So here is a list of my google reader subscriptions pertaining to cycling.  I’ve stripped out all the “other stuff” (there’s a lot), and left the .xml file with the cycling feeds.  You will be able to save this file, and upload it to your reader of choice, and then you’ll be subscribed to all these great feeds!

google-reader-cycling-subscriptions.xml

Below is the list of cycling blogs. It’s about 95 items. Almost in alphabetical order.

A.E. Bike Daily Deal
Alex Wetmore is always busy with something…
Bad Idea Racing
BaileyWorks Messenger Bags
Bedrock and Paradox
Beth’s Blog
Bicycle Design
Bicycle Frenzy
Bike Commuters
Bike Hugger
Bike Skirt
Bike Snob NYC
bike29.com
BikeHacks
Bikes For The Rest Of Us
bikesandbeer
BikeSmut.com
Carbon Fork
Charge Bikes – Juliet
Charge News
Coconino Cycles Custom Bicycles
Coffee, bits and bikes
CRC COFFEE BAR/CYKEL GARAGE
Cyclelicious
Cycling Spokane
Da’ Snot Rocket
dustylabarrblog
Fat Cyclist
Guitar Ted Productions
How to Avoid the Bummer Life
I Heart Singlespeed
IBIKEMPLS.com
Ironclad Performance Wear Cycling Team
JasonHilimire.com
JesseParker.com
KanyonKris
Kent’s Bike Blog
Lance Armstrong Doped
Large Fella on a Bike
Life on a Bike
Life through a Lens
Lost Coast Bike Expedition
Lunatic Biker
Masini’s Breaking Away Blog
Moscaline
Mountain Bike Mary’s Musings
Mountain Bike Riders
Mountain Biking by 198
Ms Spivy
Nine Mile Skid
NoPoGirl
Official Website of Jeff Kerkove
one less car news
Oxford Cycling
Redcoat in The Bubble
Ride-Strong.com
ride29er
River City Cycling Society
S24O
sean salach
Siren Mary’s Musings
Slip Angle
solo goat blog
sologoat garage
Sonya Looney
Spokin’ Sportsman
Stronger, Fitter, Faster
teaching cancer to cry
Terry Davidson
The Adventures of Carney
The Bicycle Tutor
The Confessions of Captain Swallowtail
The Dan Gerous Official Blogspot
The Everyday Athlete
The Life and Times of Biking Brady
the Practical Pedal Blog
The Prairie Peddler
The Wander Girl
Tinker’s Cycling and News Blog
Fastish
Tour Divide blogs
trackosaurus rex
Under The Weather – Messenger Bags and Cycling Clothing for Moving People
Up in Alaska
UpaDowna
Upside Out
Urban Velo
Viva Salo
Waltworks Bicycles
Watching the World Wake Up
WNC Mountain Biking
Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery

My lovely wife has been tracking her calories for a couple of weeks, and since I have to do everything she does, I started as well.  Probably the fair truth of it is that I wanted to show her how much easier the Livestrong app (itunes link) is than the one she’d used, called Lose It (itunes link).  Devious of me but I still maintain that the Livestrong one is better.  Mainly because it can be interacted with on their website, which can make all the data entering vastly easier.  I will say that the interface for Lose It is easy enough to make the previous point about Livestrong app moot.  But whatever. 

In any case I have been tracking my calories for a whole three days.  I haven’t found out too much, aside from that I eat a lot.  I haven’t been just terribly hungry all the time, and I’m pretty much hitting the target (that, according to Livestrong and my profile, would have me lose a pound or 2 per week).  Throw some exercise in the mix, and I should be good to go.  Exercise is something that Lose It couldn’t handle, so it’s nice to use the Livestrong app for that reason alone.

Going on.  I have glanced over the clearly representative set of data from my eating pattern.  And come to this conclusion.  I eat. a. lot. of. salt.  I hit 149% of my goal today.   That is 3 and a half grams of salt.  I’m not sure if you know how much salt that is.  I do.  It’s a lot.  And my first day was 122%.  Yesterday was much less, but then I didn’t enter all the foods I ate, and incidentally they were some of the saltier ones (canned beans x 2).  I will have to go add that data.

Now.  The part that relates to cycling.  I have shed a few pounds lately, and that’s very needed.  I hope to hit 175 by the time I do any serious group rides.  And by that I mean races.  But will include any ride where I don’t want to feel like a tool at the back of the pack, sweating his winter weight.  Fortunately the lovely wife is on my side this time!  It’s nice for her to be counting calories too.  Nice for me, I mean; she’s beautiful any way, of course.

Now I wonder if Rold Gold make slow salt pretzles.  If they don’t, they should. (duh).

Update: Yesterday’s properly updated salt (yes I mean sodium salt) was 134%.  Also not good.

At any rate, the cold day was set aside for riding the new trails at Whirlpool.  I’d ridden part of the new one, but it had since been finished.  The first half is pretty twisty and … not “technical” but not just terribly fast.  So maybe the best way to describe it is “slow.”  Fun, but slow.

