No whip.

My last post on No Whip!

2010-12-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Today the book I've worked on for the previous year, Appetite For Reduction, is officially out and I'm ending this blog and starting a new site called True Love Health.

Well, it has been an amazing four years of regular posting here. In December of 2006, while spending a month in New Zealand, I decided to take all of my adventure writing and put it in one place. I spent many many hours finding and organizing my stories and photos; all the way back to my reflections on my 2001 cross-country bike tour. Many stories never got finished as I was too quickly accumulating new ones to write about old ones! What a fortunate problem to have.

The name of this of this blog was chosen without much thought, based on a dumb joke. I never thought ahead that I'd be promoting it or that strangers would actually be reading it. It was just a place to record what I was up to for my friends to see.

What's that joke? Slang for car is whip, but it's also short for whip cream, two things I philosophically try to avoid. One day at a coffee shop I ordered a fancy drink and the barista said, 'Whip?' and I responded, 'No, I rode here.' She stared at me blankly the same way people do when I explain the blog name....

So I'm moving on. I don't talk about it often, but I'm a Registered Dietitian, i.e. a professional nutritionist. My expertise is in Public Health (I teach community college) and Vegetarian Nutrition (duh). I've always struggled to keep my professional life and personal life separate, but it's obvious that they are one and the same. My professional life is dictated by my personal ethics and it's not only dumb, but a pain in the ass to try and hide my tattoos from my colleagues.

I got into nutrition because of veganism and always thought I'd have my own practice immediately. But now seven years on from graduate school (!!) I'm making the time for it and my new site, True Love Health will reflect both adventure and my 'professional' life. An example of my writing is on No Meat Athlete, Protein- A Primer For Vegetarians.

How about some FAQ?

Where did the name True Love Health come from?
In 2007 I was working on a new design for the stage race I put on, Feel My Legs, I'm A Racer. I had wanted a new bike related tattoo and decided I'd use the design for the 2007 race as my tattoo. It represents my feeling about riding bikes and doing races: I just really love the process. The action of doing. We don't race up 10 of the hardest hills in LA just to get to the top, but for the process of riding something so different. A metaphor for life, if you will.
And this way I already have my brand tattooed on me. Easy decision.

Is the new site only about vegan nutrition?
-No, definitely not. My philosophy on health, nutrition and exercise is that they have to be fun and lifestyle oriented. I hate treadmills. I love to cook. Sometimes I eat vegan donuts. Health is about the big picture and having fun and the new site will reflect this.

Will you constantly be trying to sell your services?
-No!

How can I pay you for your services?
-Please get in touch through my email which is MattRuscigno on gmail.

What new stuff will the site have?
-More regular posts with more details on training, eating and racing plus guest posts from people who I think are ruling at life. And other more in-depth projects! It's going to be an all-around resource for people being stoked on eating and doing stuff!

Will you still post stupid photos you take in the street with your phone?
-Fuck yeah!

Is it going to be all nice and professional or will you still swear and be kinda inappropriate?
-See above.

How can I stay in the loop?
About 500 people subscribe to this blog via a service like Google Reader. You need to add Truelovehealth.com to your reader and follow on twitter.com/truelovehealth. Also, if you link to me from your site please update your link!

Lastly, thank you everyone who has been supportive by reading and being a part of these adventures. This is what life is about! I wouldn't do all this if it wasn't motivating people to be good in the world. What we eat, how we get around and how we spend our free time is as political as anything! It affects everyone. But this doesn't mean it cannot be fun. Looking forward to many more years of adventures!!

Vegan Corner

2010-12-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Some friends of friends are launching an all-vegan resource page (think restaurants, stores and other places plus online stuff and events) called Vegan Corner. It's not officially up yet, but there is a press page here and a press release here (and below!) that features a photo of my good friend Danielle from Vegan Treats! It's a small vegan world sometimes.

Riding and Eating through New York City

2010-12-07T08:43:00.000-08:00

My new S&S Machine hard case.

Dressed for conference, with bike along!

Recently I was able to spend a beautiful Fall weekend in New York City, one of my favorite places in the world. It's where my family is from and most still live in the area. As a kid it was my concept of what a city was like which unfortunately left me disappointed when I started traveling to other cities! Heading back this time I had my track bike, sun and free time to explore.

Everyone is going crazy over NYC Transportation Commissioner Janetter Sadik-Khan and I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but holy shit! NYC is a different place for bicycles now. It is as amazing as people say. Are NYC Drivers still NYC Drivers? Yes, but now cyclists have space set ahead for them. It's not always respected, but it's definitely something. Sadik-Khan was interviewed in Esquire and it's a great read.

She also spoke in Los Angeles and gave her approval for CicLAvia. So Los Angeles. You've always said, 'there's not enough space for bike lanes and bike infrastructure here.' Have you been to NYC? They have much less space! They've more than doubled the number of people commuting by bicycle because they built the infrastructure. We have more space and better weather. Let's get with the program here!

Clear day! Shot from Brooklyn looking at Manhattan.

Obligatory pizza in Brooklyn. Something else that has also changed dramatically, more vegan food! This is at Vinnie's on Bedford.

Kent Ave. The map said it was one-way, but I had memory of riding on it the opposite direction. Because it's a two-way bike lane! So rad.

Kent Ave again.

Williamsburg Bridge. They got rid of the crazy bumps!

Blurry Second Ave protected bike lane. The blurriness makes it more real.

Also obligatory. Post-Central Park ride.

Back in Brooklyn we went to a show in a warehouse where kids live. Nice to see lawless NYC still exists, somewhat.

We never actually went in, just to the roof to hang out.

Deli sandwich the next day. For real!

Love NYC. I was told when I was a teenager that if you love NYC, you'll hate LA. I never thought I'd stay here, but I'm coming up on 8 years. Do I wish there was some more NYC in LA? Of course. But each city is what you make it. Because I grew up with NYC as my idea of what a city should be like, I treat all cities like they were NYC. Which is why I can live here without a car and walk and bike to where I need to go. It's possible for me and others and if the city got on board, it'd be possible for many more Angelenos.

Reminder about Truelovehealth.com

2010-12-07T00:19:00.000-08:00

Hey there! Just a reminder that I'm exclusively updating at www.truelovehealth.com! Be sure to change your Reader settings and links. Thanks!

www.truelovehealth.com

2010-12-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Another reminder to update your reader to my new site: www.truelovehealth.com. ThankPr

SF Farmers Market brings it hard!

2010-12-01T21:09:00.001-08:00

I'm behind on posts as I work on my new site so for now here's a shot
of our farmers market score from the wknd. Yes, those are California
organic kiwis and yes over a dozen apples (pink lady and honeycrisp
for you other apple nerds who care).

Another Sriracha gem!

2010-11-24T13:06:00.001-08:00

A friend was motivated by my post and scavenged through historic paintings and found this gem:

Thanks Farnz! It fits with the holiday and also the Thanksgiving Sriracha photo over on the Sriracha blog.

This is a food guide pyramid I can get behind

2010-11-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

I love Sriracha. It is really that good. And local!

I tried to find the origination of this image so I could give credit, and I found the Sriracha Cookbook blog. They made this post a week ago which may or may not be the source...
Either way all I know is that our house ran out the other day and I was lost.

My holiday potluck curry just turned into vegan mutton curry!

2010-11-21T12:41:00.001-08:00

On the fridge at a friend's house

2010-11-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

Snap! Literally.

2010-11-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Been an odd week of bike stuff. On my break-away track bike I got a flat in Brooklyn from patch failure. This rarely happens to me even though I'll have 5 or 6 patches on a tube at a time AND then the glue in my patch kit was dried up /missing. I had only used it once! Then on my way to work yesterday running late and hustling of course, I got a flat on that $100 Benotto I bought on Craigslist and recently rode to the airport. Argghhh. I replaced the tube I had used but not the glue so I had to use another tube. These are like $5 a pop! A burrito in each wheel. Oh well. Little did I know it was only going to get worse.

The gearing on the Bonotto is a 52-18. Ridiculous. But when you buy a $100 bike you don't really want to put any time into it. I put air in tires, but didn't even bother to adjust the seat, so why would change the gear? Well the torque from that big gear was apparently too much cause coming down a small hill on my way home from work I felt a snap and instantly went into a skid. My first response wasn't to look down, but to keep my eye in front of me to make sure I didn't skid into anything like a moving car or an intersection. When I came to a stop and hopped off this is what I saw:

At first I thought that the chainring had just come loose and then broken. But no, the spider part of the cranks broke off and the force snapped the chainring in half.

Is it from the gear being too big? Or just of questionable history? Many of you are probably saying, 'what did you expect from a $100 bike?' and you are right. Could have been a lot worse. Luckily the burrito stand I was heading to was only about a mile off and Sasha, who was run commuting to meet me there, had brought her phone and ran toward me.

Now I have to get new stupid cranks. I hate paying for bike stuff. Probably also need some new tires on my commute bikes for the winter. I know that all of this costs less than the average person spends on gas or car insurance for a month, but it doesn't mean I have to be happy about spending it! Be safe out there.

From Ultra to Ultra

2010-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

After not doing a running race for two years, I was fortunate to 'PR' a half marathon (that I rode my bike to!) and even improved on my best marathon time during Vineman this year. Yay! It's a amazing what a little extra effort and some speed work will do, isn't it?

In an attempt to keep some momentum from this year through the winter (and not gain a ton of weight!) I'm signed up for my first ultra run the High Desert 50k in Ridgecrest, CA. As of now, our Swarm! crew of cyclists turned runners is heading out there 5 deep. It's fitting because it is not far from Death Valley and the Furnace Creek 508 course, which is the last event most of us have done.

Ultra-running is appealing for a number of reasons. The most obvious is that it parallels the type of cycling I do. Not just in distance or time, but in the philosophy that the journey is as, or more important, than the destination. Sure, people run in circles in ultra-runs (A 3-mile loop 33 times? No thank you.), but many of them are point to point. Oh, and almost all of them are on trails. In beautiful places. With only hundreds of people. Much, much different than, say, the Los Angeles marathon with its 40,000 people pounding the pavement.

The question is, can I still get away with only running three times a week? I think I can. Will I have to do really long, slow runs that take all day? As of now, I don't think I will. The idea is to use long races to build up to even longer ones. I'm already eying the Avalon 50 miler that takes place on Catalina island in January. Is the goal to run a 100-miler? Yes, it is. More on that in another post.

If anyone else is with me here, I've compiled some resources (with daylight savings time making it dark before 5pm I'm having trouble leaving the house so this is what I do). First is No Meat Athlete's 63 Ways to Shake Up Your Running Routine. Got to keep it fun. There are a few magazines like Ultrarunning and Trail Running to keep the stokedtivity levels high. Ultrunr.com has the most information for training for longer runs and this NY Times article discusses 'pushing past the pain'.

Are you ready to sign up for a long run? The best listing of ultras I've found is at ultrasignup.com. I especially appreciate that they show the logo for each race. Maybe it's the punk in me who loves show fliers! It says so much about what the race is like. Also ultrarunning.com has a calendar with a bunch of races.

I'll be sure to post updates about my training, though it's getting down to the wire. I had some trouble getting out to run in Boston (rain) and New York (got tattooed), but am still feeling confident. Safe riding and running! See you out there. And don't forget to sign up for my twitter if you haven't already done so.

I think New Yorkers are really nice unless you piss them off, which is fair.

2010-11-14T20:34:00.001-08:00

Nutrition and transitioning

2010-11-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

I spent last weekend and early this week at the American Dietetic Association's annual conference in Boston where I facilitated a workshop on vegetarian nutrition. I usually don't talk about my professional world here, but I'm in the process of transitioning to a new blog that combines both. Links for that coming soon, but I've already started using this: twitter.com/truelovehealth. One of my tweets included this photo of dietitians in line for free soda at the expo:

Yes, you read that correctly. Dietitians getting free soda at a nutrition conference. This is the world I work in. We have a long way to go. Fortunately my 'Corporate influence = huge problem" post was picked up and re-tweeted by a number of people who feel similarly. The photo has been viewed nearly 600 times.

This is the sort of topic that makes me nervous professionally. Will this affect my work with the ADA? At the end of the conference they posted a thank you to all of the twitter users at the conference and my name was not listed....

Anyway. If you don't stay true to your own ethics what are you left with?

Start following me on twitter for more.

Eat. Sleep. Read.

2010-11-11T22:24:00.001-08:00

(first) 24 hours in Cambridge MA

2010-11-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

butternut squash enchiladas

4-mile run along charles river
free yoga
sudo vegan shoe store
clover food lab chickpea fritter sandwich
family hang
cold late-night track bike ride search for famous whole foods vegan carrot cake (unsuccessful)

Bicycling to Los Angeles Airport (LAX)

2010-11-06T14:50:00.000-07:00

Ever try to park your bicycle at LAX? The LA World Airports site has no info and an online search gives you this LAist article which does not say much.

