Watching one of the great holiday films: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Comedy on a Bike
Yeah, duh, something about bikes. Well the other day YouTube recommended a video by comedian/writer Chloe Radcliffe, of whom I’d never heard. I don’t watch a lot of stand up on YouTube, but I do watch tons of bike vids, and the video recommended was her first episode of a web series called In Tandem that she created. Think of it as a bicycle version of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, but without the smugness of Jerry Seinfeld. Essentially, Chloe rides around on a tandem bicycle with her guest on the rear saddle while conducting an interview. Simple conceit, but the conversation (at least how it’s edited) is comfortable and funny. She has three prior videos called NYC Bike Diaries where she essentially monologues into her Insta360 camera riding around New York, and you can see the influence on the new web series.
She’s funny, she’s a nerd, and as she indicates in a few of her videos, cycling is a massive part of her life. It’s cool to see how she’s found a way to weave together a part of her work and her hobby. If only there was a way to be a bike-riding IT consultant 🙃
They done me dirty.
The Year of the Vest
Pure anecdotes, but I have noticed the rise of vests in outdoor activities this year. Of course there are hydration vests. These aren’t new, but they seem to show up everywhere outside - runners, hikers, and cyclists (though mostly off-road since they surely aren’t “aero” enough for roadies). I get it; you don’t need to carry a bottle or figure out where to shoehorn one into your full-squish mountain bike, and you can usually tuck some snacks in the included pockets as well. It’s just interesting to observe what appears to be a surge in popularity.
I’ve also noticed what seem to be weighted vests, surely for general strength and speed training? The first few times I saw these I wondered why some runners were wearing bullet proof vests jogging on the James River trail. It wasn’t until I passed closely that I realized they were covered in many pouches of uniform size, full of some sort of weight (sand I suppose?). These also make sense to me if somebody is working on strength training, and for speed it reminds me of using drag chutes to add resistance. Again, I’m merely wondering why I’m starting to see these all over the place this year…and seemingly coincident with the rise of hydration vests.
Maybe it’s just that I’ve noticed something novel and now my attention is heightened about these things. Or maybe a variety of manufacturers have decided that vests are the hot new trend in physical fitness :-P
What other types of useful vests are out there (that aren’t simply outerwear)? Cooling? Impact detection?
Brought my bike down to my mother-in-law’s near Wilmington, NC for the Thanksgiving visit, but it looks like it’ll be raining and SUPER windy tomorrow all day. So I also brought my dang Wahoo so I can “ride” on the screened-in porch :-P
Heard for the first time today on a client call: “brand architecture”
Update: I have purchased Young Frankenstein on Blu-ray.
There’s a particular beauty to a damp, late fall day where it isn’t raining, but the overcast light and moisture somehow add an impossible vibrancy to those remaining leaves on the trees. Gingko, maple, oak, and sycamore; all contrasted against their faded siblings piled up in drifts along the curb.
Young Frankenstein isn’t available to stream or purchase digitally anywhere!?
Today I crossed 9000 miles (14484 km) on my #bike for this year!
I’m within reach of 10000 before the year ends!!!
Mastodon (okay, really AP) feels the least at risk to capitalist money pressure, though Bluesky is way more fun for me right now since people are actually interacting more over there. But I still need to remind myself to post to my website first and cross-post to social so it all stays in my hands.
Something that Mastodon (and Twitter—at least when I was still there over 2 years ago) gets right that I sorely wish Bluesky would implement soon is the ability to toggle quotes/reposts at the individual account level.
Looking for recs on TTRPGs I can play with my 8YO and/or 11YO. I missed out on DND as a kid (conservative religious parents), but I probably would have been all over it. Now my kids are super interested. Doesn’t have to be medieval fantasy. Okay if most of the fun is filling out character sheets 😛
Oh, you know. Hit by a car today on my bike.
I’m fine, my bike is fine; the person wasn’t looking while trying to turn right on red. She was a sobbing, apologetic mess, but I (unfortunately) have too much experience getting hit by cars, and politely said her car is fine, but I might not have been.
If you are a fan of The Katering Show, it appears the Kates have uploaded their series Get Krack!n to their YouTube channel: youtu.be/sHPrWGOn1…
I’ve always found it quite misanthropic for one to take a call on speakerphone in a coffee shop.
Distracting myself from national-level outrage with local-level seething about Kenya Gibson bringing her procedural clown show to Richmond City Council.
Virginia early voting ended Saturday, but we’re still waiting on those results for the city of Richmond? How is it that we’re seeing over a third of in-person precincts report before those numbers? I need these local results to distract me from national stuff.
Oh, hey! 12:45 Eastern Standard Time came and went.
I’m 43 now!
Hot dayum, Lewis Barbecue in Charleston is as good as some of the ‘cue I had in Texas! And that cheddar/green chile sausage! The tallow fries! www.lewisbarbecue.com
Yeah, after all these years, Angle Oak still whips.
Casual Century
This morning I headed out the door before 7 AM to ride 100 miles. Well, around 108 miles actually. This wasn’t my longest ride, but I haven’t had a big ol’ ride like this since I did my 200km last year around this time, and I felt overdue. This one had substantially more climbing, though.
I felt great nearly the whole time, only ever feeling tired rather than worn out. My Ornot cargo bibs continue to be my favorite, and I didn’t feel the need to reapply chamois cream mid-ride (though I brought some just in case). Pretty sure I had enough hydration, plenty of food, And I was back home a little after 4 PM with all my stops. Now I take a few days off from riding while my family heads to Charleston, and I expect to hit the saddle on Wednesday with fresh legs.
Afterglow Coffee has a black sesame horchata latte that is absolutely incredible.
Bezos’s condescending essay in his paper today, in the face of 200,000 cancelled subscriptions, confirms who he is and isn’t afraid of.
I’ve been loving Daniel Yang’s YouTube channel since he launched it, but today’s video is super nerdy in the best way, getting into the math and science around steel and why it’s such a great bike frame material: youtu.be/w95aE8DLD…