ChrisCowan.us
I'm just your average 30 something white geeky male who want's to be cool... but it's hard when you drive a minivan!
TwitterFacebookFlickrYoutubeI was attacked!
Yesterday on my commute back from a meeting at the Yahoo! Great America office I was attacked by a vicious Wasp! I was riding along minding my own business when out of now where this little bastard jumped me.
I could tell this thing had no honor nor did it abide by any rules of fighting. It went straight for my eyes trying with all it's might to blind me. It knew just how to do it too. It flew right under my glasses and started to mount it's assault like a group of angry marines avenging the death of one of their fallen brothers (not that I've even see a group of angry marines avenge their bother's death but I image it's quite a sight).
As you can see from the evidence below it got a good piece of me but I think I managed to crushed it's stupid little wings when I batted it out from under my glasses. Wasps have officially made the list of the Axis of Evil Creatures (right along with their suicidal buddies, the squirrels)!
The Dawn Patrol
One of the hardest things about being a husband, father, young (is 35 still young?) professional and cyclist is finding time to squeeze in a good mountain bike ride. I found the only way to accomplish this is to get up at the butt crack of dawn and hit the trails.
Even harder is to sucker some other poor souls into meeting you for an early morning ride. But when you throw in the promise of some prime "ranger-free" singletrack and breath taking views it makes it a bit easier.
With those two benefits, I've finally suckered Patrick and Joe into joining me for my morning Dawn Patrol Ride at Saratoga Gap. We all agree it's really hard to pry yourself out of a comfortable bed but when we hit the spot in the photo above, it's totally worth it.
Being the first to ride a trail in the morning is pretty satisfying, it's comforting to know that you can rail that twisty section without worrying about another rider coming the other way. The only real risk is hitting wild life loitering in the middle of the trail (what are they thinking? Get out of the way Bambi! Jeeez!)
Yesterday while climbing out of Peter's Loop, I mentioned to Joe and Patrick that I was considering putting forth my entry for the "Specialized Trail Crew" contest. I explained how I thought it would be interesting to focus my blog a bit more and open up a wider forum for discussing my three passions: riding, advocacy and technology. They unanimously thought it was a cool idea, Pweew!... just the validation I needed.
One interesting angle would be to see how much money I could raise for my cause on Plus 3 Network using the bike Specialized would graciously loan to me for a year. As an added bonus I've even plotted a route from my new apartment to work that is off-road almost the entire way.
Keep your fingers crossed... Here are the stats from yesterday's ride.
View Larger Map (I actually rode 13 miles today but I forgot to hit the start button on my GPS till we got to Peter's Loop... Doah!) Update: Patrick just sent me this photo... ha!
- Distance: 9.44
- Money Raised: $0.57 (for Project Rwanda)
- Calories: 1442
- Elevation: 1804
- Full Ride Report
View Larger Map (I actually rode 13 miles today but I forgot to hit the start button on my GPS till we got to Peter's Loop... Doah!) Update: Patrick just sent me this photo... ha!
Two strangers working together...
This morning when I was returning home on my morning road ride I was passed by a guy wearing a full Google Kit. As he passed me he gave me a nod and smile, since I'm a Yahoo! I couldn't let this Googler get away with that, so I got on to his wheel and drafted a bit.
My plan was to attack him at the Sunnyvale city limit (which if you don't know city limits are always sprint points on road rides). About 100 feet before we hit the point which I was going to mount my attack I noticed he was wiggling his left elbow and looking back at me.
Hey! I've seen that move before, that's an invitation to take a pull up front. So as any honorable cyclist would do I accelerated enough to overtake him and take my turn up front. I focused on pedaling at a good even tempo (not dropping the hammer) just enough to pick the pace up a bit and say "I'm game!"
After about 3 minutes I relaxed, wiggled my left elbow and glanced back relinquishing my pull. The Googler speed up enough to over take me and I fell back inline on his wheel. We played this hopscotch game for about 3 miles till my turn off point. Since I knew I was turning off I took an extra long pull and then yelled at the end, "Thanks for the pulls!" He responded with the same enthusiasm "you too!"
This is one of the many reasons I love cycling, two strangers working together against the wind. The only thing that would have made it more beautiful is if I was wearing my Yahoo! jersey.
