One Lump or Two?

I was sitting at home watching a show about a nano-diamond discovery that indicates that North America was hit by a swarm of comets some 13,000 years ago. That corresponds to the beginning of the Younger Dryas period, a 1,300-year-long cold spell, during which North American mammoths, saber-toothed cats, camels and giant sloths became extinct. The Clovis culture of American Indians also appears to have fallen apart during this time. Suddenly, a small rap upon my door rang out and behold! My special tea connection arrived! I cannot tell ya'll the absolute miracle of flavors this man has brought to my life!

Happy Belated Pancake Day!

Pancake Day
Main article: Shrove Tuesday

In Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia, pancakes are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday, which is also known as "Pancake Day" and, particularly in Ireland, as "Pancake Tuesday". (Shrove Tuesday is better known in the United States, France and other countries as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday). Historically, pancakes were made on Shrove Tuesday so that the last of the fatty and rich foods could be used up before Lent.

Perfect Day!

Prime Mover

P => Power

E => Energy

W => Work

f => Force

t => torque

d => distance of translational motion

q => angle of rotational motion (in radians)

v => velocity of translational motion

w => angular speed (in radians per second)

d => change

Pd => Pitch diameter

n => number of teeth on a gear

nrev => number of revolutions

How to make The Breakfast of CHAMPIONS!

Ingredients

* 2 slices whole grain bread
* 3 eggs
* 1 Tbls. water
* 1/2 a tomato
* 1/2 an onion
* 2 pieces of soysage sliced
* 1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
* 1/2 an avocado
* 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 1 teaspoon mixed herbs
* salt and pepper

Manly Men, Working To Build A Better Tomorrow!

Now this is more like it! As the result of my last blog entries, blurring of concise borders, I have decided to devote the entire month of March to a Men-At-Work theme. I certainly hope everyone will sleep a little easier knowing that the Polyphosphate Filter will once again be a safe place for you and your kids to hang out at. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Come Ride With Us!

I got this rather unusual invitation from an old buddy whom I haven't seen since 1979. Apparently he has made several lifestyle changes through the years, not the least of which is playing rugby instead of American football. You see, he was our high school quarter back and he lead us to a division championship in 1974. Also apparently, the naked chaps on the bicycle, are participating in the one of the numerous initiation rituals they require to play for "Their Team." Fortunately, I have a full plate this weekend and won't be joining them, this season!

Miyata "Nine Twelve" Shake-Down Ride

Close but no cigar! My quest for an old steel framed road bike that will roll along as well as my Modern, "Soul-less" machine, is still unrealized. In the mean while, I've got another, decent road bike for sale. See me for details.

CycloCross Returns To Shasta Lake!

Although I am now happily resting on my CX laurels, I do want everyone to know about the Races at the Boom Town BMX track, this coming Sunday Feb. 21th. There will be a small, Giro-Insignifica ride, from Carpet Mart to the races Sunday. We shall leave here at 9 a.m. and ride mainly road up there, with a return over Flannigan to the Upper-Ditch to Hornbeck back. Retired CX-Bike friendly!

Little Chain-Ring Virgin

Well it took a bit o' coaxing but, I finally convinced a die-hard roadie (out on his new mt. bike) to use the little ring! Then I realized that I will never be able to keep up with him on long, technical climbs again. It all took place yesterday morning out on a Web-Foot ride. We had a blast! Don't forget to phone ahead for your Tyler Hamilton autographed postcard and riders manifesto! See you in the real world!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Saint Valentine (in Latin, Valentinus) is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. The name "Valentine", derived from valens (worthy), was popular in Late Antiquity. Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14. It is even uncertain whether the feast of that day celebrates only one saint or more saints of the same name. For this reason this liturgical commemoration was not kept in the Catholic calendar of saints for universal liturgical veneration as revised in 1969. But "Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome" remains in the list of saints proposed for veneration by all Catholics.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30. Notwithstanding that, conventionally, members of the Greek Orthodox Church named Valentinos (male) or Valentina (female) celebrate their name on February 14, according to the Typikon of the Great Church of Christ (Τυπικὸν τῆς Μεγάλης τοῦ Χριστοῦ ᾽Εκκλησίας) Saint Valentine is not venerated not on July 6, nor on July 30. In fact, there exists no Saint Valentine in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Welcome to Cycling Camp 1963

I took this picture, when I was a wee lad, of me pals at cyclo-camp in the Yorkshire Dales of England. Such happy memories! We were huge fans of Brian Robinson in those days. There's young Thomas giving us his best impression of him!

