WWJD?

Check the link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10580595/

Went to the office Christmas party out in Old City at the Panorama last night with my fine lady friend Thea. The place was already jumping by the time we got there at 7:30. It's amazing how the open bar and good food packed the people in, plus no one cared about being fasionably late because that's less time for them to drink. I was happy to see that about 1/2 of the advisors brought their wives, but even then there was about 1 advisor every 10 minutes hitting on Thea. It was the funniest thing as she was getting a kick out of it, one guy even told her that his wife wouldn't mind if they swapped that night. I was like, oh shit, hope Thea can laugh that one off! Luckily she did, and was cracking up about it afterwards. The guys whom I work with are nuts and they sure didn't let me down last night. I even grabbed a random digi camera sitting on a dinner table to capture some of the wackiness of the evening. Luckily the chick who owned the camera never noticed it was her sweet Cannon SLR which was flashing all over the place.

Thea and I left about 10 pm as once the open bar shut down, it was like "lights out" and people immediately started shuffling out to the other Old City bars. I was super beat, as so was she as she actually got in a sweet ride in the "warm" weather out there yesterday.

I'm so looking forward to the Christmas Eve ride Saturday behind the Art Museum. It's looking like the weather is going to be warm and that should make it a good group. Plus I really need to ride with all the chocolate I've had the last 2 weeks. There's also another road ride the day after X-mas at 9am behind the Art Museum. May go to that or do a solo out to Valley Forge. VF is absolutely beautiful right now, really serene out there..

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukka, and Delightful Kwanzaa!

=bc

Riding in the Winter Wonderland

So this weekend it was warm for the first time in two weeks, plus after all the wintry weather we've had, I bet I wasn't the only one out riding and enjoying the bike again. It's amazing how just a few days makes us feel like we haven't been on the bike in ages...

I crashed in Center City on Friday night and ended up not getting back to my house in time for the bike ride for the masses behind the Museum at 9am. I'm happy I missed it as I ended up doing a solo out to VF. While there I passed a dude looking totally screwed on the side of the road. I immediately knew something was up and turned around. It ends up the dude was riding his brand new bike and while shifting going up the hill I was going down, he threw his chain between the frame and the small ring on his crank. He was like "dude, I hope you have a chain braker," I asked him if the chain was Sram or Shimano. He said Shimano. I look and it has a big "S" on it, which means it's a SRAM, aka Sach's Powerchain. I had a quick laugh and told him watch this, and within a minute the chain was fixed and the dude was ready to roll. I love PowerChains, I love em, I love em, I love em. I've never ridden a bad one and on cold days like Saturday they pay off bigtime for something like happened to this guy.

Anyways, it was a perfect stop as I ended up resting for just enough that I was able to hammer for a good long bit afterwards, though I pushed myself into super gimp mode and ended up overworking my left hamstring which meant no real riding on Sunday. I guess I shouldn't have tried doing the split while at Yoga Friday night....

Saturday night was cool. Thea and I walked around downtown taking in the sights before meeting some of her friends at Devil's Alley on Chestnut St. I should have had my camera, as Rittenhouse Square looked sweet from the colored globes which had been hung throughout the park. One thing which was really annoying was that on every street corner was someone asking for money. It was depressing, but got me more mad than anything, as there's a guy who I've seen about a dozen times and he changes his sign daily and always says something really sad. Like my mom just died of breast cancer, and I need money to fly back to California, or I just turned 21 and I don't have anything. The problem is, he changes his age every few days, plus he must have a lot of mothers and fathers as he lost a lot of them by cancer the past few months. I should feel bad for him, but I don't. Heck, I wish I had my birthday at least twice a week and a few dozen mothers and fathers too look out for me. I just wouldn't want to live on the street.

That's my #igga Marc

Marc, pulling a BC and stirring up trouble aka debate. Love it dude:

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9287.0.html

Velonews readings

Marc, thanks for making sure people realized the big mistake Nats made by having Katie stage last. Nothing like being miffed at the start line.

Next to MV's read on Velonews today, I see a fine interview with LA on velonews. It's broken into 2 sections:
http://velonews.com/news/fea/9255.0.html and

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/9256.0.html

Good reads.

Warm and fuzzy inside

Ahhh, I just read FatMarc's breakdown of his race and overall experience at the National's. I loved it, every single picture spoke of the epic weather conditions and showed just how brutal nationals were this year. I really hope no one lost fingers or toes from the race as I know some people on Friday must have become hypothermic.

Read his stories and see the pics at www.fatmarc.com.

I had a sweet weekend this past one. It all began after work on Friday when I hit Yoga with Thea. The Yoga place is normally crowded on Fridays and me with my wingspan can be a little dangerous as I get into all of it and forget where I am. So Friday I finally let loose and really did the full motions without worrying I'd poke some chick's eye out. I needed that as work was F'ing crazy b/c everyone must have been waiting to call in on the first snow day for some reason. So I crashed at Thea's fine place Friday night (who wouldn't take the invitation to stay in a nice warm place when the "weather outside was frightful") and woke up feeling good as the views of the skyline from her 19th floor apartment was absolutely beautiful at 7am. Plus she had made tons of different cookies the day before and so I just had tons of healthy cookies for breakfast. You can't beat that! Came home and worked on the house for a good bit.

