On Really Bad Drivers and a Question for my Readers

Yes I know, anyone who rides in this weather has more than a few loose screws. (And probably a bad cassette, a toasted chain, a buggered rear derailleur.) But anyone who wonders why I ride to work should try taking the Queen Street Car one day, that ought to change opinions of my mental health in a right hurry. To me there are two options, ride or walk, public transit is a non-starter.

Anyway today, December 30 I am riding along Queen on Brian's old Rocky Mountain beater, I have just left the office where I exit on Richmond, since I am a good boy who always obeys the law I went the direction of the one way street (Richmond is one way Westbound only) to York then North on York to Queen where I now go East. On Queen between York and Bay as I go East a woman in a silver GM small sedan, with a license AEDT 744 speeds past me in the left lane, as there are stopped cars not 3m ahead of me in the left she quickly dodges right, nearly hits me and continues in the right lane about 20m, I don't actually catch up with her until the next traffic light. When I do I yell at here, as follows:

Me: "Yo!"

Driver: Stops eating out of a bag of what looks like potato chips, turns, looks either surprised or terrified, maybe both

Me: "You do a lane change like that again and I'm calling the cops on you!"

Me: I ride off into the sunset.

So if you see a reckless driver in a silver car with the license AEDT 744 let me know and I'll make sure that the good people at 51 division learn all about it. (Hey maybe we should start a bulletin board, "dangerous drivers and what they did", cops wouldn't need to make ticket quotas any more, just talk to cyclists, if the story is believable they could press charges without need for actually patrolling the streets!)

Anyway I was going to write an article about where energy will come from in the future, but frankly I don't feel inspired by it at the moment and although writing about how to deal with nuclear waste attracted a surprising number of readers I am just not sure if I ought to even go there. So I am going to put what I started below and say the following, if you want me to actually write this thing, you have to put a comment, with your real live actual name, like the thing on your subprime mortgage... okay, like the thing on your clothing - if it says Kelvin Klein I want a loan! You have to say why I should write it.

If you really don't want me to write about this, but want to read about something else, you have to tell me that too in the comments below.

If you don't give a damn, well then you don't have to say anything at all.

Anyway without further ado here is what I started:

Subject "On A Greener Future"

Recent responses to my blog entry on Nuclear power got me thinking a great deal on the subject of Energy. I have felt for a long time that the human race cannot go on as it has. I would like to consider, in greater detail how we go about getting from the World we live in today, where, every single day we, humanity, consumes roughly 85 million barrels of oil to a World without oil. And I would like to consider how we continue our current standard of living without turning our planet into an unlivable hell hole, hopefully at the same time.

On Faulty Hardware

The core network switch in the office has failed. Ironically, the particular issue, a failed supervisor, could have been avoided but I work for a company in the risk management business and when the idea of a redundant supervisor was suggested to the executives it was decided that the risk of a catastrophic failure of the supervisor was small enough verses the high cost of a second supervisor that should such a failure occur the company would just have to be unproductive until the replacement arrived onsite. Sadly as it is now Sunday at 5:00am, the only person who is unproductive is me! I cannot do anything, without a core switch I cannot work and with a replacement due to arrive sometime in the next four hours I cannot risk falling asleep.

So here I am on my blog, also reading up on recent attempts to get a Nuclear Fusion reactor working, heady stuff if they can make it work.

So since I have nothing better to do I will spec a dream ride:

Specialized Transition S-Works Frame, see picture below.

Zipp 404 Clincher Wheels (You know every time I see or write 404 I think, page not found HTTP error, I really have been working in this industry for far too long.) Anyway you can see the 404 wheels below.
Yes I could attach a power tap, but I'm not exactly rolling in it (money), and although this is a dream Tri-bike, even dreams have to be grounded in reality. (Read power taps are outrageously over priced.)

Since it is a Tri/Time Trial bike, the bars are Aero bars, T2+ Cobra bars by Profile Design, see below for a pretty picture.

Of course that leaves out the group, well mostly, Specialized includes their own "S-Works" crank set, it is a double 53/39, and brake calipers. So I suppose the obvious group is a Dura-Ace. I put in the Shimano image for the 7900 Dura-ace group but notice it includes the standard and compact rings as well as STI, friction downtube and Tri shifters, obviously I'll be using Tri shifters, and where are the brake leavers? (Can not use STI brake leavers on a Tri-bike.)

Now at this point there are two possiblites, for my readers, one you are drooling or two you are Lesley and couldn't care less. If you aren't drooling at the idea of this bike, are you sure you are reading the right blog?

Anyway since the replacement Supervisor from Cisco is not due to arrive for another hour and a half... holy smokes! (I wish I could take a nap) I am going to calculate the weight of this thing based on the specifications on the web sites. (Oh damnit, I don't have the base bars, just the aerobars, well lets suppose, Cobra Wing bars which weigh between 205 and 215 grams.)

So here are the weights:

• Frame, crankset bottom bracket, chain rings and brake calipers: Not published!! Alright, lets just assume 1.5kg, nice Specialized, probably the one thing I'd really like to know and you don't tell me.
• Wheels: 1615g
• Aerobars: 492g
• Basebars: 210g
• Group: Not published! (To be fair there are a lot of variables here, for example do I get a 11-23 or a 12-25 cassette, I do not need a chain ring, but I need both derailleurs.) Lets assume 1kg.
• Tyres, tubes, cables and tape: Assume: 300g

Total: 5.1kg or about 11.2lbs! Holy smokes, did I forget something? That's half the weight of Erin. Damn. Now I'm drooling.

On News of the World and Other Things

I had the chance to watch the Yes We Can YouTube video, it is still inspiring. Then I was read recent polling data published on CNN, a full quarter of the American population will miss George Walker Bush when he leaves office in three weeks. Let me see, 25% of 300 million is 75 million people approve of the disaster that George Dubbya Bush calls his presidency. What planet are these people on?

