New York is a place in the United States that reminds me the most of Japan because of the efficient mass transportation in Manhattan and the surrounding areas. We had a fun time exploring all the food that was available as not all the stores had recovered from being closed due to the pandemic. A lot has changed since my last visit to the big apple. I feel like people have changed in the big city. I don't feel the roughness that used to be emphasized in NY. It's almost as if the people in the city are more welcoming to outsiders. Maybe it's just me. I talked to locals in the restaurants and on the street. The weather was perfect and I couldn't ask for better company.

It's been exactly one year since my last post on this blog. I wanted to share my outstanding dinner last week for our Mother's Day celebration. Even through the decline in the economy it's good to know that some restaurants still uphold great standards in service and food quality. Hours of operation of Oola, the restaurant I am giving praises to, facilitate a late dining find as we had our dinner at 10:30 in the evening with reservations fulfilled from Opentable.com. A great dinner of Washington and California oysters, a gourmet burger, foie gras, parmesan cheese fries, and ribs.

Why should the pros have all the fun? I recently updated my trusty 5200 with some aero-wheels. The wheels look great on the bike and they feel good up above 18 miles per hour. Below that speed, the wheels just feel like regular old wheels. I plan on climbing Old La Honda road this weekend with these wheels on my bike. Will take some pictures at the top near Skyline.

I just decided to throw some cycling shoes on and ride out on my fixed gear with Gabe in tow. Unlike the rest of the crowd in spandex, I had jeans and a t-shirt along with my helmet. It was good to just go out and ride on a weekend. I haven't done that since focusing on my two accounting classes and the whole school thing. I miss riding on the weekends. But more importantly, I realized how my son now will wear his helmet throughout the entire ride (if I ask him beforehand to put it on and keep it on)!

My Langster with the trailer today on Canada road. Pulling a trailer with a fixed gear wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, even with the different gearing.

Please lower your volume before you start the video. I haven't shot a weapon in about 4 years. I got to shoot 27 rounds off 3 magazines. This video is of the second magazine.

Base running with Gabe on my back. What a great day at the Coliseum. The A's lost that day but it was a close game and we had fun. Notice how the grown-up is the one having all the fun running the 270 feet from first base to home plate, yahoo!

Even though I love to watch SpongeBob, this is proof that television rots the brain. I took him to an outdoor park immediately after the show, promise.

I rode up Old La Honda today for the first time in 2008. It was a good ride with Mike and Jose, climbing up 1300 feet of elevation within the 3 miles to Skyline road. Mike had his altimeter and informed us that we started at 250 feet above sea level. Starting the ride at Alpine Inn in Portola Valley was nice on our Friday off. Nine o'clock and we were off to see the road. The first mini hill right out of Alpine Inn up Alpine road to get to Portola Valley road is a good warm-up and we all three spun our gears to get the blood in the legs. I didn't even realize I was using my big ring for the first part of the ride. Turning right on to Portola Valley road is a nice fast mini descent to lead up to the entrance to Old La Honda road. I decided to stretch my legs a bit and sped away from the two and met back up with them at the intersection of the hill. Climbing Old La Honda road was gorgeous today. It was sunny with high clouds so the sun was still warming up the trees. The redwoods were as grand as I remembered from last year. Jose was glad to have his triple chainring and Mike was trying out his new sports drink gu2o. We got to the top and had our snacks: I had a mint chocolate clif bar, Jose had his chocolate chip clif bar, and Mike had his accel-bar. Descending was the usual, riding the brakes while trying to navigate the potholes. Getting back to Alpine Inn, we had our celebratory beer. Afterwards, we parted ways and Jose vowed never to do Old La Honda until next year. We'll see...

I love the Cookie Monster! this came out about two weeks ago and I saw it on yahoo. there are great facts about the psychology of the cookie monster that come up during this interview that are important to note to all adults, especially if you have children--like the fact that he (Cookie Monster) will not trample over anyone or anything to get to his food. Some other interesting facts are given in this interview but I won't spoil it for you.

