The Archives Trailer from Increasing The Calibre on Vimeo.

Mmmm….grit.

Posted on 9 September 2010

Comment has recently published my ruminations on our trip to Hueco Tanks, “Rocks and Roads.”

Posted on 27 August 2010

Brad Pit V10 from Increasing The Calibre on Vimeo.

Could someone please ship this bloc to my backyard? Thanks.

Posted on 11 August 2010

After two days of climbing at Summersville Lake, we headed into the mountains of West Virginia, to the little town of Belington to visit our friends Katie and Joel. For the last few years, they’ve made a go of having a small farm and bakery, and up until this point, we hadn’t managed a visit. Better late than never. We spent our time there eating, wandering around the fields behind their house, and getting to know their draft horses, Candy and Belle. Joel and Katie are still, thankfully, making their fine baked goods under the Wolpertinger Bakery name (a treat we enjoyed when they lived in Pittsburgh). I can say with a fair degree of certainty that their ciabatta is the best I’ve had.

The next day, we drove into Western Maryland to spend some time at Backbone Farm, run by Joel and Katie’s good friends Max and Katharine. It was “farm day” there, so we got to wander the farm, meet the animals, and learn how they manage with (mostly) horses instead of tractors. It was a great experience, particularly for the boys. Seb was fascinated by the horse-drawn implements, and Oren spent quite a bit of time in the barn with the horses, cows, and pigs. Seb wanted to know if he needed to go to school to be a farmer, to which I responded, no, he didn’t need to go to college, but he would have to work on a farm to learn all about it. Perhaps in six or seven years, he’ll still be interested, and could intern at a place like Backbone.

Posted on 3 August 2010

So the Tour de France is nearing its final week, and the race approaches the final proving grounds in the Pyrennes. Conventional wisdom says it is now a two horse race between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. At the moment, Shleck holds a 31 second lead over the Spainard, but several big mountain stages and an individual time trial await. Samuel Sanchez lurks in third, and not far behind him, Denis Menchov. While I would certainly like to see Schleck derail Contador, I just can’t see it happening. Even if Schleck sits on Contador’s wheel for the next week, 31 seconds may not be enough in the time trial (Schleck lost 1:09 in the prologue, and also bled time during last year’s TT) against Contador. Granted, the yellow jersey often provides a dose of extra speed (see Carlos Sastre in 2008), but unless Schleck has nearly two minutes in hand before the time trial, I don’t see him keeping the jersey.

That said, Sanchez and Menchov both have a good chance to move to podium. Sanchez is good enough to follow Contador’s wheel in the Pyrennes, and a reasonable enough time trial to hold his position. Menchov is a bit of a wild card–if he’s on, he is capable of holding his position in the mountains, and stealing back time in the time trial. Schleck needs to keep an eye behind him next week, as well as an eye on Contador.

Then there’s Cadel Evans. I’ve gained a great of respect for “Cuddles” since he won the rainbow jersey last year, and he rode well, right up the moment he broke his elbow. I really wish he’d give up his grand tour aspirations (at least as a GC contender) and mold himself as an all-around, capable of winning just about anywhere. He had several strong stages thus far, and wore the yellow jersey for a stage (a boon for BMC). It’s rare for the current world champ to wear the yellow jersey at all, and Evans has won the leader’s jersey in each of the last three grand tours. Impressive.

Is it just me, or does the Tour resemble a training race at the Oval? Has anyone not crashed? Interestingly, the feared cobbles on stage three didn’t cause as much damage as expected (though Schleck lost his brother Frank to a broken collarbone), but there have been plenty of crashes on other stages. Garmin has lost three riders (most notably Tyler Farrar and Christian Vande Velde, their great hopes), and Lance Armstrong seems to go down almost daily. Armstrong, by the way, seems to be bleeding time in hopes that the peleton will give him a long leash to win a stage before he retires. We’ll see. I suspect there are plenty in the peleton who would like to stick it to LA before he retires.

And what about Astana? First, Alexandre Vinokorauv seems to riding like a crazy old man, not supporting Contador and riding for a stage win. But then his attack in the Alps looks savvy because it splinters the field. Then Contador attacks on Friday and catches (and passes) Vino on the final climb. What gives? I tend to think Contador doesn’t quite understand the mantle of team leadership yet, and the attack seemed ill-timed, since the climb was not long enough to put serious time into Schleck. But, Rodriquez jumped first, and Astana’s DS clearly knew Vino was fading. Perhaps allowing Contador to jump was a way to get Astana a stage win? Or, perhaps Contador was just being selfish. Who knows. Vino, however, got his stage win today, and given the hugs and kisses after the stage, if there was any ill will between the two, it is gone now. I suspect Vino will be a critical domestique in the coming week.

