Saturday, August 07, 2010
Bamboozle
- the whole nine yards
- touch and go
- the bitter end
- start over with a clean slate
- son of a gun
- scuttlebutt
- rummage sale
- pooped
- pipe down
- footloose
- by and large
- to turn a blind eye
Friday, November 20, 2009
Use an Over-Under Wrap to Keep Your Cables Kink Free
Headphones and any other type of cable or cord, be it a USB cable, extension A/C power cord, etc, always seem to get tangled up. This Over-Under Wrap technique shown above is demonstrated in this embedded video.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Google Image Swirl
Google Image Swirl clusters the top image search results for more than 200,000 queries and it lets you explore the clusters and the relation between images.
'Once you find the group of images you're interested in, you can click on the thumbnail and a cluster of images will 'swirl' into view. You can then further explore additional sub-groups within any cluster. Image Swirl expands on technologies developed for Similar Images and Picasa Face Recognition to discern how images should be grouped together and build hierarchies out of these groups. Each thumbnail on the initial results page represents an algorithmically-determined representative group of images with similar appearance and meaning. These aren't just the most relevant images — they are the most relevant groups of images,' explains Google.
Try queries like: jaguar, flowers, van Gogh and keep in mind that this is an early demo, so not all the queries will return results.
Google has two other visualization tools: 'wonder wheel' for exploring related searches and YouTube Warp, an interactive way to visualize related YouTube videos.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Bike Across the USA – Eebeedee Eebeedee Eebeedee
Karen and I spent our last day of the trip with Katie and the kids. We then had dinner and played some Foosball and cards after Michael arrived home. It was then off for a five hour drive back home to Wheaton. We arrived just before Friday midnight exactly 6 weeks after we departed for the west coast. We were greeted with Susan's welcome home poster and a table full of mail. This was a wonderful complement to the poster that the Sarah, Michael, and Avery created for me. Karen and I both worked through the night, going without sleep into Saturday. Now that we are home, this blog post represents my final wrap-up.
I covered 2834 miles plus perhaps 30 miles or so due to elevation climbs. With around 5000 miles logged before the trip, I almost reached 8000 miles for the year. That total ignores spinning miles. Those are faux miles that give you no conditioning for weather of road surface conditions.
You don’t get in shape riding across America, you better be in shape before you start. My broken wrist five weeks before starting the ride only strengthened my resolve and training regimen.
I have bicycled the Midwest, East, and South, but nothing prepared me for the Southwest and the road conditions. That was the biggest shocker. One bicycle shop in Russellville, Arkansas recommended flat-proof tires, such as the Specialized Armadillo Tire. Although there are some negatives regarding the tire, I would have been much better off with these on my Co-Motion bicycle. My naïve optimism garnered from no flats on the 1500 miles around Lake Michigan caused me to not even consider the troubles I had that may have been avoided.
Planning is everything. This includes backup plans to backup plans. With ever changing conditions for “boots on the ground”, tactical and strategic changes were warranted and the volume of pre-departure preparation allowed me to nimbly alter routes with background information on county road conditions and aerial and street view photo archived collected during the planning stage. Much of the planning was overkill. I never needed the cue sheets that I meticulously created, but the process of creating them did identify a few minor errors in the routing that were easily corrected. The bottom line is that the rides through the South were much more enjoyable and safe because of adequate preparation.
I will probably do trips again, but most likely either just day rides with Karen on road trips together or perhaps a supported trip with a touring company. A solo adventure of this magnitude will not be repeated.
I wanted to include these words from Clark Riley which he sent to me just before the start of my trip. Along with my guardian angel from Julie and my St. Christopher card from Karen, I was well looked after.
Give him eyes that see the light
Give him hands to steer him right
Give him back and butt of might
Give him legs to win the fight
And bring him joy for this national flight\
- Clark Riley
Playing through my head as I braved the terrifying highway to Tybee Island were these lyrics which I used to play during workout sessions at the rec center.
And we can build this thing together,
Standing strong forever,
Nothing's gonna stop us now.
– Starship
And these lyrics were from a cover song the Corporation Ltd. used to perform which I often thought about both during the Lake Michigan trip and the cross-country trek.
Dreams, so they say
Are for the fools and they let 'em drift away
Like Columbus in the olden days
We must gather all our courage
Sail our ships out on the open seas
Cast away our fears and
All the years that come and go
Take us up, always up
We may never pass this way again.
