Circumnavigation Diary. Exploratory Report.

In the year of our Lord 2012, I have determined that it is necessary to navigate every mile of bicycle path in the city of Plano. I will document the excursion here in my "web log", and hope that the knowledge I bring will be used well by those that come after me. Should I survive, I expect to be feted and recount the incredible tales of my adventure over countless glasses of sherry. Plus groupies.

On the last day of 2011, I made an exploratory expedition West to put some supply caches in place. I was also raring for adventure and could scarce contain my excitement to begin the larger expedition.

The trails are teeming with life; this crane (or stork, I'm no ichthyologist) appeared just a few miles in. I wondered at his majesty for a bit, then continued my exploration.

Next I beheld the beauty of a wild turkey, probably recently escaped from Christmas dinner celebrations. This bold fellow was acting the part of waterfowl, most likely to ensure his continuing freedom. At least his head looked like a turkey, so that is what I assume he is.

Reaching my unsupported limit I turned back, lest I become lost in unfamiliar lands, leaving only my bleached bones as a memorial to my folly. On the return I took a slightly different route, and found what seemed to be some sort of memorial erected by natives. Pausing to reflect, I raised a toast to unknown warriors, then moved on.

Being bone tired at this point, I counted on my steed to carry me home safe; he did as I wished and brought me back to the very doors of the rooming house I have engaged while waiting to begin the expedition proper. Though only a 15 mile ride on paths mostly known to me, this small adventure whets my appetite for the larger circumnavigation to come. Westward ho!

My faithful steed. 

Weekly weight loss check in and progress report.

Like all of you, I am still on New Years resolution track. Unlike most of you (I assume) I am going to hold myself accountable to a bunch of people I have never met.

Join the weight loss crew at LIVESTRONG.COM

So there it is. I still have a way to go, but I am showing forward progress. What did I do last week to achieve such incredible results? I rode my bicycle to work three days and spent my first hour on the trainer, for starters. To be honest, I am not riding the entire route in to the office, instead I am taking the train the entire way in the morning and most of the way home in the evening. I say most of the way in the evening, but I do get off early and ride about 7 miles of the route home. The Bloggipede is a super fun bike for bombing around on, especially for a few path miles in the evening.

On the training front, I have downloaded a training video from epicPLANET and watched a big part of it, but not on the trainer. The video is an hour and a half long, and man, that is a LOT of trainer time. I will do it, but I am working up to it. So far I have managed to watch Rain of Madness (highly recommended) for one session and two episodes of Pawn Stars for the other session. My plan was to maintain an average speed of 16mph and an average cadence of 85 during my session. I just about managed it too.

Livestrong screenshot. 

On the food front, I am using the Livestrong app on my iPhone to track my calories. I am allowed a little over 1700 calories a day in order to lose 2lbs a month. I stayed under my total every day, and it's actually kind of fun to track once I get in the groove. I have used calorie counting for weight loss for a long time, and I certainly expect to be successful.

I have also added vitamins into the regimen, taking a bunch of pills (like Judy!) to make the weight loss process go quicker. Theoretically. I am not using any diet pills, only vitamin (and one fiber) supplements.

The first time I took one of these pictures of the scale, I held the phone too high. Hawt. 

So far my weight loss has been going well altogether. I am feeling pretty good, and am on track to be really thin AND fit for the first time in quite a while. I expect things to pick up (or drop off) a little more quickly as the month goes on - I tend to pick up steam as I go along.

In the "coming soon" category for the blog, I will be doing a Plano article this week, as well as a couple of review articles - both USA made items again.

On one final note, if you are interested in checking out some of the Moto-optix lenses I wrote about last week, Shawn has sent me an email letting me know that they are offering free shipping through this weekend - I am a guy that loves "free", so I highly endorse this deal. $39.95 flat puts a set of these on your helmet. Very worthwhile, in my opinion. Be sure and use the code austinblog to get your free shipping.

Inaugural Linkdump 2012!

As usual, I have been saving links for you to peruse today.

Brooks saddles aren't just for fops.

Switching Gears have hats that might be.

Wear this under your fop clothes for comfort.

Drink this for even more comfort under those clothes. 

And put it in one of these to affirm your fopness.

Have a great weekend. As usual, big things are coming. I will be posting another nude photo on Monday when I do my weight loss check in, and in fact I'm trying to work up a deal to work out with a personal  trainer and use some special equipment both with him and at home to take my transformation to the next level. This weight loss thing might get interesting after all.

Wish I could just Photoshop the flab away! 

Today I Will Review A Revolutionary Step in Bicycle Eyewear- Moto-Optix Lenses.

I got a Moto-Optix polarized bicycle lens in the mail the other day, and while I haven't had a whole lot of time to write about it, I have had time to use it, and this really is an incredible piece of equipment.  

The lens comes with everything you see here - well, yours most likely won't come with a fancy handwritten note, because you aren't a famous blogger. The lens is a single piece that you attach to your helmet via Velcro. Installation is a snap; peel the included Velcro from the backer, throw it on your helmet, and stick the lens on. 