Rolling along 104th st toward the airport. Tower in distance!

I had a long weekend flight and work not far from the airport before and after so I decided to ride my $100 Craigslist bike and leave it. The best advice I got was 'lock it up with the motorcycles'. So I rode into the airport and followed signs for departing flights and then to parking garage 1. Was it sketchy? Honestly, inside the airport felt safer than the sprawl-land madness that surrounds it.

I wanted a better place than this bike I came across.

There are a few concerns when locking your bicycle in an odd place. One is the usual re theft and vandalism. The other is that some overzealous pseudo-authority figure will notice your out of place transportation choice and make it his or her mission to teach you a lesson. I've had my bike locked by security guards, friends have had locks cut by them. It seems to be their business when you leave, but never when you ask them where to park. Anyway, I wouldn't leave my bike locked like the above one out of fear of security guards messing with it.

I circled through the garage and found the motorcycle parking on the first floor- where arriving flights let out. There is no rack here, but there are locks on this ledge railing, so I assumed it was safe. I was also able to double lock it and include both wheels.

The morning I was leaving I had the realization that I couldn't bring my tools on board and I hadn't planned to check anything. What to do with the tools in my seatbag? I didn't want to just leave it because it's too easy to undo the velcro and walk away with $50 worth of tools (half the value of the bike!). My solution? Cover the seat with a plastic bag a la it's raining out style therefore covering the seatbag and hiding it from view (and less sketchy than hiding the tools in a planter- which I've done successfully!). Foolproof? No, but I felt pretty confident that most people leaving an airport have little interest in multi-tools and tire levers.

Confident in my locking and tool hiding job I headed to Terminal 1. Guess what I see! Yep, a bike rack.

In all of my years of flying in and out of Terminal 1 (Southwest!) I have never noticed this rack. Is it new? Now I was stuck with the dilemma of moving my bike or not. One, I really didn't have much time and two, if anyone in all of LAX would steal a seatbag filled with tools it would be someone on a bike....so I left it with the motorcycles.

Four days later I returned and my bike was (seemingly) untouched. Seatbag and all! And serendipitously the plastic bag kept my seat dry from the sprinklers just below. Score.

So when you ride your bike to the airport you have a few choices. I don't know if there are bike racks at other terminals, but you always have the Terminal 1 option. Be sure to enter the terminal area on the 'arriving flights' level to ride right to the rack or to the motorcycle area of Terminal 1 parking, if you choose this option. Riding out of the garage no one looked twiced at me and I made my way to Veggie Grill for an early lunch...

Business cards? What what.

2010-11-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

Mini cards from Moo Cards. Yes, those are photos of bike trips/races
on the back. Keeping it totally professional!

What my friend Cache is up to when he's not killing mountain bike trails

2010-11-04T00:20:00.001-07:00

Why chickens?
'cause they are no different than humans, we control their lives after they were free and wild .. Kind of what the system is doing with us ...I read a book by carlos castaneda that talked about humans living in 'humaneros' or human chicken coops for our minds..and cause they are funny, hahaha.'

In case root beer wasn't already straight edge

2010-10-30T08:53:00.001-07:00

From everyone's favorite soda pop shop, Galco's. I've never liked
root beer or sarsaparilla. I think my straight edge-ness has been
questioned because of this...

fuck Ironman

2010-10-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

World Triathlon Corporation, who put on Ironman(tm), the events I refuse to go to because they are insanely expensive- $550 for a one-day race- and pride themselves on exclusivity just started a program to get early entry in races that costs $1000 a year. A thousand dollars just to register early. Some have called it the Country Club program.

Is anyone surprised? I'm not. This is capitalism at it's ugliest- exploiting those with more resources to line your own pockets- at the expense of those with less. And because they are so big it makes it harder for smaller race organizers to put on events. If they kept doing what they do- taking money from rich people to make themselves richer I wouldn't care as much. I still wouldn't go to their fucking races, but I wouldn't be as mad about it. But it affects any of us who want to do a long-course swim, bike, run because there are fewer and fewer alternatives. And those of us without thousands of extra dollars.

I put off doing an 'iron-distance' because of the association with Ironman-trademark and I'm wondering if I ever want to do one again. There need to be more events like Vineman .

This video nails it. Thanks Treystone!

this is what it's all about

2010-10-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who took this photo. I searched all over the ESPN BMX page (yes, you read that correctly) but cannot find the original story. Ends up the guy heard about these concrete structures in England and had to hike and wade through water to get there with his BMX. Only had a few minutes before security busted him. This is what riding bikes is about- whether it's a BMX, road, mountain, fixed or city cruiser. Remember this feeling. It's what cyclists try to describe when asked why they ride.

SF to LA bike tour

2010-10-27T09:37:00.000-07:00

I like to do a trip on the last weekend of summer before the semester starts. Last year we slayed Mammoth on mountain bikes. This year logistically it worked out to bike tour from SF to LA. I rode this same trip solo a few years ago. Bike touring goes back to 2001. Love it. I think I'm over 10,000 total miles in these 10 (!!) years.

Obligatory pre-ride photo with Jeff. Notice what's missing: the sun.

The plan was ride fast and most of the day, camp and eat out. Mileage ended up as:

SF-Big Sur 150 miles
Big Sur-Lompac 170 miles
Lompac-Los Angeles 155 miles

I will try every vegan cinnamon bun thing once, even if it's whole-wheat and doesn't have icing. This is at the Co-op in Santa Cruz on the way out of town where Water St hits Soquel. I always stop here.

The seatbag I borrowed had a built-in burrito pocket. Very thoughtful. This was the first night. We did the massive descent into Carmel, picked up burritos then raced darkness to the Big Sur campground.

Packing list (all fit in the seatbag and hydration pack)
Thermarest 3/4 mat
Mountain Hardware 35 degree sleeping bag
Mountain Hardware longsleeve wind-proof shirt thing
1 bib
1 jersey
1 vest
1 pair sleeves
1 pants
1 technical t-shirt
1 button-up short sleeve (I'm obsessed with it- prob should have mailed it)
2 pair socks
1 10-inch mini laptop (oops, should have mailed)
1 pair gloves (they were old as shit and I left them in a garbage can in Pismo beach)
1 toolbag with multi-tool, tube, levers, 2 CO2 cartridges
1 pump
1 hydration pack (to carry laptop)
1 coffee mug
1 spork
1 foldable plastic plate

Food I left with
1 lara bar
1 granola mix with brazil nuts, cranberries added
1 bag chocolate-covered espresso beans aka magic beans
20 scoops Maxodextrin- homemade Sustained Energy type stuff
2 bananas

Bike
I rode my 'race' bike which is a steel Seven. Shimano parts. Ksyrium rims. The ones with the red spoke, don't know what they're called. I think it weighs in at 18 pounds, which I was told is not light. Borrowed giant seatbag.

What a fun trip! Too many tiny stories to share. Jeff is an awesome touring partner! Who else will hang out drinking coffee till 930am when you have a 170-mile day ahead of you?

I'm aching for a long bike tour....

Vegan Double Down

2010-10-24T20:51:00.001-07:00

My friend Stacey just invited me over for a vegan pumpkin-y Halloween-
y potluck this week and it reminded me of this time I was over there
this summer.

You know that crazy KFC sandwich with fried chicken patties as buns?
She made a vegan version. Seriously. I won't lie, even though the
professional me is slightly embarrassed, I can get down with fried.
But needs some green. Or balance. This here is over the top. But
that's part of the experience and sort of the point, right?

Los Angeles stuff this weekend

2010-10-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late on this as some it starts in fewer than 12 hours, but hey, that's how I roll. The first is Saturday morning's LA premiere of Ride the Divide, a documentary about the Tour Divide mountain bike race 2700 miles, mostly off-road, from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border. Through the Rockies. Unsupported. Awesome. I've ridden most of the route as a bike tour from the Canadian border to Silver City, NM. Like the ride, my my blog posts about it are unfinished. Here's the trailer:

Ride The Divide Movie Trailer from Ride The Divide on Vimeo.

Later on Saturday is the Tour De Fat in the Not A Cornfield state park in Chinatown/downtown. I'm not exactly sure what it is. Sort of a ride maybe, but mostly a beer party? Biking In LA does the best job of explaining what happens that I've read. Check it out.

There's also a half-marathon on Sunday right here in LA. I normally wouldn't promote such a corporate event, but the site says, 'Take a Running Tour of the Real LA!', which I appreciate. A lot! It hits the eastside of the city which is near where I live and it starts in Griffith Park, my favorite place to run.

Now if I can get over the Yankees losing and actually leave the house maybe I'll see you at one of these events. Ride safe this weekend!

Crapaudback

2010-10-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'll admit that I'm not above buying something because of the way it looks. I'm all about practicality, but if that great rain jacket looks like it's leftover from the Cross Colours era (but without the social and political context), I ain't gonna buy it. With food this is especially true. We eat with our eyes, the saying goes. As a public health dietitian I know my eyes are a little different than the average person so I find things like this irresistible:

Cuban squash. Apparently it is the most commonly eaten vegetable in Cuba! It's a pumpkin/squash hybrid and is also called crapaudback. This is at the local grocery store in my East Hollywood neighborhood. We are surrounded by (and part of) Armenia, Russian, Thai, Korean and Salvodorean neighborhoods and the grocery stores reflect this. Here is my housemate laughing at what 16 pounds of pumpkin/squash/crapaudback feels like:

Upon cutting it open we found that the skin is not as tough as it looks and is closer to a butternut squash than pumpkin. It also has more 'meat' than pumpkin.

Despite cooking often, I'm not the most creative in the kitchen. My preference is to make simple, healthy meals taste good. My first thought with squash is always: roast it. Cut it up, leave on the skin, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook until slightly brown. Delicious. This is what we did first and you can see how quickly it went:

Next we got a little creative and pulled out one of those books you see on people's kitchen shelves that have recipes. We grabbed my friend Isa's newest cookbook Vegan Brunch. We used the Pumpin Bran Muffins recipe as a guideline (though I hear some people follow recipes exactly) but by the time we sorted what we had on hand it ended up very different.

Crapaudback Interpretive Bread

2 cups pureed raw crapaudback

1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup oats
2 T liquid sweetener
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup almond pieces

1. Mix dry ingredients in a big bowl
2. Mix wet ingredients in a small bowl
3. Add wet to dry and don't over mix!
4. Bake for 20-25 min at 400 degrees.

Because we had eight freakin pounds of this stuff we steamed some for dinner. This is another favorite meal of mine, beans and rice. Here we have brown rice, dried black beans with haas avocado, cherry tomatoes and steamed crapaudback. The majority of the meal is from our buying co-op or the Hollywood farmers market.

Boom. One vegetable, three meals. And this is only half of it! As I type this I've the rest roasting in the oven (the creative folks aren't around this morning so I'm resorting to my stand-by methods). I'd also like to try this oatcake recipe because I'm a sucker for anything pancake-like.

3 Photos- Bernal Heights, SF, CA

2010-10-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Farmers market art on art at the Farmers Market

I love the way tiny cherry tomatoes look in a giant pile. And the way they taste, duh.

There are more salons than I can count in Bernal Heights and they all have advertisements for 'vegan nail polish'. Isn't all nail polish vegan? Is this a pressing issue for salons in this neighborhood?

still funny

2010-10-17T21:53:00.001-07:00

Furnace Creek 508 more and more photos

2010-10-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

(background on this year's Furnace Creek 508 here)

There are a lot of lessons in 508 miles. No matter how many times I do this race, there's always so much I don't know and so much still to learn about myself. Case in point: hallucinating riding up Salsberry Pass. Some say the desert is empty, I say it is full of plenty of stuff, some real, some not. The rattle snake that sent Dave running? Real. I heard that rattler from 20 feet away! The Golden Retriever with floppy ears on the side of the road panting because of the heat? Not real. I saw it, smiled at it, but knew it wasn't real. Does that make it less of a hallucination?

This climb last year, at about mile 300, came after the insane headwinds. I raced up it. This year it was earlier in the morning, but I was taxed at this point. Yes, it is possible to undertrain. This ride taught me that! Anyway, I was having so much trouble staying awake that the van pulled next to me off and on just to check on my level of awakeness (which ranged from able eyes open and not hallucinating to full-on eyes closed falling asleep while pedaling). A four-person team passed me and not long after I looked up and said to Dave, 'Whoa, what are all of those lights up there?' It was the support vehicle. Again, I knew this, but not until after I said that. Dave was concerned.