– Seals & Croft
Finally, except for the technical stuff at the bottom of this post that records the exact route…
| Date | Destination | Bike | Dist (Miles) | Climb (Feet) | Flats (road/motel) | Data |
| Mon 9/28 | Huntington Beach | Scattante | 4.20 | 226 | gpx kml map | |
| Tues 9/29 | Banning CA | Scattante | 85.36 | 4879 | gpx kml map | |
| Wed 9/30 | Twenty-nine Palms CA | Scattante | 70.36 | 4240 | 1/2 | gpx kml map |
| Thur 10/1 | Parker AZ | Scattante | 113.03 | 3430 | gpx kml map | |
| Fri 10/2 | Lake Havasu City AZ | Co-Motion | 39.56 | 1749 | gpx kml map | |
| Sat 10/3 | Kingman AZ | Co-Motion | 64.04 | 4206 | gpx kml map | |
| Sun 10/4 | Seligman AZ | Co-Motion | 86.02 | 3501?? | gpx kml map | |
| Mon 10/5 | Flagstaff AZ | Co-Motion | 76.58 | 5150 | gpx kml map | |
| Wed 10/7 | Holbrook AZ | Co-Motion | 97.19 | 1806 | 1 | gpx kml map |
| Thur 10/8 | Gallup NM | Co-Motion | 92.65 | 3622 | 3 | gpx kml map |
| Fri 10/9 | Grants NM | Co-Motion | 68.92 | 1621 | gpx kml map | |
| Sat 10/10 | Rio Rancho NM | Co-Motion | 87.38 | 2507 | gpx kml map | |
| Sun 10/11 | Santa Fe NM | Co-Motion | 59.34 | 3922 | gpx kml map | |
| Tue 10/13 | Las Vegas NM | Co-Motion | 69.90 | 4128 | gpx kml map | |
| Wed 10/14 | Tucumcari NM | Scattante | 112.81 | 5020?? | 2 | gpx kml map |
| Thur 10/15 | Amarillo TX | Scattante | 107.30 | 2260 | gpx kml map | |
| Fri 10/16 | Pampa TX | Scattante | 67.76 | 954 | 0/4 | gpx kml map |
| Sat 10/17 | Clinton OK | Scattante | 123.63 | 3772 | gpx kml map | |
| Sun 10/18 | Oklahoma City OK | Scattante | 84.19 | 4275 | gpx kml map | |
| Mon 10/19 | Henryetta OK | Scattante | 96.78 | 5108 | gpx kml map | |
| Tue 10/20 | Fort Smith AR | Scattante | 110.28 | 3991 | 1 | gpx kml map |
| Thur 10/22 | Russellville AR | Co-Motion | 81.27 | 3190?? | 2 | gpx kml map |
| Fri 10/23 | North Little Rock AR | Co-Motion | 90.23 | 5265 | gpx kml map | |
| Sat 10/24 | Forrest City AR | Co-Motion | 94.70 | 1553 | gpx kml map | |
| Sun 10/25 | Batesville MS | Co-Motion | 99.55 | 1883 | gpx kml map | |
| Mon 10/26 | Tupelo MS | Co-Motion | 93.53 | 4529 | gpx kml map | |
| Tue 10/27 | Columbus MS | Co-Motion | 73.90 | 2563 | gpx kml map | |
| Wed 10/28 | Tuscaloosa AL | Co-Motion | 70.17 | 3542 | gpx kml map | |
| Thur 10/29 | Calera AL | Co-Motion | 59.18 | 4639 | 1/1 | gpx kml map |
| Fri 10/30 | Alexander City AL | Scattante | 72.24 | 4524 | gpx kml map | |
| Sat 10/31 | Columbus GA | Scattante | 86.54 | 5146 | gpx kml map | |
| Mon 11/2 | Perry GA | Scattante | 92.73 | 4335 | gpx kml map | |
| Tue 11/3 | Vidalia GA | Scattante | 103.30 | 3991 | gpx kml map | |
| Wed 11/4 | Tybee Island GA | Scattante | 99.62 | 2225 | gpx kml map |
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Bike Across the USA – On the Road Back Back Road
The day after completion of the cross country bike trek did not go exactly as planned. Originally Karen and I intended to visit with cousin Collette and Matthew in Columbia, South Carolina. Unfortunately, Collette had to work.
Instead Karen and I had a leisurely breakfast at the Garden Inn enjoying our made to order omelets that we missed for the last 3 weeks. Then it was off to Louisville, Kentucky to visit with niece Katie, Michael, Sarah, Michael, and Avery. The trip should have taken 10 hours or so, but I-40 was closed on the North Carolina side of its border with Tennessee due to a rock slide. That set us back over an hour.