I cut my hair to be donated to Locks for Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. It took me about two years to grow this hair and I'm proud to say that it's all natural color. Thanks to Millbrae Hair Salon for cutting my hair and securing it with appropriate bands so the hair wouldn't separate.

The Golden Gate Bridge is always a good ride and this time I rode with my friend Jose up to the lookout. The top of the lookout was cutout to put cannons facing the Pacific Ocean, done by the US Army during world war 2. It was so early in the morning that taking pictures facing the bridge caused washed-out shots so we opted to take pictures facing the Point Bonita Lighthouse. The Marin Headlands climb up to the lookout was a good workout and we were there early enough that there weren't a lot of tourists with their cars, or bicycles for that matter. Jose rode all the way up on his double chainring front!

My friend Josie recently celebrated her birthday. I took the opportunity to celebrate with her halfway around the globe with a beer for her. Cheers Josie.

I don't believe I posted my new wheel for my Langster yet. I was so caught up in the excitement to ride it that I totally forgot. Deep-V rim, Surly hub, Soma fabrications 14-tooth cog. I love the anodized red look of the rim.

What the my car looks like when i do my "honey-do" list at costco. Take note that I can still see out my side mirrors, which is the minimum requirement here in California.

my ride last week from 92, on canada road, to 84 and back. tried the new gearing of 42x14 on the road and it was great! I even paced with some roadies that happened to be on this ride as well. looking forward to ride the velodrome again.

SHELDON BROWN 1944-2008

I feel that I needed to post something about Sheldon Brown on my site because though I only had the chance to encounter him through email two weeks ago, his site is truly one that all cyclists have gone to, need to go to, and will continue to go to for all their cycling needs because of the wealth of information. It was Sheldon's articles about fixed-gear riding that actually convinced me to try fixed-gear riding out for myself. When I got the bug and started riding my fixed-gear exclusively because of my joy I emailed him immediately. He responded and I got the connection with him. I found out through the flicker website through a contact - richardmasoner. This is an extremely HUGE loss to the cycling community. I for one, hope that someone will continue his web site.

God speed and rubber side down friend.

Rode the Hellyer velodrome for the first time yesterday with Marsha and Parker. We did the beginner session and performed a few drills to familiarize ourselves with the way velodrome riding is done. There were 22 riders present. I had a lot of fun riding the velodrome and learned a lot from the pacelines, ribbon ride, sprint interval drill, and the flying 200. My favorites have to be the sprint drills as well as the flying 200 meters. My time was 16.5 seconds on the flying 200. Kinda slow but we only had one chance to do our flying 200 since there were so many people present at the session. Oh, I almost forgot about the team time trial drill as well. That was pretty fun. For the team trial I rode with Marsha, Parker, Chris, and Michael. Chris had a sweet Yamaguchi frame. I rode my Langster while the other three had rented bikes for the session. I had my new deep-V rims with Surly hub and my new gearing as well. I am excited to try another flying 200 to see if I can improve my technique. 20 days into 2008 and I'm still flying on the fixxie. Parker brought a camera but we were having so much fun that we forgot to take pictures.

Last ride of the year. Jose and I decided it was a good idea to use our day off to ride at 7 a.m. in the morning of December 31st. I have to say that it was pretty cold, and I didn't bring any leg warmers. Anyway, we started at 92 and Canada (much like yesterday's ride). But today was Jenny's maiden voyage. Yes, I've named my fixed-gear bike Jenny. Temperature according to the CRV's in-dash said 41 degrees fahrenheit but based on my wind-chill estimate plus relative frozen roadside puddle observations, I think it's safe to say that we started at about around 30 degrees for the ride. The temperature dramatically improved thirty minutes into Canada road and we were greeted by more cyclists towards the end of our ride. The fixed gear topped out at about 27 miles per hour downhill and my legs didn't feel so bad uphill. I am thoroughly convinced that this bike will be one of my favorites from now on. Happy new year to all.

Second to the last ride of the year for me. Gabe was with me on the ride, sleeping no less :-)