In the afternoon I hit the trainer and my crazy neighbor nextdoor knocked on my door and said "Yo bry why don't you borrow my shovel and shovel your walk." So I look left and all the sidewalk was clear and I look right and the sidewalk was clear, but my 10 feet of sidewalk was a glacier. Damn, I'm the only person not to have cleaned my walk, I didn't even realize that. I told crazy Tom I would in about an hour after I was done riding my bike, I even pointed to my bike set up so he knew I wasn't messing with him. He said, that's cool and walked away.
About 10 minutes later I heard some shoveling, so I hopped off the trainer again and Tom was going at my glacier. Damn again I thought, what's he doing, so I opened the door and asked if he liked chocolate chip, raisin, oatmeal cookies. Of course he loved them so I grabbed the big bag off cookies which Thea had sent me home with and I told Tom to grab a few. He grabbed the whole bag and immediatly said how much he and his daughter would enjoy eating them and walked to his house and took the WHOLE big bag of them. Awh man, I was miffed, but then I realized Tom was crazy, and he was shoveling my snow, so I didn't say a thing other than if he couldn't eat them all, to give the rest back to me.

So I end up riding the trainer for a world record breaking 1 hour today, even threw it in the big ring, small cog a few times. I actually felt good on it, but heck, that's what happens when you go from riding 12+ hours a week to 2 hours a week.

I then cleaned up and headed down to Newark, DE to catch up with some friends at Mr. Vonck's Christmas party. Mr. Vonck, who I'm now going to call, Mr. Ratio, is a cool doood working on a kick-ass degree at UD. I always enjoy catching up with him as he's working towards a degree, which back in '99 I was planning to attain, one in Urban Affairs/Sustainable Development. Not only is he attaing a sweet education, he's also living one of the best bachelor lives I've ever seen. He lives with 2 fine young ladies (the beginning of me calling him Mr. Ratio), in the finest bachelor pad around, plus he always has at least a few ladies on him at anytime, including a record 6 Saturday night!! 6:1, that's a helluva ratio!
Anyways, as usual I caught up with some friends whom I hadn't seen in a very long time, Charity, Becca and Mark, whom I hadn't seen in a very long time. See back in the day I was in Americorps and so were Becca and Charity, and the Americorps people hung out with each other all of the time as we were all poor and what do poor people do, but hang out with each other and so that's what we did and had a ton of fun doing it.
Mr. Ratio had tons of yummy food and fine drinks, and like any smart person, instead of going out and buying ice, he just went outside, cut up some ice chunks and then threw them in his cooler. I have to admit that after starting the day eating cookies, I ended the day doing the same. His buddy made these cookie-Brownie-cookie yum-downs which I consumed in the highest of quantities. One buddy's girlfriend sat down while I was talking to her man and I said, those cookies rock! She was like "there's only 2 left" and I was like "oh I wonder why?" Yes, I'll admit I ate 1/2 of them, but heck, I left all the other fine food for everyone else! Thanks KV!

I had a fine time, but was getting tired, and so sometime after 12, myself and my buddy C.Vann decided to roll, Chris wanted to catch up with his Harem of women at a bar and so we went there and hung out for a while. He really had a lot to drink as since I was driving, he was letting it all hang out. He was a mess, but a funny mess. Even grabbing full drinks at the bar which weren't his and guzzling them down. It was funny as he didn't have a clue they weren't his drink. I even suggested as such, but he looked at me like I was the crazy one!!!!
Then when I drove him back to the old house (I lived there at TedLogik's house for 4 years) he walked to the front door and tried to use his car remote to unlock the front door. I totally busted out laughing as I could hear his car keep on unlocking, but for some reason the house door wasn't unlocking. I was like, CV, I think you actually have to use a key for the door. Of course it took about 3 keys to finally find the right one, even though the house key is dinstinctively different than all of the others. It was too funny.

The next day I woke up after just 5 hours of sleep, but I felt good. It's amazing how quiet it is in suburbia as compared to the Urban living! I really felt calm as it was beautiful waking up and actually seeing trees and wildlife running outside in the snow. I ended up hanging out for a few hours as I had to wait until 10 am to pick up my new Tankless Hot Water Heater at the Fairfax True Value Hardware Store. This thing is the bomb and is so energy efficient, I'll even get a $300 tax rebeat. Also I can take steamy hot baths and not feel guilty now.

Then I swung by my dad's house and they were just leaving to pick up some Christmas trees and so I joined them and picked up my first tree ever! It's such a sweet tree, shorter than me, but perfect for my house. Then I came back to their house to catch up with everyone. I was so proud when one of my sister's showed me her power point presentation on the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest. I have a degree in Ecology and so as I watched her presentation, I was looking for certain bullet points and sure enough she hit them all and even through in some stuff I hadn't even known. I was so impressed. It's amazing what 15 year olds can do now!

Came back to Philly for the last 2 hours of daylight and had a totally awesome jog. Philly is definitely a different town with snow in it. It felt like I was in Europe, rather than America.

Good morning everyone. Hope you have a fine day!

-BC

KC wins Nat's Again!

Congrats to Katie Compton who won the title of "baddass American Woman cyclocross racer" again!!! Though before her win today I was pumped to see Dan "the Man" Wilson finish up in the Men's Elite and then Mr. Leech (aka Dieter) finish a "block rockin' beats" 14th. Leech, hopefully your hoochie mama was there to take some snappy pictures like she always does of you. The winter background was pretty badass looking.

The Nat's this year was definitely another strong showing for the Mid-Atlantic homies and home girls. I just wish I was 1/2 as fast as these people.