And what to make of the green jersey battle? Hushovd remains in the hunt thanks to savvy riding (and a win on the cobbled stage), but Pettachi holds the jersey by the slimmest of leads. After a poor start, Mark Cavendish is in contention, but with only a sprint or two (at most) to win, he needs to be perfect. This will be difficult since the commissioners excluded Mark Renshaw for his shenanigans at the end of stage 11. Renshaw should have been relegated, for sure, but thrown out? I’m not sure about that. I suspect it was a way for the officials to punish Cavendish as much as Renshaw. Either way, given that Cav took the field sprint today, he may in contention yet.

Tomorrow’s stage begins the push through the Pyrennes, with a mountain finish on Ax-3 Domaines. Expect some fireworks.

Posted on 17 July 2010

Are you a fan of Firefly or Serenity? If so, these are awesome.

World Cup kinda stuff: Lionel Messi is a fantastic player. After watching this, I respect him even more.

And finally, Cardus recently published an essay of mine on technology, “Drawing Lines in the Sand.”

Posted on 1 July 2010

So soon after we returned from the road trip, I got it in my head that we really needed a motor scooter. It seemed to make sense–several evenings a week, one of us goes out (to the gym, running errands, etc) in the van. Now, I love the EuroVan, but it is not the most fuel efficient vehicle on the block. So, I thought, a scooter might work well. Killer gas mileage, fun to ride, cheap to maintain. The trick then became finding one for the right price. Within a week or so of monitoring Craigslist, a 2005 Honda Metropolitan became available, and within a week, it was ours.

(Not actually our scooter, but identical in every way. I am, apparently, too lazy to actually take a photos of ours.)

So there you have it. Is it fun? Yes, very much so. Fun enough that some days I want to ride it rather than my bike to work. Like today. And the gas mileage? We’ve put roughly 200 miles on the scooter in the past month, and spent roughly $4.50 on gas. Even factoring in registration and insurance, that may actually be cheaper than riding my bike, given the amount of calories I consume.

Posted on 23 June 2010

With only a bit time before we hit the road to go the New, I’ll just offer a brief overview of the race, with a longer report to come. The Yellow Creek Monthly series seemed like a good introduction to the world of mountain bike racing, so Alan and I loaded up his car and headed to Indiana, PA. So, here’s the overview of the race, in bullet form:

* The race was well-organized. I thought about adding the qualifier “for a grassroots race,” but the race started on time, the course was well-marked (and quite fun), and the organizers were friendly, and stoked to see people out riding. I don’t think the qualifier is really necessary.
* The course was fun and varied. Lots of flowing single track, with some technical descents (with rocks!) and a stream crossing. It started (wisely) with a service road climb, which separated the field quite nicely before the single track. Oh, and there was a MONSTER climb in the middle of the course.
* I was riding in the top 15 for the first half of the race (maybe closer to 10, even), then I flatted on the rocks. Two other folks were changing tubes, too, but we all lost quite a bit of ground. Though we didn’t stick around for the results, I suspect I may have finished in the top twenty, but I’m not sure.
* The course had some serious mud bogs. Much of it was just tacky (which was just fine with me), but some sections were muddy, and will likely stay that way for awhile.
* The foliage varied wildly between sections. One notable stretch was something out of Rocky Mountain National Park–red dirt, tall pines, lots of ferns. There was also a long stretch of double track next to the lake. Good stuff.
* I am not at all in race shape. I didn’t really bonk at any point, but near the end, going up a hill I thought “gee, there must be mud around my back tire because it’s quite hard to pedal.” Upon further review, mud was not the issue, but my legs. Oh well. What do I expect after only a month of commuting and a couple of trips to Frick in my legs?

Will I go back next month? As long as it fits into our schedule, yes.

Posted on 29 May 2010

Thanks to Paul and April for these.

Glas Roof (V9) (Note my lame attempt to climb this after I trashed my ring finger by using my superior front 2 strength)

D3 (V7) (A rare photo of an actual send)

Sign of the Cross (V3) (So very hard for the grade)

Posted on 13 May 2010

We arrived home yesterday evening to find cats that were happy to see us, and an overgrown yard (spring has apparently sprung in these parts). The drive was mostly uneventful, with lots of wind and gray skies, and pockets of rain here and there (how much wind you ask? Enough to nearly double our van’s gas mileage). It’s good to be back in our kitchen, sipping coffee, with the cats alternately meow-ing at my feet for attention.

Posted on 9 May 2010