Keefer Madness

NYTimes.com Hand-Codes its HTML

// April 30th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Design, Internet / Web

This is refreshing to see. I am always at odds with the designers are work over hand coding all my HTML, CSS and PHP. They’re all about Dreamweaver, but that’s a bad word in my vocabulary. The succinct, clean and cross-browser compatible code I generate by hand is a thing of personal pride and satisfaction to me, and it’s nice to see a big site that admits they don’t take the easy/sloppy way out.

Anyway, it’s just nice to have some support for hand coding out there, and the article’s comments section offers even more.

NYTimes.com Hand-Codes its HTML

Obama Scrimmages With UNC Tar Heels

// April 29th, 2008 // No Comments » // Politics, Sports Stuff, UNC-CH

As both a die-hard Tar Heel and a democrat (who still is unsure who to vote for in the primary), I just had to post this video of Obama scrimmaging with the Tar Heels:

Obama Scrimmages With UNC Tar Heels

First Time Trial in the Bag

// April 28th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Cycling, Local (Raleigh Durham), Personal Crap

So yesterday everything fell in place for my first time trial, as well as my team’s first time trial. The weather was a bit iffy with some darker clouds looming overhead but all of the 60+ time trial participants made it through dry. (The weather did pour a bit on the way home and last night).

So first a little back story. Typically, my team, the Tri-Cyclists has hosted their annual race in Chapel Hill, NC’s Meadowmont neighborhood. But the neighborhood installed speed bumps this year, pretty much eliminating it from being a criterium location anymore for our team.

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Site Software Upgrade

// April 27th, 2008 // No Comments » // Internet / Web, Keefer Madness

So, new WordPress software came out several weeks back – a fairly major overhaul marked 2.5. I decided to wait till they at least released one bug fix for it before installing it here and on another site (2.5.1).

Well, Friday night, I upgraded the other site with no problems. Keefer Madness though bombed this morning with a fairly obscure error. I had the same problem these guys had. I just deleted that one line though and looks like everything is fine. Nothing should have changed on the front end for Keefer Madness, but the new admin panels for WordPress will take a little bit of getting used to. Off to pack the car for the Iron Gate Time Trial.

Saturday on the Move

// April 26th, 2008 // No Comments » // Personal Crap

Where did the day go? This was supposed to be the Saturday where we laid low and just relaxed and chilled before tomorrow’s Time Trial / day out in Mebane working for my team.

But instead, it turned into being on the go most of the day and spending more money than I would have liked. Oh well. Worst part that really put a dark cloud on my day was Amanda’s fucking car is acting up again – idling hard, check engine light back on. You know – all the symptons that supposedly were fixed less than a month ago. My fear is they patched a symptom, rather than the source of the problem.

Anyway, off to bed for a good night’s sleep before another day on the go. Wish me luck in my first ever Time Trial – wishing for great weather, tailwinds and powerful leg action for the 10.5 TT!

Singing 3M Tegaderm's Praises

// April 25th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Cycling, Health & Fitness, Personal Crap

After noting my crash and subsequent road rash from Sunday, a guy on Twitter that told me to try out 3M’s Tegaderm. While it can be bought all over the web, local drug stores didn’t carry the product. Amanda found it at a local place called Triangle after care and the crap is expensive!

A single sheet ran 8 bucks! Pretty damn pricey stuff, but it works, and I’ve only used a half to three quarters of a sheet for my arm/elbow road rash. As you can see on the before and after pics to the right, it’s work its wonders.

Now you may be saying, doesn’t seem like anything extraordinary. That’s just normal healing.

Well, the rest of my road rash down the right side was not bandaged the whole time, and the crap on my knee is no where near as close to being completely healed as my Tegaderm-covered area.

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Cycling Training Tips: Over-the-Counter Strength

// April 24th, 2008 // No Comments » // Cycling, Health & Fitness

Hmm, might have to try this out. If it’s true, seems like a really easy way to help make the most of of workouts.

Cycling Training Tips: Over-the-Counter Strength

Aerobar Test Outside

// April 23rd, 2008 // No Comments » // Cycling, Personal Crap

So the borrowed pair of aerobars didn’t work out. They were made for the smaller road bike handlebars. My Specialized Allez Comp has the oversized. So I bit the bullet and went out to the Cary Performance Bike and got their cheapest pair of clip on aerobars. Luckily, they were on sale at $40 instead of $70.

When I finally got home today, I assembled them and bolted them onto my bike no problem. I got dressed and headed out for Rollingwood Marina. So everything I’ve read about anyone utilizing aerobars was right as I headed down Baptist road toward the Marina. It’s definitely more aerodynamic, but comes at a cost of stability. I could instantly see and feel the difference. You’re out over the wheel more and your steering goes downhill. It takes more concentration, and I couldn’t get comfortable in the aerobars, but you are going faster. With practice (I’ve got three more days before my first time trial… wish it were more, but oh well), they can assist with efficiency and speed.

The time trial is 10.5 miles and it’s gonna be tough. My heart rate and speed were both up. If nothing else, I got a better workout today in the aerobars. I’m going to maximize my training time the next couple days and am hoping for the best Sunday.

First Day on Aerobars

// April 22nd, 2008 // No Comments » // Cycling, Personal Crap

It shouldn’t be a surprise just looking at the header of the site that there’s going to be a fair share of cycling posts on this site. Speaking of that header, I need to update that header image with a more recent photo. In that photo, I was like 200 lbs. I’m down to 180 now, with hopes of another 10 or so.

Anyway, my team isn’t hosting a criterium this year, rather a time trial. In a perfect world, I’d love to have a time trial bike (like this one), but we’re not made of money, and I wouldn’t get enough use out of it. Plus, if we’re putting money into bikes, it’s going to be for wheels for my current bike, and eventually an upgrade to a new bike for crits and road racing (this or this for example).

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Race Action on Sunday

// April 21st, 2008 // No Comments » // Cycling, Personal Crap

So third race of the season went down Sunday for me down in Winston Salem Sunday afternoon – second USCF race of the day, the field was pretty small. It started off fast – faster than I would expect. A guy from Wake Forest who had already raced in the collegiate race took off the front from the start whistle. I stayed on his wheel and the rest of the pack chased us for the first two .8 mile laps of the Winston Salem Downtown Criterium. It was a great course, with six turns, with turn number five being the only real technical one.

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