Congrats to my bicycling homies at Nats

The pink helmet spot man, 24 outta 100 or so at Nats in the 35-39

24 Marc Vettori (Spot Brand Secret Henry's Team) 7.00

My teamate Weave getting 12th:

12 Ransom Weaver (Guys Racing) 4.02

Mihillis Gorillis in the 40-45:

14 Richard Mihillis (Henry's Bikes) 4.38

Brutal conditions yesterday, congrats to those who even lined up at the start line and to everyone who even finished. I bet a few people had hypothermia after the race...

Check http://www.cyclingnews.com/cross/2005/dec05/UScrossnats05/?id=stages

for updates on Cross (dressing) National Championship(s)

Snowing in SouPhil

To the Left of my house

Snowing in SouPhil

To the Right of my house.

Good thing there's a reliable subway or I wouldn't be going to work. I figure a lot of you probably aren't heading in today, I probably don't have to as everyone in my office has kids and with school being closed our office is most likely shut down. I can't wait to work 8 hours all alone at my office. I would probably get the equivalent of 3 days of work done in 1 day...plus there will be lower liquidity (volume) in the market today which can make trading a lot more fun.

You think you have a stressful job, try this guys:

Botched stock trade costs Japan firm $225 mln - AP

The AP reports that Japan's government rebuked the Tokyo Stock Exchange and one of the country's biggest brokerage firms Friday after a typing error caused Mizuho Securities Co. to lose at least 27 billion yen, or $225 million, on a stock trade. The glitch roiled the Japanese market, and jitters over the reliability of the exchange's trading system contributing to a 1.95 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei 225 index Thursday. The trouble began Thursday morning, when Mizuho Securities tried to sell 610,000 shares at 1 yen (less than a penny) apiece in a job recruiting firm called J-Com Co., which was having its public debut on the exchange. It had actually intended to sell 1 share at 610,000 yen ($5,041). Worse still, the number of shares in Mizuho's order was 41 times that J-Com's true outstanding amount, but the Tokyo Stock Exchange processed the order anyway.Mizuho says it tried to cancel the order three times, but the exchange said it doesn't cancel transactions even if they are executed on erroneous orders. By the end of the day, Mizuho Securities -- a division of the nation's second-largest bank, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. -- had lost at least 27 billion yen. That total could escalate, however, as more trades settle, Mizuho Securities spokesman Hideki Sakuma said Friday, adding that the mishap was sparked by human error.

This is too funny...You trance people will get it.

a

MONSTER of a chart!

Who would've guessed?
This is a yearly chart of Hansen Natural, the maker of the MONTSER energy drink.
Depending how the next 3 weeks go it will be in the top 5 for stock price appreciation this year.
I remember when this started running about 2 years ago...who woulda thought it would take off with all the competition? This puppy's been Overbought since November, but as long as it rides the upper bollinger bands, you never want to short it, or you get crushed. The bollinger bands is The top red band which has been following the upward ascent of the stock.

ALS Kicking knowledge.

ALS kicked some knowledge to my post on Monday Dec 5th. It's a big pain to cut and past it, so please read the comment field...I've been a little run down lately and so not much time for blogging...

Trance at 7am...

A damn good Canadian DJ (r12) waking my tired self up this morning. If only I could actually turn my stereo way up like I used to before I moved to Philly, then I would really wake up!

Watched another very good Eddie Norton movie last night. I'm really becoming a fan of his from his movie a I saw a few years ago, Fight Club, to the Spike Lee directed 25 Hours and now American History which I saw last night. This movie brings modern racism to the fore and hits you hard with it, and like most Edward Norton movie endings, the ending is bitter sweet. Plus if you were wondering what happened to the kid in Terminator 2, he's back, but still looks like a kid 10 years later.

This is a fine movie to explore common prejudices which each of us may hold in one capicity or another. I find myself getting pissed at the poor black people who got brand new and beautiful section 8 houses one block South of the kick ass South Street area. They got the houses cheap and I don't think it's fair, especially since they are already trashing them and ripping out the trees that were planted along the sidewalk. But then I talk to one of my kick ass friends in Philly, who's black (Sam from the old WB Delaware office) and he's just as pissed as me b/c he too can't get in on those places as he makes too much dough. He's a straight shooter and I know I can ask him race questions and he'll kick me some knowledge and so I did and he really hit it well. He pointed out that the section 8 houses are for really low income people and since they get the houses without having to pay the market rate, they don't take care of them as well b/c they aren't paying the full price and they don't appreciate the homes as much as someone who would have payed triple for the same house in the same location.

His point was that I have to understand that it's not about their race, it's all about their economic status. We both agreed that it wasn't fair that they actually are entitled to "affordable housing" as when you approach it from an economic/ Market view, this would be illegal in an open and fair market because it is price fixation along with market manipulation and actually creates a greater disparity in the overall market as it makes expensive housing more expensive and lowers the amount of usuable land in a city.

I've have to get ready for work, but will try to find more time tonight...Feel free to comment, especially you ALS, as I know you kick good knowledge too.

Danke,

-Bc

Old Skool hippity hop back on the speakers

Thanks to mi frater for hooking me up with the Grand Theft Auto soundtrack... haven't heard all that old-school hip hop for a long, long time.

Who would guess that a video game has one of the best collections of music in a long, long time?

Makes me want to go out and fire a few shots from my "9" and then drive my pimped low rider around town pumping up the jams with the hoochie mamas swooning over me.

Gangsta rap question of the day (sorry bro you can't compete as you know the answer) What was Snoop Dog's first song he ever rapped in? It was a movie soundrack....

Saw this on Sager's Blog

Funny Vegetarian comedy:

http://www.goodiebag.tv/video/ttt.htm

Oh, I finally turned on the heat...