At the top of the climb they gave me some potatoes cause I hadn't eaten much on the long climb (everything tasted super duper dry- had trouble swallowing. From all the black tea? Anyone ever experience this?). They also let me in the van to sit and eat, which I would learn later was some drama amongst the crew. On the ride home Monday I was told the conversation went something like this:

Lisa: Why'd you let him in the van? He's not suppose to get in the van for any reason.
Sabrina: He needs to eat! And sit! It's okay.
Lisa: It's not okay! Morgan said to never let him in the van under any circumstances!
Sabrina: He's a human, damnit, he needs some comforts!
Lisa: He's not human, he's a machine and he needs to keep going!!

Meanwhile I had fallen asleep while eating. I woke up with half chewed potatoes in the my mouth and had no idea what they were. At least Dave saw the face I made which can best be described as the face one would make upon waking up with an unidentified substance in his mouth.

Needless to say, they decided it was unsafe for me to ride the fast, long descent into Shoshone, in the dark, while I was unable to stay away on my own accord. I laid down to sleep for 30 minutes, which would be the longest sleep I had ever had on this race.

After waking up and starting the descent my bike had a crazy death wobble. It was so bad I could barely control it in order to slow down. Scary.

What could possibly cause that? Notice I'm running two different Mavic wheels. I'd been having weird noises with my rear and it turned out to be the Patented Mavic Death Squeal. So I was running my old rear wheel, but we never figured it out and it didn't happen again. Lots of flex in my frame though. Getting it checked out this weekend...

The hardest stage of this race: the 56 miles from Shoshone to Baker. False flat, headwinds, expansive, unchanging scenery. Miles 325-381. Misery.

Right after this photo I resorted to wasting time by sorting out my arm and leg warmers/coolers. Very slowly. I didn't realize what I was even doing, but my crew did. After the race they'd tell me, 'We let you do it once. But we weren't about to let you sit and waste time again. Luckily you didn't try to.'

The crew asked if there was anything I needed, still on that painful Shoshone to Baker section. I said, 'Yeah a list of reasons I shouldn't quit.' Was I serious? Yes. I wanted to quit. I won't lie like I've some deeply seated sense of triumph or courage that pushed me on. I wanted to quit because it was hard. The reasons on this list, even before I saw them, did push me on.

Wild Burros 4-person team passed me here and I'd never see them again.

Feeling better. Less hot.

I slept again in Kelso. Unheard of! At this point I just want to finish. Beautiful skies on the second to last big climb. Within 100 miles.

Sheephole Summit and the last leg, on paper, look horrible. But I embrace it. It's cooler. The end is in sight. I love riding in the evening. I push on. Tired, but not falling asleep. It's kind of quiet on the roads. Last year I somehow passed four solo riders on this section. Not this year. I passed a few stopped on the side of the road and wouldn't be passed by any. Though someone threatened at the end and I wouldn't believe my crew. 'We are not fucking with you!! Seriously, someone is coming, ride faster!' is what I heard at like mile 503. Ugh. Okay!

I couldn't think of anything funny to do this year at the finish, like last year. Though Kostman did say, 'Alright, your slowest one yet!' which I took in stride.

I'm posting the crew+rider finish photo again cause it's so important. We stumbled into our hotel 'cottage', I ate, showered, ate again and fell asleep on top of the covers with all of my clothes on...

I bet the Swarm! 4-person team Wild Burros $80 that they couldn't close the two hour gap between the solo and team starts. I lost, this is me paying them at the post-race breakfast. They did great! On a good day I could have fended them off, but not with the ride I had.

This is the post post-race-breakfast breakfast in Joshua Tree with 3 of the 4 Swarm! teams.

Thanks so so much to my crew: Dave, Sabrina and Lisa for being SO awesome and supportive. You took a whole weekend to help me ride my bike 500 miles, not many people would do that. You rule. And special thanks to Lisa for all the photos.

“ Everything that happens to you is your teacher.
The secret is to learn to sit at the feet of your own life and be taught by it."
- Polly Berends
I stole this quote from here, which is a blog I found after BikeSnob posted her VEGAN neck tattoo. I guess there's some learning there. Or something.

Yoga isn't Christian

2010-10-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

via Unreasonable Faith. Fundamentalism is a disease.

Beware of fish in your carrot juice

2010-10-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

Wtf?

10-10-10 10am CicLAvia details

2010-10-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

This is going to be historic. When I first heard about Ciclovia coming to Los Angeles I thought, 'no fucking way. Not here.' I was wrong! It's not only happening, but Mayor Villaraigosa even held a press conference promoting it. More than a cycling and walking event, it's a reclaimation of the the streets. People over cars. End the dictatorship of the personal use automobile!

This LA Streetsblog post has details for the feeder rides heading there and the other events happening in the streets. Get over there if you can and please promote this to other Angelenos! The CicLAvia site has all the details of how to get there, what to do and what to eat.

Furnace Creek 508 some photos

2010-10-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

All photos by Lisa Anne Auerbach unless otherwise noted.

This pool was right next to the pre-race meeting and I couldn't resist! Better to swim now than at mile 254 of the race, like I did last year!? Stress reducing.

At the start. I know what I've gotten myself into, but do they?

Obligatory devil-horns. Photo by AdventureCORPS.

The clouds and storms kept the temps low at the expense of the usual first day tailwinds.

The crew had a lot of this. Looking and waiting.

And then lot of this: bottle hand-off.

Trona.

Trona bump. Here I'm wondering why I'm so far behind last year's time. It was the less favorable winds. What a difference! I was getting sore and tired and I hadn't reached 200 miles or Townes Pass yet.

Approaching Townes Pass, elevation 4956ft, the entrance to Death Valley. Mike Sz rode this section for the Wild Burros team and would later say it was the hardest thing he has ever done.

I'll keep posting photos and short stories to break all of this down. I bike commuted yesterday with a heavy bag and it was confirmed that I do indeed have the worst saddle sores I have ever had.

some 2010 Furnace Creek 508

2010-10-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Well I finished! So many experiences out there that words never seem enough. My crew and the other racer/crews are such a huge part of this, too. Wow and thank you is all I can muster right now. This was the hardest one yet. Here are some photos, stories to come. The AdventureCORPS webcast has photos, videos, splits, results, etc and the Swarm! twitter has a rich timeline as does the hash code #fc508.

Furnace Creek 508 all weekend

2010-10-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the 27th edition of the Furnace Creek 508 aka The Hell of West aka The Toughest 48 Hours in Sport!!

I'm racing solo. Again. Third year in a row. I've written about this race enough that it has its own tag. Check out this post from last week for my history with the race including links to reports, etc. My close friend Morgan 'Goat' Beeby, the first of our crew to race this, wrote a great story about his experience as my Crew Chief on my first solo race which gives an idea of what it's like out there.

I'm so stoked and feel incredibly privileged to have the health, ability and resources to even attempt this race. The days leading into the race are very stressful- the logistics are complicated (and expensive!!) and that feeling of not having trained enough will wake you up at night! But the day before I feel a peace with it all and just can't wait to get to that start line.

Racing fixed gear in 2006. This seems so long ago!

Let's go to my favorite format of all time- FAQ's- to cover what all this is about. Thanks for reading and think of me riding all day on Saturday. And Saturday night when you go to sleep. And Sunday morning when you wake up. And hopefully when you're eating dinner Sunday night I'm crossing the finish line...

Can I follow the race online?
Yes. I'm updating the Swarm! Twitter when we can. My time splits will be posted here as part of the AdventureCORPS webcast. This is the page to follow! Photos, videos and updates will be posted all morning. My pre-race mug shot will be up by tonight!

What's this 'Desert Locust' thing about?
Instead of a number you get an animal totem that is yours for life! I'm Desert Locust, but last year I was Dessert Locust which is the dessert totem of my animal totem. This year I'm a combination of both and the jpeg above is the sign that must be on all four sides of the support van.

Do you ride the whole thing yourself?
Yes. Every mile. You can race team as I did in 2006 where you switch at every time station. About 80 of the 200 racers are solo.

Is it a race or just a long ride?
The fastest folks finish in under 30 hours. That's a 17 MPH average over 508 miles and 35,000 feet of elevation gain! The time limit is 48 hours. National Geographic Adventure (RIP) called it the 8th hardest race in the world.

Do you race it?
Ugh. Sort of? I got tenth last year, only cause faster folks dropped out in the 50+ MPH winds in Death Valley and my crew had the tenacity to push me on. It was actually much uglier than that, but I'll spare you the details of puke and piss.

Do you have a crew?
Yes. Three friends are in a support van with the job of keeping me going with food, water and motivation. This year I have a totally rookie crew! They are in for an adventure as well. Dave Vandermaas, Lisa Auerbach and Sabrina Ovan. Thank you so much!
They 'leapfrog' me all day Saturday and follow me directly over night passing me water and food.

finish line photo with crew and desserts in 2009

What do you eat?
A combination of fruit like bananas and apples, liquid foods like Sustained Energy, bars, gels and mini-burritos. Peanut butter on tortillas, pretzels, and chocolate covered espresso beans are my secret weapon based on my 7-year, $65,000 education in nutrition.

Do you sleep?
In 2008 I slept 15 minutes at daybreak on Sunday. In 2009 not at all.

Does your butt hurt?
Yes. And then it stops hurting. And then it hurts again. But you know what? Anything worth doing involves some pain and suffering.

Is going down hill really fast awesome?
Yes.

Why?
Why is water wet? Why is the sky blue? I'm drawn to the physical and mental ends of this body I live in, I think. And I happen to be good at riding a bicycle for long periods of time, so this is the best way for me to do this! The answer to this question varies depending on my mood too. I love to travel from A to B, I love California and really, because I can.

Specific motivation this year?
5-time RAAM winner Jure Robic was killed while cycling near his home in Slovenia last week and that weighs heavily on my mind. Death is real, folks. RadioLab has a fitting good-bye. Also friends and specifically my girlfriend who are overcoming their own struggles, will motivate me through the night. Considering what lots of people have to deal with every day, having to pedal my bicycle, something I love, can't be that bad. Right?

Any other Swarm! vegan racers?
Yes!
Max and Brian from the 2006 fixed gear team Bonobo are racing as a 2-person team: Emperor Tamarin

Megan (also from Bonobo), Sasha (who made the documentary from the 2006 race), Jacob and Mike Sz are a 4-person team: Wild Burros!

New friends which I met at 508 last year Jeff (pro coach) and Cara (PRO) are a 2-person team: Godwit attempting to beat the 2-person mixed record of 27:34:29!!

What can I do to help?
Ride a bike for trips under 4 miles. Eat vegan when you can. Realize that your actions do matter. And, secondly, you can txt, tweet, email or facebook me with words of support and my crew will pass it on, when they can.

Can you post an awesome Hip Hop video to get me stoked?
Yes.

3 Photos- Mountain City, Tennesse

2010-09-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

After racing the Shenandoah 100-mile mountain bike race this year I headed to Boone, North Carolina to see a close friend. Instead of the highway I opted for the through-the-mountains-and-Tennessee route. In Mountain City my obsession with grocery stores beckoned me to take a short stop.

Tea Party Propaganda, not unexpected. Later while listening to a call-in radio show, expecting the worst of fear-mongering conservative politics, I was pleasantly shocked by not one, but two callers. The first talked about the economy and how the blame is on the rich and the working-class need to learn all the DIY skills we used to know. Also that the economy shouldn't return to what it was because that was exploitative. The second talked about hunting deer-with a camera! Seriously. Said it's better cause you don't have to kill the animal. Think of that next time you want to stereotype rural folks.

Tiny bottles of Chubby soda.

All grocery stores should have recipes from employees.

3 Photos- Bay Area

2010-09-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

When I was in Philadelphia early this summer I hung out with my college friend, Tara. Tara is a school teacher and I happen to get to her house, which she awesomely opened up to me for the entire weekend, the first night of her summer vacation. We were leaving to go to some fixed/urban/cycling thing and she grabbed her camera on the way out. On the ride over there she told me how she received a picture frame with space for three photos as a gift and her plan was to have it filled with the three photos that best represented her 2010 Summer. She kept saying, 'Will I get one of those photos tonight?' as she snapped away. I thought this was a great idea and since I often take photos wherever I am I had the idea of making it a city project. Three photos from my experience when I'm in a city. I go to Portland and SF often, but each set of three will be specific to that time. You can be assured it will include food and bikes! But also other funny/interesting/odd stuff I find along the way.
Here's the first set, from my first trip to the Bay Area this summer.

Ate dinner at Manzanita which I mentioned previously cause a friend called it 'Food Not Bombs food for $20.' It's one of those stuck in the 70's vegetarian restaurants that's super simple: grain, bean, vegetables, salad. It has that weird new-age/hippy/buddhist vibe strong. But I like food like this. When I saw this sign, I thought, "Really? 'Love'? That's the best you can do? Of course the 'mindful word of the day' is love!!" I wonder how many times it has been. Just seems so obvious.

