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BMW Oracle America's Cup boat is in San Diego

Just a quick note to anyone in the San Diego area. The USA challenger for the America's Cup this year is being tested down in our neck of the woods. It's a crazy advanced trimaran that will do battle with the crazy advanced catamaran that the Swiss team will be sailing in their defense of the Cup.

To see BMW Oracle's boat, just head down towards the Convention Center and park. Erin and I parked at Seaport Village. Buy a cookie and they'll validate you for 2 hours. Once you are near the Marina it's pretty easy to find. It's just behind Joe's Crab Shack, but you can see it from a mile away because of it's HUGE mast (185 feet tall). You can get all the boat stats here.

To check out the pics I took click here.

I wish I got a chance to watch it sail. Thank God for YouTube. Skip to the 1:30 mark to see it really sailing.

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Great bike repair services in San Diego

I've needed to get a few things fixed on bike recently and I didn't want to go back to the same place I've been going. They are nice guys but they weren't solving the problem - or if they did it seemed to create another.

So, I went to the trusty internets to find somewhere else and I stumbled upon a cool service. It's called Broken Spoke Mobile Bicycle Repair. You can call or email them and they'll come to your house or office to fix your bike. If it's quick and easy they'll do it right there, or if they need to they'll take it home and bring it back. It's run by a guy named Scott who's very nice and has done a great job both times I called. And the best part is that the price is very reasonable. I think it's even cheaper than the bike shops, plus way more convienent. I highly recommend it.

My second bike shop recommendation is Performance Bicyle in Sorrento Valley. I was riding home today (the scenic way through Del Mar and up Torrey Pines) and my gears were running funny when I was in the small ring for going up hills. It's been a problem since the old shop I visited did some work. By chance I saw Performance Bicycle and decided to stop by to see if they could help at all. It was quickly diagnosed that my chain was too small and in about a minute they took a link out of it. I got to test it going up the Torrey Pines hill (the steep way along the road in the park) and my bike performed great! And they didn't even charge me. I did promise them I'd tell all my friends, though, so now you know!

Get out and get on your bike!

Worst Person in the World

5000 km and counting...

I achieved a personal milestone on Sunday when I passed the 5000 km mark on my bike.  Well, it's 5000 km since I got an odomoter about four years ago (give or take a year, i don't remember).  If you can't read the picture above, it's 5032.4 km to be exact.  For those metrically challenged, that's about 3100 miles - or the distance from SF to NY.  I'm sure lots of bikers have riden many more miles, but it's a big enough number that I'm proud of myself.

I ride a 20 year Trek that was my dad's.  It's a steel frame road bike (600 series) that has certainly proved durable.  It's a vintage bike, but still performs well up hills, down hills and all in between.  It's changed a bit since my dad had it.  I've replaced the white seat and handle bar wrap with black, added a water bottle cage and gone through several wheels.  The guts of the bike, though, are all still there.  Of course, the Obama bumper stickers weren't there 20 years ago.

I would estimate that half the miles are from recreation rides and half are from commuting to work.  I started biking to work on a semi-regular basis two years ago when the Planet Earth shows were on Discovery HD.  There was a really sad episode about a Polar bear who was swimming around the artic because the ice had melted too early.  I was talking about it with some co-workers when I decided to at least do something myself.  I realize that the 8.5 mile round trip ride isn't stopping global warming by itself, but we all got to start somewhere.  The icing on the cake is that I love riding to work.  I've never shown up to work and wish I had driven, and there have been many times I've driven and wished I'd rode.

When it comes to recreational rides, the majority of the miles have come from out-and-backs up the coast.  The stretch of coast along 101 through La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, and Carlsbad is one of the premier biking areas in the country and I'm blessed to have such great access.  The longest ride I did was from my place up to north oceanside and back - 100 km.  Still quite a bit short of a true Century Ride (100 miles).  It's always fun to head up to Carlsbad/Oceanside and stop by Ross and Laurel's or Jac and Aaron's.  Of course, the pain always returns on the way home.  Leaving the Torrey Pines hill for the very end is a bit cruel.

