Where I've been

So this spring has been different than the last... say... 4 or 5 springs. I've only raced my bike twice. The last time that happened I was at PSU and dealing with a knee injury that sucked on the bike and made pretty much everything else just seem really boring and pointless.

Thankfully this spring there are no injuries. I just sort of lost the desire to get up at 6AM and go ride the same loop. Doesn't help that there really aren't that many good rides around here... certainly good weather, lots of company to go out and ride with, but I'm just so sick of riding up and down the same canyons and along the same coast. I apologize at this point for you unlucky bastards training back east... but at least you all have fun roads to ride on.

So instead of getting fat and entirely lazy, I've taken up hiking- which on the flip side to being boring here in SoCal is just amazing. There are a few enormous National Forests within an easy drive of OC/LA, and the Sierra Nevadas up North which I haven't even dreamed up all the trips that could take place there. Plus this hobby feeds some weird love affair I have with topographical maps. They are the shit. And when combined with GPS (in the absence of steep canyons) its just sublime.

So, in a nutshell, this is what I've been doing (should be an embedded google map here- if not, then stop looking at this in facebook and go here).

If you're zoomed all the way out, not all the points will be displayed, so you need to mess with it a bit...


View Larger Map

Oh Michael Steele...

Haven't updated this thing in a long time, but this is well worth it.

Michael Steele's comments on global warming are just hilarious:

"We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green. Oh I love this. Like we know what this planet is all about. How long have we been here? How long? No very long."

and a little truth:

"Greenland was most certainly not green when it was discovered by a seriously off course Viking, Gunnbjörn Ulfsson, in the early 10th Century. The island was given its name by famed Viking marauder Erik the Red. The Saga of Erik the Red and a 12th Century history of Iceland, the Íslendingabók, both describe how the name was really a clever ruse to lure settlers to the island’s less-than-tropical shores: "He named the land Greenland, saying that people would be eager to go there if it had a good name."

Stimu-bailout

Pretty interesting article in the NYT recently- arguing for allowing more open immigration from places like India and China to allow the talented knowledgeable people there to come here and buy up all the crappy houses (half kidding), work hard and eventually create more jobs in the process (not kidding).

Thought it sounded good, and began thinking about why it would never happen: these new immigrants don't vote! The unemployed American workers do, so the politicians who just wanted to get re-elected, will build up programs to put these unemployed Americans t0 work and protect their job security by not allowing talented people to come in. Not quite how this country was formed or made great....hopefully I'm wrong, but I bet it'll be somewhere in the middle.

This is what happens to LA traffic in the rain.....

Imagine if these people had to drive in ice and snow!!!! I don't think anyone would ever make it to where they needed to go.

Independance Day and... urban sprawl?

After staring at a computer screen for about 6 hours yesterday, I came home and mindlessly flipped through channels- and stopped for a bit on Independence Day, the horrible Will Smith flick dating back from 1996.

First a small rant.... so Will Smith sees large city-sized UFOs floating over Los Angeles, and being the ready Marine that he is, he gets dressed into dress uniform before heading down to the base, where he quickly enters the locker room to change into approximately what he had on at home. I just hate movies that try to be realistic, but are not.

Ok, so for the real observation here.... Will Smith's charachter is stationed out of El Toro Marine base, located in Tustin, Ca (so I'm not sure why he had a beautiful house that appeared to be in Malibu, but I'll drop that). There is a scene where a large group of alien ships come by and blow the shit out of the base... but what really caught my eye was the scenery surrounding the base, assuming the filming was actually done AT El Toro (stretch maybe?). But there was NOTHING. I mean.... nothing. It looked like it was in the middle of a desert. I ride through this base every Tuesday and Thursday morning.... it is completly and utterly surrounded by housing and the sprawl of shopping malls and shit now. The movie was only 12 years ago. A quick consult with google maps satellite shows that whenever they took those photos, only about half the sprawl was there (the other half is clearly already under construction- all the ground is leveled off and roads are there).

On the upside, though, the base has been decomissioned, and is on its way to being the largest urban park in the country.... though comparing it to Central Park is just... wrong... because they are very different- Central Park is surrounded by... buildings and ... culture, not just Starbucks and Target superstores.