Cinnaholic peanut butter and jelly cinnamon roll. Nuff said.

Whole Foods vegan pig in a blanket. I only bought it cause I was starved and had already eaten a bunch of donuts, wanted something closer to real food and it was on sale. It was fucking great. Flaky dough, melted daiya cheese, pesto sauce and the Field Roast sausage was grilled before it was wrapped. So good.

Super bike dork status achieved

2010-09-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I was riding home from a friend's place after purchasing his rollers (the bicycle ones, not to be confused with the bird or the photographer) . I was on my bike, with my bike-specific bag hauling a device made for riding my bike in place. I'm not sure if this is ironic, unnecessary, obvious or some combination of all those, but when I passed a cute girl on Fountain Ave (with new sharrows!) I realized how ridiculous it all is. But, I love ridiculousness!

When is summer over?

2010-09-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

That is the question, my friends. When school starts up again? Labor Day? The Solstice? It's impossible for me to write anything about 'this past summer' just yet, so in my mind it continues, yet I know Fall is upon us. How? Well, teaching started up so I'm now required to be somewhere at least twice a week. Also, like five of the previous six Septembers, I'm preparing for the Furnace Creek 508.

In 2005, I was Crew Chief for Morgan 'Goat' Beeby as he shattered the What Is Possible glass ceiling and finished what we thought was an impossible race.

In 2006 I was privileged to be on the 4-person fixed gear team- Bonobo with all of 2005's crew. We raised money for Bonobo Conservation Initiative and even had a little film made about it by our good friend Sasha (who, btw, is racing this year on a 4-person team!).

In 2007 I flaked and didn't race, but still wrote about it and even went to the finish. I did a little research project on Brian 'Emperor Moth' Davidson since he was completely raw vegan at the time that ended up being a poster at a conference.

In 2008 I raced solo for the first time as Desert Locust and the only posts on my blog for the whole month are about it! It was hard. Very hard. That's the problem with hanging out with exceptional people: you tend to forget how crazy/hard this stuff can be! I learned though. And apparently didn't have too hard a time because....

In 2009 I raced solo again as Des[s]ert Locust. It was windy. Like 2.5 hours to ride 17 miles windy. Yeah. But I finished and felt good about it. Good enough that....

In 2010 I'm racing solo again. It's crazy, I know. Why? Not sure. I'm not in as good of shape as last year, so that's concerning. I'll write more about my 508 preparation in the next (gulp) 12 days before the race. I have a 100% rookie crew so I may even post some of my prep stuff as I acclimate them and share the info with a few of the rookies that are on the 4-person Swarm! team Wild Burros.

My goal, which is lofty, but do-able, is to write about the forgotten adventures of summer 2010 before the race. I've got the other AdventureCORPS event the Rough Riders Rally, my San Francisco to Los Angeles 3-day bike tour, the Shenandoah 100 mountain bike race and probably some others that at the moment I really did forget! I've a queue of a half a dozen drafts in blogger as I write this! Also have a potential guest post on a blog that is much more popular than my own and an announcement about how this blog will be changing in the future. Wow! I may be busier now than in summer. I can't complain though, can I? Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing more adventures with you.

Fastest, most expensive child portage ever

2010-09-19T15:36:00.001-07:00

Zipps and a trailer. Wow.

mountain biking in Santa Cruz

2010-09-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

My face hurts from smiling so much. That's the best way I can describe mountain biking in Santa Cruz the other day. I told my friend Paul that 'I absolutely have to ride cause I'm not racing the Tahoe-Sierra 100' and he suggested Santa Cruz. Awesome. I'm glad I had said that because when it came time to put my mountain bike together knowing I had to take it apart again in fewer than 24 hours I kind of didn't want to. What a mistake that would have been!

After some freeway time south of SF we're on a tiny ridge road which I thought of as 'behind the mountains' because I've never actually been in them; only ridden by with them on my left and the ocean on my right. Ends up we wouldn't even see the town of Santa Cruz.

Paul only had a fuzzy idea of where to go. Something about a dirt road up to the ridge and trails coming back down to the car. We pick one, bomb it, then repeat on a different. There are lots of people out on bikes. Dozens. Mountain bikers everywhere. This is new to me. In the San Gabriels or Santa Monicas you only see a few people here and there.

First trail down comes up. We roll by. 'That's not it', he says. Next trail- Braille- has an odd bunch of riders at the trail-head. Some regular looking mountain bike dudes- baggy clothes, hydration packs, dual suspension bikes, hairy legs, etc. A few younger dudes on jumping style bikes. A woman on a cross-country bike and a dude on a cross bike. They say, 'you want to do this trail, it's awesome.' Here's the thing though. 'Awesome' is very subjective. I'll be honest and say I don't trust other people's idea of awesomeness. I have high expectations for trails and while most riding is pretty good and some of it is very good- not a whole lot qualifies as awesome. Our Mammoth Bromance Slaycation 2009 qualifies as awesome. I'll never forget this wall-ride!. So I was apprehensive. Stoked, but apprehensive. And then it was possibly the best trail I have ever ridden.

Next thing I know we are flying down smooth, flow-y single track with some drops. And berms. And then jumps. With landings! Then technical built-up ladders and crossings. Man, stuff I don't even know what it's called. Imagine if you could build a skatepark out of stuff you find in the woods and instead of it being in one big area it's laid out along one trail in a redwood forest. That's this trail. Perfectly called Braille as I was hitting this stuff having never seen it before. I figure that they know where to put the landings and I'll just be careful...

This page has some photos and a video, but it really doesn't do it justice. At the bottom of that we had instant new friends. They loved that I was 'a racer' and riding a 29er and hitting this stuff. Fist bumps and high fives everywhere. Ends up they are a regular Sunday ride and next thing you know we're climbing back up the ridge but this time bombing down toward the ocean. They are offered us weed, bbq chicken and to come to their house post-ride to help them finish the beer and food from a party. Oh mountain bike culture how I love thee! And then we were promised 15 miles of single-track and they delivered.

At the end of ________ and _______ Trail

We rode some twisty, curvy technical trails and some good mixed terrain stuff which I enjoyed. Chatting with our new friends and it ends up the main dude had ridden Furnace Creek 508 years ago. Ridiculous.

Not long after we enter yet another trail the dudes on jumping bikes with platform pedals and shin guards stop and pick up their bikes. They ask to follow them into the woods, but not directly behind. 'Tread lightly, don't leave any marks.' We walk about 10 yards and then onto a SECRET TRAIL! [redacted at request of trail builders]. And that's the last coherent thought I had because the next two miles was so exhilarating and dangerous that I couldn't think about anything but keeping the rubber side down. There were sections where I thought the trail ended only to look down and see that what was in front of me was a 180 degree berm at such a steep incline that if it wasn't for tire tracks I wouldn't think was rideable. I had started near the back and slowly I passed other folks just shaking their head saying, 'there's no way this is possible.' There were jumps I went around, but I rode some berms and drops that truly scared me. You'd pop out from between two giant redwoods and then bam! drop into what better resembles a quarter pipe than a mountain bike trail...

I can't thank those locals enough! Back in Soquel, a tiny town south of Santa Cruz that I had ridden through just a few weeks ago on my SF-LA 3-day ride, we said our goodbyes and started the two hour climb back over the mountains to our car. The conversation was mostly about the costs of homes in the area and if there are any jobs...

Such a fun day. Wow. Not sure it counts as 'training' though.

If I believed in a concept of heaven

2010-09-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

This would be available every day.

2010 Shenandoah 100 Sunday

2010-09-04T12:43:00.000-07:00

I raced the Shenandoah 100 in 2008 as my first mountain bike race ever and it was one of the best races I have ever done! Challenging, technical sections, beautiful area, kick-ass racers and volunteers, great vegan food before and after. It was so fun! (2008 write-up!)

I got my new bike (which made the trip in my Ritchey luggage without incident- no fee on Southwest and nothing broken). I've ridden off-road a lot more since 2008. Can I get in under 10 hours? There's a corral start based on when you think you'll finish and I feel pressure about where to line up! Last year was 10 hours, 55 min. I started in the back cause I didn't want to get in anyone's way...

Stoked to be in 'the south' visiting with friends and riding all day tomorrow. I won't let summer end!!

Ciclavia 10-10-10

2010-08-30T19:55:00.001-07:00

The bookshelf of a Buddhist monk

2010-08-29T19:36:00.001-07:00

Makes sense to me.

I read Living My Life (Emma Goldman biography) over my 2-day train
ride moving to California in early September 2001. Life changing.
About 9 years ago! Whoa.

Cycles

2010-08-25T23:08:00.001-07:00

I've been in SF many times this year, but these last few days have
made me feel closer to it. Less of a visitor and more of a....part-
time resident? No, that's not it. Nowhere ever totally feels like home
for me, but the more time I spend in California all of it feels like
my home. Fuck a stupid north/south CA divide (everyone already knows
Northern CA is overrated), this whole place is my home.
On this trip I rode Paradise Loop, some roads from the Rough Riders
Rally and all around the city. I ate Chicago-style pizza and at a
vegan Mexican place. Visited a Buddhist monestary/farm where we swam
in a pond and played kickball. A sweet life it is.

Tomorrow I head south by bike with Jeff to LA, 450 miles in 3 days.
We're camping, but traveling very light- I've only a big seatbag and a
hydration pack. Laptop I needed here for work but didn't arrange to
mail? Check. Chocolate covered espresso beans? Check. Ready to start
teaching again Monday? Not quite.

Time

2010-08-20T09:26:00.001-07:00

I was in a coffee shop in Costa Mesa and saw a kid with a 'vegan
power' tattoo. Made me reminisce on the mid-90's. He was young-ish
too, a nice reminder that the kids are still into it. I forget
sometimes.
Then later we saw this raw vegan donut at Mother's Market in HB.
Remember when vegan donuts were the holy grail?? I'm not saying this
was good, it wasn't worth the $4 to find out, but the fact it exists
kinda blows me away.
I did have chicken taquitos for lunch, also a novelty, and two
interesting snacks from the deli: shrimp cerviche and raw apple pie.
All vegan, of course.
Enjoyed at the beach with fond memories of HB being the first
California city I ever visited (1996) and the city I set off from on
my first bike tour- 3300 miles to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (2001).

Time: hard to comprehend.

Death and Dancing

2010-08-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

My Google Reader is poppin this morning. First this post with a chart outlining that the number one killer of children is motor vehicles. Number one. Think about that. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us that in 2007 over 41,000 total people were killed by automobiles. What makes it all the more tragic is that we take this as 'normal'. Well, life is dangerous and we have to drive, right? No, we don't have to. We've just spent the previous 60 years giving space and priority to moving automobiles as fast as possible. This has to change. And it is. Slowly.

Folks do what they can. For some in Oakland it's this dance for their friend who was killed in a car at this corner.

Here's a little news story about it and the Turf website.

What's your dance? Get out there and do it.

Vineman photos

2010-08-15T04:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks Chris for 'screen-shooting' these! Photos from ASI Photography.

The one technical section. Picked up some time here. Ha.

I'm going faster than it looks. Er, probably not. Nevermind.

Sure, The Zapatistas and the 1968 Olympic Black Power salute are with left hands, but I am also left-handed.

1st place, beard division.

2010 Vineman

2010-08-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

Vineman full-iron, yo. Pretty tight. Haven't done this multi-sport thing in two years. Appeals to the ADHD me. Also to the Zone-3, no jump in me. 8th/79 in age-group, 45th/527 overall. The 4-hour marathon deal at the end has me pretty amped. Put in some serious work there. Here's the breakdown:

Pre-race
Drove from Portland to Oakland two days before. Fun and beautiful. Stopped in Ashland, Oregon, recently voted best trail-running city in the country where, fortunately for me, hung out with a new trail-running friend I met at the Badwater Ultra-marathon when I was there as an official. Unfortunately, Lacy and I didn't have time to go running with her, so we did the next best thing which was hang out at the Ashland Food Co-op. Another city, another vegan donut.

Sonoma County hang- I've some family in Sonoma which was our base. Three kids under 11 to keep me busy. An important note: Don't try backflips on a trampoline if you can't do them well. Hurt my neck and it bothered me all day on the race.

Dinner in Oakland- Ate dinner at Manzanita, which another friend described as Food Not Bombs food for $20. I was into it. Quinoa, miso soup, delicious salad. Perfect pre-race.