Another ride I enjoy up and over Mt. Soledad.  The steepest hill I've encountered is going up the Pacifica Ave on the south side of Soledad.  However, that section is only half the hill, and the rest is more gradual.  The hardest ride has been going up the north side of Soledad.  Same height gained as the south ride, but in half the distance.  Closest I've come to walking.

My most recent ride, and the one that saw 5000 km, took me to Point Cabrillo.  It was the first time I rode south and I'll certainly do it again.  The views of the bay and downtown from the top of Cabrillo are awesome, and riding along Sunset Cliffs reminds me a bit of Carmel.

Getting on a bike and riding (both to work and for fun) has been one of the best things I've done.  But don't just take my word, get out and do it yourself.  You'll feel better after, I promise.

Lost in the supermarket

A few weeks ago Erin and I started a new system where one night a week it's my job to prepare for and make dinner.  I'm perfectly happy to do this.  Erin is definitely the household leader in cooking, and though I try to help with meals and do dishes, etc. she is clearly putting the most effort in.  I discovered a long time ago that I'm most productive with chores if I have a specific task so this works great for me.

So yesterday (Wednesday) was my day to cook and I went to the store to prepare.  I decided on Bobili pizza (with peppers and pineapple), salad and some veggie crisps.  Not fancy, but plenty good and right in my sweet spot of capabilities.  

The most difficult part for me was navigating the store to find the ingredients.  I'm sure there is logic to supermarkets, but it's not how my brain works.  I was starting to get frustrated when I dreamed up a kiosk system that would tell me where items were.  Everytime I go in the store I walk around aimlessy for 10 minutes.  All my problems would be solved if I could walk up to a screen and map out everything I needed.  It could even print me a little road map.  I can't believe they don't have this.

Well, this morning I saw a news article that shows researchers agree with me: Elderly shoppers to get 'sat nav' gadget to find their way around supermarkets. If I have to fake dementia to get this gadget I will.  And until this goes to market (pun intended), if you want to invite us out to dinner, make it a Wednesday.

A little bit of humor on gloomy day

Tonight was difficult for me.  It was the last Warriors game of the season and it turned out very similar to 52 other games this season (the Warriors finished 29-53).  I got upset at the refs, I got upset with the other team and I got upset with the Warriors.  I did my best to remain calm, but I still lashed out a few times at the TV.  Apparently I thought the referees and opposition could hear me despite the fact that they were 500 miles away and it all happened an hour earlier (I was watching on DVR).  Luckily for me though, I was able to find great humor in the antics of those who went out to protest today.

Perhaps the greatest humor for me was that they chose to be identified with the Boston Tea Party.  From an immature male point of view I laughed at the thought of these people being called Tea-Baggers.  If you don't know what tea-bagging is I suggest you go to www.urbandictionary.com and look it up (yes, it's juvenille and gross).  The only thing better than calling the protesters tea-baggers was the protesters calling themselves tea-baggers because they didn't know it's double entendre.  One never looks as pathetic as when everyone gets the joke but you.

From an intellectual point of view it's funny because in the 1700's people were protesting Taxation with Representation.  I guess the protesters of 2009 didn't realize they had a fair chance to vote in the last election, as well as the previous two - which they won and voted in a huge buffoon who is partly to blame for the current problems.  It's also funny, because I didn't hear many descenting voice as Bush and the Repubs made mistake after mistake.  In fact, these were the same people who said it was "Un-American" to question the president and his policies. 

Personally, I'm fine with the Tea-baggers protesting.  They have every right to and I'm not going to stop them.  However, they better recognize that if they don't start dealing with REAL problems and creating REAL solutions, they will just remain on the fringe.  Personally, I hope the intelligent, thoughtful Republicans go out and start to make postive strives.  The Democrats would be better off if they can be pushed by an effecitve Republican party.  The last thing I want is a monopoly - that just means the Dems can get fat and lazy.  Competition is a good thing and it will drive the country to better solutions.

With that said, thanks Tea-baggers for providing some needed humor to otherwise glooomy end to the Warriors season.