One Post Fits All

My oh... Today's led Primary Series class at the Shala had me in full drip mode early on. I'm thinking that the folks surrounding me might have been thinking about starting to fill sand bags to deal with the sweatage. My rug was completely damp when I folded it up after practice. *lol* We had a whole bunch of folks in the room today. We were missing the Iowa City visitors, I suspect the weather yesterday was the cause of that. We were also missing a couple of regulars. Which means we had some new folks, which is always a good thing.

Now I need to get into recovery mode and maybe to a ride in. The snow is pretty much gone where the sun has been hitting it. The ride into work tomorrow morning isn't looking like it will be something approaching "circus act", as I had been fearing.

Then it's off to the Redstone Room to see Railroad Earth this evening. I'm hoping that I'll be able to make most of the show. I had a great time the last time these folks played there. I just need to keep in mind when my alarm goes off for the ride into work. Doors are early, so that should help.

The Late Guitar Madness

Man... It was a long day yesterday. Did the spin class, the V3 class (I believe the Russian judge had the 9.7 card out for degree of difficulty), then the Music Guild production of The Producers. That show rocked! But then... it's a Mel Brooks musical. What's not to like? Then a bit of snow shoveling at 2300 hours after we put the car in the garage. Sick.

In honor of yesterday's crap-tasic weather and hoping for better...

Mere Rules Do Not Apply To Us

Everybody's Party & Green Tea

I've been listening to lots of John Scofield in the last couple of months. I really haven't been able to find what I want on YouTube, but this is real close... You get Pat Metheny , John Scofield, Steve Swallow (bass), and Bill Swewart (drums). The last two are absolutely monster players.

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Stop the presses! I found one of the things I was looking for! Whoo Hoo!

Long Week

Man... It's been a long week and there is still Sunday to go. Between work, life, yoga, and the bike, I feel lucky to be awake. I managed 230 miles for the week so far and I still have Sunday's miles after yoga to go. I'm hoping it stays dry. Wednesday was the long day for the week. Did 30 on the commuter since the rain was in the forecast. Then, since it stayed dry, I went out with the Wednesday evening training ride. It was surprisingly sane. We did 35 in a bit over 1:50. I did some work at the front and the HR average for the ride was 125 bpm. I'm encouraged by that.

Tomorrow, it's going to be a ride to the bagel shop in the morning, the led Primary Series class at the Shala, and then more miles. Sometime after that, I need to get my tax stuff together. Oh Joy!

Embryonic Journey

This was a bit of serendipity. This morning on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, the were talking with Jorma Kaukonen (story link). Jorma was one of the guitarist's in the Jefferson Airplane. On one of their first albums, Surrealistic Pillow, that I can remember listening to, there was the track, Embryonic Journey. This was probably one of the first times that I can recall listening to an acoustic guitar track that I really liked. Here's Jorma playing Embryonic Journey at the Airplane's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. I haven't thought about this song in ages.

Pi Day!

Woo Hoo! Irrationality Rules!

RAGBRAI Route Detail Announced

The Des Moines Register has published the full RAGBRAI route. See it here. Here's the breakdown of the days.

• Council Bluffs, Mineola, Henderson, Emerson, Red Oak - 52.6 miles; 3,684 feet

• Red Oak, Stanton, Villisca, Nodaway, Corning, Prescott, Williamson, Fontanelle, Greenfield - 72.6 miles; 5,096 feet

• Greenfield, Orient, Macksburg, East Peru, Truro, St. Charles, St. Marys, Martensdale, Prole, Indianola - 77.1 miles; 4,470 feet

• Indianola, Ackworth, Sandyville, Milo, Lacona, Oakley, Chariton - 44.4 miles; 2,182 feet

• Chariton, Millerton, Bethlehem, Confidence, Iconium, Honey Creek Resort State Park, Moravia, Rathbun Lake, Unionville, Blakesburg, Ottumwa - 76.9 miles; 3,388 feet (Plus the century miles and climbing)

• Ottumwa, Hedrick, Martinsburg, Pekin, Packwood, Pleasant Plain ,Brighton ,Germanville, Lockridge, Mt. Pleasant - 75.5 miles; 2,841 feet

• Mt. Pleasant, New London, Lowell, Geode State Park, Burlington - 43.2 miles; 1,145 feet

The total without loop, 442 miles and 22800 feet of climbing. Easy cheesy... Just depends on the weather.

Stuff

Well... After two hard days at the Shala, I'm starting to recover. Yesterday was the normal off the hook V3 class. Some things I can do, something things I can't. I find it very easy to tell the difference. Then it was a little rest and back for the Primary Series 2nd half workshop. I was hurting at the end of that. The left leg was going in and out of cramps, so I elected to sit out the some of the walk through. I did find it useful and learned a number of things.

Then this morning, as I was looking for the directions to where I was going in Iowa City, I discovered that I was going to be early. About seven days early. Good thing I noticed. So... it was a mad dash to get out the door for the led Primary Series class. Man... my arms were not being happy. The right one basically decided it was done being useful after Utpluthee. The next vinyasa wasn't pretty. Then I hung out for the Student Conference. It was informative and interesting.

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In musicland, I've just stumbled into Jonathan Coulton. There are number of songs you can listen to. I find Code Monkey amusing.



And here's a cover that's also amusing

Fenton Robinson

After careful consideration, I've decided to continue with some of the greats that I had the privilege to see perform at the Maintenance Shop during my days at ISU. Here is none other than Fenton Robinson. This clip is from 1974. I saw him perform there in 1975 and again in 1977. Enjoy!



Sings "I've got those post Shala limp and bitch blues" and hits "Publish Post"

New Tools

I went to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Indianapolis last Friday. I've got another post with a few images that I took coming soon. That said, I did pick up some specialized tooling while I was there. The folks at Paragon Machine Works make some really, really nice frame parts. I'm really in love with the Sliders. If I ever get a bike custom built for me again, it will have these on it. The folks at Paragon also make some other fine tooling that I picked up.


Everyone needs a titanium combination beer opener and 15mm wrench or at the very least a nice red aluminum one.