My New Favorite

I am having fun piecing an old miyata bicycle together and learning about the Miyata Bicycle Company. Here's a little beauty I would love to load up with all my gear and pedal off into the sunset on! Cheers! Check out this cool Miyata Catalogs link.

Never Cry Werewolf

I am doing a bit o' research into Werewolf/Wolfman legends in anticipation of this Friday's release of the movie, The Wolfman. As a romantic mini-get-away, the little woman and I are planning on seeing it in the theater on Valentine's day. I am astonished by the volume of info there is on this particular subject. Not to mention the cinematic contributions.

Thoughts While Rididng

I was five minutes into the twelve minute climb when suddenly this happy little thought came to mind!

Back in and out, of the saddle again!

Delay your Superbowl-coldie-crackin' until you've had a bit o' CycloCross, this coming Sunday at the Anderson Park venue. Races start 'round 10 a.m. Contact Seely's Cyclery for more info!

Happy Zen Basho Day!

Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉?, 1644 – November 28, 1694) was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku. His poetry is internationally renowned, and within Japan many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites.

Happy St. Thomas Aquinas Day!

Nature of God

Aquinas believed that the existence of God is neither obvious nor unprovable. In the Summa Theologica, he considered in great detail five reasons for the existence of God. These are widely known as the quinque viae, or the "Five Ways."

Concerning the nature of God, Aquinas felt the best approach, commonly called the via negativa, is to consider what God is not. This led him to propose five statements about the divine qualities:

1. God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form.[60]
2. God is perfect, lacking nothing. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality.[61]
3. God is infinite. That is, God is not finite in the ways that created beings are physically, intellectually, and emotionally limited. This infinity is to be distinguished from infinity of size and infinity of number.[62]
4. God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character.[63]
5. God is one, without diversification within God's self. The unity of God is such that God's essence is the same as God's existence. In Aquinas's words, "in itself the proposition 'God exists' is necessarily true, for in it subject and predicate are the same."[64]

In this approach, he is following, among others, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.[65]

Following St. Augustine of Hippo, Aquinas defines sin as "a word, deed, or desire, contrary to the eternal law."[66] In other words, anything that disobeys God's will is said to be a sin, and is synonymous with "evil" (privation of good, or privatio boni[67]).

I am Confused!

Sometimes I wonder what in the world we would need to do, to come together as a community of Shasta County Bicycle Enthusiasts. The opportunities I have seen squandered by petty disagreements and conflict of interest through the years, the resulting loss of promising annual events, hard to fathom. Cycling has a strange element of recreation and no-frills transportation that sometimes blurs the line between sport and support. The result of which can be confusing and fringy at times.

Stay Thirsty My Friends

Wow! What a day out at Swasey Rec. Area! Here I am (yes, my whiskers are indeed flourishing!) out at the Cyclo-Cross yesterday. I was racing in the XX-Class when suddenly, a small fox ran directly across my front wheel. It took me only a split second to realize that there was not only a race in progress, but a fox hunt as well. Thinking quickly, I leaped from my bike, grabbed the frightened animal, and carried him away from danger. I forfeited all hope of winning my race, but I am feeling remarkably refreshed. Stay thirsty my friends!

Web-Footicus Epico

Tomorrow some of our flock will be gathering, as usual at Carpet Mart, to ride out and even race, the first of a series of "RIDE ON" cyclo-cross contests. We leave (by bicycle) at 9a.m. for the event at Swasey Recreation Area. A-class race starts at 10 a.m. Come on out and share the mud, guts and glory!