Race day
Up at 445. Made a french press. Drank coffee on the way. Start was mad crowded, parking, blah blah blah. Set up my 'transition' with my bike stuff, which is always exciting. By the time I see it again, I'll be so fucking stoked to finally ride. Putting on my wetsuit: way less exciting. If I'm lighter than I've ever been (er, well, close) why is it tighter than it's ever been? Haven't worn it since this race in 2008.

Swim
In the water, ready to go, pre-whistle. A first. I started to get nervous which made me think tardiness is a response mechanism to nervousness.

Stay chill!

Harder than it sounds. Having breathing issues. Wetsuit felt SO TIGHT. Gnarly. Took 20 minutes for me to calm down. And for my dumb goggles to quit being foggy. This has never happened to me! The swim is two laps in a river with very little current. By the start of the second loop I was feeling a rhythm. Swimming is difficult to tell pace; I often didnt know if I was passing or being passed or if I was swimming straight. It's also very shallow, which means you can stand if you have to (which is why Jeff and Megan call this Styrofoam-man!).
Still I paced, slowly. Got out in 1hr22min, 10 min slower than past race. I'm cool with it. Arms are tired. Wonder why?

Bike
I passed my pink backpack and wetsuit over the fence to Lacy with a big smile on my face. Cycling. Hell yes. I go hard straight away. Stomach is weird so I don't eat for about an hour. That's 2.5hrs now on a small banana. It's fine. Passing hella people and being super polite and stoked, but others aren't being so! (No Meat Athlete just talked about ettiquete for these races).
The course is rolling hills and it's overcast and chilly for the first 50 miles. I love it. I'm feeling strong through the first 70 then I'm less stoked. I notice because I'm getting angry at dudes with Zips and discs passing me on the flats. 'I'm being passed, wtf?' Reconsidering the offer to borrow Zips from a friend. I hesitated cause they are tubulars, but that 8-10% speed improvement sure sounds nice about now.
I stop and pee. Eating more. Feeling good. My average speed is dropping below my goal of 21 MPH. Usually my strength is in the last half of the bike, but lack of recent long rides is showing.
Finish at 5hr30-something minutes. About 10 minutes faster than last time; making up the time lost in swimming..

Transition 2
Yeah, running. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think cycling is the perfect warm-up for running. I feel great. It's getting warm so I slap on sunblock, drink some cold water, dump some on my head and run out with the goal of a 4-hour marathon.

RUN
Boom. Three out-and-backs loops with rolling hills, turns, spectators and aid every mile. I head out strong, I think, trying to figure out my pace. I've no watch and there are no time clocks. I ask some dude with a fancy watch his pace. 9min07sec miles. Perfect. He then says that's too fast for him and backs off. Then someone says, 'Yo Matt!' A dude who lives in Pasadena and has ridden Feel My Legs, I'm A Racer is on his first iron-distance. He's killing it. We chat awhile and then my pace is a bit faster so I split off. Straight away I'm chatting with a dude from Bogota who speaks no English. We talk about running, cities and Ciclovia. He says, 'this is hard' and then runs away from me. I see Lacy at the end of my eventful first lap. Stoked. Run through the transition/finish and see the clock and do the math. My goal is three 80-min loops to equal 4 hours. I did 76 minutes. Boom. Drink some tea (thanks girl!), head out for lap two.

Lap 2
This is the toughest part, mentally. My brain insists on tricking me to slow down. Stop to pee! Put on sunblock! Walk this hill to conserve energy. I do the first two, but not the last. I endure. Passing folks which feels odd and exciting. I'm using the Hydra pouch cup system; no paper cups. It holds 6 ounces of liquid that fills in one second. I'm eating only pretzels and clif blocks. I must have eaten $20 worth. Falling into that tunnel of only feeling my legs moving. I barely comprehend the people around me. Occasionally someone yells, 'Go Swarm!' and it feels like they've given me everything they have. A simple cheer feels like a lifetime of support. I see Lacy at the end of lap two and she runs along with me. I see people smile and that makes me smile. Ask for the rest of the tea and some ibuprofen. She quotes me later as saying, 'This is getting hard.' I do the math on the clock and it was an 84-minute lap. Shit. I blame peeing and sunblock, but really my feet are burning and quads aren't stoked.

Lap 3
Almost done. Well, 8 miles til done. My mantra is 'run to the next aid'. Head down. Trying to keep pace, have no idea. I see people heading back on their last lap running a pace that seems impossible. I get to one of the two bigger hills and push. Everyone I see is walking, but I refuse to. I crave the change in muscle use. At the turn around I think, 'Just run back. That's all you have to do.' My feet are destroyed. I stop to drink two cupfulls and have to hold on to the pop-tent cause the motion of putting my head back makes me a little dizzy. A volunteer says she thinks I should sit. 'No way I'm sitting down, sorry!'

On a downhill about 2 miles from the finish someone catches me. Straightaway she says, 'I'm on the relay, don't worry.' I try and hold her pace. We chat. She's super supportive. I can barely talk. I think we're doing 9 minute miles but it feels like a sprint. We both jog through the last aid and I refuse to give up her pace. We start to catch someone I've seen ahead of me at every turn around. I push. Drop her. Catch him.
The last half mile is painful. Did I go too hard too soon?
Cross the finish with the same Black Power salute I did in 2008, but this time the clock is one hour earlier.
Results.

Post-race
Try to keep moving. Head cloudy. Feet burning. STARVED. Lacy finds me wandering in circles. I sit. Stretch. Snack. Get bike. Get food! Yay veggie burger with pasta salad on it. Whatevs. Tons a fruit. See the Pasadena dude and someone I randomly met at a wedding last year. Congratulations all around.
We hear about a local, sustainable, vegan restaurant in the tiny town of Graton and head there. Ends up they are promoters of the first two, but haters of the latter. 'We put cheese in the polenta because it tastes better.' I knew it was too good to be true. Damn 'local' restaurants and their total disregard for animals. We eat at the Mexican place next store that gets it. Yum. See some folks who were at the race and my hobble gives away that I was there.

So. Yeah. Was high on this for a few days. No photos, unfortunately. There are the official ones, but I couldn't figure out how to pull them.

Soon, the fall: More mountain bike racing and then Furnace Creek 508, again. See you out there. Keep at it, whatever it is you do. Here are some applicable Buddhist quotes I stole from famous artist, Lacy J. Davis.

Don't depend on how the rest of the world is.
In this life, concentrate on achieving what is most meaningful.
Stay focused.
Don't expect any applause.

35 ounces of vegan burrito

2010-08-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Oliver's Market burrito I mentioned in a previous post. Yum!

Grande with
mexican rice
refried beans
fried tofu
guacamole
jalapeño salsa
lettuce
cilantro
whole-wheat tortilla

It's novel to get refried beans or fried tofu; together is a special
occasion. I took it over to the deli for proof of its grande-ness.

Blisteringly fast?

2010-08-03T21:35:00.001-07:00

The gnarliest blister I've ever had. Or seen, really.
Anyway, Vineman went really well! Thx for the love, folks. More
details soon, still whirling from Sonoma-Oakland-LA-to work post-race,
but my time was 11hrs 19min with a 4-hour marathon in there at the
end. Elated.

pre Vineman 2010

2010-07-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

I love to swim.
I love to bike.
I love to run.
I love to do things for a really long time.

This is the answer I give when folks ask me about triathlon. I am most definitely not a triathlete and I'm going to shy away from trying to convince anyone that triathlon is 'cool'. It's like arguing that Korn is a seminal punk band or that Del Taco really has Mexican food down. I'm glad people enjoy these things, but they will always just be what they are. And that's fine! I've been known to deviate outside of the norm (norm, as always, is relative here. It's normal in my world to not know anyone with health insurance or who eats at McDonalds. Or anyone who isn't pro-choice or who hasn't hung out with their favorite band). Like listening to Downset, paying for a mattress and working a job where I have to wear a button-up shirt (occasionally).
That's the long intro to say that tomorrow is the Vineman, full-iron (fuck you Ironman-TM for trademarking both 'ironman' and 'iron-distance' you money-hungry fuckers) triathlon.

2.4 mile swim
112 mile bike
26.2 mile run

I've watched two bloggers I follow each race their first this year- Punk Rock Tri Guy and Vegan Heart Doc. Their rightful sense of accomplishment is very motivating.

Yay! But I'm nervous. More than usual. I've swam 5 times this year. Maybe 2.4 miles total, but probably less! Since reading Total Immersion I'm confident in my theory that swimming is way, way more skill than fitness, but still! I haven't practiced that skill very much in the last two years (the last triathlon I did was Vineman 2008, which is also the last time I've worn my wetsuit).

Whoa. Deep breath. I won't drown. I just don't want it to slow my bike down! Running that half marathon July 4th was awesome, but I haven't run much since. Oops.

You know what is fucking awesome though? Vineman recycles everything-including a special process for energy bar wrappers-and composts fruit scraps. The finish is powered by solar panels. New this year- paper cup-free run! They are using Hydra-pouch refillable cups that each runner carries. So fucking awesome. When we rode through the SF marathon on Sunday on our way to Rough Riders there was litter EVERYWHERE. It was disgusting. So this rules.

Well, goal time....I'd love to beat 12hrs20min from last time, but I'm not sure how the swim will pan out and slow the rest of my day. Also haven't ridden my road bike much at all and I just put my aerobars on and haven't ridden them yet. Is a four-hour marathon possible? I'd love it, but we'll have to see. Holding back on the bike is near impossible for me.

Thanks to everyone who helped get me here and make this happen!

Mt. Tamalpais

2010-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

As part of the Rough Riders AdventureCORPS event we rode from the
Mission in SF to Mill Valley and then to the summit of Mt. Tamalpais
on dirt. Well, you have to hike the last 0.3 miles.
Team Swarm! and others made up the late group each day but we still
rode with some great folks. At the Saturday night bike show Megan Dean
of Moth Attack! bikes won second best bike. Rad.

More info with links and photos later in the week, hopefully.

Boggs 24 hour mountain bike race

2010-07-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

"People should learn endurance; they should learn to endure the
discomforts of heat and cold, hunger and thirst: they should learn to
be patient when receiving abuse and scorn; for it is the practice of
endurance that quenches the fire of worldly passion which is burning
up their bodies." -Buddha

I love mountain biking. Most non-cyclists fixate on time and/or
distance with these events, but really, Im just stoked to be out there
jumping off rocks, railing turns and bombing hills. Sure, the
endurance athletic stuff comes into play and I do enjoy that as well,
but man o man riding bikes is fun.

So. It was hot as shit. 100+.
The dude who won single speed (and overall!) lapped me when I was on
my 5th lap. Wtf?
I rested at 130am, changed kits and rubbed my feet. Did a few laps
then chilled at sun up. Some stomach weirdness! Maybe from the old gel
flask I took from the fridge.
I ate bananas, apples, clif bars, lara bars and peanut chews. Plus
MaxoMax, the Swarm! homemade electrolyte drink courtesy of Max.
New bike is nimble, fast and responsive. Rode the whole course, no
pushing, on my last 2 laps.
Lap times and other numbers below.

Now heading to the Bay area for Rough Riders Multi-surface Cycling
Festival. Vineman next weekend! Shit, I've only swam 4 times this
year. Should I be nervous?

17 laps, 2nd/4 in SS, 6th/22 overall.
0:54:45
0:58:04
1:04:39
1:06:56
1:04:35
1:04:26
1:13:28
1:02:45
1:08:40
1:28:49
1:09:24
1:26:51
2:01:32
1:37:20
2:26:47
1:31:29
1:21:47

Oliver's market

2010-07-20T11:28:00.001-07:00

I've come to look fwd to this place as much as the races I go to
Sonoma County for! This bin was empty; hopefully next week they've
some. They also have a taqueria and I ate possibly the largest burrito
in my life. And I've eaten thousands of large burritos! Next time I'll
weigh it and take photos. It may approach two pounds.

The 24hr race went well! Fell short of the 200 mile mark, did 17 laps
on a tough, hour-long-ish 9.3-mile course. Second in single-speed, but
there were only four of us. This fireman dude from Santa Rosa has won
every race I've been to up there and this one he won overall! Beat
pros on geared bikes. I'll have to check my overall. Bike is DOPE. And
now I have 100 packets of Hammer Espresso gel.

Idleness and dissipation breed apathy

2010-07-17T07:26:00.001-07:00

24 hours of Boggs today! 11am to 11am. With new bike, awesome. Without
any crew or friends racing, less awesome. It was a great course last
year and suuposedly there's even more single track. As my first 24hr
race last year I got 4th out of 8 single speed, but something like 9th
out of 45 overall. I like the time and the looped course rarely feels
repetitive, but it's hard mentally to push when there's no 'end'. It
got me at Cool 24 this year when I stopped cause I was cold (haha) and
fell asleep...

Maybe I'll shoot for a distance to keep me going? 200 miles? A double
century on my mountain bike would be a first.

