Shooting at work today...

Yes, that's right. A woman was shot in the foot while at work today. They locked us down for three hours while the police, SWAT, and a police helicopter searched the area for the shooter. Never did find him. For about the first hour, Security wasn't telling anyone what was happening, then finally they made an announcement about why we couldn't leave, and why the cops, SWAT, and helicopter were swarming over the 300-acre grounds of our campus. Needless to say the interweb news outlets let us know there was a shooting, but no details. We were afraid it was a Columbine-style random killing spree. While I feel bad for the wounded-foot woman, I'm glad it was an isolated incident and not a going-Postal type rampage. Fortunately I was in my bunker of an office, surrounded by cinder blocks, concrete, and a restricted-access door to cower behind.

Quite surprising to be calmly eating lunch with your coworkers, and hear an engimatic announcement come over the PA: "This is a security emergency. Please take shelter where you are and await further announcements. Do not move around the building or go outside." Usually those PA announcements are for PA system tests, fire drills, notification of sprinkler system service, and the like. My first security emergency.

I wonder if my employer will offer us hazard pay to continue reporting to our apparently high-risk campus. And apparently the "No Firearms" policy is more of a suggestion than a rule.
I would not be surprised if metal detectors appear and random searches begin. And for God's sake secure the perimeter of the site! I frequently go cross-country to shorten my walk to work. No camera coverage, no fences...anyone could stroll onto the site from the street. Not that I work in a high-crime area, but I can do without a terrorist army strolling in, taking over the campus, and turning it into their own private terrorist fortress.

Maybe Security should install one of these on the roof:
That will give the bad guys second thoughts...

Arch-nemesis strikes again!

Well, I thought I'd take tomorrow and Friday off, to make up for having to work on my arch-nemesis the ever-broken robot. Turns out, the arch-nemesis robot is going to have the last laugh. Guess what? Yep, broken! So I will be returning to work when I should be enjoying some nice time off. It would be a shame if somehow the robot found itself in...oh I don't know...a lake of fire where it belongs!!!

Of walking and bone density

I have weak shin bones. Always have. So I started walking to work, in the hope that the mild impact would inspire them to be stronger. It worked! The first few days I had some ferocious shin splints, easily recognized from my days running track (400m). Over the Christmas break, I went about 1.5 weeks without significant walking, being off work and all.
So today I was back to work, and walked in. Shins are sore. Do my shins really lose mass that quickly?!?! Shocking. By the way, that is not my leg. My leg is much longer and better-looking. That leg is short and stumpy. Plus my leg has cool scars. Chicks dig scars, right?

So needless to say I will continue my walking adventures, and my semi-regular consumption of yogurt and calcium supplements, in the hope that my leg bones will not waste away to the point that I am hobbling along on toothpick-like bony stumps.

Tough choices...

As I contemplate a carbon bike purchase later in the year, I've mostly narrowed it down to three choices. The Trek Madone, Orbea Onix, or the Cervelo RS. The Trek is probably out because I don't like any of their paint schemes this year, and it's expensive. The Orbea is nice. The Cervelo is the current leader, but expensive. The RS has nice geometry that I think will fit better, and I like how they post all that engineering jargon on their site. Plus if their production frames can survive under Fabian Cancellera in Paris-Roubaix, it can survive my enormous mass. He is heavy (195lbs.?) and powerful (sustained 550 watts for 5 kilometers). I am heavier (?) and way less powerful (10 watts for 5 meters, followed by a nap).
Ideally, I would get the RS geometry with the R3's straight seat stays. But who am I to be picky? It would of course be built with my patented SRAM Red/Rival component blend. That is, Red shifters and Rival everything else. Although the new Rival shifters are said to have zero-loss travel and trim, just like Red, so maybe all Rival, all the time. Probably some nice Easton wheels. Though I do like the reflective stickers on ROL wheels...

Why am I not looking at, say, the S3? I don't generally ride fast enough to need lots of aero goodies, I don't race, and the giant airfoil frame just doesn't look pretty to me. Mostly it's aesthetics.

Choices.

My toes, they are cold

It was one of those borderline temperature days. Mid 40-s, light wind, perfect biking weather! I was out for two hours, starting to get a little oomph back in the legs which is nice. Trouble is, it's not cold enough to bust out the Lake winter cycling clogs, and my shoe covers were shredded last year. Needless to say, despite my wool socks my toes got quite cold. The rest of my foot? Fine, thanks for asking. Just the toes! Cycling shoes are generally made to pass lots of air through to keep you cool...not much good in January, though. Tomorrow, bike shop for shoe covers. And I need a new ratchet for one shoe...it's getting a little reluctant to let my foot out.

Pictures!

Here's a picture of my niece, "M". At four months, she's already begun a rigorous sit-up routine to keep her core strong:

And here's a shot of the two "brothers". The original bike on your left, the modern reincarnation "Velotron" on your right. My original bike has sadly been stripped of it's tires and pedals by mysterious cannibals. Velotron currently has massive 48cm wide handlebars on it. Thought I'd give 'em a try. They are monstrously wide...time will tell if I like them or switch to a more normal width handlebar. I do seem to breathe deeper, though I'm sure the aerodynamics are suffering. Decisions...
And no, that's not an optical illusion. My nose really is that big*! I will never by stranded at sea, because my nose doubles as a very efficient sail. Oddly enough, even with such a huge honker, I can't hardly smell anything. Irony: I has it!

And finally, this saddle should bring back memories for the old-timers:
Velotron has a NOS Turbo saddle. Unfortunately, the one with world champion (?) stripes cost roughly twice as much, so Velotron is lacking the full color effect. Still comfy, though.

*Amusing footnote: Several years ago I had my sinuses roto-rooted. The surgeon subtly mentioned to me that he's also a cosmetic surgeon, and could trim my nose down a bit while he was in there. No thank you, my nose may be getting bigger every year, but I like it! Scares the pigeons away. And if a bear attacks me, all I have to do is turn sideways to present my nose in profile, and it will surely flee in terror.

2009. "Time is the fire in which we burn."

Some Star Trek movie had that line it it. Tru dat. And apparently stolen from this poem. I'm no poetry critic, but it's a good one. All my life I've been keenly aware of the passage of time. Dunno why, makes me morbid sometimes. Gets me off the couch other times...


Yep...2009. Just got a notice of my 20-year high school reunion...in 2010. 20 years since high school? Hard to believe. The grey hair is awfully convincing, though. Lucky for me, I've got a nice job, a bitchin' wagon, abundant bikes, and of course cycling keeps you young. Didn't you know?

So I've started up the interval training on the pesky indoor trainer. Sadly, my cheapie trainer starts clunking pretty bad when the power goes up over 60%. Bottom bracket races are shot. What I need is a new trainer, this one is ancient.

I've also been thinking about carbon bike frames. Yes, I love my steel steeds...but I figure I ought to give carbon a shot, right? Everyone loves it! Planes are made out of it! It's true my enormous mass may shatter a carbon frame to splinters the moment I sit on it, or my gargantuan legs may tear the bottom bracket right out of the frame...but there's only one way to find out. And I've seen bigger guys riding Madones...so it must be possible. Maybe as a reward for reaching some cycling milestone this year, yeah that's the ticket.

So what's the word? Will a 6'4" 225lb. mash-machine turn a carbon frame into a shrapnel cloud of splinters? Should I wear armored chamois in case the seat post disintegrates under me? Orbea makes a nice frame with suitable geometry...hmmmm....