We routed ourselves along the back roads through the Appalachian Mountains. The scenery was spectacular on the tightly winding roads. Unfortunately, Karen was too busy with clenched hand on the door rest to take many photos. But no photos out the car window could do justice to what we saw anyway.
Once we finally arrived in Louisville, Katie prepared some sparkling grape juice for a toast to my accomplishment.
Bike Across the USA – The 'L' Word
I loved the excitement of setting out for a pre-dawn departure. The chill in the air was ever present, especially in the desert. The anticipation of the cold air inversion just after dawn always added a little uncertainty as to whether I was overdressed or underdressed for the start of the ride.
I loathed waiting for the weather conditions to clear up to start a ride after psyching up for an early morning start. The weather forecasts were abysmal, especially with respect to the timing of the rain storms and direction/speed of the wind.
I loved cresting a mountain pass and surveying the serpentine road before me. The panorama of distant ranges in all directions was breathtaking.
I loathed grasping my hands tightly on my hand brakes on a steep descent over slick wet pavement or rugged road surface conditions. After the paying the price for the ascent, the 3-4 mph descent was one of the injustices in life that you just have to accept for safety's sake.
I loved the random encounter with wildlife animals as they darted here and there along the roadside or crossing in front of me. Deer, aardvark, opossum, raccoon, beaver, skunk were frequent visitors depending on the locale.
I loathed the putrid smell of roadkill and the splayed out internal organs of the animals after the scavenger birds had their first passes at them.
I loved the unexpected sights along the way that would easily go unnoticed in a car. Some noteworthy ones that I previously commenting on were the caterpillars scampering along the shoulder, the locusts pelting me on my shins, and the cotton ball drifts along the roadside in the aftermath of a recent harvest.
I loathed the expected crap on the shoulders. The shredded truck tires, the thick fallen tree branches forcing a sudden veering, the rocks, cables, bolts, chains, and broken glass that made venturing along the shoulder a far too hazardous undertaking.
I loved the vehicles that put on their turn signals to change lanes when approaching from behind and then actually getting fully into the other lane.
I loved seeing a state trooper pulling over a car that did not provide sufficient margin for passing me.
I loathed the truckers with very small brains and even smaller personal body parts, but with big rigs and loud horns to compensate for their inadequacies, who got away with terrorizing cyclists who have every bit as much right to the road as they did.
I loved a steady push from a tailwind on a long century ride. Climbing mountains is hard enough work.
I loathed 60 mph crosswinds that pushed me into traffic and literally forced me to inch along with one foot on the ground at times. This was probably the scariest part of the entire trip.
I loved the quiet times to relax with Karen, such as the wonderful dinner overlooking the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City.
I loved the interesting people I met along the way, such as Ken the single speed cyclist, David the fellow cross country adventurer, and the forestry professor who rode part of the old Route 66 with me.
I loathed the annoying hotel manager who would not take responsibility for the incompetence of the front desk staff that gave strangers access to out motel room. This could very well have ended our trek.
I loved the little pleasant surprises such as the quaint clanging bridge near Winslow, the llamas and sheep loitering along the roadside, and the creative adjustments to the route when roads that were supposed to go through were closed, but other shortcuts not available on maps made themselves apparent.
I loathed the expected but all too frequent flat tires which seemed to be never ending during my stretch through Arizona and New Mexico.
I loved visiting with family. The time with Tom and Danette in Santa Fe was memorable. Visiting with Diane and Tom in Fort Smith was a real treat.
I loathed the isolation of 8 hours of non-stop rain in gutting out the 80 miles from Fort Smith to Russelville. What a way to start back off after a rest day. Perhaps this is why I dreaded the last rest day so much.
I loved the smooth pavement throughout almost all of the back roads of Georgia.
I loathed macademized pavement, especially in New Mexico which was the worst.
I loved watching the fog lift as the early morning sun burned it off in New Mexico and Alabama.
I loathed the incessant southerly cross winds through Oklahoma that provided a constant reminder as to how plain and monotonous these stages of the trip were.
I loved the final moments of the trek, dipping my wheel into the Atlantic Ocean and triumphantly raising the bicycle over my head. It felt like the physical equivalent of achieving my Ph.D. with the years of training being the coursework, the hundreds of hours of planning being the thesis research, and the actual trek being the thesis and defense.
I loathed forgetting to mention all the others that corresponded through Karen and offered support - Jen, Becky, Chandra, Pam, Tom, Katherine, Clark, Mary, Sara, and especially Jason for his desert advice.