Google Earth

Just downloaded the new Google Earth 5.0- pretty sweet.... The feature allowing you to dive underwater is cool, but I haven't really found anything too cool with it yet. What I'm really blown away by is the new terrain- which I don't think is actually new for 5.0- just haven't used Google Earth in a while.

I mean... how cool looking is that. Moro Rock is a large exposed rock face that looks out into a large valley in Sequoia National Park. When Nicole and I were there it was snowy/rainy/misty/you couldn't see past 10'. So I checked out what we missed on Google Earth- pretty nice.

And of course had to have a peak at what we're up against when we go back to ROMO- Long's Peak... the highest point in the park.
I can't wait to be on top of that guy.

Commuter Bikes

I've recently gotten Seattle and Portland on my mind for places I'm likely to move to in the next year or so... so naturally the first thing to consider is what sort of commuter bike I'll need.

Owing to the wet environ (this is a much cooler way to say 'environment') of each locale (again, cooler way to say 'location') I figured something good in the rain would be necessary- and I immediately thought of one of those new belt driven bikes from Trek.
I was a little disappointed at this first effort at this type of bike. Clearly Trek knows who they are marketing this towards, having called it the "Urban". So it's a super commuter bike right? Well where are the fenders?? I mean, sure I'll just install them myself, but seriously, if you're marketing a commuter bike, just put some of the necessities on there! I'll take this as an opportunity to get some wooden fenders so dudes with curly mustaches and curly mustache bars will think that I'm hip.

The thing that really gets me, though, is the lack of ability to throw disc brakes on this bad boy and the seeming lack of clearance for phat tyres. Disc brakes make so much sense for a commuter bike... I can't imagine anything easier than a cheap pair of disc brakes. I think I'd go with cable actuated so that you have some ability to gradually apply the brakes. Come on Trek, a commuter bike that will be all covered in brake juice ruining those trendy orange hoops?? And hopefully the climate has not shifted towards a snowy existence in Portland/Seattle like this year portends, but I'd still like the option of throwing some fat rubber on my cruiser.

Hopefully by the time I'm looking to get a bike Trek will come out with a second version of this bike.... that or I'll have to learn some braze-on techniques to get this guy up to snub....Come on Trek, do you need Lance to tell you how to do everything?

Fuel Taxes...

I was thinking about fuel taxes the other day while reading some articles online about the new Honda hybrids, next gen Priuses and other smart car type vehicles slated for the US market. A number of of the articles and discussions spun off of them brought up the point that because the government collects tax on gasoline, that the they have an incentive to keep gasoline consumption rates growing- maybe one of the reason the CAFE standards haven't increased (that and Bush is a numb-nuts).

I would think it would make a lot more sense to get rid of the gas tax and replace it with a tax on vehicle miles traveled. Now in some ways in my head this seems almost backward- we want people to switch to more efficient vehicles. But on the other hand walking or riding your bike or taking public transportation are all WAY better options than driving a Prius around all day long. So maybe there needs to be a mix.... tax on gasoline to further drive people to efficient vehicles, and a tax on mileage to help keep people out of the vehicles they've shelled all that money out for.... ummm yeah. All makes me think of this Onion article. Wonderful stuff.

World Champions

While watching the NFL playoffs recently, I've been reminded how much I hate it when sports call their champions "World Champions". MLB does this (even calling it 'World Series'), NFL, I think NHL (though at least they include Canada, but hockey is VERY popular in other areas, so still not an accurate statement).

This is a real world champion. Competed against the best in the world, who qualified by racing their asses off for the whole year earning their county's entry spots, then winning.



This is not a real world champion (I can't help but also display a fat baseball player. It could just as easily been a fat lineman).

Football, Baseball, Hockey, Baseketball.... none of the American based leagues even attempt to engage all the teams that play these sports internationally. It would be a logistical nightmare to do this every year obviously, so take it from Soccer- just do it every 4! I really wish that these leagues would dial back the arrogance at calling their champions "World Champions". I mean... does the league champion from the English Premiere League just randomly claim to be the "World Champion"? I really hope some non-American league does do this.... but I would think this is the only country where such arrogance exists. (Maybe France can give us a run for our money??)

All that being said, I still like watching the NFL playoffs- I'm still American afterall. Somehow, though, the Superbowl always seems to be a let down. The NFC/AFC championship games always seem to be better.... we'll see what happens this time. GO CARDINALS!! Go become World Champions!!

