Author: gfox (old content)

Incredible Bender

I love fall rides. I got out for a great spin at the dump with some friends and I was reminded just how much I love riding in the fall. The air temperature was perfect, traction on the trails was incredible, there was no mud at all,the rocks were dry, and the sun was out.

We started off on Skull trail which has been something I have avoided lately as it get my heart rate too high too quickly. Today I powered up the trail, and only had one tiny dab that I could have avoided if I had slowed down.

After Skull we went up inventive, then up to C-Section, down to the fire road, then back up to Old Payoff, North Ridge, Mind Bender, then took the fire road back to Who’s Yer Daddy. Throughout all the climbing I felt awesome. My cardio was good, and my legs were strong.

I was beginning to wonder why since I haven’t been riding that much lately. On a whim the other day I jumped on the scale and was shocked to see that I was under 180 pounds. At some point since Sox and I have been together I was around 205. Perhaps the weight loss is allowing me to ride better. Maybe not. Doesn’t matter too much, but I really want more rides like today’s.

After the ride we stopped off at Bagel Queen for some tasty treats and a yummy Americano.

The only bummer on the ride was that while unloading my bike I spotted what I think might be some cracks in the frame. The marks on are the seat tube near the quick release. My seat is up pretty high, so I pulled the seat post out to double check I had the minimum insertion, which I definitely did. I felt the inside of the tube, and I couldn’t feel any crack on the inside. I will take it into a shop soon to get their opinion. That would be bad if I have to scrap the frame.

LOTD – Awesome Giggles

I work in an office where this product isn’t needed. Actually, none of the places I have worked I have not needed these sandwich bags, but I can see that some people might need them. The baggies have an image printed on the side, so that when you slide your sandwich it, it gives the appearance of looking moldy.

via BoingBoing

This looks like a pretty awesome concept for a coffee mug. If it were for sale, I would consider it.

via Gizmodo

Finally the bachelor in me giggles at this shampoo dispenser. I would have loved to have this while I was in University.

via BoingBoing

Snowbirds Zoomed

Sunday the Snowbirds were in town for a show off Dallas road. We got down there in plenty of time and eagerly waited for the show. I think Sprout quite enjoyed the show, and talked about the NoBirds for quite a while. I don’t think they did their proposed 40 minute show, but the show we got was pretty good.

After arriving I immediately noticed that the shooting conditions were less than ideal. We were facing the sun, and the Snowbirds were going to be back lit. Also, it was cloudy meaning I needed to overexpose the whole scene to try and properly expose the planes. Some dark clouds snuck up behind us while we were watching and threatened to rain on us. It was a little scary for a few minutes.

After reviewing my shots, I am pretty happy with a lot of them, but I noticed that I was deleting quite a few. I had on my long lens, and for most of the shots I was zoomed out to the full 200mm. I wasn’t very careful about bracing the camera as I shot, so I ended up with motion blur. C’est la vie. Below are some pics, but the rest of the pictures are here.

Windy Pressure

Played my first Fall Ulti game tonight. We lost. We lost bad. It was fun to get out there and run around again. A couple people on my team are from my summer league team, but other than that they are all new people. I think it is great to play with new people. You learn new strategies, pick up new plays, and have lots of fun.

It was a little windy out there tonight, so the zone was on us quite a bit. We did a great job of marching it up the field, but several times we would throw it away right at the end zone.

I felt like I played pretty well, making few mistakes. I was a handler for quite a bit, and I think I am starting to get really comfortable in that role. I’ve played enough now that I don’t feel pressure when I get the disk. Of course, sometimes I just wanna run, and really like popping, or stacking. Running felt good tonight, but it was pretty weird running on the artificial turf.

Coolest part of the game was hearing what I thought was a hawk screeching a lot. I soon learned it was an osprey, as it flew back with a fish in its talons. It landed on a light stand next to our field, after dropping a big crap on our field. It sat there eating its fish while we played on.

Ultimate Pits

I had a great time playing Ultimate this summer, and as the season wound down, I learned some people mentioned they were putting together a fall league team.

After talking with Sox, I signed up with one of the teams, and will once again be playing Ulti up at UVic. They have some new turf fields that the Ulti players get to use, so that will be a big change from the crappy mud pits I used to play in.

Funny thing: our team name was originally Cockblockers. The intramural guy didn’t like that, so it was changed to KockBlockers (so much better), then it got changed again by intramurals to Knock Blockers.

Motorcycles Woken

As gas prices rise, I’ve been noticing more and more people riding scooters and motorcycles. Normally I don’t think this is too bad unless it is at 6:30 in the morning.

There is some guy that works on the base that rides past our house every morning around 6:30 and his bike is extremely loud. It is quite annoying. It hasn’t woken the kids up yet, but it has woken me up and I am always afraid that it might wake them up.

This bike is loud, but I know not all of them are. One of our neighbours rides a bike early in the morning, and it is quiet. He short shifts, doesn’t accelerate hard, and is quite considerate. The other guys accelerates hard, has loud pipes, and doesn’t care since he doesn’t live here.

I wish he would take a different route.

LOTD – Technologies Special

I’ve come across some pretty cool looking bicycle technologies recently. Almost all of these I would love to try out for a while to see if they are actually worthy or not.


Derailleurs have been around for a long time, and the technology hasn’t really changed in a long time. This one is interesting in that it is electronic. No more cables that stretch over time, you just need to worry about battery life. Read more about them here.

via BoingBoing


It almost looks normal, but this bike frame is actually made from polypropolene and is designed to be recyclable.  A good option for a town bike.

via Gizmodo


A minimalist design to say the least. Using hubless and spokeless wheels, and a special drive system, this bike would certainly turn some heads while you were riding down the street.

via Gizmodo


Belt drives aren’t that new, but they seem like a great idea for a town bike. This wouldn’t work on a dual suspension bike like my Bullit, but it would definitely work on a hardtail.

via Gizmodo


Some people don’t want to wear helmets since they aren’t necessarily a fashion statement.  But what if they could be? Add a slip-on cover to your helmet and away you go.

via BoingBoing