Rockin' & Ridin'
So I know this is a very controversial topic amongst mountain bikers (and cyclist in general), but recently I started Rockin' & Ridin'. For the uninformed, Rockin' & Ridin' is when you listen to music (via an iPod or iPhone or some other shitty MP3 device) while riding your bike. Many believe it's dangerous but for every incident where someone has been hurt there are thousands of times where people ride with headphones and are perfectly safe. My guess that it's a wash with regards to safety.
In the Great State of California it's illegal to listen to music with headphones in both ears and operate a vehicle (or bicycle), one ear and your good to go. So this is exactly what I do, I put one headphone in and it provides just enough background music to get me in the just the right mindset but allows me to hear all the delicate little critters on the trail at 6 am. As mater of fact I've yet to have a bad ride while Rockin'.
So what am I listening to? Well I'm glad you asked because without further ado here is my playlist (in random order the way I like it):
- Sofa King – Danger Doom : The Mouse And The Mask
- London Calling – The Clash : The Essential
- You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son – Wolf Parade : Apologies to the Queen Mary
- Boyz-N-The-Hood – Dynamite Hack : Superfast
- I Am Somebody (Featuring Chromeo) [Paris Version] – DJ Mehdi featuring Chromeo : Lucky Boy
- Ring Of Fire – Social Distortion : Social Distortion
- Big Time Operator – The Dead Milkmen : Bucky Fellini
- Mansard Roof – Vampire Weekend : Vampire Weekend
- The National Anthem – Radiohead : Kid A
- The Audience Is Listening Theme Song – Cut Chemist : The Audience's Listening
- Itsoweezee-De La Soul (Pz I Wi – Radiohead : Me & This Army: Radiohead Remi
- Setting Sun – Chemical Brothers : Singles 93-03 (Bonus Disc)
- I Come From The Water – The Toadies : Rubberneck
- Wake Up – Rage Against The Machine : Rage Against The Machine
- The Salmon Dance – The Chemical Brothers : We Are the Night
- Handlebars – Flobots : Fight With Tools
- Paper Planes – M.I.A. : Kala
- Block Rockin` Beats – Chemical Brothers : Singles 93-03 (Bonus Disc)
- Holiday In The Sun – The Sex pistols : Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols
- Knights of Cydonia – Muse : Black Holes and Revelations
- I Predict a Riot – Kaiser Chiefs : Employment
- Galvanize (feat Q-Tip) – Chemical Brothers : Push The Button
- Balls Out – The Bloodhound Gang : Hefty Fine
- Had A Dad (Demo) – Jane's Addiction : Live And Rare [Japan]
- Let's Push Things Forward – The Streets : Original Pirate Material
- Positive Tension – Bloc Party : Silent Alarm
- Daytona 500-Ghostface (Panzah – Radiohead : Me & This Army: Radiohead Remix
- Magic Johnson – Red Hot Chili Peppers : Mother's Milk
- Stockholm Syndrome – Muse : Absolution
- Rock Is Dead – Matrix : The Matrix
- wake up – Arcade Fire : Funeral
- Firestarter – The Prodigy : Baby`s Got a Temper
- Dimension – Wolfmother : Wolfmother
- Down On Haley – Nerf Herder : Nerf Herder
- Sabotage – Beastie Boys : Ill Communication
- Carbon Monoxide – Cake : Pressure Chief
- Song 2 – Blur : Blur
- Rapperfection-Edan (Ft. Mr. Li – Radiohead : Me & This Army: Radiohead Remix
- Woman – Wolfmother : Wolfmother
- Feels Just Like It Should – Jamiroquai : Dynamite
- Ball And Chain – Social Distortion : Social Distortion
- Eple – Röyksopp : Melody A.M.
- Change The Beat-MF Doom (Pz Wi – Radiohead : Me & This Army: Radiohead Remix
- Breaking Into Heaven – The Stone Roses : Second Coming
- Welcome to TMCR – The Pinker Tones : The Million Colour Revolution
- Stop – Jane's Addiction : Ritual De Lo Habitual
- Ready Steady Go – Paul Oakenfold : Bunkka
- Shimmy Shimmy Ya – Ol` Dirty Bastard : Return to the 36 Chambers
- Röyskopp's Night Out – Röyksopp : Melody A.M.