The house finally got too cold on Friday morning and so I turned on the heat...the thermometer on the thermostat was down to 54! I was wicked cold, even when wearing wool socks and a wool hat, I was still cold and so I sucked it up and turned the heat on a bit. My house is definitely not balmy, but at least the pipes aren't going to freeze.

I've always enjoyed being cold as it makes me feel alive. It makes a hot shower feel hotter, a hot cup of tea more warming and bed covers more comfy.

Riding when it's cold rocks too b/c when you enter a warm house it feels as if you are entering the tropics, even if the heat is only in the 60's.

Focus on the Light

Waking up at 10K feet my first morning in the Andes (Ecuador) at the Black Sheep Inn (www.blacksheepinn.com)
Wish that sun was here today. I look at my pictures often as the raw beauty still entrances me and helps me dream of a greener planet.

Jiggity James Blowing out Frames

James of Fort Frame Fame is blowing out some bikes. He's in DE, but within easy driving distance to us Philly peeps. Also I'm down in his neck of the woods about once a month and could pick it up if you make a deal with him.

Check Jame's site to get some deal-e-o's on some bikes:

http://manicmtbr.blogspot.com/


His Klein is beautiful.

Tree Farm and Page, top 10 in Belgium

Checking cyclingnews.com this morning and what do I see:

Vlaamse Duinenveldrit - C1
Koksijde, Belgium, November 26, 2005
ResultsElite Men

1 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank
2 Tom Vannoppen (Bel) Palmans-Sapim-Collstrop 0.18
3 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Rabobank 0.22
4 John Gadret (Fra) Chocolade Jacques 0.30
5 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team 0.45
6 Bart Aernouts (Bel) Rabobank
7 Jonathan Page (USA) Cervélo
8 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Morgan Blue 0.57
9 Ryan Trebon (USA) Kona 1.19
10 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team 1.59

Wow, so the Nat Championships aren't Page's to lose. Looks like the Farm is going to take a Page out of an Old book by honing his legs for Nats by racing in Belgium. Wish I was going to watch. You cross(dress)ers riding in it better take some good pictures and post them when you go.

Ride on,

-bc

Flying in November...with ice on my Wings

Awh Snap, nothing like getting the body fat into the single digits and smacking around fellow roadies at the end of November. If only this was April-Sept then that would be something to brag about...I'm already down into the high 170's again...another 4-5lbs and bye-bye fellow cat 4's when I hit the climbs...

Had around 30 people do the Vino-velo ride out back behind the Art Museum at 9am this morning. It was cooooold. Though we kept the pace up quite high and everyone seemed to warm up quick. It was nice to be back home before noon for once.

Doing a tempo ride tomorrow with Christian from Evo, Kevin from QCW, and Collin the North Carolina transplant. It's a fun ride as we make sure no one is ever coasting, but also make sure that we maintain a pace where conversation can take place. Also we like to sprint to all the signs which say "Stop Ahead" or "Light Ahead" It makes it fun, but we also make sure the group stays together the whole time. When all you Cross(dress)'ers finish your season next month, please start joining me and my new bud's for the ride. We will start having our own rides on both Sat and Sun. Saturday being a hilly tempo ride, Sunday being a flat tempo ride.

OH Sniggity Snap, there's a set of Zipp 303's for sale (tubies of course) for $450 on Craigslist.org in Philadelphia. At those prices the wheels are almost disposable!

AfterhoursDjs.Org is rocking again right now...Stephen Wiley is the current DJ. Heard him before, he's wicked good. If only I had a dance floor, some lights, fine ladies and a bumping system, I'd be set right now.

AC/DC and Trance?

I'm listening to afterhoursdjs.org to start the morning, and what do I hear right now, but a mix of AC/DC and some trance music. Amazing...

Paul Oakenfold comes to town, sort of...

Oakey at the Borgata. I've heard it's actually a great venue for dj's:

http://www.philly2night.com/eventdetails.aspx?evid=7143&atid=-1&lcid=-1

Wicked expensive tickets though compared to the dj's who have visited lately at Emerald City.

Why turn on your heater....

Was talking to my dad this weekend as he knows I like it cold and he asked if I turned on my heater yet.

Me "Nope Dad, woke up Saturday and felt a little nippy, looked at the thermastat and it was 58"

Dad "wow, that's cold, you know no girl will like being at your place if it's that cold, heck your mom probably complains when she's over there"

Me "Yeah, mom complains and even turned on the heat one time. Though for the ladies, I can warm them up pretty good Dad, but if it's still not good enough I'll just have to suck it up and turn on the heater"

Dad shaking his head, wondering what has happend to his son....

Me "Dad, you know all that heat is just ephemeral, it's there for a second and then gone. I don't want to put all this effort into heating a house which will get cold in 10 minutes to only need to be heated again."

Dad just shook his head and laughed at me...though it was funny.

Winter is here....

Yiggity Yoga

My back's been totally thrashed since last weekend when I did two back 2 back long, hard rides. I've been stretching like gumby, but it's just not getting better. So after my VF ride on Thursday, my back was totally killing me and Thea by chance emailed me about her Yoga studio, www.dhyana-yoga.com, and that I could join her Friday evening if I really was interested in checking it out.
She thought I was just saying I liked Yoga b/c she liked yoga, so she was a little surprised when I took her up on the offer. I remembered how last year when I took Yoga at the YMCA in DE how I became uber flexible, but also lost all my back pain. Plus my balance became Jedi-like.

