Thursday, August 12, 2004
Adventurous Spirits WantedOnly six weeks remain until the second annual Towpath Century Challenge, and so far only a handful of amazing people have joined up.
It's not too late for you! Six weeks is plenty of time to prepare, even if you've never ridden a bike century before.
Don't be intimidated by the distance! If you want to be part of this, but 100 miles off-road seems too much, there are at least 4 other ways to participate: - Ride 100 kilometers (62.2 miles). That's a metric century, usually considered the equivalent of 100 miles on-road. In fact, there's a loop of precisely 100 km which includes most of the best parts of the towpaths.
- Ride a shorter loop. You can ride a loop as short as 6 miles and still be part of this event.
- Help with logistics. I need at least one volunteer to be available to help riders as needed (serving snacks/gatorade, offering tools for minor repairs, moral support (et cetera) at Washington Crossing State Park (NJ), near the 50 mile (80 km) mark. This person would need to be willing to spend 2-4 hours chilling in a lovely riverside park—a rough job, but someone's got to do it! I'm also thinking of setting up a cookout in Johnson Park at the end of the 100 miles in New Brunswick, and I also need help with transportation.
- Contribute! This is a charity event, with all proceeds going to United Way of Greater Mercer County (NJ). This organization does a world of good for the people of Trenton and the rest of Mercer County, NJ, a wonderful community that doesn't get nearly enough love from the rest of the world. About 90% of the money they raise goes directly towards helping people, so it's money well spent. Click here to give now. All donations, no matter how large or small, are welcome. Be sure to mention "Towpath Century Challenge 2004"
Of course, if you're crazy enough, you can join me in riding the fully monty, 100 grueling miles of scenic beauty—including a mile on the streets of Trenton! Since last year, the pedestrian bridge over Route 1 has been completed, and the other construction projects are also finished, so it will be a little easier than last year. But it's still one hell of a challenge, and so far I'm the only one who's done the whole thing.
So let me know if, and how, you'd like to be part of this amazing event. Next year, when I know more, and devote more time and money towards promoting it, this event will be much bigger. This is a great chance to secure your bragging rights.
Let me hear from you.
 From last year's Towpath Century Challenge
Posted by Me at 21:49 link
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Give the People What They WantHere are a few of the search terms leading people to this Web log, and an effort to help the searchers find what they were looking for.- I've seen the future, and it works
What you got from here was my recent post on Barack Obama, headlined "I've seen the future of American politics," but what you probably wanted was the origin of that quote. Muckracking journalist Lincoln Steffens said it in 1921 when he returned to the U.S. from the then-new Soviet Union. Prince borrowed it for his 1989 song "The Future," and rock critic Jon Landau modified it: after seeing Bruce Springsteen perform in 1974, he famously wrote "I have seen the future of rock 'n' roll and its name is Bruce Springsteen."
Then again, maybe you were looking for one of the many articles whose titles allude to the famous quote. Regardless, I suggest that in future you enclose your search term in quotation marks: "I've seen the future, and it works". Then you'll get nothing but pages with that exact phase. Cool, huh?
- good snowshoe for adirondacks
What you got was this post from last March, in which I describe a short snowshoe hike on Mt. Van Hoevenberg. We'd really wanted to do Algonquin that day, but the weather was too harsh (I still want to do that one soon). But Van H. was good. For a longer, more intense trek, I recommend Mt. Marcy. You could (and should) also check with the folks at the High Peaks Infomation Center (HPIC) at Adirondack Loj; they really know what they're talking about.
Maybe you're not looking for ideas for a snowshoe hike, but rather advice on what kind of snowshoes to use in the 'Dacks? I've been very happy with my Denali Ascent snowshoes, and you can probably get a pretty good deal on a pair this time of year... You might as well go for the optional extender "tails" while you're at it, then you'll be all set no matter how deep and soft it gets.
- cheap inner vision bud
Dude. You must have found my site a complete buzz-killing waste of time. I stopped smoking that stuff years ago. But I can tell you a couple of things. If it's cheap, it probably won't be very good, and those "legal herbal smokes" aren't worth it (they're not cheap anyway). If you really want "inner vision," my advice is to quit wasting your money on pot, and take up meditation and/or exercise instead. No, I'm not kidding! It worked for me.
That's enough for now. I hope you all find what you're looking for. As always, feel free to let me know how I can help.
Posted by Me at 21:59 link
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Ah! WildernessI spent the last couple of days in one of North Carolina's least-visited Wilderness areas. My friend Thom and I hiked about 17 miles, forded a river, scrambled around on slippery rocks, saw some spectacular scenery, saw large and small birds, saw rare and endangered plants and animals (including flying squirrels, unfortunately not on the "wing"), saw evidence of deer and bear, got a little cold (last night's low was about 45° F), got a little lost (or as Daniel Boone put it, "confused"), got a little tired, got blisters on our feet—in short, we had a complete wilderness experience. We didn't see a single other person in the wilderness.
This is what Sage wanted for his tenth birthday present, and I think he's pretty satisfied with it. He and Girlie are both exhausted. I am, too!
E-mail me for more information (need-to-know basis)Music In My Head- Pitbull featuring Sean Paul & Lil Jon — "Culo"
- Dolly Parton — "The Salt in My Tears"
- Dany Brillant — "Tu Vuo fa l'Americano"
Note to self: when the map and/or trail description indicate crossing a river—no matter how small said river looks on the map—bring sandals, because wet feet cause blisters. Which suck.
Posted by Me at 23:41 link
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