In December of 2001, I went to China for the first time and met my future in-laws, my soon to be father-in-law asked why I disliked Bush, there were already so many reasons I did not even know where to begin, that was before the war in Iraq, before Katrina, before the Sub-prime meltdown, but not before the disastrous trillion dollar tax cut to the richest people in the World, the mishandling of the attacks of Sept. 11, the backing out of at least two major international treaties, Kyoto and the ABM treaty of 1972. (Alright the US did not actually withdraw from ABM until 2002, but the writing was on the wall the day Donald Rumsfeld was named Secretary of Defence.)

Anyway speaking of withdrawing from International treaties, I had an idea I wanted to throw out into the open, but it is on Nuclear power and I am not sure there are all that many people who know, or care enough, so a good many people may want to just move on, but for anyone who can follow, this might prove a good idea.

Nuclear power is a good source of energy in that it does not release huge amounts of green house gasses, but it does create waste product that will remain radioactive for a very, very long time. In addition, a normal nuclear power plant will produce Plutonium as natural byproduct of the fission process, Plutonium can be reused later in a power plant, or can be made into weapons. Another problem with Nuclear power is that the price of Uranium, the normal fuel for nuclear power is subject to all the volatility of regular commodities. (Obviously physical plant safety is a concern but that can be mitigated through well designed plants, modern designs have much promise in this area.)

So it seems to me that the problem with nuclear power is two fold, input and output. Well I need to cover some physics for my idea to make sense, there are, to my knowledge three different potential fuels for nuclear power, Thorium, Uranium and Plutonium.

The major problem with Thorium as a fuel is that it requires a two stage process to make it usable, first regular Thorium 232 has to be bombarded with a slow neutron then nuclear beta decay converts that Thorium 233 into Protactinium 233 which in turn decays into Uranium 233 which is fissionable. At least Thorium 232 is the most common isotope of Thorium. Uranium has two major isotopes, U238 which is not fissionable with slow neutrons and U235 which is fissionable, U235 comprises about 0.711% of all Uranium, 238 makes up almost all of the rest, about 99.284%, separation of fissionable 235 from unfissionable 238 is a costly difficult proposition. Finally there is Plutonium which is a synthetic atom, it is typically created by bombarding U238 with a slow neutron which creates U239 which beta decays into Neptunium 239 which beta decays into Plutonium 239, which is fissionable.

If you did not follow the above paragraph no worries, the short is fuel suitable for a nuclear power plant is difficult to come by. But that is nothing compared with what comes out when you are done.

Something in the neighbourhood of 1% of the fissionable fuel that goes into a reactor is actually used, the other 99% is removed along with the 'ashes' of the 1% and all of it, ashes and unburnt fuel is considered waste. The reason is as the fuel is 'burned' waste products start diluting the fuel, the waste products have a large neutron cross section which means that many of the neutrons which should be splitting fuel and making more energy get absorbed by the waste and produce nothing of value. So after a period of 12 to 24 months inside a reactor core the fuel, now very radioactive, is removed and put in a waste tank under the reactor for a period of about 30 years, after 30 years the most radioactive materials in the fuel have decayed and what remains although still very toxic is sufficiently harmless to be stored above ground or in some mountain. (Sadly the stuff that is left - ironically mostly Plutonium - is going to remain toxic for thousands of years.)

So we have two problems, fuel is a rare commodity and waste is something we will be stuck with for tens (or hundreds) of thousands of years.

Well why not chemically separate the unused fuel from the waste product? Heck, lets add some cheap Thorium to the exterior of the reactor, as it gets bombarded by escaping neutrons it will be converted into Uranium and then we can chemically separate the Uranium from the Thorium and get even more fuel?

Well in theory that is a great idea, the problem is chemical separation is banned by international treaty. It turns out that is a great way to build a bomb, build a small reactor, make some waste, extract the plutonium from the waste, build a bomb. Much easier than all that nasty mucking about with heavy Uranium isotopes.

So here is my idea, we have waste that has lots of useful fuel in it, we have fuel that could be made even more valuable if we could just reprocess waste. Well the issue is, we need a place where fuel could be reprocessed without concern that the reprocessed fuel would be made into bombs, oh and that place should already have lots of experience with Nuclear power for purely peaceful purposes, like, oh I don't know, say Canada?

It has been the avowed policy of this nation to use nuclear power only for peaceful purposes, we have had the technology to build bombs as long ago as the early 60's, maybe even earlier, yet we choose not to. Could an exception be made, that all nuclear products, retired cold-war era bombs as well as spent fuel be sent to Canada where in some remote facility it would be reprocessed into a fuel suitable for nuclear reactors? The reprocessed fuel would be sold to power generators all over the world, the remaining high level waste products could then be stored for the hundred or two hundred years in the geologically ultrastable Canada Shield.

Such an international program could solve multiple issues in one stroke, the verifiable complete destruction of cold war weapons, the removal of weapons proliferation issue, the reduction in nuclear waste products, the reducing of the cost of nuclear fuel, oh and it would also create quite a few skilled jobs in Northern Ontario or Manitoba or wherever the facility was located.

I am not sure if this is the solution to our energy problems, but I think it is a better idea than burning "clean coal" or oil. Obviously I think some discussion should take place on this matter, I wonder if I am the only one who feels this way?

On Ranting

I can hardly believe how angry I got in my last post. It is Lou Dobbs, well not just Dobbs he is just a mouth piece, rather it is the entire notion that a country built on immigration, the wealthiest country in the world, one of the largest both in population and geography, does not have the ability to take in a little cultural diversity. Now lately Dobbs has had a LASER like focus on illegal immigration to the exclusion of almost all other events, but I recall the first time I heard the Roosevelt quotation was from Mr. Dobbs. To an extent I agree with the guy that immigration should be done the legal way, but it seems to me that if you want to grow and economy and grow a country the way to do it is get more people. Making rules and making immigration difficult is closing a door, and doors have a way of becoming symbolic for a national state of mind.

As for concerns of a country becoming a "Polyglot boarding house", well that seems to be the issue of the very insecure. Only a people worried about their place in the World should concern themselves with national languages or a national culture.

Anyway I just felt I should explain why I got into such a tizzy the other day, I suspect cabin fever may have also played a roll in that.

