Bob Marley

No, not the reggae singer, the other one, the comedian!

For the past several years, Bob Marley has performed in his hometown of Portland, Maine over the holidays. He’s a local celebrity and many of us Mainers have come to love his comedy. He has a knack of making fun of people from Maine with use of a thick Maine accent. Even if you are from a town that he pokes fun of, you can’t help but laugh.

My husband and I saw Bob Marley on a local TV program and I said one of these days we are going to go see him. So my husband bought tickets to the early Sunday night performance. And Bo didn’bappoint. He gave a 90-minute performance that brought tears to all our eyes.

We actually spoke with someone over Christmas that hadn’t really heard any of his material and he had found him to be quite funny. If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing him before, I highly recommend listening to his stuff sometime. He’s made several CD’s but if you can see him live, it’s worth it for the added facial expressions. You can see some clips of him by clicking on this link.

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Resolutions

It’s that time of year to start thinking about a New Year’s Resolution. So besides the typical weight loss goal, I have decided that my resolution this year is to become a better listener.

I’ve got the talking thing down pat – I usually have something to say, even if someone doesn’t want to hear it. Unfortunately I’m a bit of a buttinsky, too, in that I’ll butt in when someone is talking, although I try to gauge it when I think they are done but that’s not always the case. That’s a terrible habit and I’m vowing to try to break myself of it.

There is one woman at work that is a terrific listener. She smiles politely at me as I ramble on and on about my recent biking experiences. The more I talk about it the more excited I become and the more I talk about it. And she sits there and listens to all of my stories. God bless her. It can’t be easy at times listening to me go on and on about the bike, something most people can’t relate to.

So I’m modeling myself after her. I’m going to be polite, which means being quiet, and listen to people when they are talking. I’m not going to interupt, even if I think I have something to say that is on topic. This will also help me in regards to my boss as well. There’s nothing worse than an employee that butts in before the boss is done speaking.

I realized this week how important it is to listen to someone when they are speaking. I was faced with a situation where I was talking and the person who was supposedly listening to me would just start talking to someone else about something entirely different as if I wasn’t even talking. It was so frustrating that I would just stop and that person didn’t even notice that I hadn’t completed my story.

So I wondered if I was a bit like that and to some extent I think I am. I’m always thinking about what I’m going to say next instead of really focusing on what others are saying. I think in some regard I’m always afraid of forgetting what I was going to say. But who cares? If I can’t remember then it’s not that terribly important, now is it?

So that’s my goal for 2008: to be a better listener. This will require me to focus more on the person who is speaking and to ask questions about the topic so they know I’m listening and interested in what they are speaking about.

Wish me luck! It’s often hard to change and this is going to be one tough habit to break. Well, that and eating chocolate.

What’s Inside that Cool Whip Container?

Ever wonder what’s in Cool Whip? Well, if you look at the ingredients it’s basically corn syrup and transfat. However, I saw this on Wired Science (the TV program) lately and it’s rather scary to think about.

Aegis Bikes

WCSH6, a local TV channel in Portland did a story on Aegis Bikes during their 207 Weekend Edition.

For those of you not familiar with the company, Aegis is a small company in Van Buren, Maine (very far north and near the Canadian border) that makes custom carbon frames. In this area Aegis bikes are coveted by many cyclists. They are seen ridden by many triathletes in the state. It has been the grand prize for the Maine Time Trail Series the past couple years in addition to being a raffle prize for the Bike Coalition of Maine, which I bought two tickets for this year.

I think the appeal of the Aegis frames is that it’s a small company and they can custom fit, as well as produce custom colors for anyone. It’s nice to see a small company in rural Maine doing so well and have such a cult following.

So check out the video here. (You’ll have to click on “play video” on the right side.)

Worms for Breakfast

I remember as a teenager sleeping until about noon, as many teenagers do. Actually, there were many days I didn’t quite make noon but that was always the goal. Of course I was always up until the wee hours of the morning to require me to sleep so late.

 

On one occasion my father said, “You know, the early bird gets the worm”. To which I replied, “That’s okay, he can have them… I don’t like worms.”

 

So I think of that a lot now and how things have changed. I’m not sure if I was wired to be a morning person or rewired myself. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy sleeping in on the weekends. But my sleeping in these days is nothing compared to my teenage years. I’m usually up by 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. on the weekends, if not before. My working days however, require my alarm to go off at 5:30. Some days I’m even awake prior to my alarm going off. And even though at times it’s hard to get out of bed, especially in the dark, it doesn’t take me long to wake up when I do extricate myself from the warmth of my bed.

 

Now that I’m focused on winter training in the gym I’ve made a deal with myself: If I’m awake in time to make early morning spin at 5:45 then I’ll go. If not, I’ll just go to the evening session. (But if I do go to early morning spin I won’t skip the evening class – I just do double sessions.) I was in the habit of hitting a few morning spin classes prior to my vacation the week of Thanksgiving. Lately I can’t seem to get out of bed when my alarm goes off to save my life, let alone getting up early to go to spin class.

 

This morning was a little different. Since it’s the day before Christmas the gym is closing early, which means no spin class tonight. So I wanted to get the workout done this morning. I set my alarm for 4:30 and got up soon after it went off. That gave me time enough for one cup off coffee, gather my things and go to the gym to run a bit on the treadmill before class. Then of course after class I felt like a million bucks – wide awake, full of energy and ready to face the day.

 

Some people, like my friend for instance, just can’t seem to find the energy in the morning. They are more of the night owl type and have much better workouts in the evening because that’s when they find their energy. I can do either but if I work out too late at night it keeps me up too late from the adrenaline. Once in a while I suggest early morning spin to her but I know she won’t go – it’s just too early for her.