Then there’s a clear change, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way in.  It become fast.  Flowy, swoopy, and very fun. There are some technical features, but most of the trail is open, and begging for speed.  To be fair, it’s a different kind of forest, too.  The slow part is a lot of pines, and a bunch of smaller trees.  I say smaller to indicate there’s still a lot of competition among them, and they cover the area.  It’s what I’d call secondary-growth forest, although that could be wrong.  The fast trail is in old growth forest.  There are a lot of big trees, so the cover is higher, and so less ground level competition.  Which means a more open forest.  Which means a more open trail.  Which means speed.  The first picture below is actually where the change is made.

Cross this (usually dry) ditch, then everything just sort of opens up.

This even follows in a low area, so it’s pretty flat to boot.  There are hills, in fact a little ridge similar to what’s in “The Junkyard”, this is just the next ridge to the West.  This trail goes up and comes down that ridge, to much enjoyment.

The most “wait, what was that now?” section is this tree pair, on a sharp steep uphill section. You have to hit this with speed, but too much and you’ll probably eat it.  Too little and you won’t roll up the hill.  And you’ll amost surely have to roll, because these trees are close enough that they’ll either be happy to catch a pedal on your downstroke.

Then we actually go get on The Junkyard and ride out.  It’s reverse from the normal direction, but it adds miles (maybe 2) of singletrack compared to fire roads.

11.75 miles, 4.9 (!!!) mph (like I said, 1/2 of the new trail is slow.

2009.01.18 Temperatures were excellent today.  Called for shorts and a windproof jacket.  Pictures only:

12.19 miles, 6.3 mph.

Note that I’ve nearly figured out how to do what I want to do with the pictures.  If (what amounts to) the nested images pass muster with everyone, I’ll stick with that format.  It’s not too difficult to set them up that way.

I carry a Crumpler Considerable Embarrassment (too small to put shoes and anything else) Osprey Resource Elroy (1/2/2009), and this stuff in it:

• Fenix PD20 (1/5/2009)
• Leatherman CX Skeletool (1/10/2009) [pre-review: the blade on this thing is incredible. in. cred. uh. ble.]
• Leatherman Bit Kit (1/5/2009)
• Moleskine Soft Cover Pocket Ruled Notebook (3.5 x 5.5)
• Pigma Micron 01 (0.25mm) #1 Archival Ink Pen, Black
• Sharpie Pen, black (testing)
• Shure IC2-MP Sound isolating earphones (11/5/2008)
• Granite Gear Air Tote (1/2/2009)
• Canon PowerShot SD870 IS (and three 4GB SD cards so I can take a hundred bajillion pictures if I need to (9/12/2008)
• Lowepro Ridge 10
• Joby Gorillapod Go-Go! (1/2/2009)
• Sandisk SD Extreme III 4GB – for my portable apps – it’s like a computer in my pocket (because I also carry a usb reader)
• Sigg Metro Thermos 13oz Dark Blue (6/17/2008)
• iPhone 3G 16gb of course, in black (7/12/2008) (in a Griffin Elan Form case)
• Topeak Master Blaster DX Pump (rei.com link since Topeak doesn’t make it anymore)
• Gore Bike Wear Signature Cap
• WhiBal G6 Pocket Kit (1/10/2009)

Pocket:

• Gerber Paraframe II CRKT P.E.C.K. Knife (a “money clip” knife) (9/22/2008)
• Chapstick Moisturizer
• Kavu Wally Wallet in Khaki of course (I love this thing)

Over the course of … something … I’ll probably review each of these items. I’ll try to annotate here when I’ve done the review.

Need to add:

• medical stuff (bandaids at the very least)
• spare tube
• multi-tool (one in the mail to me, now, actually [that I won!!!]) (and actually the Leatherman Bit Kit I already carry has a hex set)
• HP Mini 2140 netbook (no link yet because they haven’t been released [but I can't wait to get one])

This brings up a fair few important and interesting points. I have a love for messenger bags, and before it was messenger bags, it was backpacks and hip bags in general. I have had more than my fair share of them. In fact still have most of them. And there is one more on it’s way to me now (to fill a gap in my bag lineup that I created just for it to fill) [sidenote: I listed things on ebay just today to "make room" for the new item(s)].

It also exaggerates the point of my interest in gadgetry (for example, the Leatherman). And my firm commitment to things I’m used to and comfortable with (ChapStick).

I try to keep only items I will use, but at the same time, try to always have items I need. It’s a fine line, and one that an expanding bag size and diminutive bike commute has allowed me to push dramatically. I was never a Boy Scout, but my preparedness (at least in this one case, which is carrying stuff I might need ["Be Prepared"]) is clear. Yes, all this stuff is easily overkill. But, it’s good practice. Plus it’s fun. It’s like a man-purse. Full of gadgetry.

If you read that all intently you’ll notice that at pretty much all times I have thirty-two gigabytes of storage on my person. I hadn’t realized that until just now. That’s heavy.

Also, I am interested in suggestions on items I have left out. I know there’s something obvious that I need to have but just hasn’t happened to come up on my list just yet. Ok if I haven’t needed it, do I really need it? Maybe not. But there could be that one thing…