Do you blot your pizza?

Okay, I must admit that I've always made fun of people for blotting paper napkins on their pizza. Sure they are picking up the grease and all, but come on. That is what pizza is all about, right? But now, I'm gonna bite my lip after reading this tweet from Men's Health!

"Dave Zinczenko by MensHealthMag
PIZZA SECRET: Blot the grease on your pizza w/ your napkin to save a teaspoon of fat (nearly 5 grams) per slice!"

Alright, this is huge considering we all sit down and can eat 3-4 slices easily. I usually try to buy fat free if not low fat foods most of the time. But when it comes to pizza, I'm game for the high fat variety! Cheese, pepperoni, sausage, ham, etc (Paul, I still need to try the sliced meatballs). But then again, take a look at today's lunch that I got from Bag N' Save. Yeah, one order of large nachos devoured at lunch. Time to put my brand new running shoes to use!

Mmmm....nachos... 

Arctic Light Video

Check out this video about Artic Light. Absolutely gorgeous video and landscapes!

http://gizmodo.com/5807211/the-arctic-light-feels-impossibly-beautiful

GMC Granite

Take a look at this concept car that will be going into production, called the GMC Granite. Sounds like they are keeping the suicide doors(?) and production will begin with 2012 models. If they can figure out a way for me to put my bike in there, I would seriously consider one of these!

 

photo from Topspeed.com where you can download full sized wallpapers. More can be seen at 

http://www.topspeed.com/cars/gmc/2010-gmc-granite-ar83644/pictures.html

Website with some cool biking tshirts

Found a website with a few cool bike designed shirts/hoodies/etc. If anybody plans to order, let me know and maybe we can save on some shipping.

http://highball.spreadshirt.com/

Strange and disturbing

I was doing some cleanup on the blog. I came across this stats section for the blog that tells you referral sources, blog entry views, etc. Well one category was keyword searches. "Animal videos" popped up as one of the leading keyword searches for this month. Animal videos? You better be hoping to find some cuddly bears on my page and not some gross perverted acts with animals!!! You perv.

Even with the rain, everyone have a very nice Memorial Day weekend!!!

Bring yer bug spray!

Tranquility was biting! Or at least the bugs were. I considered doing the TacoRide after work, beautiful night for it. But my light wasn't charged or anything. Instead, I decided to head out to Tranquility and play around with the Go Pro attachments. I've been watching too many Mukluk videos online and I want to do as they do.

Here is a video of the rear suspension at work. It was the first time hopping on the Trek since last Sunday's pavement ride. How cushy it is to ride on a full suspension! As you'll see on the video below, riding full suspension is like sitting on a Lazy Boy while on the trail. Soaking up the bumps!!! The Go Pro was seatpost mounted for this video.

Suspension at work! from DJ Chi Wai on Vimeo.


Dale reported on the Facebook THOR trail group that TQ was good to go minus a few watery spots. If you aren't on the THOR group for facebook, join it! You'll get trail updates, trailday dates, event listings, etc. Thanks Dale for the heads up whether Tranquility was in decent shape or not!

I finally cracked open the packaging for the seatpost/handlebar mount for the Go Pro. It was my goal to catch the suspension at work, get some crazy bike angles, etc. Well first thing I noticed after putting the camera near the rear hub was that I was kicking the camera occasionally. So I got the connectors out and made the camera stick out and back just to get it to work (forgot to take a picture of this). But still, with the massive air that I was getting at Tranquility, the camera was still moving and would end up in the wrong position. I'll give it another try this weekdn if the weather cooperates.