The studio is sweet. It's right on 17th and Chestnut, literally across the street from The Continental restuarant/Martini bar. We actually looked down on the place during our class. They had a buddhist alter in the corner of the studio and a mild incense burning in the studio. I typically don't care for incense as it tickles my nose, but this wasn't bad at all. As usual in Yoga, it was almost all women, can't ever beat the women/men ratio at a Yoga class, that's fo' sure....well maybe at a Pilates class, though I bet the men in that class aren't checking out the other women...

I was serious though in working out my back and getting my core strengthened up a bit and the class was perfect for it. It was a good hour and a half, though the first 10 minutes were mellow as was the final 10 minutes...the final bit included a slight head and neck massage too which rocked. I could have fallen asleep there if they would have allowed it.

The class was intense. Meant for yogis, I know the moves, but not the names of each one, so I was struggling at first to keep up, but alas, I used the force and did ok. Ha, though the force wasn't strong enough for when the class did headstands and handstands, that was the only move I didn't even attempt to try. Damn, it was a cool sight though... I bet once and a while, a person looks up from the Continental and is quite surprised at what they see.\

Anyways, the Yoga was great and even though I had a good lack of sleep on Saturday, I had NO back pain at all and I also had a ton o' power. I couldn't believe how often I would take a pull up front and no one would ever really want to come around. I think the 4+ hour ride into constant headwind on Thursday sure helped too. But yoga, here I come. Not planning on joining a gym this winter, instead will try my hand at that advanced yoga stuff. My whole body was sore yesterday from it, good sore though.

Time to get ready to ride....going to be busy in Philly today with the Marathon going on..

Do you h8 Satan too?

This picture's classic. I took it the last time I visited my buddy Whit down in Richmond, VA.
Of course this guy also loves drinking Busch while driving.

Took off work again....

Making sure I use those precious vacation days before the year ends. Work's going to be too busy the next 2 weeks as one of my compratriots is off to the Country of Aleman's (that's some spanish for Germany...something like that) and then of course, since I'm the new guy there's no way in Hell I'll get off to celebrate the whole week of Kwanza. So I have very little time left to actually use these days (5 and counting...sorry Rindos, not trying to rub it in *if your pissed just remind me a few x a day how I need to buy and hold aka ESLR*)

So like a good bike rider I again took off on a nice, sunny, but WICKED cold day today with my new friend Thea (read post about a month back). She was crazy enough to join me on my 4+ hour (normally not more than 4) journey to Valley Forge park and back. The whole ride there was 10-20mph head winds, nothing close to the Y2K Seaford RR, but still wicked windy and enough to make my brain and body turn to fuzz by the time I got home.

It was brutal today, I totally thought I was fit and that it would be a steady pace out to VF park and then attack a few climbs, sort of like last week when I showed Thea some of the real hills out in VF. But when we hit VF we were cooked (freeze dried if you like) and so we just hit the rest stop to refuel and then turned around to ride back. I will tell you though, the tailwind back was awesome, but I had no juice at all and Thea was too kind to not push the pace. Ugh, I always hate the first few cold rides as I totally forget how to dress for them and I also forget that even though you are riding slower, you body consumes a lot more calories. I'm surprised I'm still awake right now considering how knackered I was when I got home around 3:15 today. It took me until about 5pm before I could even think again. Also my back is trashed...nothing like staying low for a few hours so the wind doesn't beat you up....looks like I'm going to start yoga again to make that back good again.

More financial rambings...with a little something added

My comments in bold:


General Motors CEO states that there is no plan for the co to file for bankruptcy - 8-K -Update-
CEO stated in 8-K: "there is absolutely no plan, strategy or intention for GM to file for bankruptcy today or the next. Despite the recent, current and future large losses in our U.S. business, GM has a robust balance sheet and strong liquidity - $19 bln in cash at the end of the third quarter, plus $16 bln in long-term VEBA assets, which provides us further significant liquidity support. The large losses at GMNA are unsustainable, for sure, and require a comprehensive strategy to address them... a strategy that must be implemented promptly and effectively, to get our U.S. business profitable again"


Seriously, who the heck will listen to this crap??? If you have a leader and a board of directors who bring one of America's largest: company, contributer to GDP, and employer, into the poor state they are in now, boot them the heck out. They should have forseen many different futures for their company and had a plan for every single one. I get pissed when the heads of corporate America complain they come into "unforseen negative business environment." WTF? You have hundreds of people who are paid millions a year to make sure every single situation is played through. Sorry, but I would fire your ass in a second if I owned a part of GM.

Financial Ramblings

I had about 1/2 a second of free time today, and while I had it, I remembered to check out a mutual fund which I was going to buy a few months ago, but never did. It's Quaker Strategic Growth Fund (ticker is QUAGX) A mutual fund, which is pretty much run as a hedge fund. It has a phenomenal record and will overtake Legg Mason's famous Asset Manager, Bill Miller, if he doesn't beat that ever important S&P 500 benchmark this year. So far this year, it's up over 12%, so for you mathematically challenged people, that means if you invested $1000 back on January 1st, you would now have $1120. Which is wicked good as we are just now entering the best time of the year for the Equity (aka Stock) markets. So for it to already be doing so well, means it is very well managed. It hasn't done as well as some of the Natural Resources funds, or International funds this year, but for a domestic equity, it's done great so far.

Got to do something next time....

Took that good ol' SEPTA subway back home tonight (good thing they are not on strike anymore!!!) and on the train ride I witnessed a fine, young lady being intimidated by a male about her age. He was totally hitting on her and she didn't want any part of it, but he kept on at it and even boxed her in by using his arm to hold the railing. At first I thought they probably knew each other, as he was totally invading that invisible space people keep between each other, but then I realized she was trying her best to ignore him.

