Rants & Rides

Cannondale is coming out with some cool stuff

2010-02-26T23:42:00.000-08:00

Glad to see Cannondale is still allowed to think outside the box with real production consumer design solutions.

This week in interweb history

2010-02-24T20:45:00.001-08:00

This looks like a pretty funny spoof - 28 Drinks Later

28 Drinks Later from Futuristic Films on Vimeo.

I'm looking forward to this ride on Aug 22. Looks to be a great time!

Like all of us here in Iowa I'm very tired off all this snow and am so ready for some fresh single track.

cannondale Prophet with Lefty Max from Henrique J. Perry on Vimeo.

New Infographic on 2011 federal budget

2010-02-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

2 011 Federal budget

Amazing analytical visualization of data

2009-12-23T07:49:00.000-08:00

Check out this web based interface visualizing politcal key word searches as shared in the twitter app.

Crazy cool stuff.

Nice post on data analytics

2009-12-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

From - Trends and Outliers, TIBCO Spotfire's Business Intelligence Software Blog

12/15/2009
What Kills Analytics?
Failure is, unfortunately, an option in the world of high-tech, high-touch solution roll-outs. We’ve all been there. The best laid plans of IT and management spiral into a morass of useless data, pointless reports, and unused technology. How, as technologists, do we best learn from mistakes to ensure successful technology implementations? In a word, research. We must look at all data points available to us and leverage all useful bits of information to ensure a successful rollout.
This thinking was key to us in reading this article on BeyeNetwork which points out the five factors that kill analytic implementations for two-thirds of the large companies in the United States and the United Kingdom. Pay attention here folks. This article is written by the CEO of Accenture Information Management Services – ensuring successful technology rollouts is what these folks do for a living:
Five Factors Killing Analytics:
Management Fails to Embrace – management must support and embrace using analytics to better the business.
Failures in Data Quality Assurance – very simply, garbage in garbage out
Unstructured Data – voice, video, and other unstructured data – organizations need a plan for unstructured data as part of an analytics implementation, it is often overlooked
Legacy Systems – as part of a new rollout, which legacy systems to keep and includes, which to modify and which to end-of-life
An Inability to Decide What “Success” Is – What’s the goal(s) of the analytics project? Tied very closely back to factor number one in this list; without agreeing to the success metrics before starting, there is no tangible way to determine success
If you are considering an analytics rollout, have you considered these factors? Are there others that you’ve discovered? If you have executed an analytics rollout, did you hit any of these factors along the way? If so, how did you resolve them?
Bill PetersonSpotfire Blogging Team
Image Credit: Microsoft Office Clip Art
Posted by Spotfire Blogging Team

http://spotfireblog.tibco.com/?p=1304

Classic

2009-12-14T07:06:00.000-08:00

Pretty cool that this group of guys was able to pull this off.

interesting stuff.

2009-12-11T14:02:00.000-08:00

This is all guesstimated from averages and assumptions taken from possibly erroneous and uncorrelated data. But it tells a pretty compelling story.

Presented by Online Education

What ride'n is all about

2009-09-03T09:51:00.001-07:00

I found this pic on another person's blog. I share his sentiments about this pic. For me it sums up everything that is right about getting out and ride'n... cruise'n the hood with your peeps while you rock the Schwinn stingray, jump'n every curb cut in sight, building jumping ramps (no helments), and having skid contests.

Rock on little man!!!

Another greet Taco Ride

2009-09-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

Great ride, but the GPS didn't pick up a signal so well.

Taco Ride 9/3/09

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Good Stuff

2009-08-25T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a big update.

This past Friday I went on a great evening ride with really good friend for what we expected would be just a putt putt around the neighborhood. It turned into a really fun night ride through hillside trails behind the old science center. Sometimes the best rides just happen and aren't planned at all.

Evening Ride'n

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I ordered a new seat post for my Mtb bike. The stock post was only 350mm. I ordered and have now installed a new Salsa shaft seat post. Its pretty cool and think it will work out perfect.

I took the kids to the science center on Friday. We've gone there several times and it never disappoints.

I took the kids to the IA fair on Saturday. We met my sister Anne and she helped out tremendously. All of us had a fabulous time. We eat BEEF, watched some dancers, played in the fountains, when down the big slide, saw the giant pumpkins, and much more.

Fresh out of the van, and ready to go!