I'll try to update the Swarm! Twitter occasionally. Also, a prize if
you can name the album the title of this post is from. Hint: I had the
t-shirt in high school.

Vegan Peruvian, Portland, Oregon

2010-07-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

busy...

2010-07-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm posting more often! Very stoked too. Now that it's summer I'm still busy, but in ways that are more interesting to post. After I finish up here with Badwater, I'm home for 36 hours or so before heading up to 24 hours of Boggs. Can I get a road ride and mountain bike ride in before? Then back to LA for a few days of work before the Rough Riders Multisurface Cycling Festival in Marin County. The week after? Vineman (The People's Ironman!) in Sonoma County. Getting nervous! I really need to swim a few times. What a month.
See you out there on the trail, on the road, in the water or on foot.

Badwater Ultra-marathon

2010-07-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

I'm here helping with the Badwater 135-mile Ultra-marathon and the top runners are finishing- just over 24 hours after they started. I'm updating regularly on the Swarm! twittersphere and there's always the AdventureCORPS webcast (run from where I'm sitting right now).

The distances these runners cover and the landscape they cross...there really are few words to describe it. Driving the course at 4am and seeing folks running up hill, so touching! I get all choked up seeing people look confident and smiling after running 100 plus miles. In Death Valley. In the summer.

Yep, a pink tutu. He rules. Pennsylvania native and past finisher!

Los Angeles native and past champion Jorge Pacheco running up Townes Pass

Last years champion Farinazzo getting the full pit crew treatment on Townes Pass

Jorge descending Townes pass

A top five racer gets an ice bath before taking on the last 13 miles to Whitney Portal

Sauvie Island half marathon

2010-07-10T23:28:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last time I did a running event! At least two years. When I was mapping out my training for Vineman I thought it'd be a good idea to run a half marathon in late June or early July. And what better place than near Portland, Oregon? The Foot Traffic Flat takes place on Sauvie Island (Sauvie means delicious berries) 15 miles north of Portland.

So we, as in famous artist Lacy J. Davis and I, decided to ride our bikes there, duh. Yes, I love to ride bikes and I'm an environmentalist blah blah blah...but there's only one bridge onto the island. Lots of cars. It just made sense to ride! The last 3 miles we rolled past bumper to bumper traffic. AND it was a great ride and a good way to warm up. I suggested this to the race organizer but he didn't think it likely anyone else would ride...

The blue behind us is part of the un-ironic background but the blue behind that is real sky blue.

After locking our bikes to a barn and eating some fruit, the half was ready to start. I started with my friend Eben, who works at the 7th Friendliest Store in Portland, who just ran a fast half the weekend before. Needless to say I let him go after the first mile. By mile two I realized that the majority of my running races have been the LA marathon and this race is the exact opposite, in a good way! Since I don't have a watch and only recently began pacing at a track I was nervous about my time. Was I going too fast? Too slow? I set the timer on my iPhone and checked it at mile 3 and mile 6. Turns out I was running just about 7.5 minute miles, as I hoped.

St. John's bridge, looking south.

There's no coasting in running! I'd find myself lost in my thoughts and my pace slowing...and I'd have to catch myself and see where I was. Runners may be worse than cyclists in avoiding hills, but the monotony of the flat course was getting to me. I like hills! I felt good at mile 10 so I picked it up and finished in the punk rock time of 1hr 38min. Eben finished about 4 minutes ahead for 107th place overall. If he knew, he probably would of let that one person pass so his time could be punk and 108. Lacy finished the 5k, her first running race, in 28min30sec, not to mention the 30+ miles of riding. Awesome!

After some lounging and watching the fast marathoners come in we headed back toward Portland, but took a detour over the St. John's bridge to eat at Proper Eats, which is basically a restaurant in a health food store. The service and smell are like you'd expect from a restaurant inside a health food store, but the food was terrific. Tempeh breakfast scramble!

French fry salad

2010-07-09T23:57:00.001-07:00

Inagural ride on the new mountain bike! Shocks. Something else. Also amazing? Four pounds lighter. A smooth, fast bike that fits. Wow!

Aidan is still in town post-Tour Divide, all 4th place finish, 1st single-speed (10 hours off the course record?!), 1st rookie. Took him for a spin in the Verdugos. June gloom (still) in effect on this side, but the climb up from La Tuna was HOT. The opposite of his next adventure, which is the 1100-mile Alaska Iditarod Invitational early next year. Nothing like perspective on what is possible.

Post-ride Indian buffet. Duh. A spot I had heard about in Pasadena near Lake and Colorado. The food was good, weren't a ton of vegan options, but there was this:

We thought maybe it was compost. Delicious compost. Beans, curried broccoli and.....french fry....salad? Whaaa? We asked what was up with it and our server just told us it was a mixed-vegetable salad. Okay. I'm down no matter what you call it.

Books!

2010-07-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Recently I was in Powell's 'City of Books' in Portland and while perusing the Food/Sustainability section I finally got to see in person, my good friend Temra Costa's book about women in the sustainable food movement. Temra rules. We met, obviously enough, at a conference on food justice. She lived in Davis at the time I was traveling for work to Sacramento every few months or so and we'd hang out. She's a super hard worker and very busy, so that often meant I was tagging along in what she was already doing- like scavengering the city for figs. Have you ever ate a fresh fig straight from the tree? She'd climb the tree, pick one and eat it, pass one down, which I would eat and then every third one would actually make it into the bike basket.

Also in this section was my friend Erik Knutzen's book that he co-wrote with his wife, The Urban Homestead.

I ran into him last at the Echo Park Farmers Market (duh, right?) and they are working on a new book right now. I've been on a tour of his house during the 2009 Big Parade Staircase Walk and it is super amazing. A small farm right in the city!

Now any of you vegans out there know that the sustainable food movement not only includes animal products, but actively promotes them and are often anti-vegetarian. It's very frustrating. Sustainability aside, it is still an ethical issue. As if eating local makes a difference to the animals raised and killed! I don't want to be the militant vegan that no doubt has fueled the fire for localvores, in fact, I want to do the opposite. Vegans need to be more in touch with these folks and understand this movement, because it is a very important part of the puzzle.

The book I was looking for was On A Dollar A Day. I knew about the blog and hadn't realized it was a book until a friend in Portland recommended it. Turns out that the authors are not only vegan, but old hardcore kids! (Out of context 'hardcore' kids sounds funny, it's a sub-genre of punk rock that was very influential to me as a youth, and today).

Can someone eat on a dollar a day? What about on Food Stamp allocations? I love books where the authors are actively figuring something out as they write. You feel their struggle in trying to not only create meals from the resources they are limited to, but also to vegan-ize them. I'm most of the way through it and I highly recommend it.

The next day I was in the Powell's that's in the airport (Portland, I love you!) and what do I see? My friend Kalee Thompson's book Deadliest Sea. Full circle, as she's the partner of the guy who organizes the Big Parade Staircase Walk! On last year's walk I had just started the book I am working on and I bugged her with a million questions about the process. I haven't read this yet, but she's a former editor of National Geographic Adventure (RIP!) and an awesome person so I know it'll be good.

So stoked on my friends! And I can't write a post about books and not mention Born To Run. I could not put this book down, except to go running. It's about more than running and ultra-running, it's anthropological in his look at the Tarahumara, but also about us, Western Culture. The author looks at the shoe industry and is not afraid to name names. It all comes together when a mysterious desert dweller organizes an ultra-run in Copper Canyon. So rad.

This book takes running out of the athletic realm. I see it now like back-packing or bike touring. We are born to run and to move, so get out and do it. I can't wait to run an ultra-marathon, which I guess is obvious to anyone who knows me...

Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic

2010-07-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

In April I rode the Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic in East SD County. Back in January I was part of the pre-ride so I was really looking forward to this! It just so happened that the Rosarita-Ensenada party ride was happening the same weekend and my good friend Matthew was heading down there from LA on his fancy Rivendell.
I had to work till 5pm and then I loaded up my two-shoulder messenger bag with my bivy sac, sleeping bag and pad and everything I'd need for the weekend. Made my way to coastal Orange County in time to watch the sun set and was near the SD border by 10pm.

The awesome bike path before the military base or freeway dilemma

Our Swarm! jerseys say 'Can't Stop Won't Stop' which I took straight from Hip Hop slang as applied to long-distance cycling. Matthew likes to say, 'Can stop, will stop!' when riding. I had hustled to do the first 77 miles miles in 5 hours, which is fun in my own way, but the next day we were leisurely. To say the least. I asked if we should stop and get some bars or bananas and he replied, 'If we get hungry we'll just find a taco truck.' Awesome.

Done.

We chilled all through SD County, taking the beach options whenever possible. We arrived at a friend's house in Ocean Beach, which is the exact stereotype of everything you think about Southern California- in the good way. We had been texting and when I asked about food he said, 'There's a liquor store near me that has great vegan food.' Whaaaaa? Ends up Liticker's Liquor has a full-on vegan menu with carne asada and seitan burritos. One of each, please.

We ate our tacos on his roof and watched the sun set. California, bro.

My friend Jeff had driven down after work and met up with us and after some dessert from the local co-op we set our alarm for 4am to head out to Pine Valley (Matthew and Craig were riding to the border a few hours later to meet the start of their ride). We had some disagreement over what time to leave. I wanted to sleep as late as possible and get there right as the last wave was ready to go, but Jeff, being older and wiser, suggested we not do that. Okay, okay.
Ends up I was right! We flew out there with no traffic and then sat in the car, in the dark, waiting for it to warm up. Went with the last wave...

Jeff killing it. Fourth fastest time of the day.

We rode in a good pack till the first climb picked up and then Jeff and some Cat-1 guy were off. I settled in with a triathlete who I spent most of the time trying to convince that iron-distance is the only way to go (you get your money's worth!). Paced with a quiet guy from Arizona for awhile who really pushed me on the climbs. the course is three loops, all with the same aid station at the top of Mt Laguna and the same fast, awesome descent. Ran into a friend I had met at the AdventureCORPS Shasta cycling/yoga camp last summer. We rode together for awhile on the insanely steep last climb discussing art, girls, work and making it all fit. He said something that really stood out: 'Work expands to fit the time allotted.' That aids my procrastination tendency and I love it.

I pushed on the steep stuff just to keep the pedals turning and passed about a half dozen folks walking. It was that steep! Keep in mind I'm still near the front third...

Post-ride meal included Filipino food again and vegan pizza!

Results and photos are up and worth perusing. Please note the 11 and 13 year old girls that did the same ride. For real. I also met Errin Vasquez, who I had chatted with on the internet previously. Also awesome.

We drove back to Ocean Beach in time for another Organic Athlete vegan potluck and decided to spend the night so I could go to the co-op for the 100th time on this trip. Breakfast!

When I was searching for something funny to link from Rivendell, I searched 'Cult Bikes' and it ends up that Robbie Morales, an old BMX friend, has a new company with this name. Here's a great sampler video!

(maybe I should end all posts with a BMX or Hip Hop video?)

Commitment is scary, but exciting

2010-06-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hello and congratulations!

You have been selected to compete in the 27th Anniversary Furnace Creek 508 on October 2-4, 2010, “The Toughest 48 hours in Sport.” You are part of a select group who will participate in this world-famous spiritual odyssey through Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. We look forward to sharing the experience with you!

Ultra-ing

2010-06-28T06:39:00.001-07:00

I'm a regular reader of Jill Homer's blog, http://arcticglass.blogspot.com. Who isn't, really? She mentioned that her close friend Geoff (who makes an appearance in her book) ran the Western States 100 and since I just finished Born To Run and am all stoked on running I thought I'd read up on it. The dude set a course record besting Scott Jurek's fastest time! When asked about it, Geoff had this to say,

"Somewhere around mile 70 or 75, it started to feel good. I finally got warmed up, I guess."

Awesome. Some lessons in that statement for amateurs such as myself. I recommend the entire article: http://rosevillept.com/detail/153188.html

Santa Monica 100

2010-06-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

The Santa Monica 100 map from my June 12th ride on single-speed. Turn by turn directions at the bottom. More info on this post.

How was it? I'm not sure. I was 15 minutes late and chased the entire way. It started chaotically when I got to Wilshire/Western in Koreatown to hop on the Rapid bus to Santa Monica. I was even early. If you know me well, you know this is rare. It was chaotic because Korea was playing in some international sporting event involving kicking a ball around. This being Koreatown, the street was flooded with fans watching live on a giant screen. I definitely support public gatherings. Especially the folks who looked like they had stayed out all night to catch the 430am start.

So I had forgotten about the valuable space that is the bike rack on the 720 bus. No fewer than four dudes with bikes waiting at the stop in front of me. Then the first bus' bike rack is full. And then the second. Then one dude decides to ride to wherever he was going. Three more buses later I have a spot.

the bus at 630am. Good thing they come every 6 minutes.

