeeze in a little pre-work ride. There's a 16-18 mile loop from my doorstep that starts with rolling hills and peaks in the middle with a 0.9 mile climb. After the climb you roll around the top of the lollipop, more rollers and climb home.

Well, at the base of the climb, I downshift and the right shifter feels a little funny. As I am looking down my rear derailleur is slowly working its way down the cog stack...something was broken. First I thought is was something in the shifter (it is getting old) but after further inspection it was the shift cable. Somehow the cable frayed inside of the shifter leaving the little head in the shifter and the cable dangling on the bike. This also left me with only two gears, a hard one and a really hard one. I wasn't going to be making the 0.9 mile climb to the top. I turned around and was able to get home okay but it's just part of my streak of breaking things over the last few days. I don't really understand...my Karma points should be positive, maybe I'm just having a bad run.

GoPro??

I saw these guys at Sea Otter last month but never got around to actually checking out the camera. The website has some really nice photos and video but I don't know how legit this thing really is. For $140 it's a lot cheaper than the separate helmet cam options. Also, you don't have to drag a video camera around in a camelbak. I don't know if the videos are any good but it would be pretty sweet to carry around and get some awesome downhill footage!

The pictures are supposed to be 3 MPixls and the video resolution is 640x480. It won't be the same quality as The Collective...but neither is the riding!

My Good Deed for the Day

I was driving in to work today when I saw a guy walking a road bike. I see kids walking bikes all of the time but this guy looked like a commuter, backpack and all. After a quick glance I saw that his rear tire was flat, so I ran through the options in my head...

Do I have a spare tube (nope, I haven't even ridden a road bike in a while)

Floor pump (nope, I took it out of the car last weekend during the MTB race, it's sitting on my porch)

Then I realized that I had a roof rack. I was almost at work, but I figured the least I could do was see if this guy needed a ride. I pulled over into the turning lane and walked back down the sidewalk and asked him if he needed a ride. He was going to walk the last mile to his job but when he saw I had a roof rack I think he felt comfortable taking me up on the ride. I put his Cannondale on the roof, took him about a mile down the road to work, then I was on my way.

It's funny how I consider myself a "rider" but I rarely ride to work. This guy rides to work 7.5 miles one-way spring, summer and fall. I like to think I am hard-core but I always find excuses to not ride. Maybe I'll ride in tomorrow...and maybe I'll see that guy on the road!

Poker with the big boys

It seems that all you have to do is look. I play poker very recreationally with a few people from work and a couple of friends. I have done a little reading but it's very hard to get all of the subtle nuances of poker when you only play a dozen times a year. There's so many things to consider...starting hands, position, playing styles, table image...I think there could easily be a college course or two on playing tournament Texas Hold 'Em.

So...about the looking. It turns out that Charlottesville has a huge poker contingent. There are games on just about every night all around town. I knew I would be in over my head but I thought I would check it out.

I showed up at the Biltmore Grill last night for the Wednesday game and there were 20 people already signed up and ready to play. Fenton and I put our names on the list and were directed to a table. It quickly became evident how much of a rookie I actually am. I held my own for a while and made it to the final two tables. We started with four full tables (8 players) and after about two hours there were about twelve players left. Somewhere around then is when I busted out. Fenton was busted a little earlier after going head to head with an experienced player that bet just enough (but not too much) to make Fenton believe that he had a hand. Not only did Fenton have to believe that he had a hand, he had to believe that the guy knew what Fenton was holding and could beat that hand. The guy didn't have it but it was a little too much money for Fenton to take that chance.

I had a couple of decent hands. By playing super-tight for the first hour (folding lots of hands) then slow playing a pair of jacks I built up a very conservative table image. That basically allowed me to steal one hand all night. The rest of my night can be summed up by the following..

• My pair of 5's loses to a pair of 6's that trip on the river.
• Marginal calls in the dealer seat get raised by the small blind, I fold.
• Pair of Jacks loses
• Pair of Jacks wins (very next hand)
• Crappy cards and I get blinded out...
• 10:00 PM, Fenton and I get some ice cream

Miscellaneous Catch -All Post

Hello readers,

Lot's of stuff going on lately. In no particular order here's the readers digest version

New Roof
We got a new roof put on our house. Even though the "old" one was put on there lss than 5 years ago. It's a bit of a bummer but now we are motivated to cut some limbs off of the big old pine that is sitting over our brand new roof. We also need to paint (inside and out), tile and build a deck. I think that's all that's on the list for now...

Bike Racing
Driving little cars is certainly not making me a faster bike rider but little cars are so much fun. Anyway, there's been a slight vaction from little cars so I can spend more time on the bike doing bike things. So far I think I've done two MTB races and I would like to do more so I am going to try and get on the bike(s) more consistently. A lot of my bike-related energy has been focused towards running a local MTB series. After May 20, the series will be over and I'll be able to ride -ride-ride! The first two races are done and the third is on it's way.

Sea Otter Classic
I will put some pictures up from this one in a new post. Sea Otter is one of the biggest bike events in the country. It included 4 days of racing (actually zero for me) and booths from just about every manufacturer in the bike business.

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Well, that's the quick update. Lots of stuff has been going on. Oh, and the iPod install worked out pretty well. I think I have some pics somewhere that I'll have to put up. Sound quality is much better than the tape adaptor or the iTrip. I'll get those pics up soon too.

It's been a while but I'm back!

I don't really know where I've been but right now I am hopped up on two types of Japanese tea and I am really excited about some Honda/iPod integration. Here's the deal...I have a tape adaptor that sounds like absolute crap. I could deal with the rattling until it started to activate the automatic reverse on the tape deck. As an iPod addict, I just couldn't have my songs cut out for a few seconds then come back. Hell, even a non-addict probably couldn't deal with that.

