Bike Riding, Statistically Speaking.

11:23 am, March 12th, 2010 | 3 Comments »
Posted in bikes, boythings, roundups, whinging by Jarod

The summary of this post is that I’ve been riding a hell of a lot more in 2010 than I was in 2009.

The long version includes some quickfire stats…

• In the first 70 days of this year, I’ve ridden half of what I did in 365 days last year. (1230kms for 70 days of this year, 2389kms for the whole of last year)
• Last year I did 101 rides in the 365 days of the year for an average of 23kms per ride. This year I’ve done 37 rides in the 70 days already gone for an average of 34kms per ride.
• If I continue at my current pace (which I won’t, winter for one will slow me down) I’ll be heading towards 6000kms for the year. Truth is that I’ll be cutting back in a big way after Dirtworks in May.
• The Salsa is still my favourite bike by far. More than 60% of my kilometres this year have been on it. Need to start to get on Greeny more.
• As the following graph shows, I’ve made a distinct effort to ride further in the one sitting than I did in 2009. In 2010, 40-50km rides are the order of the day, whereas 20-30km rides were more common in 2009.
  

I’m still going okay with that fine balance of not riding enough (and being horribly unfit) & riding too much (and over training). As Paul Petch says, training is the easy part, it’s forcing yourself to rest that’s difficult.

This week in movies

8:39 am, March 11th, 2010 | No Comments »
Posted in boythings, mooovies, roundups, whinging by Jarod

I’ve been watching a few movies of late. Lets have two quick reviews.

The Hurt Locker
Now I’ll be honest here… I really really don’t understand the hype. To me it’s just another Hollywood war movie glorifying war. Jarod’s rating? 2 inconceivable bomb defusings out of 5. I can’t embed the trailer, but if you’d like to waste your bandwidth, head here.

Men Who Stare At Goats
This is a very very strange movie. I saw this after watching the documentary of the same name a few days earlier and I’ve come to the conclusion that to see them the other way around would be disastrous. Always get to know the truth* behind a story before watching the Hollywood movie based on it.

It would be fair to say it’s a modern day, semi true HotShots. I give Men Who Stare At Goats 3 conspiracies out of 5 (if only for Ewan McGregor constantly talking about Jedi Warriors).

* I use the term truth loosely here. Cause lets face it, we’re talking military conspiracies here.

Tron Legacy
Not so much that I’ve watched it, but more so that I’m still eagerly awaiting it’s release later this year. Another official trailer got released yesterday…. so enjoy!

68/365 – It’s a Jarod

8:47 pm, March 9th, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Posted in 365, boythings, photography by Jarod

Fisheye + Ring Flash + Bored Jarod.

64/365 – Everyone Likes Dry Ice

6:33 pm, March 5th, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Posted in 365, boythings, girlthings, photography by Jarod

Especially my fiance, Liz!

And after having a quick photoshoot with Liz and a chunk of dry ice, I like it too. It’s like the smoke coming off a candle…. on steroids!!

Thriller Wedding Dance Video

7:23 am, March 4th, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Posted in boythings, comedy, cuteness, geekery, videooooos, wedding stuff by Jarod

A riding buddy of mine Felix recently attended a wedding where the young’ins did some well wicked dancing.

Now, as damn cool as what that dance is, please don’t expect anything of the sort at a Jarod and Liz Wedding Celebratory Type Function™. Tis just not how we roll.

Greeny’s Sliding Dropouts

7:46 pm, March 3rd, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Posted in bikes, boythings, photography by Jarod

It’s official. I’m in love with Greeny’s Sliding Dropouts.

From when I bought the Kona Unit in November until just before the WSMTB 4 hour race a few weeks ago, I was running a 32:18 gear ratio on the Greeny. Just before the race though, I changed it to 32:20 and I’m pleased to say that it couldn’t have been easier.

Wrap a chain whip, use a lock ring tool and the old cog is off. Chuck the new cog on, lockring tool it tight and reinstall the rear wheel. Loosen the slider bolts, adjust the tensioning screws, tighten the slider bolts. Aaaaand you’re done!

Today I changed from the 20 tooth cog down to a 17 tooth, and I’m pleased to say the whole process took about 5 minutes from start to finish. When compared to a cog change on Whitey (when he was still a single speed), it’s about 5 or 6 times quicker. Who’d have ever thought having the right hardware for the job would make that much of a difference.

So essentially, Greeny’s Sliding Dropouts are awesome. But I suppose that can be expanded to say that all sliding dropouts are awesome.

61/365 – Timeout Kitty Plays Under Your Door

9:22 am, March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments »
Posted in 365, boythings, traaiiiiin, whinging by Jarod

It doesn’t happen very often, but occasionally Train annoys Liz and I in a big way. It usually involves her gently nomming our feet while we’re walking around the house or sitting at our desk. Once, twice and thrice we can handle, but after that it’s time for a kitty time out.

Mind you, it never reaaaaaally works, cause she just tends to play under the door of whichever room we lock her in. There is no finding a quiet spot. There is no reflection on how she shouldn’t bite humans. There is only the thought that this is a game and she should bang under the door until she is released from her time out.

I accept full responsibility for constantly caving to her impolite requests to leave her captivity. The above photo was taken during the tense negotiation this morning.

58/365 – Wedding Planning

8:37 pm, February 27th, 2010 | No Comments »
Posted in 365, boythings, geekery, girlthings, photography, wedding stuff by Jarod

We’re not even into the proper part of planning the wedding, but already it’s so very difficult. We’ve got our glass whiteboard with all the relevant info on the case. That’s it there in the background for the astute observer.

Sadly, the to do lists far far far outweigh the done list. In fact, engagement/wedding rings are the only things partially underway.

Ugh!

57/365 – Sad Face Jarod

8:12 pm, February 26th, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Posted in 365, boythings, photography by Jarod

54/365 – Lazy Kitty

4:35 pm, February 23rd, 2010 | No Comments »
Posted in 365, boythings, cuteness, photography, traaiiiiin by Jarod

When it suits her, our kitty sure knows how to play up to the camera. Below is a prime example of this…

It’s times like these that Liz and I often get tricked into rubbing her belly. I mean, she’s half flipped herself over and exposed her delicious kitty belly, so she must want belly rubs, right? Wrong! It’s always a trap, and we always end up with semi eaten fingers.

Kona Unit Update

10:23 am, February 23rd, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Posted in bikes, boythings, photography by Jarod

Time for a few more photos of Greeny. The main change since my last update on Greeny is that he’s now sporting some 120mm Fox F29’s. They’ve transformed the bike again, making it far easier to ride for longer distances.

When riding Greeny with rigid forks, after about 30-40kms my upper body would be absolutely smashed. The biggest positive with the Fox Forks is that they even out the little bumps. This reduces fatigue and over a longer distance ride, makes my body less ouchied. The other significant factor is that it helps me maintain speed through rocky technical sections.

One small downside is that the 120mm forks have a larger axle to crown measurement compared to the Kona P2’s. This makes the headset higher, which in turn slackens the headtube angle (by about 1.5 to 2 degrees if my calculations are correct). No matter. When I get them serviced for the first time they’ll be reduced down to 80mm or 100mm, then it’s back to nice twitchy handling. Hurrah!

Thus far I’ve only done about 50kms on the forks so time will tell exactly how good they become. But if initial impressions are anything to go by, they’re going to be great!