Rollin' To Colon

It's back! It's for a good cause! It involves riding your bike! So why wouldn't you do it? The Wear Yellow Nebraska and Great Plains Colon Task Force are once again hosting the Rollin' To Colon bike ride to help raise awareness about colon cancer. The ride starts in Valley, NE and there are four different distances that you can ride (kid's distance included). Sunday June 19, 2011 is the date and registration is $30. I had a great time last year. Tshirts, door prizes, food and fun await. After last Sunday's Tour de Cure, I'm pretty sure that I'll stick to the 20 mile loop for this one. More details can be found at http://www.rollintocolon.org/

53 miles = 7:30 am = loop route pedaling through Colon, Nebraska

20 miles =9:00 am = out and back route in the scenic Platte River Valley
10 miles = 10:00 am = out and back route in the scenic Platte River Valley
Kid's Ride = 10:30 am = around Valley

Those blog pictures

For those of you who were wondering about what happened regarding my blog pictures used on the Race Register for the Urban Omaha race. It was just a big misunderstanding, the administrator was very cool about it and responded/took action promptly and professionally to rectify the situation. No harm done. Thank you.

Now who is ready to to do an adventure race!!!??? Seriously, I haven't ran in about a year. I'm in BIG trouble!!! Patty will have to carry me on her back for the race!

This guy needs a snorkel!

Water up to the handlebars!

I done got run over by a Mukluk

Haha. Check out this video of some guys messing around at a bike shop. Pretty sure it is from the store North Central Cyclery from Dekalb, IL. Who is going to volunteer when Paul and I get our bikes this winter?

http://www.northcentralcyclery.com/

Feeling kind of crazy

Cut myself a mohawk. Yeah. You read that right. I had planned to cut my hair before the Tour de Cure, but ran out of time. So i did it afterwards anyway. Can I pull it off at work? Probably not. But gonna keep the hair down and see how it goes tomorrow! Sunday funday night!

The mohawk business is all new to me. Takes a ton of gel to keep it straight. More than twice that I would normally use on my regular head of hair! 

At Parliament on a Sunday night

A weekend of biking for two good causes! Wear Yellow Nebraska ride and the Tour de Cure

We all love to bike. Weekend warrior, Monday Night Ride junkie, or just plain casual trail rider. It's all good. But last year, I realized that I'm too slow to podium finish in any bike race. I love to bike, but I like to take my time to talk to fellow riders and to snap pictures. I'm not fooling anyone, it's my chance to catch my breath!!! Nothing wrong with that. This year, there have been two sets of races and I've missed both. Was I physically ready? Maybe. Would I finish strong. Doubt it!? When I heard that Paul was doing the Tour de Cure for diabetes, I looked into it. Fifty miles? Yikes! But if others can do it, then why can't I? It wasn't a race, but go at your own pace and just finish type of deal. So I signed up and won a bicycling jacket! Next came the fundraising. I hate asking people for money, but since this went to a good cause, I wasn't too worried. I quickly raised $350 that went to the American Diabetes Association and thank you to all those that sponsored me!

Won two raffles. Got some Twin Six schwag through WYN

Won this jacket at the free registration night for Tour de Cure

I've got crabs! The WYN kind... 

Natalie and Amanda enjoying some pancakes. The Tang just ended up on the table for both

Other races pop up along with various rides and charity type runs. Wear Yellow Nebraska was doing their ride the day before the Tour? Hmm...why not? I had fun last year. So I signed up for the easy 12 mile ride that went around Chalco Hills. Well funny thing is that I missed both groups going out and ended up riding alone around the lake. Got in 18 miles on Saturday. Beautiful morning, sunny and 72 degrees. I can't complain! Chris Cakes was there with pancakes and sausage for afterwards, along with a raffle. Ended up seeing Dave P and Natalie afterwards, they rode the 30 mile loop. Turns out that there were about 200 registered riders total!

Lori, myself, Paul, and Jim before the Tour 

It took teamwork to get the ride numbers on each other's backs!

Some three wheeled madness! 