Zion National Park

Too much stuff going on to write out a full post about our recent trip to Zion, but suffice it to say the 2nd night of 16deg low and the epic climb up (almost) to Angel's Landing made this trip well worth it. Zion is pretty sweet in the winter.

Taken from our first hike of the trip- the Great White Throne is visible in the background. Lots of religious names abound here.... not surprising if you know the background on "Zion"

Erik trying to be Ansel.
Really should have sucked it up and walked back to the car for the tripod for this one, but I tried to cover up my laziness with some computer magic. Sort of worked (click to see the big version, and you'll see how much it sucks @ real size). Learning slowly that even with digital, its much better to take your time and get it right in camera.

Waterfall above Emerald Pools on the way to Angel's Landing. You may wonder where this is if you've only been there in the summer- I wouldn't be surprised if most of these smaller waterfalls were dry during the summer. All the other stains on the rock are from previous "waterfalls" that have deposited minerals onto the rock.

People.... stop being idiots.

Intriguing article I ran into the other day: an argument against global warming. Are you kidding me? Why are people still so stupid? I'm glad that this was published in Britian, so it's not just the US that people are so naive about the world... stupidity seems to be a global phenomenon.

The main point of the article: There is lots of snow, so global warming must not be happening. For someone to make this point, they must have no understanding of our planet, or what climate change is. Climate change is by nature a gradual process. Nothing happens quickly on a global scale- this is one of the problems actually- we'll be so far in doodoo (or ocean water) when everyone fully realizes the problem. The overall warming is tacked onto the variations of the climate that occur naturally- these swings can easily be larger, but the overall warming trend is still there.

God forbid we start to do things that will help global warming. Even if you don't believe that we need to cut our CO2 emissions, think of all the other benefits you get: removing coal as the base of our electric power will reduce a whole host of other pollutants (mercury, lead, etc) and will slow the acid rain problem that is killing Adirondack Lakes; changing our transportation to electric cars, or using better mass transportation will reduce urban air pollution- especially in LA- which causes an insane number of health problems, especially for the young and elderly; designing and building better buildings will cut energy demand and will dissipate all the negatives associated with whatever energy source you're using, and will give me a living hopefully.

So... if someone tells you that global warming is not happening, explain to them that they are wrong.

ETPhotography

I've come up with another way to waste far too much of my time, but this might (probably won't) end up with me making a few bucks on the side, but at the very least will break even (Although one could argue I'm about a grand in the hole right now....and that's without accounting for the new lenses and flash I want....)

ETPhotography represents about the fourth website I've tried out for selling some prints / cards of my work the past few months. I hope the gallery will grow over time to accommodate all the latest trips that I have pictures from. I'm especially looking forward to the winter scenes of Zion National Park that Nicole and I will be taking in right after the New Year- just a few weeks!

You may notice a banner to the right side that displays some of the prints in my gallery- check them out, and if you have a job and lots of disposable income, and like what you see, throw down for a ten dollar print.

Mt. Wilson

Well it may be wintertime, but it's still comfortable hiking season in Southern California. Nicole and I hiked up My Wilson (~5600') starting from around 1000', making for a 4,600' gain, 14mile round trip. It was an introduction for the Wilderness Training Course offered through Sierra Club that we're taking this winter/spring for 10 weeks (I'll post more about this later). Afterwards we will be hosting our own show on Discovery Channel entitled: "People who know just enough to get themselves into a shit-ton of trouble in the wild, only to walk a few miles to 'safety camp' and fly out in a posh helicopter". I will be speaking in my fake British accent in an overly dramatic nature for the entirety of the program.

The hike was pretty cool though, it was a relatively clear day in LA, and from a ridge at about 3500', you could see all the way out across the basin to the ocean, and Catalina Island (where some of you may remember Buster from Arrested Development had an unfortunate run-in with some livestock-god I love that show)

Most of our hike was obviously during the day... and the lighting was pretty harsh, making landscapes pretty washed out... and we kept moving so I didn't really take that many pictures anyway, though I do like this shot of a nearby peak receiving some snow possibly...


You can also see downtown LA here... and cluster of tall buildings amongst the bacterial like growth of concrete and steel all around it... and of course just enough haze to make you keep blinking. The clear days just make you realize how shitty the air is. On bad days you just think that you're inside of a cloud and shouldln't be able to see anything anyway.