On an unrelated note, I saw Valkyrie on Boxing day. It occurred to me, that even had the officers succeeded in their little coup d'etat, the allies were dead set on the unconditional surrender of Germany long before July of 1944. I think as early as 1942 the allies agreed that this time the war would continue until the bitter end. On the other hand, had the coup succeeded, then the officers might have surrendered and at least put an end to the war nearly a year sooner.

I recall when I was in High School I read in the Globe and Mail that one supply teacher asked his history students about some aspect of World War II and after much probing discovered that these students Toronto High School students did not know who Roosevelt was, Churchill vaguely and Hitler was a name they had heard of. I wonder sometimes, one day will Hollywood fill the roll of public school? But will students be able to think critically about things if they learn history through film? After all Titanic does not bother to connect the dots to Valkyrie, but the dots are there.

Speaking of such things, it occurs to me, many comments in the main stream have compared the current economic conditions to those of October 1929. I wonder, are we in fact entering the world of 1914 all over again? Is society about to be reborn in an orgy of fire? One should also recall that it was 1913, I think, that Wilson enacted the first Income tax in the United States and thus began the transition to our modern banking system.

I read a description someone had of the effect World War One had on the middle class of Europe, it was like they were dancing and someone removed the floor from under them, they tried to hold their place with nothing hold them up. Inflation robbed the middle classes of their savings and destroyed their income. I surely hope that this is just a repeat of 1989, not 1929 and certainly not 1914.

Happy International Jewish Movie Day!!

I often wondered what Christian people do on December 25, for a good Jewish boy like me, alright I'm a pretty lousy jew, pork tastes good, cheese burgers are good! But anyway for a decidedly non-believer such as myself Christmas has always seemed a curious holiday. Suddenly nobody wants to do anything, well how does one stay occupied?


In my case, wake up at a quarter to one in the afternoon helps, followed by a mass cook-a-thon, Nanaimo bars, two batches. (For Americans who may read this Nanaimo is a place in British Columbia that a baked good is named after, just like the chairs are named after a popular cottage spot in Central Ontario.) For normal people who call it washroom, I was referring to Muskoka Chairs, apparently Americans call it Adirondack Chairs, but then these are the same people who feel it is appropriate to take a nap in the sink?


I really should stop, making fun of American "English" is sort of like shooting fish in a barrel, its just too easy. Teddy Roosevelt once said "We have room in this country but for one language and that is the English language." Which to my way of thinking sounds like intolerant horse crap. For one thing, Americans don't speak English, at least not very well and for another here in Canada, a country significantly smaller demographically speaking, we seem to have room but for about 278 languages (possibly a lot more) and that is the English language (typically, sad to say, spoken like an American), the French language, the Italian language, the Spanish language, the 23 different dialects of Chinese languages, & cetra. So Mr. Lou Dobbs, take Teddy Roosevelt and go invade some small defenceless Latin American nation.


In other news, on Lesley's Birthday, Dec. 23, I wrote that I wanted a Specialized Transition Pro 2008 model. It turns out there is no such thing. Ooops! On the advice of a guy in the Beaches Cycle Club, I spoke with Neil, the store manager of D'Ornellas (now I would rather shop at my local shop, but they have limited experience with either of Specialized and Tri bikes). Anyway Neil told me that in 2008 Specialized tried to make the Transition Pro as per the specifications on the Specialized Site (well probably some written document that was later copied onto the website) but Specialized just could not get the paint right and gave up, so in the 2008 model year there was no Transition Pro.

Neil went on to describe how the 2009 S-works had an Easton bar that he was not fond of, it is not adjustable, so if it does not fit, you either buy a new bar ($1000) or you be uncomfortable and less aero. Now I was not thinking of getting an S-works transition, as I already wrote, they are too expensive. But then Neil told me something, somehow D'Ornellas can sell me an S-works frame, Zipp aero wheels, full Dur-ace group (except the brake calipers and crankset, those come with the frame) and adjustable Profile Design carbon fibre bars for only a few hundred dollars more than the MSRP (Manufactures Suggested Retail Price) of a Transition Pro. Needless to say I am thinking that over very seriously, the wheels alone retail for over two thousand. The most ludicrous part, if I buy a considerably inferior model, the Transition Expert (Ultegra group, heavy parts and frame) and then upgrade the wheels to the same aero wheels, I end up paying as much as I would for the S-works with Dur-ace.

For anyone not into road bikes a quick translation, I can buy a low end Ferrari with reasonable parts, replace the wheels with something nice and spend about as much as a Ferrari with custom selected parts that are the best money can buy. (You can replace Ferrari with your preferred method of transportation.)

One nice thing about recessions, suddenly all these wonderful toys are very cheap!

Its time to check on my thoroughly Canadian Nanaimo bars, so in the spirit of quoting people from a hundred years ago, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

On Tri and Time Trial Bikes

I have been doing a great deal of research on the subject of Time Trial and Tri bikes (yes there is a difference but it is subtle and does not really matter when you are at my level any way). Sadly the great resource that I am using? The Internet, where let's face it, anyone with an opinion is suddenly an authority, no matter how inaccurate, or invalid their opinion maybe.

I decided, since the S-Works Transition is far and away too expensive to settle on a more reasonably (yes that is a relative term here) priced 2008 Transition Pro. Probably because the value of the Canadian dollar dropped in 2008 prices for 2009 products have gone up, considerably, also the 2008 looks better, which matters. (Okay some people will like the flashy red 2009 model, but I like the more conservative black with red accents, but whatever the main thing is I am saving a lot of money by going with the previous model year).

Anyway I asked my friend at the bike store if he could get such a bike for me, since it is an older model availability becomes more of a concern.

Well alright see, this is where my skater mentality comes into play, in the world of inline skating lets suppose you decide you want a pair of skates in September, well unless you are a size 6 or size 14 foot you are out of luck. Many manufactures make one production run around October of the previous year, put the skates on the shelves for Christmas and by August or September you will be hard pressed to find something in your size. Going custom is an option, but it is very expensive and suppose you broke your old pair and need a replacement pair, well while you are waiting for your fancy custom skates what do you do? Ride a bike? Do that you might discover that you are really a cyclist, skating was interesting but clearly not your thing and by the time the customs show you're full time on the saddle. Don't laugh, something very similar to that is what happened to me! Oh well, Bont, BSB, MPC and Matter's loss has been Specialized, Mavic, Vittoria and Shimano's gain.

