Gwynna Smith said:

JP, have you heard if anything came of the Ethan Allen test/pilot run?

nope.

coming soon...

http://blog.amtrak.com/2014/06/new-baggage-cars/

Local rider (TDF Photographer) and Getty Photographer Spencer Platt got a Time Magazine cover. How cool is that?

Wow. NYVelocity had a makeover.

http://nyvelocity.com/

I see they finally got rid of that Hincapie banner.

David Yang said:

I see they finally got rid of that Hincapie banner.

I assume that they're not riding with Hincapie clothing anymore.

Question about appliances and ventilation if anyone is up to the challenge

I have a closet designed for a washing machine and dryer and I'm concerned about ventilation.  The current machine, stacked under a dryer, is dying.  As the repair cost is almost the price of a new machine, I'm looking for new.  the problem is that the old size (3.1 cubic feet with 25 3/4" depth) seems to have been discontinued across the industry.  I can either get a much smaller machine (2.4 cu. ft), which will be problemmatic for the dryer, which was designed to fit on top of this particular washer, or I can go with a larger machine. 

the problem with the larger machine is depth. While the width is about an inch larger than my current dryer, the depth is almost four inches more.  And that depth will leave me with less than the manufacturer's recommended 4" space between the back of the machine and the wall.  Interestingly, they recommend only an inch clearance on the sides and top.  I have a few feet of clearance on the sides and several feet rom the top of the dryer to the ceiling.  Am I safe going with this deeper washer even though it is closer to the wall than they recommend?  Do I need to worry about clearance for the hoses even if the ventilation will work out?

(so much for new wheels this spring)

mugwump said:

(so much for new wheels this spring)

Depends on the wheels. You might be able to fit a pair of these into your budget.

Craig Zolan said:

WTF?

Not joking: You would be surprised by the amount of U.S. riders that carry a gun while they cycle. The United States is probably the only develop nation where that statement is true.

eloy said:

Craig Zolan said:

WTF?

Not joking: You would be surprised by the amount of U.S. riders that carry a gun while they cycle. The United States is probably the only develop nation where that statement is true.

I have a tough time reconciling all the cyclists I know with folks that love to carry guns. Plus, think of the extra watts you have to put out just to carry that extra kilo up the hill.

Craig Zolan said:

eloy said:

Craig Zolan said:

WTF?

Not joking: You would be surprised by the amount of U.S. riders that carry a gun while they cycle. The United States is probably the only develop nation where that statement is true.

I have a tough time reconciling all the cyclists I know with folks that love to carry guns. Plus, think of the extra watts you have to put out just to carry that extra kilo up the hill.

with over 300 million guns in circulation, I'm sure there are many cyclists packing every day.  

anyone know of a good data recovery specialist/business?  I have a failing external hard drive I'd like to get the files off of.

If it's failing to spin up, putting it in the fridge for 20 minutes might give you enough time to copy off the file, although there's a bunch of paths to go down that might be specific to the type/brand of drive — http://www.wikihow.com/Recover-a-Dead-Hard-Disk. Recovery services will cost you $800 and up.

BestBuy has 2TB drives under a $100. Suggest Dropbox for cloud backup.

BOX is pretty good, notwithstanding the fact that a former Kissena is the Chief Security Officer.

JohnMalcolmson said:

If it's failing to spin up, putting it in the fridge for 20 minutes might give you enough time to copy off the file, although there's a bunch of paths to go down that might be specific to the type/brand of drive — http://www.wikihow.com/Recover-a-Dead-Hard-Disk. Recovery services will cost you $800 and up.

BestBuy has 2TB drives under a $100. Suggest Dropbox for cloud backup.

I bought another 3TB hard drive for $120.  Tried the various solutions, minus the freezing, and they didn't work.  Just for fun, I'll call a service and find out how much.  

There are some huge blockbuster movies coming out this spring/summer.  Anyone up for checking a few out?

http://io9.com/summer-movie-preview-28-movies-to-geek-out-on-1699656590/+megneal

The end of civilization is officially here

http://gizmodo.com/a-fake-arm-selfie-stick-only-makes-you-look-less-sad-in-1700709919

This is taking Quantified Self a little too far: http://gizmodo.com/a-plea-to-humanity-do-not-back-this-fart-tracking-wear-1700862933

Partly because I didn't feel like switching my pedals over, partly because it was an RPM focused workout, partly because of a nudge from JP and Tim, I dusted off ye old cheapo Nashbar rollers I used to ride A LOT like 15 years ago. Got moving, bumpier than expected, but fun to be back on the rollers. Could feel angles and muscles not normally engaged on the trainer to help maintain my stability. I won't be posting any youtube clips of roller tricks just yet, but feeling pretty solid pretty soon after I started again.

And then 38 minutes in? Old pink rubber band does what old rubber bands do. Snap. Blurg. [Sad trombone]

Still, I will be trying to rustle up a replacement belt cuz, yeah, rollers are a good tool to bust out now and again. Or more.

Marc Bertucco said:

 rollers are a good tool to bust out now and again. Or more.

Sorry your belt broke....looks like it's a $6.99 fix.

I love my Kreitler 3" rollers.  I use them for about 85% of my training, excluding long rides and sprints.  I have the headwind fan(which I haven't come close to opening up fully for max resistance) and can do any sort of workout I want to  on them hitting whatever numbers I need up to and through Z6. I think that having to pay more attention to balance etc reduces the mental tedium and the fact that I can move about more freely than I can on a trainer is better for my oft injured knee.  They're quieter too. They were costly but I consider it money well spent.

I still own a trainer but I may never use it again. It's in my basement collecting dust

Woody Allen, on what happened when he and Eggs Benedict, his friend, seemed to be suffering from the same malady.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HXWPKyqvDEM

Team-

I was racing with Kissena until this year, when I moved to North California.  I was looking at joining a team for which I had a list of criteria.  Then I realised, if I want it, I should build it.  Resultantly I am trying to put together a new entity here in CA.  I have certain values that I wish to embody with this new team/club so I will see how far I get.  Basically, looking for limited support to get things moving for next season.  Let's see how far I can get.  I have started looking out for sponsorships and partners, as well as a few like-minded individuals with which to race and train.  

Here's the new site:  http://kensingtoncycling.club/

Got a kind of Rapha feel about it for now; I know, I know...  Will hopefully have more content soon when I have things to add.  If anyone works with a company or people who are in North California and might be interested in partnering, please feel free to get them to contact me, pass on their details to allow me to contact them or other.  Additionally, if any Kissena peeps are out West and need a local group to ride/race with, feel free to reach out to your West Coast sister club (we share the same initials don't you know).  Furthermore, if anyone knows people out here looking to be part of a close-knit racing unit, send them to the site and tell them to get in contact.

Also, follow my Twitter!

Will cross post in the "farewell" thread too.

Looks legit ...

"Serviette is a French word"

"I don't know what kind of bottom bracket it has ..." said no bike racer, ever. 

Frank McCormack still kicking ass and taking names.

http://www.road-results.com/race/6063#cat62985

Marc Bertucco said:

Frank McCormack still kicking ass and taking names.
http://www.road-results.com/race/6063#cat62985

I don't think Frank needs to take names.  
Mark was OTB.  Wonder if Mark threw down for Frankie and blew up?