Before I forget.... the route taken during my ride today

Details on today's ride:

32-miles

2700 kcals

Total Travel time 2 hours

Avg speed 17 mph

Avg cadence 86 rpm

Relaxing Sunday :)

Greetings folks,

Just a quick update regarding my weekend..... Was on-call Friday evening until Saturday evening, which wasn't too bad, other than the calls that came in at midnight till 2 am , but that comes with the territory. Chinese food was the comfort food for dinner, and makes great leftovers!

Sunday rolls around, I woke up early and happy (no work-related calls in the middle of the night = uninterrupted sleep of 8+ hrs!!!!) and was looking forward to a great day. Weather report shows that the temps will be in the upper 80's in Alameda Country, which usually results in +5 degrees higher in San Jose..... so I biked anyway, to help add more contrast between my already bad tan lines LOL.... In short, I was able to ride to run my family errands, which = no gas being spent, and 32 miles of relaxing, riding pleasure (with the exception of Evans road in Milpitas, which has some hills) burning ~ 2700 kcals. Which isn't too bad, except did I mention that I also had the Greek omelette from The Country Way on fremont? Yeah so that goes the caloric deficiency--- I think I broke even :P

I spent some quality time with my pops, which was cool, as we were able to catch up on things, as well as plan what we will be doing for my birthday-- Dinner at Harry's High Life; a great place for Ribs and steaks :)

Well tomorrow starts the beginning of a new work week, so I should probably finish tuning the bike and completing laundry for this week.

Have a great evening folks, Happy Sunday!

Windows - Alt Key Numeric Codes -- For those who type in foreign languages :)

Here's a great site that shows a quick recap of the ASCII keyboard codes. (Anytime you need to enter in a punctuation mark or non-english symbol, find the corresponding symbol and its ASCII numeric equivalent here:

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codealt.html

Then hold down the [Alt] key, type in the 4-digit code and then release the [Alt] key.

For example, if you need to say use the upside down exclamation mark in Spanish, you can type in the following:

Hold down the [Alt] key, type in 0161, and release the [Alt] key. You should now see the ¡ symbol.

Check the site for other cool punctuations and accents on the page :)

Banter about events this week

Good evening folks,

Thought I'd care to share what has been going on with me for the past couple of days. Monday night, I was fortunate to attend my first-ever Raiders vs. Chargers football game up in Oakland. May I say that the Raider Nation is a force to be reckoned with-- Both in the parking lot among all the BBQers and drunk folks, as well as inside the stadium. They are quite a large group who are quite vocal about their beliefs, and sometimes monotone as well. It was an exciting game to watch; the game kept us on our toes (I went with both Raiders and Chargers fans) and the Raiders finally lost by a few points, mainly because of some terrible calls by the ref. Anyway, I enjoyed the game with wonderful company, my coworkers, and also completed the monday night football experience by going to grab some Chicken and Waffles post game. Mmmm..... So we get back home ~ 2am with work the next day. Ouch. Looks like no cycling on Tuesday either.

Tuesday: work then home and sleep.

Wednesday: The option to go to the Shark's infamous Teal and White kickoff was tonite, however I passed up due to being a little too FUBAR after work. Also noticed that I could probably do better in terms of climbing if my gearing was a little different. Up front I had a 54/39 or equivalent. Decided to upgrade to a SRAM RED compact, wth 50/34 instead. We'll see how that goes :) Also met my teammates I will be riding with on the Triathlon this sunday. They are great folks, and I'm excited to be participating and part of their team. Time to go home and sleep.

Thursday: Cycled to work!!! It felt GOOD. Performance metrics weren't out of the ordinary, but today was one of those times where it was fun, felt good no matter how good or bad the time was. I did notice that I can now go up the same overpasses without having to change from the big gear in front, and can maintain at least 15mph going up. Not too shabby ;)

Our triathlon is in two days. Excited and nervous. We'll see how it goes. Last day of training tomorrow.

My Review of Think Tank Shape Shifter, Photographic Backpack

Adorama

Think Tank Shape Shifter, Photographic Backpack

Think Tank Shape Shifter, Photographic Backpack

Worth every penny!

The Cycling Photographer Fremont, CA 9/14/2009

 

5 5

Pros: Adjustable Harness, Comfortable, Accommodating, Roomy, Fits under airplane seat, Strong Construction, Room for small gadgets

Cons: Heavy when loaded

Best Uses: Storing Gear, Transporting Gear

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

I have recently used this bag for travelling. I had the following gear loaded in the shapeshifter:

- Sony A900 DSLR
- Sony 24-70 2.8 Zeiss Lens
- Sony 70-200G 2.8 Telephoto
- Sony 70-400G 4-5.6 Telephoto
- Minolta 50mm 1.7 prime
- Sony HVL-58AM Flash
- 13.3" Macbook
- Nintendo DS (in case I got bored)
- All connecting cables, memory cards and power plugs, including chargers

Although it was rather heavy, considering most of the weight came from the equipment itself, it wasn't very difficult in managing through the airport. It fit underneath the airplane seat and I flew by TSA security without any problems. If you are looking for a case that can carry all this, is airport secure, and can compress down to just hold the macbook when needed, then this is the case for you.