Anyway I asked my friend about availability of the 2008 Specialized and his response, as I really ought to have expected, was 'what size?' This invites a really complicated problem, I need to figure out size and hence all the research. Anyway I have been digging around and the first thing I realise, on talking to a few guys who ride TT (Time Trial) bikes is that I need to speak with people who actually sell these bikes in significant quantities, which is another big change from inline skating, I don't need to go to Ottawa or Cambridge, just Lawrence Ave. and Brimely Rd, or Bloor St. and Keele Ave., or... you get the idea. So okay, the local bike shop does not sell enough TT bikes, Oh well, at least I am not driving across Ontario in a quest for a good bike. But I do realise I should act soon, I guess I'll be buying this thing on lay-a-way.

Anyway here are some resources, hey I found 'em someone else might find them useful, on TT bikes:

Here is a discussion of the difference between Road and TT bikes. For myself I love long rides and while I enjoy riding in groups sometimes the peaceful solitude of ones own thoughts are desirable, and I figure I am going to be doing some Time Trials so having a road and a TT bike makes sense to me.

This is a discussion of proper posture on a TT/Tri bike.

This is a very technical discussion of bike geometry, it is going to take me a few passes to digest everything here.

This is also a very technical discussion of fit for TT and Tri bikes.

On an unrelated note, hi to everyone who came here from Speed Skate World, that post was written with my tongue very firmly planted in cheek, but still, there are an awful lot of really bad drivers out there. I honestly think the province should have more frequent and harsh driver exams, and I also think that the city should limit the number of taxis to something a lot smaller then it is now, apparently the number of taxis is so bad drivers are getting into fist fights for fares, its just a matter of time before a driver eager to pick someone up from the other side of the street does an illegal U-turn and plows into a cyclist who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place (the proper side of the road) and the wrong time (when a Taxi was doing an illegal U-turn).

On Economics and Random Thoughts

I've spent too much time shoveling snow, I have thrown my back out something awful, walking around the kitchen is becoming painful and here is the best part, another 10cm is predicted to fall overnight. I hate winter.

So I was looking up pricing on the Specialized Transition I was dreaming about, not going to happen, I am sure to Lesley's relief, the model I liked was just way to expensive. Ironically just one step down, but considerably uglier styling is the Transition Pro and it is half the price. Honestly guys, couldn't you make the Pro in the same colour scheme as the S-Works version? (I'd pay a modest premium for that colour scheme, but lets face it, us working, in my case very, stiffs, cannot ever possibly afford an S-works bike, they are just too expensive for what is ultimately a recreation, a passion to be sure, but still just a recreation.)

Anyway I've had the chance lately to think about a great many things, like the recession, and it occurs to me, I have a line of credit, a mortgage and a big RRSP that is loosing value, probably faster than I am paying off my mortgage. So it got me thinking, the reason I am being such a tight wad with money lately is simple really, I want to pay off that damned line of credit while making regular payments to the mortgage so that I can feel justified in spending thousands of dollars on a new bike. Well here's a really silly idea, so silly it actually makes a lot of sense. The Government of Canada should allow people in positions like my own to make a one time withdrawal (just during market slowdowns like this one) from their RRSP tax free on two conditions:

1. The money, limited probably to a maximum of about $20 thousand is paid back to the RRSP within 15 years.
2. All money withdrawn is used to pay down higher interest debts, i.e. debts with an interest rate that exceeds the bank prime rate. Credit card debt, line of credits, over draft protection, etc.

Actually first time home buyers are allowed to do exactly what I am proposing (of course a first time home buyer does not need to pay down debts), but I am suggesting allow anyone to make an RRSP withdrawal, just during periods of market slowness and only allow maybe one withdrawal every 5 or 15 (or whatever else) years.

When you think about it, paying down that high interest debt probably makes more sense for many people than having an RRSP in the first place. After all, with what the markets are doing these days, I am pretty much sure that if I dared look at my statement I'd just want to cry.

Actually I was in the elevator in First Canadian Place a couple weeks ago, and a couple guys get on and start chatting and I was tempted to tell them I was in the exact same place:

"Have you looked at your RRSP mine is being clobbered."

"I won't even look, I'm too afraid!"

So tell me, I get some of my RRSP now, pay off some bad debts, i.e. debts that are costing me money without being tax deductible (see the Smith Manoeuvre if you have the guts for that kind of thing) or debts for items that are deprecating, unlike a mortgage which is on a property which, we hope goes up in value over time. I then pay off my loan to myself faster, because I don't have as many bad debts and maybe I go spend a little hard earned thus priming the pump.

The only looser in this little scam? Well I suppose whoever loaned me at a high rate before hand, the bank or credit card, but even they don't get hit too bad, they just get the higher interest debt paid off sooner so they in turn will go around and loan more money because suddenly they have a larger capital ratio. Holy smokes, I think I just dreamed up an almost free way to really give the Canadian economy a healthy kick start. Why the hell am I, a computer engineer after all, thinking of this? And how does one suggest this sort of thing to the Ministry of Finance, I think it is a good idea, I might be wrong, but hey it ought to be considered by someone who knows more about this than me. Shouldn't it? If anyone knows someone high up in Ottawa, feel free to pass my idea along, mention my name if you'd like, but mainly lets at least give the smart people as many good ideas to shoot down as possible one of those ideas will be a good one that just might get things working again.

And to my readers, in case you are wondering, yes I did come up with a way to end the world's dependency on oil, its green and safe and creates lots of jobs. Actually I am not sure if it would work, something else for the smart people to shoot down but you can read a really old description of it here. I've actually been giving that idea a lot of thought lately, I am not so sure it would completely supplant oil, but it would get us started and having driven through Southern Arizona and New Mexico I can assure you, installing a huge grid of solar generators there would not even be noticed, it is "magnificent desolation" but still desolated.