Dad and his girls

The giant pumpkins

Butterfly tent

After the fountains

Tired girls (and Dad)

Monday was the first day of school for Greta Jane. She had a few tears on the first day but by Wednesday morning she was doing better.

Edie can't help it and jumps for joy in excitement for G'boo's first day of school.

Nice little ride over the weekend

2009-08-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Girls took off for the weekend leaving me to my own devices. This meant as much biking as I could do guilt free.

Denmans 8/16/09

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Ride through Denmans

2009-08-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

Had a great time on a solo ride through Denmans tonight.

Denmans Woods Ride 8-14-09

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I think I'm in love

2009-08-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

My new Cannondale has filled that place in my heart where my stolen F600 was ripped from. I'm glad to be back in the saddle. I went for a great ride tonight after work with some guys from Rasmussen Bike Shop.

Taco Ride 8-12-09

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The madian voyage on the amputee

2009-08-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

I went for a night ride together with Jacob through Denmans on 8/1/09. The madian voyage for my new C'dale 29er 2. Went over the bars once at top speed. Followed that up with a slow speed crash and got a locust thorn embedded in my forearm. Had to be taken to the ER to have it removed. Didn't get home until 3 AM.

Most importantly my bike didn't suffer a scratch! I love this sport!!!

Night ride through Denmans

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My ride through the trails at Lake Ahquabi State Park

2009-08-09T21:01:00.000-07:00

Rode these trails on 8/8/09. The conditions were brutally hot and the hills were relentless. My GPS had some trouble always receiving a signal so the map is spotty.

Mt. Biking Lake Ahquabi

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2009-08-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here's the low down -

I got my replacement bike last week. A Cannondale 29er 2. I've been riding it at every opportunity I get. Well the first weekend had the bike I went for an night mtb ride with Jacob. It was great time but it ended kinda rough. That night I was moving through the trees pretty fast, but found my handle bars rapped up around a tree which caused me to go over the handle bars and flat on my back in the weeds. So I brushed that fall, picked up what was left of my pride, and got back on my bike. If that wasn't enough while I was trying negotiate a turn at a low speed I fell. This time when I fell I landed on a honey locust thorn. The thorn found its way into my left forearm. Jacob and I decided to call it a night after my last fall and putted home. By the time we got to his place and I looked at my arm it was getting pretty stiff. The thorn was now down underneath my skin and was pushing out in a grotesque sort of way. Jacob offered to take me down the ER and I took him up on it. So diggy do there I am in the examination room at 2:30 AM getting a 5/8 inch thorn out of my arm. The doctor had to slice me open to get a handle on it. After pulling it out he actually went the rest of the MDs to show them what he just pulled out of me. So its a week later and my arm feels pretty good. Thank goodness this injury hasn't slowed down my riding. In fact its only made me want to ride more!

JN and I went to lake Ahquabi today for a ride. The heat was crazy hot ~95 and the hills were many and steep. It was a great time.

Here are few pics of my new ride - 27.5 lbs right off the rack.

I'm thinking this bike's nickname should be, Amputee

Lets get up to speed

2009-07-21T17:50:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't heard I had my beloved Cannondale F600 stolen on June 31. I don't really feel like going in to the how and why. Lets just stay it was stupid that I let this happen and it WON'T happen again. That said, I reported the incident to the Police and my insurance, and diggy do I have settled on a new bicycle and I'm really looking forward to it arriving and moving on from my loss. I decided to stay with the Cannondale brand. I just fell in love with the headshock mechanism and I really like the forward thinking when it comes to adapting standards early or even making the standard. I think thats pretty cool. Think Macintosh of the bike world.

Take a look at my new ride coming in August, Cannondale 29er 2 with Caffeine frame. Combo of Sram X5 and X7 components.

Some stock printed humor on the down tube near the bb. From Tommy Boy.

Cool pic of the lefty shock

My new favorite movie

2009-06-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this movie - Rendezvous, 8 minutes of flying through the streets of Paris at high speed.

The film shows an eight-minute drive through Paris in the early hours of the morning (05:30hrs), accompanied by sounds of a high-reving engine, gear changes and squealing tires. It starts in a tunnel of the Paris Périphérique at Porte Dauphine, with an onboard view from an unseen car exiting up on a ramp to Avenue Foch. Well-known landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Opéra Garnier, and Place de la Concorde with its obelisk are passed, as well as the Champs-Élysées. Pedestrians are passed, pigeons sitting on the streets are scattered, red lights are ignored, one-way streets are driven up the wrong way, centre lines are crossed, the car runs on a pavement to avoid a refuse lorry. The car is never seen as the camera seems to be attached below the front bumper, judging from the relative positions of other cars, the visible headlight beam and the final shot when the car is parked in front of kerbstones on Montmartre, with the famous Cathedral Sacré Cœur behind, and out of shot. Here, the driver gets out and embraces a young blonde woman as bells ring in the background, with the famous backdrop of Paris.