I'm really pissed at myself for not being a good guy and a good citizen for not telling the dude to back off. Luckily he got off the train on a stop before her's, so she didn't have too much to worry about, but still, now that it's dark outside, I bet she still had a worried walk back to her home, all b/c of some dude who couldn't take a hint. On my walk home in the pouring rain, in my head I heard the voice of the priest in the movie, "The Boondock Saints" talking about how someone's inaction to prevent or stop a crime is almost as bad as the crime itself.

So lesson learned tonight. If you see someone being taken advantage of, do something about it, especially if you know you have the power to help them. Too many people wait until it's too late.

Vonck, thanks for kicking Knowledge

Props to Newark Councilman K.Vonck on laying down the knowledge this week.
Answering questions on the city of Newark's (DE) zero-tolerance crack down on off campus partying he stated: "Host's should be given the opportunity to disperse the party and get it under control so that Newark cops can focus on more serious issues" Seriously, Newark has been straying far away from logic in some of their police activities. They will ticket you for riding your bicycle on the sidewalk. If they actually put a bike lane down Main St. then you wouldn't have that problem. Prevention, it does a lot more than enforcement, everytime.

OH, question, is there still Critical Mass rides down Main St.? I need to do the one in Philly I've heard about them, but not seen them. Anyone know anything drop me a line.

Since living in Philly my perspective of Law Enforcement has changed drastically. I'm glad cops don't stop bicyclists from running stop signs and red lights and silly things like that. If the person wants to take the risk, let them. They aren't endangering others...now when there are shootings every day and at least a person dying a day from guns in this city, you have a BIG problem.
Law enforcement to me are professionals who are NOT supposed to be baby sitters. The town of Newark must feel they must act as baby sitters. Talking about a high paid sitting job.


Time to go for a run boys and girls before the cold comes.

ride on,

-bc

The 80's @ 120 playlist

Click on the picture to make it bigger if you can't read it.

How to save a few pennies this winter...

Weather.com says Sou' Phil be chillin' this morning at a dope 32 degrees.
It's cold baby, really cold.

The coming weather will be driving up costs this winter for everyone, especially me since it's the first time in my life I'm footing all my utility costs. So I'm going to share some random ways to save you juice (my enviro background kicking in here).

Next to just keeping the thermastat low (or the heater off) here are some ways to save:

- If you have forced air heating, close the vent near your refrigerator. Your fridge is a FREAKING HUGE heatsink and it doesn't need to be heated. With your fridge cooler it will run less (making it last longer too), though it will still produce a good amount of heat for your kitchen. Make sure you keep clean the radiator if it's underneath, especially if you have pets.

-Remove your hot air outtake on your dryer. Make sure you close up the exhaust pipe heading outside as this will bring cold air if you don't.
If you use fabric softner, you will have to put a sort of screen on the hose, you don't want that sticky stuff getting on anything. Last year I used an old t-shirt which I tied to the end. I attached the bottom of the shirt to the pipe, so when the dryer was on the shirt would puff up like someone was wearing it. This actually acts great as a humidifier too.

-Invite Hot Sexy people to sleep in your bed with you. If they are hesitant, mention how they can turn off their own heater, save money, and have some fun at your place for free. The more the merrier, as they say.

-Close vents/heaters in rooms you don't use (makes sense).

-Ride your trainer every other day for at least 30 minutes. A damn good way to heat your house and stay in shape this winter. Even better, invite your cycling posse to ride the trainers at your place a day or two a week together.

-Wear nice warm fuzzy socks to bed. It will keep you a ton warmer and it may keep you from waking up at night to pee. Nothing's worse than waking up and getting out of the bed to pee in the middle of night during winter.

-Change your air filter every few months if you have forced air, especially if you have pets.

-Stay active! People who are inactive have bad thermal control and are hotter when it's hot out and colder when it's cool out.

-Drink lots of hot stuff: tea, hot chocolate, coffee, and my favorite mulled cider.


That's it for now folks.

Sarah Scott Auction recap

Last Saturday was a fine success for raising money for Sarah. About 300 of Philly's rocking cycling community came together to raise over $10k for Sarah. Much thanks to Cadence Cycling and Guy's Bike shop who donated many of the items, and to Manyunk Brewery who were kind enough to let us use their upstairs to host the event.
Also props to Cross dude, Mike Hebe, for creating the banner and also donating a bunch of cash to Sarah.

Answer to that Movie Question a few days ago

Holy Shit Mickey, it was "The Black Hole"!

This IS a Disney classic. Freaking dark movie, but very futuristic. You have to rent it if you've never seen it.

After you've seen it, think hard about how the heck Disney could ever create such a dark tale.
It's very odd.

Running BC into the Ground

I just realized my post from 3 days ago didn't make it...
Anyways,l I must have had way too much Halloween Chocolate flowing through my veins last Friday as I commited to run the trails with my homies Hindu Waerkis (www.libertysportsmag.com) , Jorge Kotokis (trainer for the superstars) and Joe Lanzario (retired but fast) out in Wissahickon. It was fun, beautiful, and BRUTAL. Nothing like thinking your achilles just snapped 1hr 15min into a run!

Ends up I had just overdone things, and just needed to rest for a bit. Still funky stiff even today from that run, but I definitely feel my legs have become stronger doing the trails.
Damn I was gimpy on Sunday though...