On snow and humor

First I should note that all to often my readers to get to see me lash out at Toronto drivers. In my defense, Toronto drivers are appallingly incompetent, but sometimes someone does something really courteous and makes me feel like a total jerk for bitching. Anyway the story is, I’m riding to work on Thursday and I get to a street car (to Europeans you would call them a tram), and by law I am not allowed to pass when the doors are open, thus preventing a collision with a pedestrian. Well as the street car slows down people start walking onto the street as is the norm to board, and I slow down. But then wouldn’t you know, the driver does not actually open the door until I pass. It was a really nice thing to do, sure on a road bike, either Erin or the Coppi I could whip past just as soon as the doors shut and catch up with the next street car just a couple blocks further down, but on the old mountain bike Brian gave me, it’s a different story, passing a street car is no trivial exercise when you are not clipped in and your bottom bracket is making unsettling noises.

I noticed someone from Iowa hit my little blog. Hello out there, hope you enjoyed the jokes. :) Actually they were Googling the pattern: “geez, i didn't think they'd get this @%#*^ing mad." ( stephen harper, december 2008 ). So like I said I hope they enjoyed the jokes. :) I guess for American’s we ought to change the line to be geez, I didn't think they'd get this @%#*^ing mad." ( George Bush, December 2008 after the Iraqi press conference).

Its snowing really hard today, it was predicted, 15cm, that's six inches, and lots of wind. Did I ever bitch about the weather? Well walking to work sucks! Best of all, when Lesley woke up she drove, had I waited for her I could have arrived at the same time without being cold and wet. I hate winter, oh well, 103 days until April 1, lets just hope there is no snow by then!

On Riding in the snow or how insane are car drivers?

I had been under the impression that a mountain bike would hack the snow better than a road bike. Not quite.

It snowed about 5cm last night (that's two inches for the Americans in the room). I used Brian's old Rocky Mountain, thanks again Brian. I tried as much as possible to stick to the side roads at first - not smart. The snow was the packing snow, ideal for making snow men or snow forts, not very good for riding through. I tried to ride in the pressed areas where the weight from the car tyres had crushed the snow down hard enough that there wouldn't be the rolling resistance I was fighting on the side of the road, the problem is that crushed snow is very slippery, almost as bad as ice. At one point my wheel skidded out from under me and I had a very slow speed crash, nothing serious, just some scrapes on my right leg.

Ultimately I rolled (and walked) over to Queen Street and rode along Queen. Now Queen is a busy street but at least the snow was just slush and not that much. I was able to ride Queen all the way in, I got splashed a lot and feel pretty filthy, but at least I made it without additional crashes.

I did notice a few of the more idiotic things some drivers did that I think ought to be recorded here just so everyone can be as disgusted with Toronto drivers as I am.

A driver pulled there car out of a spot just after I passed, they passed me then a few blocks later stopped in the middle of the road and started brushing snow off their minivan.

On Queen street a driver in a late model Rav-4 went through a puddle as she passed me, thus spraying mud all over me. I believe she was not paying attention, had she been focused on the road I suspect she would have avoided the puddle. The reason I believe she was not paying attention, when I caught up with her at a red light she was applying makeup. The entire light I stared at her with folded arms, she did not even notice. (I was tempted to hurl a snowball at her window and yell out, "now we're even!") Except lets be honest, that snowball won't even leave a mark, I am still cold from the ride in.

I think there should be a law, anyone who wants to drive must ride a bike at least 20% of the week, then maybe drivers would pay attention.

On mountain bikes and cold weather riding

Brian from the BCC was kind enough to give me his old Rocky Mountain on the condition that I never return it. I have been told that if I want to get rid of it I should have it stolen. This invites the curious experiment, if I leave it unlocked at the corner of Bay and Richmond (where my office is) how long until it disappears.

Maybe after the current survey is over I will run a query: how long until a bike gets stolen, 5mins, 10mins, etc., and then see what the correct answer is. Okay, I will not be doing that. It was a very nice thing Brian did and more to the point, much as I dislike mountain bikes, that Rocky Mountain sure beats walking. And yes I am still waiting for my Coppi.

In any case, escaping the cold sure is hard, no matter how many layers I put on, the cold gets to me. Today was minus seven or eight but with the wind I am sure the nitrogen was condensing on my leading edges.

In other news I have been sending my resume out, in a quest for part time work. I printed a picture of the Specialized Transition I want and now every time I look at the picture of Lesley by my monitor there is that Transition. I am a bad influence on myself. At one point I got so depressed that I actually Googled "work from home" holy smokes are all those scams legal? I mean, sheesh, if you apply for a job you should be paid, you should not have to pay to get started.

I decided to sell all my old skate stuff, lets face what is now a pretty obvious fact, I am not a skater, never really was. I thought I was, I thought I liked it, truth was I had forgotten how much fun a good bike is. While I can understand that some people really like skating, are even passionate about it, and good for them, that's just not my cup of tea. I wonder why I stopped riding, oh yeah, I met Lesley.

The shame is I should not have stopped riding, I would probably be winning races now if I had stayed on the saddle, oh well, hindsight is 20/20.

At least I can do one thing, starting in April there will be a Beaches Cycle Club Saturday morning ride. I will be running the ride, I volunteered some time ago. It was my intention to run just a introduction to road riding, but me being as in love with cycling as I am, I have decided to expand the offering. The beginners will start with a 40 or 50km loop around the city with a 9am start time. Keener's, like me, can come out earlier and do a double loop, i.e. 80 to 100km, 40 to 50 as a hammerfeast and then throttle it back for the beginners. I am going to try to make that second loop a really welcoming environment with lots of constructive feedback. I may not be the next Fausto Coppi, but damn it sure would be cool if I was a coach of the next Coppi.

A final aside for the day, I was trying to get the spelling right for Fausto, so I Googled Coppi, check out the line above, it is this one here too, now that steel frame is old school... duh! (Its from the 1950s!)