RENDEZVOUS

Uploading older rides

2009-06-16T14:45:00.001-07:00

MTB Denmans May 20 2009

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Took kids the DSM farmers market by bike

2009-06-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the ride. It was a great time.

Trip to Farmer's Market With Kids

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Posted today's ride to Every Trail

2009-06-12T21:29:00.001-07:00

Take a look -

MTB Denmans and Center Trails

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Rocked the trails like a vandal

2009-06-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Took the afternoon off today and when mtb down at the center trails for ~1 1/2 hours. It was a great bit of riding. It started to rain about half way through, but the trails stayed dry right up to the time I ended. My knee hurt for just a bit while riding hillside. I decided to stop at Rassmesson to talk with Adam about my pain. I suspected that the shim placed under my left cleat had collapsed, but Adam didn't think so. I'll keep and eye on it and let him know.

While at the bike shop I saw this new Specialized Rockhopper. Compare it for a moment with a picture of my Cannondale F600 from 2005. Does the paint scheme look familar. Nice way to rip off Cannondale. Try being orginal for once. I still think the Cannondale version is better paint scheme. I like the way Cannondale changed their text of the 'Cannondale' to match the scheme while Specialized just printed the same old version. My Cannondale has better components too even at a 2005. Specialized is way to over priced at $1300 for all Deore component and a no name crank. You also can't beat the headshock on the F600.

Family and Ride'n

2009-06-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Monday was my birthday - 36yrs. Feeling pretty good about it. I can't complain, I've been blessed with great wife, darling kids, a job that pays the bills and keeps us with a roof over our heads, food in our tummies, and gas in the cars. Not to mention bicycles in the garage. Cycling is going well, although I haven't commuted as much as I'd wish (errands to run over lunch). I have kept up the speed on the trails. See earlier post about my race entry.

I've included the kids in my conditioning work by pulling them in the buggy, ~ 80 lbs as fast as my legs will go. We've found a nice park in GM west that they really like and its far enough away to give me a work out but not too far to make it a pain in the ass to get to.

Big race today

2009-05-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

Decided to enter in the Summerset Shoot Out MTB race. I entered in the beginner class. At the very beginning I found my self a first place then I took a terrible fall and got my bell rung pretty bad. Dusted myself off and check the vitals. All felt good (as good as could be for almost knocking my self out) and away I went. I finished 3rd out of ~18 racers. Results are here.

Great ride today

2009-05-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful ride today through Denmans. Two loops! Ran into a Father & Daughter riding the trails. I was really impressed because she was only five!

Funny Code for a T-Shirt Some Day

2009-04-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

Data more.cowbell;
set more.crap (drop = garbage);
run;

I can't believe it

2009-04-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

CRAP!!!! I'm addicted to Facebook.

I've become what I despise... plugged in and part of the social networking scene.

I hate flat tires

2009-04-12T21:30:00.001-07:00

Went out tonight for a nice night ride through the center trails and got another flat. I got one last week too. I need to invest in some sort of flat tire prevention.

Two Great Rides

2009-04-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

I went on two great rides yesterday. The weather was PERFECT.

Ride 1 - The trail conditions were better then ever, and the weather was beautiful. The ride flowed perfectly... total bliss. Unfortunately my GPS ran out of juice half way through the first pic only shows the first portion of the ride.

Ride 2 - Pulling the ladies behind me for the first buggy ride of the year.

The ride before the storm

2009-04-05T18:16:00.001-07:00

Made it out Saturday for a morning ride. The trail conditions down at denmans and the center trails was perfect. Rode for 90 min at a nice moderate pace, and at times as fast as possible. My knee didn't hurt a bit!!! I'm really stoked about that. Maybe this will be the year to get in a race. I have to remember that I am what I eat and victory is not made on the race course but is built during all the training rides.

See pic for Saturday's ride map and stats.

Hard work pays off

2009-04-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is patent application is working its way through the system as we speak.

A lot of hard work went it to this.