 

At my gym there must be a fair number of early birds because the spin classes are packed, with not one spare bike to be had. That also means that it’s wise to arrive at the gym 30-minutes prior to the start of class to sign up and select your bike. This doesn’t include mention of all the people on treadmills, elliptical trainers, stair steppers. It’s is a hub of activity at 5:00 a.m. as I’m sure most gyms are.

 

So Dad, if you are listening, I just want you to know that I had my recommended daily allowance of worms today!

An Apology is Due

I owe an apology to a friend of mine that showed up late to spin class today. I had given out the time of Sunday spin a while back as 9:45. Unfortunately he recorded this in his calendar. But then I found out that spin was actually 9:15. (I found out by missing class because I, too, showed up too late.) So we were 2/3 of the way through class when he showed up, rushed in and got on the bike. Poor guy. I really do feel bad. So sorry!!

It’s warm here in the northeast. In fact it’s predicted to be warm for the most part all week. When I say warm, I mean above freezing. It was great to leave for the gym early this morning and not be so incredibly cold. I suppose it feels so warm because we’ve had such cold weather lately. My husband and I took advantage of the warm day to get outside to clear the driveway throughly and to chip out the ice that formed in a depression at the end. This warm weather will also help to melt the snow from the roof and clear out the ice jams. They are absolutely amazing and are on every home/building I’ve seen.

Unfortunately this mild weather is making me yearn for the bike. I was outside after spin talking to my friend and we commented that it was warm enough to ride. However, the roads are really still very snow covered. Still, it was so very tempting. If the warm weather keeps up so that the roads become a bit clear then I might chance it. I don’t have “snow tires” but my now beater bike (my “old” bike) has more tread than my newer bike (I run racing slicks on the new bike) so that should do the trick. My only fear with riding is falling from a patch of black ice and breaking the collar bone. I know others who have done that and it’s not fun.

It also didn’t help that I read on Velo News today that the teams are starting up with their training camps. I read that Silence-Lotto is in Spain and after the new year they will be training in Portugal. Ahhh, to be a cyclist in a warm, beautiful country, training for the upcoming season. Though I’m sure it’s not nearly as glamorous as it sounds.

So I had posted previously that I really can’t remember this much snow so early on in the year. Seems my mother confirmed this by saying she doesn’t remember such a snowy Christmas since my sister and I were little. I guess it wasn’t just my imagination.

Crazy Cyclists

Okay, either they are crazy or I’m not hard core enough. Either way is fine with me. Let me explain…

I received my first comment by someone who found my blog who wasn’t a friend or relative that I didn’t actually send the link to. (A great feeling!) So I wanted to check out her blog. In the process of me reading it I realized that she’s still commuting a bit by bike. Now, this is not a woman that lives in San Francisco, or Florida, she lives also here in the very snowy northeast.

Then on my ride to work, in my warm, comfy car, I saw a fellow cyclist out commuting to work, or at least I assume to work. And my husband told me tonight about a guy at the office who commutes by bike, and for the holiday season it’s decked out with Christmas lights. (I need a picture!)

Now, in my defense I don’t have a mountain bike like these commuters. If I did, I’m not sure I’d be out riding. The roads around here are still very slippery with lots of snow and ice under the snow.

I applaud those of you that are still riding on the road. You are much better cyclists than I am. I’ll trudge off for my Saturday morning spin tomorrow at 7:15. But I’d much rather be out riding on the road.

New Bike Items for Consideration

As I was reading my weekly edition of RoadBikeRider I came across a couple neat, and assume new, products today. Some of my friends turned me on to Bikejournal.com. But today I found out about CycliStats that provides downloadable software that is quite thorough in the information you can log. More so than some of the other sites I’ve seen. And it’s compatible with Polar H/R Monitors and since I use one it would be much easier to load data to it instead of manually entering data on multiple sites.

I’ll probably sign up for the free trial in the spring and if I like it I’ll spend the $49.95 for the software.

The other cool item I found today is called The Sky Mounti Inclinometer. It’s a lightweight gauge that mounts on your handle bars and it fits to the handlebars very easily and works like a carpenter’s level.

Now while this items is lightweight, inexpensive and I feel the desire to own one, I think to myself how much would I really use it?

My issue is that on the steepest climbs where I want to know the gradient I’m too busy suffering up the darn hill to look down at my handle bars to check my heart rate monitor on bike computer, let alone trying to sneak a peak at the level to determine the grade. I suppose it would be good for those seated climbs like Streaked Mountain, Pinkham’s Notch and Evan’s Notch, but for the short, really steep climbs I probably wouldn’t look at it.

However, don’t let me deter you from purchasing one. I can see how it would be a fun little thing to have mounted on the bike. Not to mention all the inquiries you’d receive from having one. And if you do purchase one, please let me know so I’ll be able to ask you what the grade was on that last climb, once I’m done catching my breath….

Cool Christmas Cards

It’s that time of year when I send out our holiday cards. We tend to buy them the year before. Sometimes we get great deals on some really nice cards. But I just had the thought that I wonder what there are for bicycling Christmas cards out there. So I did some poking around. There are cute cards with Santa riding bikes and whatnot. Then I stumbled on this link for Skeese Greeting Cards. Now I did send out a few cards to some cycling buds. I wish I had thought about this idea early enough to purchase a few. They would be lost on the masses of most of our Christmas card list. However, for those who appreciate biking, I think they would be received very nicely. Next year!

A totally cool picture, literally!

Click here to see this cool picture! Cyclocross racers are HARD CORE!