Worlds have collided

Two of my worlds, maybe better said my passions, have collided. Lance throwing the first pitch at Fenway Park. Oh.....if only I had been there.

My baby

I am not a normal guy. Donna will be the first to tell you that. I can't quote football stats. I don't faithfully follow all 160+ games of the Red Sox season. I couldn't rebuild an engine if my family's life depended on it, and the site of a Hemi just really doesn't do anything for me. I follow sports, but not the ones that everyone gathers at the corner bar to watch. All of the commentators for my sport are foreign. My sports heroes wear colorful lycra in public.

I do have a baby in my garage. Not a classic muscle car, or a sleek foreign sports racer. It's a bike. Not a Harley or a Honda. It's a Trek. Not a beefy V-twin that wakes the neighbors, or a hefty 1500cc chrome monster. It's a silent 15lb carbon fiber masterpiece. Hand made. Assembled with components specifically selected by me. The paint job? My choice. Cranks? Sized for me. Cassette? My preferred gears. Wheels? Chose racers. Headset? Bars? Tape? All my choices. Piece by piece. My baby. A baby for a not so normal guy who happens to have a fine collection of lycra. And doesn't mind wearing it in public.
It's Spring, and the salt is finally clear from the roads here. My baby has come out of the basement, and is back on the road. I am happy. I think "she" is too.

Another season has started. My sports season.

Footprint

A while back, an eco-friendly cyclist friend of mine asked me what the size of my footprint was. Being a guy, I immediately thought of the old saying, "men with big feet have...", and was prepared to extol how large my footprint is. But then, seeing as my cyclist friend is a guy, that would have just been way too creepy, so I asked him what he was talking about.

He was, of course, asking about my Ecological Footprint, or how much demand I am putting on the Earth's resources. Surprisingly, the answer is still, quite large.

I am fully aware of the global crisis that we are facing. I have seen Al Gore's movie in it's entirety, as well as several of his other shorter presentations. For those looking to get up to speed, Molly has a great abridged Al Gore piece posted here. I have read some of the scientific reports that document the dramatic shifts in the ice caps, CO levels, and climate, and I whole heartedly believe we are in a world of trouble. But, I could still fit a Prius and a half in the back of the SUV I drive everyday. And I am typing this as I sit under the glow of my conventional 60-watt light bulb.

I am a cyclist. I LOVE bikes. I love to ride. I love the exercise. I love the feeling of accomplishment after I complete a ride. But, I only use my bicycles for exercise and sport. I don't ride to work, to the store, to visit friends. For those trips, I drive. With my big ole' 5.4liter, gas guzzling footprint.

So why am I telling you all of this? Why am I risking having my name added to the black list of Earth haters? I guess for that very point. Why? Why am I in the majority? Why aren't all of us doing more? If someone as addicted to cycling as I am can't get out from behind the wheel of my car, what are the odds that all of the other Americans who have that dusty old Schwinn just hanging in their garage, are going to turn off their motors? If, I can recognize the crisis, why can I not make a conscious choice to act?

Is it convenience? Is it the thought that one man, with one light bulb, cannot possibly make the difference? Is it money? Cause, c'mon, going green does not come cheap....

Not sure. But I am thinking about it. And that is a start. Are you thinking about it? What size is your footprint? Get out and ride that old bike and feel good.

Here's a great song and great video to give you some thought inspiration.

We're doing it...

We're doing it. We are taking a vacation. Me, Donna, Gavin, and Isabelle. The Family. And, we are not taking just any vacation. We are taking THE vacation. Those of you with kids know the one I mean. The parental right of passage. The savings account vacation. Okay, sing it with me...M-I-Ccccc.....K-E-Yyyyy, M-O-U-S-Eeeeeee. Yep. Disney here we come.

The countdown calendar has been hanging on the wall of the kitchen for almost a month. Each day after breakfast, Gavin and Isabelle cross off another day, and Donna does a pretty cool little dance as she announces the remaining days left until our trip. From my seat, it is hard to tell who is more excited about this trip, Donna or the kids. Me, I am looking forward to time with my family, the smiles on all three of their faces, and Sea World!

C'mon, Dad can have some fun too, right??

Certainly look for many vacation pictures and details in posts to come.

Hell of The North

I realize that I have been pretty lax about updating the blog these past few weeks, but, ya' know, stuffs been going on. One thing that I feel I need to share is the status of the Spring Classics in the Pro Cycling series. It has been an amazing spring, with the weather doing it's part to make the famed Classics in Belgium, Italy, and France brutal and epic as ever. In addition, our teams, c'mon, I know you have been rooting for them, Slipstream-Chipotle and Astana have been making a great showing in each event.

However, those events were just the warm ups. As this weekend is the Queen of the Classics, Paris-Roubaix. The famed "Hell of The North". No other Spring race on the pro-tour has is as famous for those that haven't finished, as it is for those that have. Paris-Roubaix punishes it's riders with it's course length, traditionally cold and wet weather, and...the Pave. Pave would be French for cobblestones. Lots, and lots of cobblestones.

The course of Paris-Roubaix is legendary, and a tourist destination for cycling fans from around the world. All to see and touch for themselves the famed Pave. On foot, they walkable. Picturesque paths, hand-laid by craftsmen more than a century ago. On a bike, well...here's how one rider described a training ride on the Pave "My hands are blistered, my shoulders ache, and I can barely turn my neck…It’s awesome!". Enough said.





















Here is what the cobblestones look like to a tourist during the off-season.












Here is what these same cobblestones do to the best cyclists in the world.
















It is a Classic event. As much about history and survival, as it is about winning. If you have ever had an interest in watching a true test of man, machine, and earth, I encourage you to watch the Paris-Roubaix on April 13th. You will not be disappointed. You'll end up a fan.

The new job

Just a quick update. I feel as though I have been neglecting my blog recently. I blame the start of the new job, and the time I have been devoting to it, to stealing away the minutes I used to spend keeping this space refreshed with updated information on me, the family, and life. Life is certainly still going on as active as ever, I just have lost a few of those minutes that I used to spend sharing it with all of you. I'll get it back, and will bring new stories with it as I add the adventures that my new job is sure to bring me.

For now, I thought I would start by introducing my new company to those of you that think Alcatel-Lucent sounds more like something you should take for heartburn, rather than the world leader in next generation networking equipment. I do agree, when two of the biggest players in the industry merged, Alcatel and Lucent Technologies, you'd think they could have spent a little more time on the name. Oh-well.

All I can say so far is that this new job is going to be cool. Now, that is cool in a gotta really love new technology, learn the latest and greatest network toys, geek, kinda cool. My kind of cool. For the last 10 years I have been a user of this technology, never a supplier. From that perspective, joining this company is like getting the key to the candy store. Access. All sorts of access! More documents, technical specs, powerpoints, and customer proposals than I could ever possibly ingest. Routers, and Optics, and CDMA...oh-my!! I get to play with it all. And not only play with it, I get to tell other people about it. People that actually want to hear about it. Yeah, okay, now some of you are envisioning a room full of geeks all sitting around ooh-ing, and aah-ing over the new shiny object in the corner while we speak in our secret language that only we can understand. It's not always like that. Sometimes the Marketing folks stop by, and we have to speak English.

Anyway, enough ranting. I am happy. More importantly, I think my family is happy, which is really the goal I have for myself. So, so far, so good. I will of course, be more than willing to share any of the new geek knowledge with anyone who is interested, and I will update with more on life and the family very soon. In the meantime, for those looking for a cool overview of all the things Alcatel-Lucent is getting into this year, here is a catchy promotional video the company is distributing.