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Monday, May 12, 2008
Zabriske out of Giro
It was sad to see David Zabriske crash out of the Giro d'Italia on only the second stage on Sunday. We made sure we were home at 4pm to catch the action on Versus. It was a slow speed crash, which tend to be the worst kind. Instead of sliding he went down hard and fractured his L1 vertabrae. It was the same day that Christian Vande Velde wore the pink jersey, the first American to wear it in 20 years. That's when Andy Hampsten wore the jersey after winning an epic stage up the Gavia pass in 1988. Christian lost the jersey on Sunday by one second, and he is still in second place by a second after today's stage. Several riders crashed out today in one of the few sprinter stages. (0) comments Tuesday, May 06, 2008
(0) comments Sunday, April 20, 2008
Rainy day off
It's not fun when the only weekend day off is a day like today, with steady rain the entire day. It doesn't seem to happen often here but when it does, we go into a bit of a funk. Imagine what we'd be like in a place like Portland or Seattle. So instead of riding around town to do our chores, we hopped into the car and drove. I miss the exercise, even for one day. Working almost full time is taking some getting used to. My former schedule allowed more time in the mornings for working on volunteer projects, blogging, etc. Now there is much less time for those activities and a little too much time spent at work, although I was ready to head back to work after a winter off. The shop has been busy and I've been learning a great deal as one of the only experienced mechanics on several of the days. I use the term experienced liberally; it takes many years of daily work experience to begin to know about all the different types of bikes and bike parts encountered in a typical bike shop. Then add a fleet of recumbents and trikes and the challenge increases greatly. Each day is a learning experience, usually under some pressure to complete the job in a timely manner. That's one of the inducements and downsides of the job, depending on the success or lack thereof in doing the task. It's a little like being in school, requiring constant study and thought to come up with the correct solution to a problem. I'm hoping for a dry Monday. (0) comments Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Bike Florida
We're back from another Bike Florida trip. This year the route was from Clearwater north to Fanning Springs, mostly on trails. We were reluctant to ride this year knowing that 700 cyclists on two-way trails in Florida was a recipe for disaster, but we have friends in Clearwater and we were anxious to pay them a visit and do some country and western dancing. A trip report is in the works. (0) comments Monday, April 07, 2008
Best of Kottke
Rather than blogging I should just point people to kottke.org. That's where I find much of what I read on the web. Here are a few highlights from recent posts: ♦ Pitchfork interview with Colin Greenwood of Radiohead ♦ Colin Greenwood's blog ♦ What every American should know about the Middle East ♦ New Yorker profile of former baseball star Lenny Dykstra (0) comments Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Behavioral economics
According to traditional economics, when people purchase products, they consider their options, then make a rational decision to pick the one that maximizes the benefit to them. This sounds logical but according to the relatively new field of behavioral economics, it isn't true. Many factors affect our thinking process when making a decision, many of which are irrational. A recent New Yorker review of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely discusses some of those factors. In one example, Ariely and a colleague asked students at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management to write the last two digits of their Social Security number at the top of a piece of paper. They then told the students to record, on the same paper, whether they would be willing to pay that many dollars for a fancy bottle of wine, a not-so-fancy bottle of wine, a book, or a box of chocolates. Finally, the students were told to write down the maximum figure they would be willing to spend for each item. Once they had finished, Ariely asked them whether they thought that their Social Security numbers had had any influence on their bids.Anyone selling anything should know about this effect, as should anyone buying anything. As with many subjects that one first notices, references seem to abound afterwards. Behavioral economics was mentioned again recently in an article in the Post entitled Eliot Spitzer and the Price-Placebo Effect. People often receive more pleasure from an object for which they pay a high price, similar to the positive effects of taking a placebo. (0) comments Saturday, March 01, 2008
Peter Gabriel and his Moulton
Peter Gabriel in concert singing Solsbury Hill, riding a folding bicycle. How cool is that? (0) comments |