I missed the start by minutes. Though a whole cast of characters made it an exciting day on the mountain bike.

The exerciser
He said I was close enough to try and cut off the group by running down a giant staircase that's main function is for exercise. Nope.

The LA County Bicycle Coalition crew
They got me to the trail head and on the route. Thanks! I'd later see them about 8 miles back from my turnaround point.

Back of the pack dudes
On the big climb up Sullivan Ridge I caught a dude who said he was on the ride. Sweet. At the top three more dudes said 'five minutes ahead'. I think I'm now in the ride. I'm not.

Mountain bikers at the Hub
They said, 'oh 20 minutes ago' (maybe I lost time by riding Broken Arrow on the way? I figured they'd hit all the single track, but I guess not).

Trippet Ranch hiker
saw my perplexed look and said, '10 minutes ago a big group left....'

Helen's dudes
Saw me riding up Old Topanga Canyon rd and turned around. We were right near Red Rock Canyon Park where'd we figure out later the main group went. Rode with me all the way to the top of the road climb to the route I knew from the Rough Riders ride I had done last year to Calabasas peak and then down to Stunt road. One dude drops. Added a bunch of miles and a huge climb.

My friend Mark riding Cross
He had gotten dropped ('Dude, they are fucking flying! I couldn't hold on at all). Met up with him on Mulholland.

Malibu Creek State Park meet-up dudes
They see us and get all amped. They think we are off the front. 'No, sorry. You know where to go?' Now there are 5 of us. We do Bulldog Climb. Mark drops and head to the beach. I have to push on four different occasions. We descend to the Corral Canyon Backbone trailhead, which I have ridden before. It's awesome to have pedal-powered from a usual riding spot to one I have driven an hour to.

One of the meet-up dudes handling a snake

This trail rules. There are only three of us now and it has been hours since we've heard anything about any of the original riders. Finally some single track.

Original Riders!
Past Latigo, just before Kanan some dudes come ripping by. Holy shit! A few minutes later my friend Cole Maness. We stop and chat. I love Cole. He's got that Southern friendliness and stokedness. He does epic shit and has no ego. We were chatting once about his Rapha trip to Nepal and he says to me, 'Really, I should thank you. Because you won't wear wool I get to do all of this traveling!' (I was asked to be on the Rapha Continental team but declined cause of all the wool. Oh well)
He tells us there are only 9 riders left.

Al on single-speed
He was pushing up from Kanan. He tells me to hurry up and do the rest and catch him so we can ride together. I raced Al last year at the 24 hours of Boggs. I chased him all night. He slept at 930am and I thought I could make up the difference and pass him, but he had ridden fast enough and held me off, while sleeping, for a podium finish!

At Kanan, Helen's dude heads to the beach. 'I'm so done. I can't ride anymore.' The meet-up dude and I decide to turn around and not do the last 5-mile out and back. He's already hours late.
At Malibu Creek State Park (again) he gets in his car and offers me a ride. I decline. I decide to ride road all the way back to dirt Mulholland and skip the route through Red Rock. I had never entered dirt Mulholland from the west. Rad.
I cruise it the whole length. It's hot as shit. It turns to pavement again, I bomb down Sepulveda, splitting lanes in traffic, back to the 720 in Westwood. Eleven hours bus to bus time. Maybe 100 miles?

Thanks to the folks who made the route. I've a new appreciation for the Santa Monicas and what connects to what. Next time I hope to ride with the regulars. I heard 8 of 40 finished.

4th & Adelaide
down Adelaide
R to Ocean up Amalfi
...L to Capri
L to Sullivan fireroad
L to Mulholland
L to Fireroad 30
R to Eagle Rock
R to Trippet
down Entrada
L to Topanga
R to Old Topanga
L to Red Rock Road
L to Calabasas Peak
R to Stunt
L to Mulholland
L to Las Virgenes
R to Craggs
L to Bulldog
L to Castro
R to Kanan backbone
turn-around @ Zuma Ridge FR

Ugli fruit

2010-06-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Tour Divide Update

2010-06-26T18:17:00.000-07:00

The 2700 mile Tour Divide mountain bike race is well underway and my friend Aidan is fourth overall, 14 days into the race- first place single speed and first rookie! here are some photos, there's a good one of him at the bottom.

Here's a video interview:

Aidan Harding - 2010 Tour Divide from Juicy Fruita on Vimeo.

Though It is all overshadowed by a racer being killed from a head-on collision with a vehicle: http://tourdivide.org/blog2010/memory_dave_blumenthal

It's hard to process this. Someone doing a race I want to do was killed while racing, on a road I have been on. He leaves behind his wife and young daughter.

LAPD poster parody

2010-06-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Sarcasm is such a great political tool. This poster mocks the one put out by the LAPD after they invited themselves to Critical Mass. There is some background here.

You can see the video of LAPD kicking and assaulting cyclists on last month's Critical Mass. The double standard is amazing.

If any cyclists break the law = cyclists break laws.
If the police beat people = it was an isolated incident.

Vegan peanut butter / cake batter swirl

2010-06-22T20:21:00.001-07:00

Vegan Treats, yo.

Single-speed specific, belt-drive ready, ritchey breakaway custom 29er

2010-06-21T20:23:00.000-07:00

By Trystan Cobbett.
Photos of complete bike soonish. Trying to figure a way around Fox
voiding warranty if you paint your fork. Black electrical tape?

Not enough hours this weekend to do it all

2010-06-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, It's not quite officially summer, but there are a number of summer-like events this weekend. It's overwhelming, almost. The price of being involved in so much. Let's see if I can get it covered.

Saturday I was planning on racing the second edition of the 12 hours of Temecula series. I raced the first one back in January and actually got around to writing about it. But, along came tangible proof of the existence of a mystical ride called the Santa Monica 100, a ride linking up 100 miles of mostly single track in the Santa Monica mountains. So drive over an hour, pay $85 and ride in circles or do a free, DIY, local event? Duh. Since there isn't much info on the site here's their page on everyone's favorite vegan-owned social networking site: facebook. I think I've ridden most of these independently, linking them up should rule. Anyone else on single-speed? Will Dave Zabriskie be there again? I heard about this ride last year, but missed it and I just kept hearing about Zabriskie riding it on a 29er with drop bars. And since I know very little about professional road racing I used this lone fact to root for him for the Tour of California.

Burritos on a roof in San Diego back in April.

If you aren't coming mountain biking with me, you should be walking stairs as Saturday and Sunday is the second edition of the Big Parade, a 2-day, 35-mile walk covering over 100 stairways from downtown LA to the Hollywood sign including urban camping. You can do all of it, which I did last year and it was a blast, or pop in and out and do sections that interest you. It's a slice of LA most people have no idea exists. Get out to this! The website is a wealth of info. You can follow on twitter to catch them.

If deep down you feel that walking and clothing are inhibiting, you can skip out and head over to the World Naked Bike Ride. Seriously. The LA ride leaves around 4pm from Echo Park after a popular sporting event ends. Social network with fellow naked cyclists here.

Los Angeles' first bicycle cooperative the Bicycle Kitchen is having their closing fundraiser party at a spot on 'the block'. Check out their blog for the details.

Also Saturday night vegan MMA fighter Mac Danzig has a fight and some friends are organizing a vegan potluck to view it. Why not?

While all this is happening here, I'll be thinking about my friend Aidan who was on my support crew in Norway when I raced Norseman, possibly the only triathlon that requires a crew, because he's on a race that explicitly does not allow a crew or any outside help at all- the Tour Divide. Starts today at noon in Banff and ends 2745 miles later at the Mexican border. One stage, no entry fee, no prizes. My kind of race! I wish I was there, actually. I wrote about the race a bit in 2008, including info from when I rode the Canada to (almost) Mexico section in 2006. Aidan is racing single-speed, but I've confidence in anyone who has finished the Alaska Iditarod Invitational. Crush it Aidan!

Lastly, I've a half dozen unfinished posts from previous events I'd like to get up soon. Too busy doing to write about the past! This is my public commitment to get them up!

From this year:
Cool 24 hour mountain bike race
Mt. Laguna Bicycle Classic
LA County Bicycle Coalition LA River century

Last year:
Boggs 24hr mountain bike race
To/from Mt. Whitney Summit from Los Angeles via public transit (seriously!).

Have fun in the world this weekend.

Oakland airport bike exhibit

2010-06-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

Seriously?
I started to write a long rant about the difference between northern
and southern California showing itself with this art exhibit, but
really I can't say anything that isn't already obvious.

Ps. There are rumors of a vegan bakery in terminal 1 but I could not
find it.

Walking in LA

2010-05-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

I've been following this series at Good magazine, Walking in LA, by Ryan Bradley. It's terrific. From there Sasha found a link to a story about our friend Dan Koeppel's The Big Parade called Walking for Walking in Los Angeles. On the top photo our Swarm! socks make a center stage appearance. Anyway, in the most recent post he discusses parking and how it affects the 'feel' and layout of downtown:

If you took all of the parking spaces in Los Angeles's central business district and spread them horizontally in a surface lot, they would cover 81 percent of downtown. I know this because of a paper called "People, Parking, and Cities" by Michael Manville and Donald Shoup at UCLA's Department of Urban Planning [pdf here]. This “parking coverage rate,” they write, is "higher in downtown L.A. than in any other downtown on earth. In San Francisco, for instance, the coverage rate is 31 percent, and in New York it is only 18 percent." Their paper goes on to show how this glut of parking keeps downtown from having a vibrant city center, because downtowns in general "thrive on high density ... the prime advantage they offer over other parts of a metropolitan area is proximity—the immediate availability of a wide variety of activities.... So long as its zoning assumes that almost every new person will also bring a car—and requires parking for that car," they conclude "[downtown Los Angeles] will never develop the sort of vital core we associate with older urban centers."

I read it this like this: You can't have both. Either give up your car and work toward compacting DTLA or keep your car and your parking and don't complain! But it's never quite that simple. As I say over and over, most people cannot or will not believe that their individual actions matter and can change the environment and culture we live in. Oh, but they do!

And Hope Dies a Little Bit

2010-05-18T17:43:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Joe Linton from LA Creek Freak for the share on this.

Avoiding Overexposure

2010-05-17T23:09:00.001-07:00

Today was overcast and unseasonably not warm; a great day for a 2.5
hour run in Griffith Park. It's no secret that I live in LA primarily
for the sun, but I miss weather changes. Too much sun is monotonous!
I'm sure those of you in less awesome climates (anywhere not here I
imagine) have no pity for 'too much sun'. It's like photography,
everything gets washed out.
Anyway, this is a sketchy ladder that leads to a technical scrammble
on one of my favorite routes in the park. This still counts as
running, right?

Night Riding in the Verdugos

2010-05-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Verdugo Mountains are so close to urban LA, I cannot believe how infrequently I've been. They are a decent sized range that sits just 10 miles from East Hollywood, behind Griffith Park. From a distance they look to be part of the San Gabriels, but they are a distinct range and a valley exists between the two, home to Tujunga and Sunland. I was up here a few months ago on my cross bike and wrote a short post about it. Here is a more detailed description of the area, with photos: www.mtbguru.com.

The other night four of us headed out, hitting the trailhead about 9pm. It's good practice as we've been racing at night, but not really riding at night. Which is sort of the Swarm! way. Also true of my swimming...
Halfway through the single-track back down to La Tuna Canyon is a sketchy, hip-high seesaw with missing boards. I love to play on stuff when riding, so really there was no question about trying it. Can I point out that we live in the future? The lights on our bikes are bright enough for Max to film with his phone! Then uploaded to the internet...

Weekend nights in Los Angeles are so exciting!

Giant Squash!

2010-05-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

This is at a Korean market a few blocks away. Note the bell pepper for
size reference. We could eat for a week! Well, at least a day. Or a
big meal.

Scott Jurek

2010-05-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

In case you have not seen it, 'the Times' has an article up about vegan ultra-runner Scott Jurek called, Diet and Exercise to the Extremes.

I met Scott Jurek in 2006 when I was helping at the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon, which he won. A super nice guy, I chatted with him and his crew about his vegan diet and his training. I wanted to get an interview, but it just didn't work out.

The article mentions the 24 hour championships in France and I've found the live feed showing results. Looks to finish up at 1am, California time. Running in circles sounds absolutely miserable to me, but I imagine it is meditative in its repetitiveness. And it's not like he only does these races; quite the opposite. The Western States 100 and other 100 milers are trail runs, getting out in nature way more than most runners ever do.

In this terrific ESPN article he says, in regards to coming across a bear during a race,

"That was scary, but it's also part of why I prefer trail running...nature reminds us that there's a greater force out there, and you have to respect that. It makes you feel pretty small."