And of course the most spectacular light show was saved for the drive home.... so Nicole snagged a few pictures of the two icons of Southern California here.... a freeway and a ridiculously awesome sunset

Looking forward to our next actual trip- Zion National Park for a night or two after the Nittany Lions make a meal out of some Roman soldiers.

Crazy weekend of cross

This past weekend was the first collegiate cross event, hosted by UCIrvine and Bike Religion, and District Championships (states for all you pussies out there who live in states where one championship is enough).

The first day I arrived real early to help run registration and setup the BBQ. Everything went relatively smoothly, but I was still running around with start sheets and fixing the course up as the day went along. I was pretty tired by the time I got a few laps of warmup in... but I was familiar with the course and ready to take some points. I did the 3/4 on Saturday, and had a real good start, sitting in 2 or 3 through the first lap. The "Bobby Langin Jr" of this year, Eric Christensen came flying by at some point during the 2nd or 3rd lap, and I didn't have it to tack on, but John VD rode away with him. I battled it out for 3rd with some other guy I don't know, and managed to hold him off in the last corner by opening up the inside line ever so slightly, then firmly closing the door when he tried to squeeze by. You don't sneak by on the inside on the last turn on someone who weighs 170lbs... I just move my fat ass over.

Sunday was a whole different story. I did the Pro123 race, as that was where the cat3 championship would be fought out. I thought maybe I had a slight chance of trying to cling to wheels and give the win a shot at the line until the official asked those who were racing the 3s to raise their hands and a number of the guys who have been racing (and some placing top5) in the Elites all year raised their hands. Oh well.... Didn't end up mattering anyway, as anyone with a bike and a cat3 license passed me by at some point during the race. A few riders had the distinct privilege of passing me twice, which was just fine for me, as that meant one less lap for me! I was NOT ready for 60 minutes of that kind of racing. But at least I know what I need to get my body ready for.

The barriers were right after a 180 right hand turn... so the dismount and run-around was the order of the day.

WCCC Cyclocross race

Next Saturday we'll be having the first WCCC Cyclocross race ever. Come be a part of history.

What I'm really proud of today, however, is that I've finally figured out all the bells and whistles of google maps "create a map" feature. Not that it was hard to figure out, but this thing rocks.

So come on out.... it's going to be schweet.

LA Comeback

No... not Los Angeles, this city does, and forever will, suck.

I've been thinking about Lance Armstrong's comeback. Not because I want to- I've read enough about douchebags leading up the election. But since it's the first story of every cycling website whenever Lance steps into a wind tunnel...it's hard to avoid.

This is quote from cyclingnews from today:

Armstrong is not necessarily looking for the position that will make the bike the fastest. "It has to be a perfect mix between position and power. If I am five percent slower due to the position, but have 25 percent more power, than that will be better."

Cyclingnews needs to do some better editing. "not necessarily looking for the position that will make the bike fastest"? Are you kidding? I think they meant to say not necessarily the most aerodynamic. That's the compromise.... aerodynamics and power. Not speed and power. You should be optimizing speed bar none.

Anyway... what I was really thinking about is my theory on Lance's comeback. I think he's seen a new wave of clean cycling hit the forefront. With teams implementing stronger anti-doping programs (Garmin and Columbia particularly) and tests being coordinated by drug companies (CERA) he wants to come back and prove to himself that he can win clean. I believe that he was on drugs when he won his Tours.... but can you blame just him? If many other people were doing it, it's hard not to, though I still blame him for doing it.... but it's not all on his shoulders. I think he looks at the sport now and thinks, wow even a clean cyclist might be able to win something now, maybe I'll see if I'm actually as good as my world championship ride in the rain had me out to be....but he was probably doping then too.