Thanks to all of the others that followed my blog and wished me well that Karen or I may have overlooked.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Bike Across the USA – Symmetry
Vidalia GA to Tybee Island GA – 99.62 miles – 2225 ft climbing
My anxiousness started last evening. I got to be bed shortly after 6pm and woke at 3:30 am. Getting through the early morning ritual for the last time put a smile on my face, as Karen was apt to remind me through her photos.
A pre dawn departure worked out well again since I was able to ride the side streets of Lyons, GA until sunrise, where I hit the state route.
The US route was quite a bit busier that any stretch I rode in Georgia, but the traffic was manageable. I did make a tactical exit onto the grassy shoulder whenever a truck was passing from behind and traffic was approaching ahead. This lasted for about 20 miles. Then the traffic reverted to state highway conditions – which means a whole lot less traffic, but still your typical percentage of 3% imbeciles. Spot the looney was truly the rule for the day.
Once I got to the suburbs of Savannah, I spotted the familiar signs of bike tours. This made be feel a whole lot more relaxed.
Breathing a sigh of relief that the worst was over, I eased my way over the next 20 miles through downtown Savannah and out past the inland waterway to Tybee Island.
Little did I know at that time that the worst was just beginning. The terror of the last 10 miles with narrow lanes and a**hole drivers made for an challenging final hour of the trek.I swear a good 10% of all drivers were mentally impaired.
Once the ocean came into view, my heart leapt with triumph and joy in realization that my dream of over 33 year was finally being realized.
With a final ceremonial dipping of the front tire (and right foot for Karen’s solo drive cross country), the cross country odyssey came to a conclusion.
All that was left was to lift my bicycle in celebration before mounting in on the car for a short drive back to Savannah for a celebratory toast of Champaign. As a footnote, Georgia goes down in the record book as the only state that I did not get a flat tire.
I received calls of congratulations from Julie and Rodney shortly thereafter. I cannot express enough thanks for the support from both of them throughout this trip.
This adventure could not have been possible without the love and support of Karen, who endured the trials and tribulations with me.
I also wish to acknowledge the blog comments of encouragement from Matthew, Katie, Eric, Linda, Susan and Diane. And finally the phone calls from Matthew and brother Bob and emails from nephew Bob, sister Debi, mom Maryann and cousin Colette.
Oh, and Matthew's Boomhauer comment takes the cake! I laugh every time I think about it.
Bike Across the USA – The Finals
- the final 4 am wake up
- the final 6 am breakfast
- the final pre-dawn departure
- the final bout with road ruts – 30 miles or more today
- the final stage
- the final push
If everything goes as planned, I should be dipping my front tire in the Atlantic Ocean around 3 pm.
- my quads are complaining
- my knees are whining
- my seat is screaming “no mas”
I never felt better.
There are no alternative back roads today. There’s I-16 to the north and Fort Stewart to the south. It’s time to suck it up for a day of intense riding. The drivers in Georgia have been great so far, but that could be because I have stayed off the state highways for most of the way. Today will tell the tale. Hopefully the interstate will absorb all of the idiots. Otherwise it will be a non-stop game of “spot the looney”.
Godspeed.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Bike Across the USA – One Ride at a Time
Perry GA to Vidalia – 103.30 miles – 3991 ft climbing
Today was close to a repeat performance of the previous day. The re-route worked even better than expected. The wind was not much of a factor, mostly calm winds under 5 mph.
Temperatures were almost identical. The ride started out 15 minutes before sunrise in the mid 40s F. It ended around 70 degrees F.
Sometimes the best ride is an uneventful one. Traffic was once again well behaved with the only stress coming in the last couple miles.
There was patchy fog to start the ride that required a little bit of extra caution on my part to make sure the infrequent vehicles to see me. The fog patches were at the top of hills rather than a low lying fog that I am used to encountering.
One of the keys to the success of the ride today was selecting roads that were neither state nor county routes, such as this Antioch Church Road (which is really two roads that converge at this church).
Workers were out in the fields once again. I saw some harvesting going on as well as what appears to be maintenance on the irrigation systems.
It was nice to see a “share the road” sign. The vehicles certainly honored this the last couple of days.
The hills were a little more challenging, even though there were fewer of them. The road was straighter today, taking each ridge head on rather than curve the road more gradually around the hills.
My mantra all through the cross country trek was “one ride at a time”. I just concern myself with the next ride. Now, it is truly is just “one ride” to go.