On Riding Faster and use of four letter words

I found this article on the relative advantages of Aerobars (also know as Tri-bars) Time Trial Bikes and Time Trial Helmets. Now I'd like to think I am really secure well adjusted individual, but I strongly doubt I'd be willing to wear a time trial helmet. They just look too goofy. Sorry guys, maybe if I came in a close second I'd get a TT helmet.

The following is a joke that's been making its rounds on the Internet, I liked it.

When is @#$% Acceptable?

There are only eleven times in history where the "F" word has been considered acceptable for use. They are as follows:

11. "What the @#$% do you mean,we are sinking?"-- Capt. E.J. Smith of RMS Titanic, 1912

10. "What the @#$% was that?"-- Mayor Of Hiroshima, 1945

9. "Where did all those @#$%ing Indians come from?"-- Custer, 1877

8. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that."-- Einstein, 1938

7. "It does so @#$%ing look like her!"-- Picasso, 1926

6. "How the @#$% did you work that out?"-- Pythagoras, 126 BC

5. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling?"-- Michelangelo, 1566

4. "Where the @#$% are we?"-- Amelia Earhart, 1937

3. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!"-- Noah, 4314 BC

2. "Aw c'mon. Who the @#$% is going to find out?"-- Bill Clinton, 1998

1. "Geez, I didn't think they'd get this@%#*^ing mad." Stephen Harper, December 2008

On Various Observations

Yesterday was the annual Christmas party. My employer has a long tradition of really cutting loose at the Christmas party. No spouses and drunkenness is actually encouraged, which for one day a year is probably one of the more sensible traditions. Of course in my case once I felt tipsy, after three drinks, I switched to water, and good thing too - in the middle of lunch a user in Montreal emailed me, they needed help with something. (The flushing sound is my Blackberry entering the Toronto sewer system.)

Anyway I came across this quote in the book I am reading, Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson, "[T]he Constitution did not contemplate that the title Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy will constitute also Commander-in-Chief of the country, its industries, and its inhabitants... The purpose of lodging dual titles in one man [the president] was to insure that the civilian would control the military, not to enable the military to subordinate the presidential office." - US Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company v. Sawyer (1952).

When I was in Grade 11 I had the chance to take a course on American history - recall, for me, Canadian history was required, not American. We spent a great deal of time looking at the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances. It all seemed so convoluted and complex. My impression at the time was, why bother? Now I understand, it took George "dubbya" Bush for me to understand the constitution of the United States. I suppose that is the silver lining of the Bush administration and the Republican rubber stamp congress of 2001 to 2006.

So here is another thought, lately I've been drooling over the Specialized web site. In particular the S-Works Transition. Yes, I want a time trial bike. I also need a hell of a lot of money, guys can everyone hit the ads on my blog, like a million times? (Alright don't waste your time, I need to find a get rich quick scheme, heck, I'll settle for a good scam at this point.)

Maybe I could moon light as a neighbourhood computer guy. Someone taped an ad up on my front door offering a review of my wireless security infrastructure for only, $100, well actually I think it was $99.95 (you know that nickle makes a big difference!) Okay, last time I checked my Masters in Computer Engineering (Computer Networks) was still valid so here let me audit my own wireless security, it's 802.11N, therefore it is inadequate, too bad! (Good thing I don't give a damn.) Guys, who are not computer savvy here is the story, wireless security is a contradiction in terms, you can have wireless, you can have security but you cannot have both, and frankly for a home user, you don't need it. The worst anyone who hacks my network could possibly find is my laptop and on it, my... Resume. *insert sound of me quivering*. I suppose they could hitch a ride on my Internet connection, but if they really want that, just ask, why waste time cracking my WPA or WEP (or whatever the hell I am using) key?

My neighbour suggested I take a part time job at Starbucks, I figured it would take about 600 hours for me to be able to afford that Transition, at 10 hours per week, that is over a year! Does anyone need a computer guy? The more I think about it the more reasonable it seems, people who know me are already bugging me for computer help all the time, this way they won't have to feel guilty about asking for help, they are paying for it and I am paying for my new bike... hmmm. (Maybe if they live far enough away I can ride out to their place and get a free ride in with each service call, sort of bonus, rates are lower for people who include a free hit of Soy Milk with each service call.) ;)

I did have a plan B, win a bunch of races, collect lots of money and then buy the bike, except lets be honest, I'm no spring chicken anymore. At the Christmas party there was assigned seating by table number, I could not make out the number of the table next to the one I was at, not because I was drunk, but rather because I did not have my glasses. I'm getting old, groan! In any case, I don't think I am good enough to win the sort of races that have big prizes at the end, the sort that could ever make a Transition an affordable propostion.

Somehow I will make this dream of mine work, I'm just not sure how.

On winter

I hate winter.

No let me be more blunt, in hell they used to say you would get to shovel coal, in Canada, we shovel snow. At least it is warm in hell!

Yeah, I threw my back out shoveling what could charitably be called wet slush last night. Of course I was smart to do it then, had I waited until this morning the walk would have been a sheet of ice, but my back is killing me.

Of course the pain in the back is small potatoes next to a much big problem, I still have only two options for getting to work, well only one option really, take public transit or walk. Obviously I walk.

I have only way way to keep going through this evil white cess that falls from the sky, think of green trees and open roads, I like Warden Ave from about Major MacKenzie north to Vivian (actually I have never used Warden North of Vivian, but I should try it out some time). Elgin Mills, East of Leslie is a nice road. One of my personal favourites though has to be South bound on 9'th line south from Aurora Road. Every time I do 9'th I've had a monster tail wind and it's a slight downgrade, makes for a steady big ring hammerfeast almost all the way to Main Street (Stouffville Rd.). I say "almost all the way", because first you have to circle Musselman lake, which is itself a worth the ride.

I miss the warm weather. On the other hand, assuming we get decent weather starting in April, I have only 112 days of this crappy weather left... One hundred twelve, ouch.