Who Knew?

I spent the entire morning preparing a complicated soup called Mulligatawny and then I found this on-line. I'll bet ya no one would of noticed the difference!

Tyler Who?

We will never know, what might have been. Tyler Hamilton had it all! Show your support by wearing one of these badges to your next bicycle event. Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to his Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. His blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of newspapers. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca

For The Discerning Client

I see the word "Discerning" attached to retail shops of every kind of product known to man and I am convinced that it actually means, OVER-PRICED! I am not a man who "Demands" the finest, I am a man who finds value in size, weight, and quantity. I am looking for the retailer with a sign out front that says, "A Shop for the Indiscriminate!"

Run For The Hills

A sturdy, but small group of riders, did show up for the Giro-Dimentour/Ride to St. Alfonso's Pancake Breakfast. My god, those boys put away some grub, if only in their minds.

Dear SanFranCup

So those guys hammered off like some kind o' freight trian to HELL! I found Rob and Little Jim out by the Ribbon Bridge but Noel was gone. Since the route was to take the group out Hornbeck to the ditch trails to Shasta Dam, across the dam and then back down the Rail Trail back to the river trail, we crossed at the Ribbon and rode out, up and over to the Keswick Boat Ramp. It was there that we waited for almost an hour and then finally bailed, waiting for the group to arrive. I didn't get home until 1 p.m. after bonking badly, do to lack of food. I usually don't eat a "breakfast" when we ride early, just snack on a Clif bar after an hour of riding. I am used to getting home by eleven-ish and then eating something substantial. Web-Foot will be short and wet. Love.

Have An Epic Giro Epico!

Historically, the Italians have built some of the best steel frames. For example, Bianchi's (now actually in France) are fantastic steel frames. The expertise has now spread throughout that world, and there are lots of small companies who still know how to make a steel frame and make it well. By sticking with steel rather than going to the more expensive Titanium frames, you pay extra money, you are paying for the craftsmanship, not the material. It is the craftsmanship that gives the bike its responsiveness and structural stability. They are also be able to make them lighter. The a fore statement makes almost no sense, what-so-ever but don't worry, neither does the world of (mention this secret passage and win a free box o' tea!) fast food in this world. Can I get fries with that!?

Trouble With Tribbles

You see my son, it is all about Subject Matter. The old man calmly relighted his calabash pipe and sent billowing clouds of aromatic smoke skywards. We have lived through the grooviest of times and I can honestly say that, given the chance again, I would change nothing! Even the night I had to go to the special award ceremony so twisted on a designer cocktail, they had to wheel me in in a bomb-proof box. I have loved and been loved!

Epic Web-Foot Ride

We had an epic ride yesterday despite running afoul of an Irishman, out near Old Shasta. One of our riders was nearly forced to beat up the old man with his own shillelagh. Stupid old man! Get that dog on a leash! Three hour training rides are exactly what we're gonna need though, if we hope to do well at the upcoming, Epiuricurious-Magnamus-Cyclismo, next week. 80 miles of easily poached, classic cycling! Don't forget your forged documentation!

Greetings from The Year 2010!

Welcome to the Zen Noodle Bar! A place where the menu includes recipes for building universes. For you see, in the modified words of Dr. Carl Sagan, "If you truly wish to make noodles from scratch, you must first invent the universe." It's elementary my dear Watson!

January Coffee Contest

Be the first to not only name, but also climb and send me a photo of you on top of this Northern California landmark, drinking a cup o' Joe, and I will award you a very special trophy! P.S. If you think it's Mt. Diablo... keep climbing!

Robert Conrad Bohannon

A special "Tip o' The Hat" to our Web-foot Photographer, Mr. Bohannon. Thanks! Have you considered a Web-Foot Calendar perhaps?