()

My Review of Flashpoint F-1428 Carbon Fiber Tripod

Adorama

Flashpoint F-1428 Carbon Fiber Tripod, 4 Section Leg Set, Supports 26 lbs., Maximum Height 72".

Flashpoint F-1428 Carbon Fiber Tripod, 4 Section Leg Set, Supports 26 lbs., Maximum Height 72".

Enough to handle semi-pro gear

The Cycling Photographer Fremont, CA 9/11/2009

4 5

Pros: Sturdy, Case can fit ball head, Good Stability, Lightweight

Cons: No leveler, Meager instructions, Rubber feetspike design

Best Uses: Stabilization, Photography, Reducing Noise (ISO Reduction), Long Exposures

Describe Yourself: Semi-pro Photographer

I was looking for a good quality tripod that can accommodate all the gear that I have. So far, the unit has met all my expectations. It is a solid and lightweight tripod that I consider semi-pro. Original specs state the tripod can stand over 6.5ft tall, without needing to extend the center column. I am about 5'10, and with the extra height added, this allows me to keep the last section of the tripod legs retracted for added stability. I bought this unit to hold the following combination of equipment:

Sony A900 DSLR
Sony VGC-90AM Vertical Grip
Sony SAL-70200G 70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto lens
Sony SAL-70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Telephoto lens
Sony 2470CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
Sony HVL-58AM Flash

As some of you who are familiar with the SAL70400G lens, it can extend longer during zoom, and can throw off the center balance. This was not an issue when mounted on this tripod :) Total max weight of my gear can be up to ~ 8 - 9 pounds. This tripod held it steady without any issues. This was used in combination with the Flashpoint F-3 Ball Head.

The soft carrying case can also accommodate the tripod and the F-3 Ball head without any problems (unlike the reported lower models) and also has a smaller inside pocket to hold the allen key and small wrench)

Drawbacks of this unit are regarding the missing leveler, as well as the foot design. It includes the spike already integrated with the tripod leg, and if needed, a rotation of the outer rubber part of the leg end extends out and over the spike changing the end into a rubber nub. However, I can see over time the rubber nub wearing down and eventually exposing the spike again after some outdoor use.

()

Weeklky Geeky Entry: Remote Xwindows login GUI

Good article Written by Ajo Paul to get this configured:
http://ajopaul.com/2007/11/23/remote-login-to-linux-from-windows-non-vnc/

Windows software:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/

This evening's ride back home burned 1147 (4631) kcals, covering 14.87 (59.49)mi in 1:03:00 (3:55:08). Today (cumulative total)

BTW: Flat tires suck as much as replacing them.

Day 2 of 9 training

I started training for the SC triathlon coming up on Sept. 20th in Santa Cruz. I'll be participating on a relay team with a couple of folks from my company :) As the date comes closer by, I have started to build up my base mileage to prepare for the event. My goal is to complete 9 days of commuting to work via bicycle. So far, I have completed 1.5 of 9 days. We'll see if I can keep this up this week and next week, so far so good :)

Post-ride thoughts yesterday

Sunday afternoon was great, who could ask for more? I was able to meet up with some frat-brothers for a Labor-day BBQ. Good food, great company. Afterwards, we headed out to meet with a co-worker to go mtn. biking. We cycled around Arastadero Preserve, near Palo Alto, CA. After biking ~ 5.8mi, we called it a day. Interesting though, with what we saw there. We say a Maroon-red Tesla drive by, a pair of llamas that we being walked along the trail. Interesting day. topped off with a trip to a Taiwanese restaurant where I was introduced to this dessert pictured above. It was shaved ice served with a brown-sugar syrup and includes up to 5 toppings. I chose red-bean, green-bean, lychee, and condensed-milk. It was wonderful! It was similar to Halo-Halo, a Filipino dessert dish, although this one had a good twist.

If you know of a place that has one, I would definitely recommend to try it, especially after a hot day. (Thanks Rex!)

[Edit] Addition to the previous pst

I also wanted to say many thanks to Erica G. and Jay C. in NC for allowing me to experience first-hand what the cycling experience of rolling hills are. I felt the burn, and it felt good :D You two have rekindled my spirit for getting up early in the morning and cycle :)

Hope you guys kick some major butt in the upcoming MS200!

Finally!

You know those occasional mornings when you can wake up before you need to? Today was one of those days. I was able to get up early enough to have breakfast (Chocolate Rage GU) gear up for work, and cycle :) < 45 mins travel time (50 mins total) covering 14.5 miles, and burning close to 1200 kcals. Feels good for catching up to last week's vacation :D

Also we have the Santa Cruz Triathlon that our company will be participating in on Sunday Sept. 20th. I'm excited and honored to be competing and representing Data Domain in a corporate health function. Imagine, someone who had a terrible un-healthy lifestyle now getting into corporate competitions!! Even if I come in last place, it is an honor and an achievement by any stretch of the imagination to turn my lifestyle around 180-degrees.

I would love to reach out and thank those who have been supportive of my BS especially since they already recognized how was hiding how I truly was, a adult kid without direction in life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I now know that I don't have to be afraid of who I am, what I am or where I will be; I am in the driver's seat and set my own goals and aspirations.

I hope that my actions can truly mimic those I look up to and provide inspiration for others to follow suit-- All it takes to get on a good path is baby steps :)

Have a great week everyone :)

-- The cycling photographer