Historical Income Tax Brackets

Partial History of U.S. Federal Income Tax Rates Since 1913
Applicable Year	Income brackets	First bracket	Top bracket	Source
1913-1915	-	1%	7%	Census
1916	-	2%	15%	Census
1917	-	2%	67%	Census
1918	-	6%	73%	Census
1919-1920	-	4%	73%	Census
1921	-	4%	73%	Census
1922	-	4%	56%	Census
1923	-	3%	56%	Census
1924	-	1.5%	46%	Census
1925-1928	-	1.5%	25%	Census
1929	-	0.375%	24%	Census
1930-1931	-	1.125%	25%	Census
1932-1933	-	4%	63%	Census
1934-1935	-	4%	63%	Census
1936-1939	-	4%	79%	Census
1940	-	4.4%	81.1%	Census
1941	-	10%	81%	Census
1942-1943	-	19%	88%	Census
1944-1945	-	23%	94%	Census
1946-1947	-	19%	86.45%	Census
1948-1949	-	16.6%	82.13%	Census
1950	-	17.4%	84.36%	Census
1951	-	20.4%	91%	Census
1952-1953	-	22.2%	92%	Census
1954-1963	-	20%	91%	Census
1964	-	16%	77%	Census
1965-1967	-	14%	70%	Census
1968	-	14%	75.25%	Census
1969	-	14%	77%	Census
1970	-	14%	71.75%	Census
1971-1981	15 brackets	14%	70%	IRS
1982-1986	12 brackets	12%	50%	IRS
1987	5 brackets	11%	38.5%	IRS
1988-1990	3 brackets	15%	33%	IRS
1991-1992	3 brackets	15%	31%	IRS
1993-2000	5 brackets	15%	39.6%	IRS
2001	5 brackets	15%	39.1%	IRS
2002	6 brackets	10%	38.6%	IRS
2003-2008	6 brackets	10%	35%	IRS

If you are in the top tax bracket, Obama won't raise your taxes, he'll just be undoing the damage done by Reagan.

This BLOWS my mind

I mean... I knew the technology for this existed... but that doesn't diminish how awesome this is. I wish I needed to take the bus, ever.

http://www.shuttle.uci.edu/

Can't wait for every transportation agency to have something like this. Imagine checking where the busses and trains are, so you can choose what to do, or know exactly when you're going to make that train?? Flipping sweet.

Max testing

So I got suckered into doing some testing with the carrot of $150 and a free VO2 Max test later down the road. I did the first portion this morning, where I did a VO2 Max test and a 20km time trial (on a trainer... felt slow as balls!!).

Anyway, the VO2Max test was very weird. I had to do it on a exercise bike because it controls the exact amount of power (by adjusting the gearing- so if you pedal fast it's easy, and if you pedal slow it's hard... sort of weird). But we started at 180W (which is a light spin) and pushed it 20W higher every minute. It was very easy for a while, then of course the effort starts going sky high... and you just keep going until you are ready to pass out. I really think I would have done much better on my bike and with clip pedals. I pegged it at 440W, though they gave my VO2 max wattage as 420W, and my Lactate Threshold wattage at around 320W. That basically means that I can't hold 420W for very long (ie MAYBE up a climb in a race) but I should be able to time trial right at or above 320W (at least for 20-40k type distance theoretically). The magic VO2 Max number was 60. I really had no idea what to expect, and every measuring system will give you different numbers. The real cool thing to see will be what my numbers will look like this summer when I get them tested again- this time for my own purposes. I figure I'll get it tested right when I should be peaking to see how effective my buildup to cat3 dominance was.

The only real number of importance that I gained is knowing that my LT threshold heart rate is 172ish. Something I would have been able to guess pretty accurately, actually. Basically if you start riding up a gradual hill, and you slowly ramp it up, going harder and harder, your LT heartrate is the point where your legs start to bitch back at you. Its at this point where your HR can no longer clear all the junk out of your legs, and the acid levels in your blood start to rise. Time trial type efforts in training should be done riiiight about your LT HR, in order to help pushi it up.

Cross races feature HRs that are only higher than that... which is why cross is just....FUN.

Photo Contest Victory

20081005-IMG_8594, originally uploaded by etzepplin.

I won the 2nd week's photo contest of the SoCal series.... getting myself another pair of Voler leg warmers which I will likely put in a drawer until I move somewhere colder (can't wait). Looking at this photo now, though, I definietly see a few things I should fixed up. Definitely should have cropped a bit of the junk from the right hand side. Also wish I could have gotten a bit more "centered" so everyone was coming right at me... but with only a 300mm lens, I had to stand on the side of the course, so this was as good as I could get.

Still pretty happy, though I've pretty much given up on taking many good pictures and racing in the same day.... and while I'm 24, I'll race.