Saturday done, feeling good. Bike is in good working order. Rest up and get ready for Sunday's big ride! Four hours of sleep later, the alarm clock was going off at 5am. Paul was picking me up at early o'clock. The Tour started off in Springfield, NE and made its way out to Elmwood. I'm thinking Elmwood? They were in the same district as us when I was in high school (Waverly, district 145). Wow, it would be a far ride! The weather was perfect and the rain held off. BUT, four things were not going as planned. The Go Pro was out of juice from the WYN ride from the day before. Didn't anticipate that. Second, there was a terrible headwind that followed us the entire first half of the ride as we made our way out west. Lots of hills to climb, you get to the top. And boom, the wind just hit you. There was no break at all! Third, I was cramping up by mile 20. I was afraid of this. I stretched and walked around a little bit at Elmwood - Murdock. Should I turn around? But after making it that far. There is no turning around. Five more miles till the turnaround point. Can't let the others, and mostly myself down. Keep pedaling! Fourth and I haven't learned my lesson yet. After you change out the cleats in your shoes. Be sure to check for loose screws! I thought my Shimano spds were just more loose compared to my Time Atacs so I didn't think anything about it. Well as soon as we exit the turnaround point, I realized that I couldn't clip back in. Not that big of a deal since it wasn't like having to stand for singletrack. So I just turned the cleat until it would fit into the pedal. Once we got back to Elmwood Murdock, I stole a screw from my bottle cage attachment on the downtube and walla! Problem fixed! I was ready to roll with the wind at my back.

It would be 4.5 hours  before I would see that banner again!

 

We were ready and roaring to go!!! 

Finally 4.5 hours and 50 miles later, the group and I made it back to Springfield. It was an awesome feat to finish considering that I have never ridden anything over 20 miles. Yes it was all paved road. But the hills and the wind was enough to make me want to turn around. Thanks to all who sponsored me and gave me the motivation to try something like this. Thanks to Paul, Jim, Lori, and Andy for waiting for me at the top of the long hills on Church Road. Cramping sucks and creeps up on you in both legs. Thanks for the stops every 10 miles that were great places to hop off the saddle and stretch. And thanks to NE Brewing Company for letting me be on their team. As a team, we raised $6,900.98!!! Way to go!

Jim barely breaking a sweat! 

Just one more hill, right Lori?

Paul must have been sneaking in bites of Mineola Browns because he was on fire the whole ride. He made those hills his b*tch!

 Struggling...thinking about turning around. Must keep pushing!

A welcome site. But, it only meant that we were halfway! Ughh...

Where I lost a screw to my cleat

Church road up ahead

334 and Church. Man we were out there.

Welcome to Springfield sign. A much welcome sight!

 50 miles. Most I've ever ridden!

NE Brewing Co providing the beer!

NE Brewing Co team won a trophy for raising over $6900!

Live entertainment, good food, and good brews finished off the day 

Tour de Cure today

Wow, might be the earliest that I've ever woken up on a Saturday and a Sunday. I did the Wear Yellow ride yesterday and today is the Tour de Cure for diabetes. With advice from Dale, I have been chugging the water like crazy for the past few days. I'm trying to avoid the cramping in the quads around mile 20. Will report back on both rides later!

Ken Block's Gymkhana!

Rally racing on ESPN. Gotta love it. Interviewing Ken Block before RallyCross and discussing his video. Wowee, check out the driving footage on part 2. Super cool. 650hp, 0-60 in 1.9 seconds in a Ford Fiesta? Yikes!!! Check out the part at 2:35 when he is drifting around the guy on the Segway! And some serious driving skill at 4:03! Craziness, drifting up the side of an oval track at 5:30? Definitely one of the best car videos I've seen in a long time! Be sure to turn up the volume for this one!
Link here to see full size video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TshFWSsrn8




Part 1 video! Girls, rally cars, drifting, bikes, bright lights, and rappers. Can you ask for anything more??? Be sure to check out when he breaks the fluorescent lights at 3:04. Pretty cool!

http://youtu.be/EYUSlnXcYeU

Cat and Owl

Check out this video of an owl and a cat playing together. Kinda crazy. Must have grown up together?

http://animalvideos.yahoo.com/video-detail?vid=25272362&cid=24037722

To reiterate what Paul said

Check for ticks!!! Jena and I hit Tranquility yesterday and she later found a tick crawling on her thigh while we were at dinner. And she was wearing capri type pants! Pictures will be up soon of the senior portraits I took last Sunday and from last night's ride. Have a great day everyone!