Make that Velcro "ripping" sound in your head. 

Once the lens was installed, I removed the blue protective film, and looked at my new windshield. 

Then I wore them around the office for a while. 

To protect the PC staff  from my laser eyes. 

My winged over-mantle looked great, and really emphasized the flare of my beard. On the ride home, however, is where the lens really began to shine. I am a glasses wearer when I am not on the bike anyway, so it's not like glasses "bug" me. However, being able to ride without glasses but still have the sun protection my eyes want is incredibly comfortable, since the lenses are not touching my face or head. It really is an odd sensation at first,  but one I got used to fairly quickly. These aren't some cheap smoked plastic lenses either; the Moto-Optix  lenses are polarized to reduce glare and have incredible optical quality. I have very expensive riding glasses that are not this optically correct. 

I can only think of a couple of things that will make these better; I had a little problem with the Velcro included peeling off of the Styrofoam on the helmet when I tried to  re-position the lens. Unfortunately, some of the Styrofoam stayed attached and ruined the stickiness of the tape in the process. It would be nice if the company included a set of back up strips, just in case. Another great thing (I'm an idea man, you see?) would be to lose the wings on the side, make the lenses smooth, and put reflective material on the edges so the extra space can be used as a mirror. Million dollar ideas? I just give them away. 

I like these a lot, and I will wear the hell out of them for commuting and weekend rides, because they really are a revolution in comfort. Moto-Optix is marketing them to triathletes, and I can see where that is a worthwhile market, but I would say that anyone who is riding a lot should really consider them. Especially here in Texas because heat = sweat, and nothing is more annoying than having your glasses slip while you are riding. The lenses are available in either amber or dark grey tints, and are $39.95 a pair, and in my opinion are a real bargain. Once again, this is a made in USA product, so if you don't want to support terrorists, you should buy USA first. 

Why Be Offended By Winning?

I finally got my trophy from the 2011 Tour De BBQ in the mail the other day. I was (to say the least) very excited to receive it. I haven't won an award of any type in years, and sometimes, like a 12 year old, I need validation. I'm not proud of it, but I am honest about it. Thanks to lots of fundraising, emailing, begging, and cajoling, I was indeed the first place fundraiser for the ride this year. Not second, not third, or someone who merely met their goal, but number one.

First Place

Numero Uno

The Top of The Pops, baby.

Do you know why? Because I worked hard to win the contest. I emailed everyone I know, I wrote blog posts that were far too personal in nature; I asked for money, and then I turned around and did it again. For prizes? No, not really. More for the win, just to chalk one up on my wall. I did this; I made the top of the mountain, I beat these other folks. The end result was money raised for charity, sure. But I worked my way to the top, I went above and beyond  to win. You guys read this blog, so you know what I got up to to make #1.

I'm going to post this once more before they take it down.

Top Ten Fundraisers

Tour de BBQ 2011

1. Justin Husman - $1,320.00
2. Steve Tomac - $1,300.00
3. Carrie Helfers - $1,150.00
4. Craig Henwood - $825.00
5. Andrew Warren - $635.00
6. Titus Fehling - $458.00
7. Niki Fehling - $395.00
8. Jonathan Nye - $385.00
9. Stacey Corrado - $270.00
10. Marc Meyer - $262.00

And just so you can confirm that I didn't write that in a different font just to fool you, the list is here. 

So I won, fair and square. 

And when I opened the box, I saw that I was not designated "first place" Individual Fundraiser. 

I was only in the top 5. Like some little league baseball team that doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.  


The designation kind of sounds like an oxymoron. "Top Five Individual Fundraiser" 


Am I an individual, or in a group? 

How can I be a top five individual fundraiser - it doesn't make sense.  

Now, I'm certainly ok with them not having my name put on the trophy (though that would have been awesome, now that I think about it), but I don't understand the logic of not having at least 1st through 3rd place designated. That's how it has always been. Top three are rewarded, and Devil take the hindmost. 

Fourth Place doesn't get a trophy. Unless it says, "Hey, good job on not being the absolute worst!"

Every podium has three stands. Not a big box where five people mill around aimlessly. Three. 

The top guy gets girls and champers, and the other two get to be a little jealous, but kind of happy for not being in FIFTH place. Because fifth is even worse than fourth,  and that dude is crying in the showers already, not sharing champagne. 


If you want to give trophies to fourth and fifth, that's fine, but designate them as "top five" finishers. 

"Top 5" is certainly the truth, and I accept that, but I don't think it's the right way to do things.  I'm not the only one who thought this was a little silly, by the way. Everyone in the Plano Cyclist office felt exactly the same way I did, they are just not as eloquent. I heard, "You are going to blog about this, right?"  You bet I am. 

Numbah One! 

So, because I am not the catcher on the Moss Plumbing Pirates, I fixed my trophy.


My attitude is everything, for sure. 

Kicking Off My Weight Loss Odyssey.