Did a ride with the Richie Cordero group on Sunday, I was a punk bitch again and couldn't ride slow. This time I was a lot better, but still, on one of the final descents I decided to stop riding my brakes and start actually descending. Sorry Richie, not even fine ladies on the ride will keep me from going fast. I need Speed!

The 80's at 120bpm

Just spent about 10 hours the last 2 days remixing a bunch of 80's songs.
Some of these songs sound way dope sped up a bit.
The remix is about 3 hrs, so I'm going to burn some MP3 discs for anyone who wants one. If I know your address don't be surprised if you get the discs in the mail.

If only had some real turn tables I could really break them down. The digital world is fun, but is so time consuming.

Ride on,

-bc

Second time in a week.

What's up with School Bus drivers?
I've always hated them when riding my bike, now I have more reasons to think they are unqualified:

By TERRI SANGINITIThe News Journal
11/09/2005
A school bus driver attracted a lot of attention when he didn't stop after hitting the sign for North Georgetown Elementary School, where he had come to pick up students, police said Tuesday.
Witnesses called police about 2:50 p.m. Monday to report the crash at the school at 664 N. Bedford St., Georgetown police Detective John Tyndall said.
It was a good thing they did, he said.
Bus driver Michael Esterson, 47, of Georgetown, was arrested on a drunken-driving charge after the investigating officer detected a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. The bus driver subsequently failed a portable sobriety test, Tyndall said.
Esterson, who was on his way to drive students home from school, had a blood-alcohol reading of triple the state's limit of 0.08 percent, Tyndall said.
"No children were on the bus," Tyndall said. "He was going to pick them up."
Tyndall said Esterson was taken to Milford Memorial Hospital so blood could be drawn to determine the degree of intoxication more accurately.
Indian River schools Assistant Superintendent Earl Savage said Tuesday that Esterson was a contractor for Walton Bus Service. He did not work for the district.
Calls to the bus company were not returned.
Savage said Esterson will not be driving the bus "until further notice."

Movie Question for all you Movie People

I'm not much of a movie watching person, unlike most of my peers...though I have seen a lot of the classic 70's and 80's movies while growing up.
Got a trivia question for y'all.

What's the first Disney movie ever to have a curse word in it? (other than Damn)
Hint, it's a sci-fi movie that's probably also the only Disney movie that ends with an ending that doesn't make you feel good inside.

drinking and driving

School Bus Driver Accused Of Driving Drunk
Student Used Cell Phone To Call Police
POSTED: 1:13 am EST November 4, 2005
UPDATED: 10:41 am EST November 4, 2005
PHILADELPHIA -- A New Jersey bus driver has been charged with driving while drunk and endangering the welfare of children.
A scared student in Medford Township called police on a cell phone after realizing something was wrong with the driver.
Police then found frightened students, along with the allegedly drunk driver. Police said the student spotted a bottle of alcohol in the driver's back pocket.
Parents said they were outraged about the incident.
"Anytime that somebody does something that jeopardizes the safety of a child is something to be concerned about," said parent Margaret Jackson.
NBC 10 News reported that the driver, who works for First Student Transportation, was driving a school bus when he picked up students from the Burlington County Institute of Technology.
Students were terrified as the driver drove erratically to Burlington with the rear exit doors swinging open.
Police said when they arrested the driver, they smelled alcohol on his breath and recovered an open bottle of whiskey from underneath his seat.
The driver was being held on $5,000 bail.

Yeah Baby, the Market's finally rolling!

Sorry for the non-bike related theme, but have to say this was a damn good week for the stock market. Bull market, notice the bull, it's rearing it's head which will head up when it hits you. A bear market is called such as a bear pulls up and then attacks you while it falls down. A bull goes up, a bear goes down. Get it? Hope so.

Damn, again wish I still had my 1000shrs of ESLR at 1.50..hit 11.25 today. Buy and hold people...buy and hold!!

Have to say that Dieter hit on a good theme today, regarding reusing rather than getting rid of what you have, in order to buy something which is marketed as more environmentally efficient. I have a fine friend, talking about you Amy Lynne!, who once stated, while I was talking about Patagonia clothing, how it's better for me to buy from Goodwill/Salvation Army, then it is for me to buy something new and organic from Patagonia. Less resources being used regardless if the new something actually is from organic cotton.
Got a sweet website for you environmental peeps out there:
www.SustainableBusiness.com
Kicks ass, been reading them since college (back in the 90's yo!)

Sarah Scott Silent Auction this Saturday

This Saturday evening at the Manyunk Brewery there's a silent Auction for Sarah Scott, a teamate of mine on the Guy's Racing team. Find out more about Sarah at www.sarah-scott.com.

The Auction begins at 7:30pm

Here's the list of item's being auctioned:

Cannondale six-13 road frame/fork/headset, 55cm, Retail: $2,400, Opening:$800
Time VX Elite Frame/Fork/headset, 55cm, Retail: $2,300
Sunfire SubWoofer, Retail value: $2,000
Zipp 303 Wheelset, Retail value: $1,660
Lance Armstrong signed jersey, est. Retail $1,000
PhillyTri Package, Retail $1,000
Scott USA Speedster Frame/Fork/headset, Retail value $900
Rock Shox Sid World Cup fork, Retail value: $800
Sixers vs. Timberwolves four club box seats plus parking, Retail $610
Four club box seats to Sixers, Flyers, or other Wachovia Center event,Retail $600
Sixers jersey autographed by Allen Iverson, Retail value $600
Ironman Package, Retail value $500
Four club box seats, Flyers vs. Avalanche, Retail: $450, Opening: $175
Flyers jersey autographed Simon Gagne, Retail value $350
Thule Bike Travel case, Retail value $350
Custom Mirror, Retail value, $300
Pearl Izumi Men’s Barrier jacket and Amfib tights, Retail value, $240
Performance Testing. VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold Testing, Retail value$225
Five indoor cycling training sessions, Retail $200, Opening $70
Rolling Rock Foldable Mountain Bike by Fuji, Retail value $200
Giro Atmos Helmet, Retail value $190
Felt Fuse BMX bikes, Retail $170, Opening $75
Sugoi Bib Shorts, Retail Value $140
Pearl Izumi Women’s Barrier Jacket, Retail Value $140
Guy’s Racing Membership Package, Retail Value $140
Dinner for 4 at Friday, Saturday, Sunday Restaurant, Phila, PA, Retail $125,
Custom Mosaic Mirror, Retail value $125
Sugoi Stealth Jacket, Retail value $125
IPod Shuffle, Retail value $100
Yakima Trunk Rack, Retail value $100
Brian Propp/Flyers Grab bag, Retail value $100
Speedplay grab bag, Retail value $100
Guy’s Multisport Club Package, Retail value $90
Park City Package, Retail $90, Opening $30
One hour massage, Retail value $75
Pedros Pit kit, Retail value $75
Penn State vs. Ohio State Men’s Basketball tix, Retail value $60
Penn State Field Hockey Grab Bag, Retail value $60
Pennsylvania Mountain Bike guide books, Retail $60, Opening $20
Andre Iguodala Sixers youth jersey, Retail value $60
Tifosi Sunglasses, Retail value $60 each pair
Ivan Basso autographed poster and Team CSC signed 8x10, Retail value $60
Camelback Catalyst lumbar pack, Retail value $37
Pedros Bike Brush kit, Retail $17 , Opening $7

I live Vicariously through Pamela

Pamela's my friend (through Jesse Epstein to all those DE peeps who might care) who I visited down in Ecuador this past Winter. She loves to travel and has the coolest job that puts her in a new part of the US every 6 weeks.

She just sent a link of her last 3 months of traveling. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZOGTJy5bM1O

Some pictures are National Geographic worthy.

Pamela 

Good day for skipping work

Checked the weather at work yesterday and realized that any sane person with 10 days of vacation left (and no cash to take a trip) better use them up quick while the weather's still good...so decided to take off today and tomorrow to ride the bike and work on the house.
(damn, listening to afterhoursdjs.org right now, they are playing a sick remix of Tracy Chapman's song Fastcar)
Last night I was going to hand out candy, but chickened out as I was afraid of having some punks scope my place....I'm a little scarred from Halloween as when I was a kid growing up in H-town, our house was broken into on Nov 1st while everyone was at work/school. We had a bunch of stuff stolen and while my step-dad and mom were talking to the police that night, they said that it's common for theives to scope places on Halloween night....Would have been fun though and I have way too much candy to have around, already binged on all the reese's butter cups. I chopped them up, poured milk on them then put in some Hershey's chocolate syrup and stirred it together. Talking about a party in your mouth! Probably something like a quick 1500 calories, but hell, probably burned 2K on my ride today.

Decided to piss off the neighbor bigtime today. From about 1:30pm-4 I was rocking out Trance (afterhoursdjs.org of course!) with my sub on, which was against the wall between our houses. Never heard his dogs...but that's b/c my stereo was louder.

Rode to Valley Forge today and finally took the camera. Nice solo ride to work out the demons and chill out from life. Running has definitely made me stronger on the bike, it's also made my whole body more fit. Feels good to be strong on a bike again, but what's the use when we are heading into winter....
Was nice and warm by the end of the ride, total shorts and shortsleeve jersey by the end.

Back in Philly, behind the Art Museum, with the drained fountain in the forefront. 

This is what Philly does to Hondas....stolen car dumped right next to the start of the VF trail. This car was there Sunday morning and it looks like it's gotten a lot more trashed since then. 

Guess what river that is??? I'm still in Philly, this is scene from the VF trail, not too far out of the park. 

back on the trail, heading home after about 30 minutes of good climbing at VF. 

baby, that's how you lean the bike at 40 and sitll get a picture off. 

heading down, speeding up, this pics deceiving a bit as it sure as hell ain't level..drops a few hundred vertical feet pretty quickly. 

This is my fav. part of the ride. The road just droooops and there's a nice wide sweeping turn...This past weekend while riding up the hill, a minivan caught up with me and slowed down. Their windows were down and I asked if he could let me go before him, but he answered me by flooring the minivan...I yelled "gonna catch you man," took about 10 seconds to catch up the chump and another 10 seconds to put about 500 feet on him. Dude, you're in a minivan, not in a phukin porsche. 

one lane road...climbing, on the right up ahead is a memorial to Gen/Pres Washington 

Map of the park 

I call this line painting job the drunken driver test....the yellow lines head straight into that hill. The lane actually becomes one lane and the fun begins. 

Beautiful day for a ride!!! 

At the park, the township line/sprint line is right after the sign. Philly riders go all out to win the coveted "first to the township line" jersey. 

Entering the park 

One of my favorite climbs. It comes after you hop off the VF trail and cut through Conshohoken. It's at least 10% grade for about 1/2 a mile. There's a turn at the top of the picture, it gets STEEPER and you see the stretch you just climbed was short compared to what's beyond that turn.

Takes me exactly 50 minutes to ride from South Philly to the VF trail entrance West of Manyunk...again, not too many people out even though the weather was sweeeeet. 

riding past boat house row...empty for once, surprising considering how nice it was.