Anyway, I decided to stop by the local Crutchfield and pick up a new tape deck adaptor. It was $20 but I figured it might be worth it to not be cheap with this one. So, I picked it up and then I started to have a thought. A while ago I found this system that would allow you to connect an iPod to a factory system through the auxillary interface. I remembered those setups as being over-priced and difficult to install. I just did a little research (starting with Ebay) and found the units for about $60. In the long run it's really not that much more than a few tape adaptors so I thought I would get one. Then I started to look at the Crutchfield site and they have them in stock right here in Charlottesville. The price is the same and they provide instructions on how to take your car apart for installs just like this. AWESOME! I think I'll be headed back to "Crutchie" to pick one up later today.

Here are some pics of the units...


Well, it feels good to be blogging again. I'll be back in a couple of days with a review on the installation!

Trail Work

Whew! It's been a long time since my last post...on this blog anyway. Most of my projects and thoughts have been Mini-Z related so I have been putting my energy elsewhere. I do have a couple of things worth reporting in about though.

I have been getting excited about doing trail work lately and I am actually going to be heading up some trail work days at one of our local riding spots. "O-hill" needs a lot of work and I am hoping we can make a small impact on a great little riding spot.

A couple of days ago, three of us went out to clear a log that was over the trail. Usually logs aren't a problem but this one was pretty big, it was at a bad angle and one end was almost a foot off of the ground. It really interrupted the flow on that section of trail so it was a pretty obvious candidate for removal. That's not the interesting part though. I had just gotten back from a trip in NC where there was an awesome log feature so we decided to do something similar.

Here's the feature from NC near Brevard.




And here are a couple of shots of what we built this weekend.





My hands are still a little sore today from running the chainsaw (and probably from riding my single speed) but I would like to report that the obstacle is totally ridable. It's not as clean as the NC inspiration but it's nice to have something you can't ride 100% of the time.

I am Overzealous

I don't know what it is about my brain but whenever I get involved in something that's remotely fun and I think I will want to do it again, I start pondering ways to jump into it 120%. Unfortunately, that leaves me with unfinished projects and forgotten toys. For example...


Pool

In college I would go to the "Bear's Lair" or the "GCB" to play pool. It was a lot of fun. I wasn't particularly good at it but I was okay. I started obsessing about pool and I almost bought my own cue. I am really glad I didn't, I have probably played pool 7 times in the last 10 years.



RC Cars

Two years ago I bought a Zip-Zap, then maybe a month later I bought a Rustler and a Stampede used off of Ebay or something. Now I am knee deep in Mini-Z's. Fortunately this one has stuck. I have spent more money on these little cars than I would like to actually admit but I am currently ranked 7th in an international Mini-Z series. Not to mention I love racing these things. I am glad I got sucked into RC Cars.

Paintball

I have played paintball exactly three times in my life. It's pretty invigorating! It's just like a video game. You have no peripheral vision because your rented goggles are fogging up, you are getting blasted from who-knows-where by people who want to harm you and the adrenaline rush is insane. I am not very good at paintball but every time I play I find myself scouring Ebay the next day for used equipment.

MTB Skills Ramp

I don't even want to talk about this one. I decided that I wanted to build a small bike-skills obstacle in my backyard. Before I realized how dumb that was I had already purchased some lumber and built a small platform. It wasn't until I found two tree stumps to use for supports and got them home that I realized it would never happen. The platform is still in my basement and the stumps are still in my driveway...

Table Tennis

This one isn't so bad. A few people from work are taking a TT class at the local University. Why Table Tennis? Well that's easy...we got a good table for a cheap price at an auction. Now we have a table at work (nice huh?) and we decided that we wanted to get better. So I found an intramural class and we are in our second session. I still suck but I did just get a new paddle recently!

There are so many remains of so many past projects that are no longer alive. There was the paper mache Mini-Z obstacle course, the PVC bike stand, the home-made Camelbak gel flask holder...

At least I can say I have learned a little bit from my previous endeavors. I really try to evaluate a project before I dive in. I have stopped myself from several potential blunders but the impulsive sensations are starting to rise up again. The most recent challenge that I am thinking of tackling is a mountain bike race series in Charlottesville. There are a few great venues that have not hosted races over the last few years for various races. I can easily think of three races that could be combined to form a small series. The motivator is a Halloween-themed race that I have been part of coordinating for the last three years. The Paranormal. It's an awesome event but it's a lot of work. I have to think long and hard before I decide to tackle 2-3 cross country races in one season. I do have the Charlottesville Racing Club behind me but it's mostly a road club and trying to get help for MTB events can be a little difficult at times. There's definitely verbal and financial support for MTB racing, but it's a little difficult to get warm bodies to volunteer when we are holding so many events.

Quick update on the commuting

So, I didn't do so well eliminating the car from my life for the month of September. I really only averaged 1-2 rides to work per week. I am not completely disappointed and I haven't given up yet. I really like riding the fixie and I finally have it setup the way I like it.

Mostly it depends on what I have to do after work and how well I prepare the night before. If it's easier to find my car keys than it is to find my riding shoes, I'll usually drive. Also, if I have to race Mini-Z's after work...I can't carry them all on my bike.

I'll probably ride to work Thursday and Friday...if the weather holds.

With an approximate guess at wear and tear on my car, I only have to put 1,000 commuting miles on my bike for it to pay for itself. I have a spare bike computer lying around, maybe I should hook it up.