Join the weight loss crew at LIVESTRONG.COM

Big numbers there, huh? Hopefully, as in the Tour De BBQ days, we will see that number reach my goal and beyond.

30 pounds. That would put me right at my goal weight of 175. I know I was talking about losing 25 pounds this year, but my scale told me a very sad tale the morning of Jan 2, 2012.

Fun fact - I am nude in this photo. 

I have a long way to go, obviously, but I do have a plan. I will be using the Livestrong My Plate app to count my calories and keep track of my exercise, I have installed the cadence/speed sensor on my trainer, and am in the process of getting my epicRIDES videos set up on my phone, so soon I will be suffering in my living room.

This is where the magic happens. 

The only methods I'll really be using are going to be calorie counting and exercise. I had considered doing the mastercleanse to kick me off, but it has been a couple of years and I don't know if I'm ready to put myself through that again. Instead, I'm going to use the slow and steady method and see how fast I can lose when I take control of my eating and activity.

My plan for this process is to check in once a week with my weight loss progress, unless something really exciting happens in between my check ins. I will be posting other stuff here, but you can look for a new weekly feature on how much weight I have lost (or gained, God forbid).

Resolutions are a bitch in the cold grey light of the morning.

Octopus Winter Cycling Cap - Made in the USA.

My name is The Plano Cyclist, and I love cycling caps. There, now my dirty secret is out in the open for all of us to process and talk about.

Even though I love cycling caps, I'm not one of those guys who wears a cap off the bike; while I admire the fashion forwardness ( and mustachios) of those guys, I am more practical and just wear them when riding. However, the big problem with cycling caps is that they aren't warm. That is good in the Texas summer, but when the weather cools here (which it most certainly does), I find myself without a cap to wear. I do have one of those technical type helmet liners somewhere, but it makes me feel like some sort of mental patient. Mostly because as the weather gets cooler I tend to find myself wearing less "cycling" gear when riding, and a neoprene skullcap looks pretty strange with khakis and a windbreaker. That's where the Octopus Cap comes in. I contacted them, and they sent me one of their winter caps to try out. Octopus Caps are handmade in Ohio, and can be made to order (there are also some pre-made versions available in their esty shop). Octopus makes these caps Columbus OH from recycled wool and specialty fabrics. They quickly made my custom cap (as you know, I love unique things) and sent it my way.

It's in the eyes. 

As soon as I opened the package, I popped the cap on and did a photo shoot in the office. The (non-cyclist) guys all thought that it looked a little funny, but I felt like I was channeling Yehuda Moon.  

Plano Cyclist

Yehuda

I ordered according to the sizing instructions on the website, and I am mostly pleased with the fit of the cap, with one small exception - the red wool ear flap does not cover my entire ear. (I suffer from a very rare disorder that renders my earlobes both the coldest and the longest part of my body. ) If you are thinking of ordering a "large", you might actually need an XL. The cap is very well made and feels like a very solid piece of equipment, with some nice details like an inside pocket to stash your ID or anything else you would like to store inside your hat. The bill on the front of the cap is not stiff; instead it is kind of vestigial piece of fabric amended to the front of the cap. Vestigial or not it is an important part of the cap, because without it I'd be back in the same boat again, wearing a funny little skullcap. A black skullcap is one thing, but a houndstooth skullcap just screams "crazy". Looks aside, I know the big question you are asking (and why you are reading this drivel): "Does it work?"

It do indeed. The cap fits right under my helmet, and keeps my head remarkably warm for such a small piece of fabric. The ear flap keeps the tops of my ears nice and toasty, and the cap/flap combo made what was going to be a very cold ride home very tolerable. In fact, I was working up a sweat at one point and started to think that it might be smart to vent my head by removing the cap, because it was so warm. Then I rode through a cold patch and rethought my clever plan (wondering why the hell I was riding in the cold anyway). When I got home, despite the ribbing I took from the guys at the office, I found that the ladies do indeed love the Octopus Cap - my daughter (The Plano Tricyclist) immediately whisked it off my head and claimed it for her own. She wore it until bed time, when I gently removed it from her head as I locked her in her cage for the evening. 

The Plano Tricyclist

Since then, we have had long discussions (filled with tears and shouts of "mine!") about who actually owns the Octopus Cap, and once I dried my tears and stopped shouting "mine", she came to understand that as a big time blogger, I have very little impulse control. Sharing is caring though, so I am sure she will have plenty of turns to wear it. Octopus also makes children's caps, so I may even order her one of her very own. 

Octopus Winter Caps are $40, and they are currently available through their esty shop. Custom caps are available here, but the folks who make them are on vacation until January 6th, so feel free to email them, but don't expect a response until after then. In addition to the winter cap you see here, Octopus also makes a heavy duty flapped cap for the same price, or a hat with no ear flaps for $25. Any way you look at it, buying an Octopus Cap is a great way to support a small business in the USA, which is something you should do as a red blooded American.  When you add in the warmth that the hat provides your noggin at 12mph, I think that not buying an Octopus Cap means you are a commie from Siberia. Better get to clicking, comrade.