Birds of a Feather

A beautiful day for a Web-Foot Ride. 30+ miles through glen, dale and brooke? Some of the best traction I have ever experienced! We bombed the Upper Ditch Trail coming back from The Flannigan Overpass. Brother Tim got to the top of a climb and told me that his rear tire was rubbing on the chain-stay. I asked if it was rubbing all the time or just when he peddled hard. Only while peddling he said. I told him that that is to be expected when KING KONG puts a thousand watts of energy into a cheap, Taiwanese bike frame!

Commodity fetishism

In Marxist theory, commodity fetishism is a state of social relations, said to arise in capitalist market based societies, in which social relationships are transformed into apparently objective relationships between commodities or money. The term is introduced in the opening chapter of Karl Marx's main work of political economy, Capital, of 1867.

As it relates to commodities specifically, commodity fetishism is the belief that value inheres in commodities instead of being added to them through labor. This is the root of Marx's critique relating to conditions surrounding fetishism—that capitalists "fetishize" commodities, believing that they contain value, and the effects of labor are misunderstood.

Marx's use of the term fetish can be interpreted as an ironic comment on the "rational", "scientific" mindset of industrial capitalist societies. In Marx's day, the word was primarily used in the study of primitive religions; Marx's "fetishism of commodities" might be seen as proposing that just such primitive belief systems exist at the heart of modern society. In most subsequent Marxist thought, commodity fetishism is defined as an illusion arising from the central role that private property plays in capitalism's social processes. It is a central component of the dominant ideology in capitalist societies.

Cyclocross Shasta County Style!

Web-Foot Riders Present...

New Years Day Ride, The Search for Captain Look-Out. Jan. 1, 2010. 9 a.m. Starting at Carpet Mart, Downtown Redding. Please join us as we ride, rain or shine, to try our best to catch up with the enigmatic icon of Shasta County mt. biking, Captain Look-Out. Games, Prizes, and bell ringing... Cowbell that is!

Letter to Home.

The Furnace Creek Inn has a pair of outdoor fireplaces beside its spring-fed swimming pool, and they are lighted every evening at sunset. After dinner, on a cold December night, it was a treat to go down there and throw a few logs on one of those fires. I sat and basked in the radiance and warmth, the smell of the pinyon pine logs like incense. Above, a gray plume of smoke streamed from the stone chimney and traced across the starry black sky. While looking through the day’s photos on my camera, I started messing with the self-timer, and set up a self-portrait beside the fire—laughing at the very idea. A Christmas card from Death Valley. Love, Neil.

Don't Take My Word for It...

Listen to fellow Web-Foot rider, Mr. SanFranCup's comments on, weekly rides with the "WEBBERS!" "I really put a lot of training and preparation into this years Cyclo-Cross Series and now, well, we all know what a bunch o' lies that's turned out to be!" Actually, I said that. I don't need some doggone lawsuit from mis-quoting or plagiarizing my friend. You see, I am just a coward who hides out behind a key-board stirring up shat and then calling on my Big Buddy's to back me up! That's why I never ride alone.

Christmas on the Half-Shell

Sitting here asking myself that age old, English question: Is it time for another cuppa tea? I have just finished up reading that icon of 70's literature, Venus on the half-shell. I am a slow reader. I read at night while lying in bed, so usually, I only go a half-an-hour (tops) before I'm dropping the book on my face, nodding off. But I'm a tenacious little Son-of-A-gun and after a fortnight's worth of reading I have an answer to that age old question: "Why is man born only to suffer and die?" The answer is, of course, "Why not?!"

Dance of the Solstice

Here is a picture of last Sunday morning's ride up Rattlesnake-to-Westside-Trail-System. For those of you highly astute readers, yes... that is me doing the Dithyramb!