On Riding a really old bike and stress

As I have already documented my Coppi is getting a repaired. There is a crack in the rear drop out. I just spoke with the place that is doing the job, what they are doing is:

1. Remove, saw off, the old drop out at the chain stay and seat stay.
2. Weld on a new drop out.
3. Repaint.

Except for one itty bitty little detail, the new drop out has to be shipped from England and will not arrive until Friday. So I have two choices, ride Erin to work or take the Street Car. I have decided to wake up a half hour earlier and walk! (Not a snowball's chance in hell I'd dare risk hurting Erin in this crappy weather.)

Hey Brian, if you are reading this, that offer on your old Rocky Mountain still stand? (Insert sobbing nosies right here.)

Alright here is a totally unrelated thought. Lately I've been thinking a lot about what Georg wrote on my Blog. (For those of you who missed that exchange, count yourself very damned lucky - according to Lesley that was some of the most entertaining reading she ever got from my blog actually. If you really want to read it, see here, here and here.) For myself I cannot bring myself to re-read those posts, it is too painful for me. I think back to what I was trying to say and it occurs to me, I still do not believe that my fundamental message was that unreasonable. A sport, that I used to participate in has some very serious issues, unless those issues are resolved that sport will continue to contract and wither. (I went on to be quoted by Peter Doucet in Speed Skate World, when I said that frankly the momentum to keep things crappy is so great that I just do not see these issues ever being resolved.)

That Georg was upset is certainly his prerogative. Perhaps my language was harsh or in some other way I was a jerk. (I know I can be a rude and abrasive prick even when I don't mean to be and I know it comes through in my writing sometimes.) What got under my skin though was the whole anonymous posting bit. Georg was offended because of what I wrote, I was pissed because someone called me names without have the balls to put sign a name to their writing. (Later by examining the web logs I was able to confirm that every one of the anonymous posts were from Georg. The joys of being a computer security analyst by day.)

Anyway I bring all this up because I often wonder why Georg wrote what he did. It just was not like him, was I that offensive? One person actually wrote to tell me they agreed with what I said, so could I really have been that mean? It just did not add up. Since then I have speculated at no end to the cause of that angry anonymous outburst. I have figured on a few possible explanations. One theory I like is that Georg, like the rest of us is stressed over the economy and dumped on me - I like that theory because it relieves me of being such a monster of bad writing that I am responsible for his tirade. Since I cannot exactly go up to the guy and ask what inspired it I guess I'll never know for sure.

Since then I've had more economic stress, no my job is, so far, pretty secure, but a number of Lesley's co-workers were just downsized. Needless to say, she feels awful for her friends. How do you go about comforting someone who is feeling stress at the thought of loosing their own job, concern for friends who lost their jobs and guilt for having a job, all at the same time?

I read recently that a very decent man in the BCC recently lost his job too. What do you say to someone in that position?

I often think about economic downturns. I have a stupid question, when did we as a society decided conservatives were better at running the economy? Look at the American example, in the last months of every long term (i.e. 2 or more presidential term) Republican administration since World War I there was a major economic contraction. At the end of the Harding/Coolidge/Hoover period (1920-32) the depression, after eight years of Ike a mini recession. By the middle of Nixon's second administration the seeds of stagflation were already sown. Regan/Bush Sr. had the recession of the early 90s. Now Bush Jr. has given us subprime disaster. Here is the best part, every single one of these disasters can at least to some extent be blamed on the presidential administrations I just listed. (Well maybe not so much Ike, but then he was a moderate conservative, had a moderate policy and resulted in a moderate recession, unlike say, Bush Jr.)

Here is another scary thought, I did not once look up Wikipiedia, or anything else for any of the above paragraph. I need to get outside more. A challenge, if you are bored, name all the presidents of the United States since Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt that is, yeah I really need to get out more, I got them all, even, Taft.

On shout outs and silly mistakes

I had to connect to the office to perform some backups - it used to be an automated process but a "bug fix" made the automated part of the process break, so now every Sunday at 0100 I am connecting to work to start servers up. (I have got to fix that.)

Anyway first, I am surprised nobody pointed out how careless I am, 2 by 6 is 12 speed, but 3 by seven is 21 speed, only back in the days when I was young and horses had yet to be invented I don't think there were all that many seven speed cassettes. This is why I kept saying 18 speed, because road bikes were 2 by 6 mountain were 3 by 6, not 3 by 7.

Also, not that it matters, and it is rather obvious, my spelling is pathetic. But I will point out Dura-Ace is spelled Dura-Ace, hey its just a product name, but still I can Google Shimano. Now that I've done just that, has anyone checked out the DI-2? It looks stupid crazy expensive, massive overkill and waaay cool. On the other hand, one thing I really like about riding is it is entirely a human thing, every part of a bike is being moved by the rider. This electronic control system puts some tiny portion of the effort on the grid and that just seems wrong to me.

Now I was reading over Eric's blog and even if you don't skate it is easy to say the version 5.1 skate boot is really a thing of beauty. I have to admit, if I owned skates that looked that good I'd be really hesitant to use them because I wouldn't want to scuff them up. Well done Eric!

On an unrelated note, I noticed someone from Whitchurch-Stouffville, or at least their ISP is in that area, was reading my blog. Hello who ever you are, can I just say I really like riding through your neck of the woods, but damn Stouffville road is not a bike friendly road at all.

Finally I am putting out a call for volunteers, I need someone to drive or take notes, which ever, sometime during the Christmas weekend. I want to drive the route around Lake Simcoe and I think it best if someone is with me to help me firm up the route. If you think you can help out, drop me a line or post a comment.

On old rides

Back in the spring of 1994 for reasons I do not remember my dad decided to buy me a new bike. He wanted me to buy a mountain bike but even then I wanted a road bike. In those days, like now it seems, mountain bikes were the rage, much like comparing the number of cylinders in a car, people would compare number of gears, (only in those days it wasn't 2 by 9 or 3 by 10, it was called 12 speed for 2 by 6 or 18 speed for 3 by 7).

An aside for anyone who is not an avid cyclist 12 speed or 18 speed is a lie, because there are really only a few unique gear ratios. For example use the big ring in front and a larger gear in back is a lot like the small ring in front and a smaller ring in back. In my experience, I only use perhaps four to six gears on a long ride, and when I am just going to work, on my good bike, Erin, I might use two or three gears, on my old beater bike, I hardly shift the gears, ever.