Been a while since my last post

2009-03-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

Quite a bit has happened over the past month.

Went for three bike rides all in various directions and paths, but they all were 25 t0 30 miles. I'm really excited about this considering that between 2004 and 2008 I'd been fighting a knee issue (see earlier posts). Adam down at Rassy really dialed me in well to both bikes. My goal for the next 3 months is to get in some more good rides working my way higher and higher on mileage. Who knows, I may even do the Wednesday of Ragbrai
Edie broke her arm the day before here 2nd birthday. Ouch!! It didn't slow her down one bit. My kids are the the greatest little people I know.
My wife took on some more Meredith work. So our house will be full of projects to do between now and July. She promises to want to do something as a family in August. An overnight to Omaha maybe?
Work is going really well. Kick'n ass and taken names.
Started Facebooking. I'll be honest it seems really lame. Who wants to have every facebook 'friend' you have knowing exactly what you are doing up the day, even hour. I just don't have time for all that crap. People that are really in to that in my opinion need to get a life. Its hard enough just getting in the mood to sit down write in my blog.
Purchased a Shopsmith Mark V from a gentleman in Minnapolis Minnisota. Nice guy. Found it on Craigslist. $900 was a steal considering all the others I found were going for 1200 to 1600. Great condition, lots of extras, jointer and bandsaw. I've already put it go good use.
Redid the third stall of my garage to accomidate the new purchase and cleaned up from the crap dropped in there during the winter.

Looking forward to summer!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

—Albert Einstein

Diamond Dave

2009-03-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

Funniest thing I've seen (heard) come across the net in a long time!

Diamond Dave Sound Check

We've all been there

2009-03-02T07:59:00.001-08:00

Can't wait until I can get out on the trails and loose my winter weight.

Yeeeeeee Hawwww!

2009-02-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

You have gotta love this weather.

I'm riding all I can while the gett'n is good.

What Ever

2009-02-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

My dream desk.

Really Tired

2009-01-21T20:09:00.000-08:00

Work has really got me working hard. I've been burning the midnight oil several nights in a row and its taking its toll. I just want to sleep, but for some sick reason I keep thinking about work and all I need to get done.... So here I am at work putting in a few more hours.

Nice Ride

2009-01-19T09:22:00.000-08:00

Sunday the 18th I went on a ride with Jacob and Sterling for a few hours south of town (see picture). The stats show things went pretty well. I rode the bomber and it held up well. My left leg IT band did hurt after about 25 min. I need to have Adam at Rassy re-check my bike fit.

Cold Ride

2009-01-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

The morning commute was just a little cool this morning on the Bomber, -4F. I'm learning that bike components do funny things at low temperatures.

Best Intentions

2009-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

I had the best intentions of getting out today to take part in a ~30 mile group gravel ride. The girls were sick, and my wife really needed my help looking after them. Ya, I was a little miffed about it, but there will be other rides. Besides the snow must have been deep. Six inches in DSM the day before.

Nice classy pic I saw come across the web today

I hate this stuff

2009-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

I hate this stuff

Job losses hit 2.6 million as layoff pain deepens

By JEANNINE AVERSA – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — A staggering 2.6 million jobs disappeared in 2008, the most since World War II, and the pain is only getting worse with 11 million Americans out of work and searching. Unemployment hit a 16-year high of 7.2 percent in December and could be headed for 10 percent or even higher by year's end.

....Lets try to keep it together people.

Same old stuff

2009-01-08T21:42:00.001-08:00

I rode into work yesterday. Not much to add other than it was VERY cold. The girls gave me a full face mask for riding on cold days like this, and it really helped.

Today I received in the mail a handlebar mount for my GPS eTrex Legend. I put it on The Bomber and it is a perfect fit. It is really going to be cool to log my rides in this way.

Bike Fit

2009-01-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

On Christmas I received the gift of a bike fit from Rasmussen Bike Shop. I was very excited for this fit, as I have had chronic issues with my left leg IT band for about 3yrs. Sometimes I have rides with out issue and other times I have terrible and sometimes scary IT band pain after only 30 min of vigorous biking time. This has translated into limited radius rides, and low self confidence when trying to push my self to become the best rider I can be. The mind is there, but the body is showing some limitations.

