Let's face it: I love riding. I'm not entirely certain that there's anything that I like better than being out on the road on my bike. As I've said, it's a Zen thing as much as anything. Last year I was trying to see how many miles I could ride but I'm not doing that this year. I just ride alot.

My goal for 2003: 6250 miles = 10,000 km. Why? What's this all about? It's a challenge but it's a goal that I can achieve. It's a personal triumph at a time when such things seem to be rarities in my life. I found that I was riding 500 miles/month in mid-winter without even trying hard, so I decided to see how far I could ride this year. Due to the dead economy I'm not overwhelmed with work - under whelmed or simply whelmed are more appropriate descriptions. I seem to be chronically unsuccessful in marriages and in relationships, so they no longer hold much attraction for me though, I suppose, there's always hope. I have no use for trophy houses, trophy cars, trophy wives, and so on - all the superficial and phony monuments to middle aged yuppie male egos (I might as well admit that I detest golf too). I can, however, certainly ride a bicycle farther and faster than most of my contemporaries (I challenge any of them to a 200 mile or so bike race across the Rockies). That and the fitness, good health, and lack of stress that go along with this activity are more important to me than any of these other trappings of modern American society. After all, any bozo can go into debt and buy a giant pickup truck or SUV. What's impressive about that? Given that I spend lots of time working (although there are those who are doubtful), 6000-7000 miles is about the maximum that I can ride in year unless I lay off my staff and quit working. For me riding is a kind of Zen thing; it's difficult to go a day without riding at least a few miles. This happens to be a banner year for my favorite activity!

My Equipment:
Bicycle: Litespeed Appalachian titanium cyclocross bike
Gearing: Shimano Ultegra 9 speed cassette and triple crankset
Brakes: Shimano Deore XT (These are mountain bike brakes; unlike normal road bike brakes they work well even when covered with snow and ice.)
Tires: Ritchey 700x30mm cyclocross tires (I had been using Hutchinson 30mm cross tires because they have a better tread for snow and sand but they are no longer available; bummer!)
Saddle: Terry Liberator (This is a great saddle: I can ride 100 miles on it without getting a sore ass.)
Aerobar: Profile Design AirStryke (An aerobar is a nice piece of equipment to have for long rides and for biking in this area because it is ALWAYS windy here at 7000 feet above sea level atop the Palmer Divide.)
Clothing: I have lots of Pearl Izumi and Fox items for winter riding. For summer riding I have some Primalwear jerseys as well as jerseys from various rides that I've been on and various organizations to which I belong.

10/11/03: 6250 miles or 10,000 km and elevation gain of 258,200 feet after 266 days of riding:
Average of 23.5 miles/day and elevation gain of 971 feet/day (this isn't flat country)

11/12/03: 7000 miles or 11,200 km and elevation gain of 293,220 feet after 298 days of riding:
Average of 23.5 miles/day and elevation gain of 984 feet/day

12/21/03: 8005 miles or 12,808 km and elevation gain of 341,260 feet after 335 days of riding:
Average of 23.9 miles/day and elevation gain of 1019 feet/day

Bicycling Links:
Litespeed Bicycles (They're Wonderful!! Titanium Rules!!)
Primalwear (Totally awesome jerseys!!)
The Colorado Cyclist (Gr8t bike shop - Litespeed dealer!!)
Adventure Cycling Association (Good group, good rides)
CO Springs Cycling Club (Good group of people)
Ultra Marathon Cycling Association (The name says it all)
Profile Design (The leader in aerobars)
Balanced Rock Bike & Ski (Our local bike shop in Monument)
Planet Ultra (Ultra cycling events; Fortitudine Vincimus: By Endurance We Conquer!)

"Life is a daily battle against the accretion of tiny entropies" - David Rakoff in the New York Times
And against The Big Entropy. In the end, S = k log W rules! Thomas Pynchon's novel "The Crying of Lot 49" is possibly the best popular exposition of entropy to be found.