Anyway returning to that spring of '94, Dad and I went to the bike store, Sport House of Canada, they closed up more than ten years ago, I remember I was admiring the road bikes and Dad was pushing me for mountain bikes, the proprietor, Louis knew my dad well, he had been a customer at Sport House for years before I was even born. Well when Louis (who I should probably add was Italian) found out I like road bikes he became ecstatic and sat me down on a used white Coppi. It was remarkable how willing dad was to listen to Louis sell, well dad really, on that Coppi. To be fair, dad had (still has come to think of it) a Coppi just like the one at Sport house. The one Louis showed us was about $250, far cheaper than the decent mountain bikes and it was made in Italy - an important selling feature if the seller is Italian.

Obviously dad was sufficiently sold on that Coppi that he bought it for me and I loved that bike. I rode it to work at the pool every day that I could in the summers of 1994 and '95, except when I drove (being 17 and having a licence meant the car was always preferred but sometimes not available). In 1996 I was lifeguarding at the outdoor pool when the back wheel seized up, I recall I was able to ride to work but I just could not get the poor thing to carry me to Sport House to get fixed. Ultimately I had to walk it all the way from St. Clair to about halfway between Eglinton and Lawrence because the back wheel was so bad. When Louis saw what happened his fear was the cones were ruined and he would have to send away for new cones from Italy.

It turned out the back axle was broken, it took Louis a few days to get her all fixed up but at least the cones were fine. Well I continued to ride the Coppi, and in the late spring of 2000 that bike saw service as the aircraft used by Air Cole.

Well when we moved to our new house I needed a way to get to work when it rained because it was too far to walk. So I pulled the Coppi out of the basement and started riding it. Before I go any further I think I better compare a bike that is probably close to turning 20 with the sleek Carbon Fibre beauty (AKA Erin) that I also own.

The Coppi has friction downtube shifters and regular handle bar brakes. Erin has STI (or Index Shifting) shifters and brakes. The Coppi has a steel frame, Erin is carbon fibre. The Coppi had a free wheel cassette with six gears, Erin has a modern ten gear cassette. When I bought the Coppi the pedals did not clip into anything, as I wrote earlier that was upgraded, from day one the pedals on Erin were clip in pedals.

That old Coppi was starting to grow on me again, make no mistake, I still love riding Erin, she's smoother, faster and waaay easier to change gears on. But at least now that the I am clipped into the Coppi I feel like I can actually get some real speed happening, which is nice considering the Coppi is for winter and lousy weather riding.

Anyway about a week ago I noticed that pedaling was getting harder, and there was funny noises coming from the cassette. I didn't want to bother with it because the weather was lousy, I was still getting to work and home and the garage is a cold place this time of year. Finally on Thursday I got fed up, getting anywhere was becoming painful, so I took the Coppi to Cycle Solutions around the corner. It took all of about three seconds once I was in the store to figure out one issue, half the sprockets on cassette ring three were rubbing ring four and the other half were rubbing ring two (actually a lot less than half on each, many of those teeth hand somehow chipped right off!)

The mechanic, Terry (sorry if I misspelled the name), took off the wheel to get at the busted free wheel cassette. As soon as the skewer was out of the hub he noticed that the axle had free play, remember what happened in 1996, and how long it took to get a new axle I asked if it was broken, in dread. No, the axle was still holding, but the hub needed to be repacked. I started talking to someone else when Terry started cursing, a part of my hub had disintegrated, around the axle, hence the funny noises and the difficulty peddling. A new hub and labour would exceed the cost of a new wheel, the Coppi got a 700x25 wheel with a modern cassette. (But at least I could save the tube and tire! On the other hand a similar failure on a car would easily cost over a thousand dollars to fix, I was still at only about a hundred bucks.) Then just as Terry mounted the wheel more cursing, the frame was cracked right in the rear drop out.

I am lucky, really, I am, if that crack were on Erin I would have one course of action, cradle my head in my hands and sob like a little girl. As it is, the Coppi is not carbon fibre, she is a steel frame, and there is a place where even as I write these words the rear drop outs are being removed, no doubt with a very large saw and new dropouts are being welded on. All in I expect the repairs to cost me the equivalent of taking the bus to work for two and a half months. That Coppi is an old bike, things break, of course I would rather spend the money on something else, its almost half the cost of a Durace double chain ring for Erin, or a decent bib shorts and jersey. But when I consider what $250 buys in terms of auto repairs and upkeep, well its hardly any question why I love cycling.

On more economics.

I found the following video, if you have 50 minutes of free time it does a pretty good job explaining what money really is. I don't think most people understand that money is not real, I know I certainly did not know that.



In honour of my thirty first birthday, yesterday Lesley bought me some compact florescent lights at Bestbuy, she bought herself a Guitar Hero game, with the guitar. She asked me if I wanted in on that, she was going to buy a two guitar set, I told her if I am gonna play the guitar again I will go pull my old Seagull out of the basement, get the fretboard sanded down and get some glue under the bridge, then I'll play a proper guitar. The guy in line in front of me nodded in approval. I guess I should buy a tuning fork though.

The truth is though, what I really want is a better computer for cycling. When I was in the Bestbuy I asked if they had any Garmin Forerunner 705s, the guy showed me Garmins for driving with. Apparently the thought of using a GPS for something other than driving escaped the management at Bestbuy.

Here is a really silly question, why are power meters so expensive? All the power meter is doing is measuring the force applied by the cyclist at some point on the drive train, is it really that hard to put a force meter somewhere? Come to think of it, Shimano could probably build one right into the rear derailleur without much effort, after all there is already a spring in there. Or maybe some sort of spring loaded chain link, a mirror at both ends of the link and an LED laser on the chain stay ought to do the job for one heck of a lot less than the $2,000 cost of a powertap. I'd go patent my idea, but truth is I'd rather see some engineer see it, get inspired and build the thing, I don't need the money, I just want a power meter that isn't going to leave me in the poor house.