So on Tuesday Dec 29th I scheduled a bike fit at Rasmussen Bike Shop. Adam did the fit. He used the Specialized BG Fit II System. I brought my Surly Crosscheck, 58 cm. He asked me a few questions about my biking, what issues I've been having and what type of cycling I do the most. He checked the curvature of my back, discrepancies in leg length, the flexibility in my legs and back. I told him about my issue with my IT band in my left leg. How 20 - 30 into a ride it really get aggravated causing me to bale on many a ride. Adam inspected the foot beds in my shoes. The foot beds were those which came with the shoes orginaly. These immediately were 'round' filed. He had be do some deep knee bends on one leg bare foot and watched my balance and movement. He then had me repeat it with a set of new Specialized foot beds with shims. There was a great increase in stability when the foot beds were added. Next, he looked closely at the way I stand. He had me sit on a high stool with my legs draped over the edge and my feet dangling. All of this helped him decide how to place the cleats on each shoes to accomidated for 1. my left leg being shorter 2. and a nature foot placement over the pedal to create comfortable leg movement. He placed the new foot beds and shims in my cycling shoes and I went to the bike while he got the computer and cameras ready.

He asked me to start warming up on my bike. He then adjusted by saddle height, moved the saddle forward slightly, and leveled it. My stem's angle and length were already perfect for my body dimensions so there was no need to mess with them. Specialized stem, 110mm, +12 degree rise, 2 cm riser. Adam then started to monitor my pedal stroke using the computer and two small video cameras. By recording my pedal stroke he was able to see how he needed to do more adjustments. With his program he was able to place virtual dots on the screen at the bottom, middle, and top of my pedal stroke for both knees. He looked for and found that my left leg was not traveling in a nice circle, rather in an oval with some left/right movement. He got rid of this with some cleat adjustments, and saddle adjustments, then asked me to get back on the bike. I rode for another 10 min in big front 5 in back, ~ 90/min cadence. I experienced no pain and the video looked really good. No, side to side knee movement. Just smooth linear up/down strokes for both knees. I then decided to kick up a notch. I thought 'as long as I'm here lets really see if my knee can go through some sustained pressure.' A bit of background, I hadn't gotten on my bike for ~ 2 weeks and it was during my last ride that I did have some knee pain. I wanted to make sure that the inflammation had gone down on my knee but the issue was still fresh enough that I could make the pain return if I so desired. I asked Adam if I could go a bit longer in some big gears. He agreed. "Lets put my knee to the test", I said. I asked him to crank up the resistance on the trainer and I put the bike into big front and 8/9 in the rear, and then I pounded away at 80 - 90/min cadence under high load. I never bike in this gearing, ever. If I did, I would surely cause knee pain in 5 min. I kept this up for about 10 min and was tired but not it pain, and this is exactly what I was looking for, all gain with no pain.

Adam was fully satisfied with the adjustments done and so was I. I brought in my mountain bike and he quickly adjusted the saddle height and position on it too. The pedal position will translate between bikes. I highly recommend a professional bike fitting to anyone experiencing pain or discomfort while riding. After all you want your rides to be enjoyable and not painful.

I borrowed a bicycle trainer from a good friend and I'm happy to report that after two 20 min sessions in the saddle I can report no knee aggravation.

Max'n and Relax'n

2008-12-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

Today has been nothing but chatting and watching kids terrorize one another. During a jump on to the internet highway I found my self here, a New York Times piece on the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Looks insane if you ask me, but I have a lot of admeration for those able to crank out 350 miles in seven days in 6 - 10 inches of snow.

I just checked Bike Iowa website. I'm 1 of 922 readers right now. Looks like I'm not the only one dreaming of warmer days on two wheels. DSM - 28F with 16F windchill.

Later

Merry Christmas to All

2008-12-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone.

What got into me today?

2008-12-19T13:55:00.001-08:00

I rode into work today, and it was actually pretty nice. I choose to ride my Trek 6000 (1992) built up with:

Sram spectro 7 speed internal hub
Serfas drifter tires
Platform pedals
Planet Bike MTB fenders
Nite Rider headlights

More later on how this Frankenstein bike came to be. A Surly Pugsley would be the ultimate snow machine.

Sweet Ride

2008-12-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

I went for a ride on 12/13 and brought along my GPS unit. I have figured out a way to download the data from my Garmin etrex legend and create a database for Spotfire to report on. Pretty cool, I'm able to quickly select the ride of interest in see a map and stats instantly. No need to buy Garmin's super fancy training center software.

First entry

2008-12-18T14:58:00.001-08:00

Lets give this give this blog thing a whirl