Resample

It's 11:49 on Thursday evening and I sit here cranking away on some imagery to meet a deadline. In the meantime I have develop a strong relationship with cubic convolution and his friends bilinear interpolation and nearest neighbor. There is a lot of imagery sitting on my machine, so I will be resampling until the cows come home (an expression from the old school).

I'm currently listening to Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor. This is considered my all time favorite composition by the late composer. One day I hope to fulfill the dream of seeing this performed at a European venue in a beautiful setting. In a fictitious world I would be sitting in St. Stephen's Cathedral (Vienna, Austria) for the performance, but I'm not sure about the acoustics in the cathedral or if performances are allowed.

McLaren Park

Last night was the second race of the DFL Cross Series at McLaren Park in South San Francisco. Our warm-up consisted of dodging buses and cars along Mission Street and spinning up the hills with backpacks loaded with work clothes. The DFL series does not place riders in categories, so all abilities race each other from start to finish which makes for an interesting race. The start line was 15 feet from a steep hill, so everyone had their bikes mounted on the shoulders at the starting line. The massive group of riders bottle necked at the top of the hill and bumped shoulders and bikes during the re-mount. The pace moved quickly up a single track and the spectators cheered and shook cowbells as we rode up this steep pitch. This is going to be an amazing cross season and my teammates think I should already upgrade to A, but I hope to do well in the B category and make solid progress. Until then... keep the rubber side down.

Thanks for reading.

The Laboratory

You're probably wondering why my posts are appearing in the middle of the night or early in the morning depending on your location. Well, I can run several mosaics (threading) on my machine during the evening hours without disrupting any other processes and the CEO turns on the club and ambient music as well. Wait until we get a light for the disco ball on the ceiling - we'll have to establish a bouncer at the door to prevent the other companies from crashing the party.

New Kit

So, we received our team kit on Sunday and it went on its maiden voyage this evening across the Golden gate Bridge into the Headlands and Sausalito. Can a piece of clothing have a maiden voyage? My friend wanted to test her new camera and took some photos of my kit and the additions to the apartment. So far the iPhone is kicking ass and taking names and I went to the local cafe to test the WiFi connection which is excellent. There was another person in the cafe with an iPhone who recommended a site with extras for the iPhone - especially those interested in AOL and other chat clients. Anyway, I will provide more details as the phone goes through its course of daily wear and tear.

iPhone

We are beginning to use the iPhone at work and I look forward to using the music and photo features as well as the organization and maps. The Palm Treo 750 was a decent phone, but the operating system was a pain and the sync cable seem to fail from the beginning. Hopefully, I can find a nice cover or protection design for the iPhone without destroying its aesthetics.

Rock Climbing

Last night I decided to get back into rock climbing with co-workers and I look forward to using this sport to keep in shape during the winter months. Last summer I spent some time hiking in Slovakia and the steep mountains reminded me of the time I spent climbing with friends in high school and college. I plan on setting a goal to climb some high walls in Yosemite Valley in the spring time and will post my progress indoors and outdoors on the blog - stay tuned for pictures and gear selection.

Thanks for reading.




"Most seasoned rock climbers agree that lead climbing often evokes a state of consciousness so focused that many compare it to the act of meditation. Life is distilled to pure simplicity when you lead a climb. In this concentrated state, free from both internal and external distractions, you rediscover your innate ability to experience the present moment. Zen practice never seemed so easy. Offering yourself to the rock wall above, you navigate up the mysterious rock pathways, shifting your focus between motor skills and intellect. Emotions emerge and dissolve, spilling in and out of your consciousness. Angst, fear, confidence, relief - each feeling fades into the past as swiftly as it emerges."

- Heidi Pesterfield

DFL Cyclocross Race at Golden gate Park

Last night I raced the DFL Cyclocross Series in Golden Gate Park with jeans and a t-shirt. I learned my lesson on the way to the race as I climbed up Fell Street in the blistering heat. The park was loaded with riders from all over the Bay Area and spectators lined up along the side of the trails with cameras and cow bells. It was nice to see all the people from last season with new team kits and clean bikes. The eucalyptus (coolibah) trees provided nice shade for the venue, but I knew the ground would be loose and full of tree litter. Last season I broke a spoke on my Ksyrium while warming up before the Super Prestige at Coyote Point. The eucalyptus branches and the gum nuts can wreak havoc on a course.

The course was an excellent mixture of technical single track and fire roads with natural obstacles. The beginning of the race bottled necked down a trail with dust and gears clicking. I could not see much during the first 10 minutes of the race as the riders frantically sprinted for position on the course. The first main obstacle was a 3 foot log at the end of a narrow single track. The dismount area began to deteriorate on the first lap from riders grabbing the brakes and crashing before the barrier. It was quite challenging to navigate the loose soil with roots and hidden tree stumps. A paved section provided some time to focus and change gears before the next section of single track.

A quick right turn from the paved section went directly into an off camber single track with exposed roots and a second tree obstacle. The spectators were lined up in this section and cheered as riders ran up a short climb into the trees.

The next section hit several dismounts over logs with a couple of power climbs in loose gravel. It was nice to see all the spectators cheering as the riders carved through the single track and dusty roads. There was one place on the course where I would run the entire section up the stairs and along a ridge. Most riders were grinding through the thick grass and sand as I ran past them with my bike on the shoulder. I managed to carry the bike through this section on all laps and it helped my position in the overall standing. I rolled my ankle a few times during the dismounts and will probably use the new Shimano mountain shoe or the Sidi Dominator for its running qualities. The Sidi Dominator is an excellent choice for a cyclocross racer but the base of the shoe tends to run narrow and could be tricky in sand and loose terrain. I plan on racing or training in both shoes and sharing the report for those with skinny ankles.

I will end this blog with a question asked by a someone - "why do you read VeloNews every morning?"

I thought about this one and realize some people will never experience the true power of passion for something or someone in their lifetime. To push the limits of the body and mind while grinding up a steep hill, surrounded by hundreds of riders and screaming spectators, while your lungs burn and muscles ache. Or coming home to someone you've been thinking about all day or something you want to build or design. You can taste it, dream it, breathe it. This is what I call passion and it's something I hope we can all experience before we die.

Look for the "Italia vs Japan" shoe update