Dale rides Ridgeline

Backwards!!! So I have only tried riding it in the correct direction three times. Two of those times...failure. Somebody mentions riding it backwards tonight, Dale says why not? Completes it! Awesome job Dale! We all bow down to you and your full rigid singlespeed!

Dale crosses into the unknown...rides Ridgeline backwards! from DJ Chi Wai on Vimeo.

Motion and blur - MNR

Usually when taking photos, moving while taking the picture yields a blurry outcome. That is why people spend tons of money on fast lenses, internal lens image stabilization, etc. But occasionally, blurring can have an awesome effect on the picture.

Today I got my chest harness and seatpost/handlebar mount in the mail for the Go Pro camera. I've been wanting a chest harness mounted camera for a very long time. I've seen too many cool biking photos in the woods where the handlebars are sharp but the scenery and trail are just a blur. This can be easily accomplished by having a slow shutter speed to capture the blur of the movement. Heck, I even drew up a blueprint for a handmade chest harness that would attach to the cross strap on my camelback (would use a square block of foam to hold the camera in place and the camelback strap would slip through this foam). Never tried to make it.

Getting closer to the effect that I like. Handlebars in focus, hands showing, blurring of the ground.  

Well now, I took the simple way out and bought the chest harness for the Go Pro. It wasn't cheap. Go Pro is very smart, they made a simple bottom to their camera housing that only accepts their attachments. Any attachment you buy for the Go Pro, has to come from them. Car mounts, suction cup mount, surf board mount, helmet mount, you name a sport, they have a way to attach the camera to it. Very, very smart on their behalf.

What's great about the Go Pro is that you can just set it to automatically take pictures at X interval and it will continue to do so until shut off. Unfortunately, you can't set any manual exposure settings on the camera. So you can't set a fast/slow shutter speed, or aperture priority. Aperture controls the amount of light coming into the camera by changing the size of the opening. Kind of like the pupil size of your eye is changed by your iris closing and opening. Sorry to get all camera technical folks!

I missed the water splash by a split second! 

It is my plan to practice these movement on the bike shots. Kind of hard when the trail is bumpy, but I think it can be done better. If I can keep my handlebars from moving too much and maybe ride faster, haha, then I will get more clear shots of the handlebars with blurring scenery. I have the Cancer ride this Saturday and Diabetes Tour de Cure on Sunday, so with it being on pavement maybe I'll have some better luck. Anyway, enjoy the pics! I need to work on the senior portraits that I took yesterday, will hopefully get some videos up and running of MNR. Have a great rest of the week!

Devo and MNR were both ready for a nice evening of riding! 

 Smile guys, candid camera!

65th Anniversary Sale at Canfield's

Here is a money saving coupon if you need any gear from them. Good thru May 29th. Anywhere between $10-65 off!

http://www.canfields.net/images/65_anniversary_Ecard.pdf

Bottlecap headset cover!

Was on MTBR forums, someone just built up their 29er build of a RIP 9. Anyway, look at this guy's bottle cap over the headset! Very cool! Paul is looking for clocks and thermometers, I think I would like to show pride in my other past time (reading library books that is!).

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/853/handlebarrip.jpg/

Some easy trail maintenance

It's been raining if you haven't noticed. And usually rain isn't good when it comes to riding. But this time it was! Paul and I rode Tranquility on Thursday evening to pack down some of the bumpier newer section since it was still somewhat malleable from the rains. Following behind Paul, I could see that our riding was actually having an effect on the trail! Pack it up PACK IT IN...let me begin. Thought I would leave you with some House of Pain lyrics. Jump!

Storms!

Man I wish I had any camera instead of my three year old cell phone to take pictures of the storm yesterday. This is the storm around 3pm above 114th and Dodge area.