Awesome. I agree.

there's nothing like bike commuting

2010-05-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

The other day I had to make a long commute to the South Bay and I didn't have time to take the more pleasant coastal route, but I did take the road bike. From East Hollywood to the South Bay is through the urban sprawlish LA that I can avoid on 90% of my commutes. I took my road bike cause I can easily hold 20 MPH, take the lane and not worry too much about busy roads.

On the way back I was on a wide, fast road and had to make a turn that is always tough for cyclists: when the left lane (of four) splits off. I took the lane and made the light, but sure enough someone is on their horn behind me. Keep in mind I'm hauling ass. They drive by and yell indiscernible obscenities and I respond with some. As is often the case, I catch them at the next light. I calm down (a little) and roll up to the drivers side window and before I could say anything she says, 'This isn't a bike lane, get out of my way!!' I tell her I know there's no bike lane, maybe there should be and I had no where else to go. And I add, 'but see, I didn't even slow you down. We are at the light at the same time.' We have the slightly heated exchange any urban cyclist is familiar with. I don't need to give the back and forth. The passenger even jumps in.

Then she says, 'Are you married?' I answer no and keep ranting to her about cycling, safety, etc, not quite processing the question. Then I look at her and she smiles and winks. What? The passenger laughs and say, 'No you just didn't!' The light changes and as they roll away the driver says, 'See you around.'

WTF. It's not often I get totally thrown off by someone! It made me smile that the interaction completely changed. Maybe she'll be nicer to cyclists in the future?

Then back in my neighborhood a woman in a car throws a half-full plastic fast-food soda container out of her window. I catch her at the next stop sign (of course) and tell her not to litter in my neighborhood.
-Mind your own business!
-It is my business, don't throw your trash in my neighborhood.
-Fuck you, honky!

You can't win them all.

Bring May Powers

2010-04-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

And just like that Saturday is May 1st. The crew from September's
Bromamce Slaycation has piled into the Adventure Van (at 31 yrs old
I've no qualm that the vehicle I've spent the most time in in the
previous five yrs is my friend's mom's minivan) and is heading north
to Cool, CA. Married couple brodozer vehicle left the South Bay
earlier and this afternoon we'll combine forces. 24 hours of Cool
Saturday noon to Sunday noon.
We've got:
4-person Swarm! team- Max, Brian (both Bonobo team veterans), Mike Sz
(raced Tucson 24hr) and Nicolas (from the HooDoo 500 team in 07)
Jenny and McCall on support and hang-out duty.
They should kill it. Podium?

I'm racing solo single-speed. No crazy expectations as my fitness is
still meh. Also had hoped to have my new (custom!) bike w an actual
shock fork, but alas it wasn't done in time. Because there's no better
first ride for a new bike than a 24 hour one.

While Swarm! team M is in the woods off-roading in the north, Swarm!
team F will be in central coast at the Wildflower 'woodstock of
triathlons' triathlon. Molly (vegan baker extraordinaire) is racing
her first Olympic distance and Sasha (508 documentarian) is doing the
same, her very first tri. I've been working closely with her on
nutrition/training so I'll be thinking about her while I'm racing.

Keep up with the races at http://www.twitter.com/bikeswarm if that
sort of thing interests you.

Playlist thus far:
Propagandhi Less Talk More Rock
Integrity Systems Overloaded
Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky

And if you're in LA for May Day check this out:
http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/30/may-1st-rally-march-its-time-to-stir-that-melting-pot/

Demand the impossible! Of yourself and the world.

http://la.metblogs.com/2010/04/30/may-1st-rally-march-its-time-to-stir-that-melting-pot/

SNOB BOOK

2010-04-29T11:57:00.001-07:00

Someone likes me! Just got this in the mail. Stoked. Reading material
for the 7-hr drive in the Adventure van tomorrow.
READ FAST

You Can't Be Neutral

2010-04-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Dropping serious knowledge. Watch this and send to 24 people.

Instead of preparing for my 24 hour mountain bike race this weekend, I'm writing about veganism and getting worked up over bike/pedestrian policy here in Los Angeles and nationwide. Six and seven years ago when I first got involved in bike advocacy in Los Angeles the bar was low, as were my expectations. Any improvement or mere mention of bikes outside of our circles was reason for excitement. Fast forward to 2010 and I'm almost overwhelmed with the progress. Almost. We are making gains, but now I want more. It makes so much sense in our unique position today with the economy, environmental concern and a renewed interest in urbanity to shift resources to promote bicycling and walking. But then LA Dept of Transportation General Manager Rita Robinson says stuff like I wish we were New York and could magically make things happen. Argh.

It's up to us to show her it is not magic. To start here is a post by the US Dept of Transportation in support: What we know about bike infrastructure: people want it. This is the freakin US DOT!! I never could imagine seeing this just a few years ago. And here we are. But, and this is a big but, too many people are not seeing this. Or understanding it if they are. Too few people get this:

from here: www.johnnyandstacie.com

As anarchist academic and hero-to-many Howard Zinn says, 'You can't be neutral on a moving train.' Everything is political. Your actions do matter. If you ride a bike, exclusively or occasionally, it's up to you to share the statement above. AND its political importance. Bicycle infrastructure is good for everyone. Fewer people in fewer cars has social, environmental, health and personal benefits. So study up and share with others. We cannot wait for policy change to come from people like Rita Robinson. We need to change ourselves and to share these benefits with our circles.

Sites like
www.la.streetsblog.org
www.streetfilms.org
www.howwedrive.com
Donald Shoup's page at UCLA
are a good start.

Here's a challenge. While I am riding my single-speed mountain bike for 24 hours this weekend, can you send one of the links above to 24 people?

the future

2010-04-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Yo! Wow. Epic month. You'd think that the more epic = more posts, but unfortunately often that's not the case.
We've had parties, picnics, races, travels and other stuff I can't remember. The best stuff often doesn't make it to my blog, like my New Zealand trip and riding the Great Divide. So while I sort these old events, here are some events in the future.

Bake Me Up! vegan bake sale in Echo Park at Mooi Foods from 11-5. This is a benefit for PAWS LA and Kitten Rescue. Other vegan events on www.quarrygirl.com.

My friend Deanna Adams is racing the inaugural Arizona Trail 750, which starts today at the Mexico/US border. It's self-support style like the 2700 mile Tour Divide race along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff to Mexico. What does this mean? No entry fee, no support, no checkpoints. Very awesome. The first part is along the Arizona Trail 300 which has been raced the last few years. The AZTR 750 requires a 22-mile bike portage through the Grand Canyon. Seriously. No bikes allowed. No rolling, pushing, pulling. It must be dismantled and carried on one's back. Sound miserable? I wish I was racing. I'd love to be out there on this epic journey of desert, mountains, heat, snow, pedaling, hiking....gawd. Beautiful way to spend one's days. Anyhow, you can follow Deanna's progress here: http://trackleaders.com/aztr. Oh yeah, she's on a fixed gear.

Lastly, the Swarm! twitter is active. Great links related to veganism, bikes, racing, streets, the environment, etc posted throughout the day. Check it out.

Bike Night at the Hammer April 8

2010-03-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

My good friend Lisa, with whom I share a love for bikes, vegan food and mayhem, not to mention a willingness to wait over an hour for two tacos, has made Bike Night at the Hammer happen for the second year in a row. Last year Breaking Away on the big screen was fantastic and I'm sure Pee Wee's Big Adventure will be just as fun. All of this at a freakin museum.

I helped create the menu for the vegan dinner, too. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, bike valet and it's all free.
Keep your eyes on www.midnightridazz.com for group rides to the museum.

1897 Newspaper article

2010-03-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

From http://www.bicyclephilosophy.com/

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer 2010

2010-03-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer hill race (5th year anniversary!) Sunday March 28th, 8am
Meet at Sunset Blvd / Griffith Park Ave (where Silver Lake Farmers Market is)

background and FAQ from 2009

More soon, but wanted to get the hills up so people know! This so exciting. The Finishers patch is so dope. Come get it! The race will be followed by the Crucial Vegan Friendship picnic (Brian Farhy Commemorative edition) where your friends can meet you and you can grub hard. The picnic starts at 1pm and hopefully we'll be done by then.

1. Mt Washington drive / Self-realization (Mt. Washington)
2. Eldred st (Highland Park)
3. Amethyst st (El Sereno)
4. Thomas st (Lincoln Heights)
5. White Knoll/Marview (Echo Park)
6. Echo Park ave/Baxter (Echo Park)
7. Micheletorena (Silver Lake)
8. Silver Lake blvd/Duane (Silver Lake)
9. Fargo st (Echo Park)
10. Stadium way/Academy/Boylston (Elysian Park)

View Feel My Legs, I'm a Racer 2010 in a larger map

[Update]

Patch for all finishers!

Spoke card by Creative Thing

200 patches

2010-03-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

So rad! Thanks Bird Apartment Printing!
See you tonight at Party Summit: www.bit.ly/partysummit

Stuff I Eat

2010-03-13T17:09:00.001-08:00

Vegan spot in Inglewood. And that's really the name. This is a
quesadilla. So so delicious. Almost (almost) more food than I could
eat after a Black Eyed Pea soup and cornbread.
Check it out.
Unrelated: did a sweet 100 miles today. Felt like the first non-winter
ride of the year. So stoked.

Swarm! Party Summit after Street/Bike Summit

2010-03-10T12:18:00.000-08:00

More on
LA Street/Bike Summit
Chef Joshua Ploeg
WolfPack Hustle Marathon Crash race

Purple (continued)

2010-03-08T19:46:00.001-08:00

If you are going to obsess, buying purple produce at the farmers
market probably has the least detrimental (and most delicious) results.

On my commute

2010-02-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

On a quiet residential street in south central Los Angeles.
What could this thing possibly be used for?

Thus Climbed Zarathustra

2010-02-25T09:35:00.000-08:00

From our good friend Stephen, the organizer of this and previous versions:

An urban cyclocross ride/race through the Eastside of Los Angeles where participants pedal to stairways, portage their bike and climb 'em, before heading to the next one. It's fun, challenging (but do-able) and eye-opening: you'll probably see parts of LA you haven't. And if you don't want to race, no problem. During the inaugural event a few folks stopped at a garage sale and picked up a messenger bag for cheap!

Fast folks should finish in 60 to 75 minutes and more leisurely riders can complete it in about 90 minutes or so. I think. Haven't nailed down the course yet.

This is a Swarm! event.
The name? The first event was held on Nietzsche's b-day.
The flier? Courtesy of Chris. He rules.

On the facebook at bit.ly/thusclimbed

History:
2008
2006

Purple Drank

2010-02-24T09:53:00.001-08:00

The purple carrots and beets were obvious. When the question, 'what
else do we have that's purple?' was asked, I got a little nervous.
Some purple cabbage and purple grapes later and we've this wonderfully
purple concoction.

Top of Amethyst rd in El Sereno

2010-02-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

Scoping out the route for Feel My Legs Im a Racer.

Between the mountains and the clouds: the ocean

2010-02-20T22:15:00.000-08:00

Cyclocross adventuring in the Verdugos scouting Moi's upcoming
'(dirty) Gentlemen's race'.

Dirt was sticky luckily, as I hadn't bothered to change my slicks, or
remove my fenders.

Carl Lewis on being a vegan athlete

2010-02-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

How have I never seen this?

Kale Soyrizo Purple Cabbage

2010-02-19T13:14:00.000-08:00

1. Take what's in fridge.
2. Dice.
3. Pan fry in olive oil.
4. Serve with open-flame warmed corn tortillas.

Adventure is contagious

2010-02-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

My British friend Aidan, who was on my crew for the Norseman triathlon, sent me this email recently:

In a couple of weeks, Emily and I are setting off for New Zealand.
We've got a few weeks of touring around before she swims The Cook
Strait (weather permitting, somewhere between 20-26 February). It's
going to be a good adventure, and on the way back we're scheduled to
have a week in LA.

'before she swims the Cook Strait'

Hard to wrap my mind around that. Emily has a blog where she discusses this with more detail. Honestly, I prefer reading the lead-up to the wrap-up. You feel the nervousness and excitement as someone attempts to write what they are feeling and are up against. Before my biggest events I always have a part of my brain that wants to fully retreat. 'What the fuck are you doing? You can't handle this! You're in over your head!'. And then my ego has to step up and answer. My writing before events is a combination of these and can go either way depending on my mood when I sit down to type.

I'm so excited for her and trying to imagine swimming for that long. I searched for more info and came across www.cookstraitswim.org.nz. Here's my favorite part of the FAQ:

What is the most difficult part of the swim?
Getting across Cook Strait and finishing

Good to know.