My Book Reviews:

I made the sports page of our local paper! Monument Commission member seeing country from bike seat

The CSAP See-Saw: My work on the fluctations of standardized test scores and their ultimate meaning. After studying this topic for a year, my own opinion has become that the CSAPs (the Colorado Student Assessment Program tests), as used in assessing entire schools, are an example of what Richard Feynman called "Cargo Cult Science" (see Richard P. Feynman, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out)

My comments on the Space Shuttle Columbia in the Denver Post

My comments on the coming war in Iraq in the Tribune (a local paper)

My comments on science & evolution in the Rocky Mountain News and on "intelligent design" in the Colorado Springs Gazette; extensive comments on creationism in the context of a book review

A Related Link: The Freethinkers of Colorado Springs

Here are a few of my FAVORITE things

GRABAAWR - The Great Annual Bicycle Adventure Along the Wisconsin River

Riding in southern Arizona with the SaddleBrooke Cycling Club, April 2005

The Death Valley century ride, March 2005

Riding Colorado's Mountain Passes

El Tour de Tucson 111 mile bike race in Tucson, Arizona

Miscellaneous pix from 2004

The Colorado Springs Cycling Club Progressive Dinner Ride

Cycling in Ireland!

Cycling in San Francisco:
San Francisco above the fog
The Golden Gate Bridge

My new bicycle: Dahon Allegro (cell phone pic)

This is a road bike with a frame made by Ritchey that comes apart into two pieces and fits into a suitcase for traveling! It's a terrific bike. I'm taking it to Ireland with me. Now I have two bicycles - the Dahon and the Litespeed - residing in my living room!

The Stonewall - Spanish Peaks Century Ride, La Veta, Colorado

The Lake Michigan Shoreline Ride - Spring Lake, MI to Mackinac Island

Colorado to Berkeley, CA

The Bicycle Tour of Colorado

Who sez that 57 is old?: December 21, 2003: 8000 miles & 335 days of riding so far in 2003

Winter riding: November 12, 2003: 7000 miles & 298 days of riding so far in 2003

Cycling the Death Valley Century

Who sez physicists don't have fun? After hours at the Gaseous Electronics Conference in San Francisco

A.V. Phelps and 5 former post-docs: celebrating Art's 80th birthday (Fog City Diner, San Francisco)

Autumn Colors in the Colorado High Country

Cycle Utah in Southwestern Utah: Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks

The Bow Tie Ride in Northern Michigan

Thinking in Paris

A Tribute to Jeff Nash (1952-2002): Skiing Across the Sierra Nevada Range From Lee Vining, CA to Yosemite Valley - March 1983

Cycle Montana

The wedding of Carl & Wendy atop St. Vrain Mountain!

Back country skiing in the San Juan Mountains

Hiking the Yorkshire moors with my daughter

Biking the Tour of the Valley Century Ride, Grand Junction, CO

Cave dwellers: with Eric on Liberty Cap

With Tommie & Carl in Utah: At Dead Horse Point and at Upheaval Dome

With Saab Sonett on the occasion of having owned it for 30 years

With Miura-san and Yuh-san in Tokyo (Tokyo is totally awesome!)

On the road: Shooting pool in the St. James Hotel, Cimarron, New Mexico: Side pocket shot & 8-ball shot

Skiing the Hinsdale Haute Route

Descent into the Abyss: Backpacking with Donna, Peg, & Tommie in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River

Backpacking with Carl in the Elk Range of central Colorado

Climbing with Dutch friends in France: Mont Blanc

On ice & snow & rock in the Swiss Alps

On Glacier Peak, Washington

Bicycling the "New Sante Fe Trail", Monument, CO

At Island in the Sky, Utah

Dead Horse Point and the La Salle Range, Utah

By the Red River, Texas

On US 6 in the Basin & Range, Nevada (yes, there is another car 10 miles ahead of me at the bottom of the basin!)
Definition of self-confidence (or foolishness): driving anything but a Ford or Chevy on this highway; I was driving a Saab Sonett (see the next picture); you may form your own opinion about that (notice that I did have a bicycle on the back - just in case ....)

A change of scenery after 500 miles of desert

The Sun Tunnels, Great Salt Desert, Utah

Panorama of South Park, Colorado