Of Frankenstein and Myrrh

About two o'clock the mist cleared away, and we beheld, stretched out in every direction, vast and irregular plains of ice, which seemed to have no end. Some of my comrades groaned, and my own mind began to grow watchful with anxious thoughts, when a strange sight suddenly attracted our attention, and diverted our solicitude from our own situation. We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north, at the distance of half a mile: a being which had the shape of man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge, and guided the dogs. We watched the rapid progress of the traveler with our telescopes, until he was lost among the distant inequalities of the ice.
High quality myrrh can be identified through the darkness and clarity of the resin. However, the best method of judging the resin's quality is by feeling the stickiness of freshly broken fragments directly to determine the fragrant-oil content of the myrrh resin. The scent of raw myrrh resin and its essential oil is sharp, pleasant, somewhat bitter and can be roughly described as being "stereotypically resinous". When burned, it produces a smoke that is heavy, bitter and somewhat phenolic in scent, which may be tinged with a slight vanillic sweetness. Unlike most other resins, myrrh expands and "blooms" when burned instead of melting or liquefying.

Today On The Rack

Finished up the Blue Hard Rock Bike after going to "Seat Post 101" at Bikes Etc. Who'd a thunk that there was 57 different sized seat posts out there! I am here to tell you folks, Bikes Etc. is your ultimate source for not only great deals on bicycles and parts, but they also have so much knowledge and know-how and they are happy to share it with you. I like a bike shop where the employees actually ride bikes!

Redding Cyclo-Cross

Everybody needs to just chill the hell out! The above photo shows clearly that the "Board of Directors" are diligently working on getting us some high quality races going. Besides, what's the big deal anyway? It's still 116 degrees out there. Hopefully our first rains of the season will be arriving soon!

Announcing Seely's Catering Company

If you happen to know of any upcoming bicycle events that might need a nutritionally-balanced and delicious food service, please contact me. Our fee is $125.00 per event, plus the cost of food. We offer a large varity of on site prepared foods for groups of ten to one hundred people.

We Want Names!

Reward! Any information as to the identity of this man seen cooking nutritious food out at the Swasey Rec. Area on Sunday. He is alleged to have been using a curry powder that may contain ingredients banned in certain non-Ayuvedic Providences.

Our Idea Of Fun!

We will be taking a little ride out at Swasey Rec. Area. This Sunday, 2 p.m. Won't ya join us? Food, Fools and Frost-Brewed. Finally, found fifteen foundries for forging force feathers.

Seems To Me, It's Chemistry

All you ever wondered about or thought you knew, is right here. Even answers to the really big questions, like: Who am I, really? Where do we go when we die? Will there be Chai there?

A Priest and a Rabbi walk in to a bar...

Now that's what I call a winning combination! Fifty to ninety percent of the world's languages are predicted to disappear in the next century, many with little or no significant documentation. Much of the work that has been done, especially on smaller languages, remains hidden away in personal research files or poorly preserved in under-funded archives.

As part of the effort to secure this critical legacy of linguistic diversity, the Long Now Foundation is creating a broad online survey and near-permanent physical archive of 1,500 of the approximately 7,000 languages on the planet.

There are three overlapping goals for the project:

* To create an unprecedented platform for comparative linguistic research and education.
* To develop and widely distribute a functional linguistic tool that might help with the recovery of lost or compromised languages in unknown futures.
* To offer an aesthetic object that suggests the immense diversity of human languages as well as the very real threats to the continued survival of this diversity.

The 1,500-language corpus expands on the parallel text structure of the original Rosetta Stone through archiving ten descriptive components for each of the 1,500 selected languages.

Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Web-Foots!

Oh Mama! That was a chilly one!

All I want for Christmas...

I wish I could go out on this Sunday's Web-Foot Ride on a really trick, Co-Motion Tandem. Of course, I know this is just a silly dream but who knows? If anyone knows of anyone who might be able to make this dream come true, please tell me how, so we can make this dream come true!

Meet The Web-Foots

Announcing a very special Web-Foot ride, coming this Sunday, Dec.6th. Come on out and meet Team Web-Foot as we gather at Carpet Mart 9a.m. to ride out to Swasey Rec. Area for a pre-ride of the "Timed-Group-Ride" course set for Sunday, Dec. 13th at 2p.m. We still have plenty of autographed Tyler Hamilton postcards, so be sure to ask for yours, included free upon paying the 67 cent, annual membership fee.