the tenth letter of the alphabet

Due to simplicity, a heck of a product and the ever loving death grip of AT&T (pun intended) on my cell phone contract I chose to upgrade to the iPhone4 over the weekend. I have to tell you…this “retina” display is awesome. While the proc upgrade is noted in every day use…it is the screen that continually gets me. Every text message, email and webpage are a struggle as I have to get past the clarity of the font to analyze the content. It is unbelievable…head to the apple store and see one…today.

On to the point of the post however…my 3GS was pristine when I got it…after a year in a simple case with the screen exposed it had wear, especially on the beveled edges of the back. Crud continually seeped between the creases of the no frills Griffen Case and wore like sand in your bathing suit. It wasn’t so noticeable at first…but after time it starts to look pretty raw. Enter our savior, the Nimbus 2000…urr I mean OtterBox Defender. This thing is a “ruggedized” encapsulator of rubber and plastic. Sure it sticks to the inside of my pants pockets but it can also be used as a coaster or simple body armor in a pinch*. The Defender consists of a plastic shell that completely wraps the phone, exposing only speakers and ports and a rubber outer sole I liken to the rubber on Sperry Topsider boat shoes…just won’t die. My number one selling point was my wgf’s (wonderful girl friend) product testing on a 3G for the last year. In the trickle down economy that is tech products in our house she was happily popping her 3G out of her Otterbox at the same time I was liberating my 3GS from my pocket. Hers was flawless. So I bought this fancy case and am really excited about it. But it is like a new toy I can’t play with. I mean…am I going to drop the phone from 6 feet to test it out…uhh…no. I imagine it is the same as purchasing a new backup parachute for your human-earth target practice. I mean…you go shopping and find one you love. Say bright blue with a big question mark on it. You pack it with ever loving care and it is exciting right…not really. It’s a new toy…awesome…but do you ever really want to use it?

*Body armor claims are falsified. Author takes no responsibility for personal harm taken from this ill derived advice.

Though many of you have likely avoided channel 1646 (Time Warner Cable) (Versus network) and the Tour de France this year, tomorrow’s stage is one to watch. There are 4 climbs that should define the tour though the stage ends on a flat. This puts a balance on individual breaks because expending all of the energy to climb the mountains by yourself leaves you unshielded for the 15km flat. Instead expect strong team work over the mountains and a brutal finishing pace. I personally am sticking with Andy Schleck because his SaxoBank team (even though his brother Frank broke his collarbone and dropped from the peloton) is quite strong. Last year’s victor Alberto Contador is a tough cookie but he didn’t show much yesterday up the stage ending climb into Morzine despite good pace making by his team. Here is the stage link…check the profile tab…tune in and check it out

http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/COURSE/us/900/etape_par_etape.html

I have bounced around the world of noise isolation headphones for several years.  I am likely an exceptional user with an average of 4 hours a day use.  A little excessive I know but I always keep the volume down so I shouldn’t suffer long term effects.  As with all personal electronics used on a daily basic these headphones take a beating.  I have been through many pairs of $100 or so headphones in the last 4 year period (some Sony, some Etymotic, the majority Shure).  I like the Shure the best due to a more adaptable fit system for my ears (which my sister believes are inadequate for my jumbo sized head and feet).  As to why I have tried so many…though I love them and don’t stuff them in pockets or anything they FREQUENTLY have issues with one ear or the microphone going out.  Listening to one ear of music in the “modern stereo sound” world sucks.  My favorite music artist (Bob Schneider for you austinites) mixes things up between the ears and I get every other beat in some songs.  Plus I start to hear my coworkers and that is the point of the music.  Generally I chalk it up to me being too rough with the product and suck up another purchase.  In disbelief Mele printed out the warranty statements for the latest three pairs of Shure and had me detail their issues.  The result?  Shure sent me three new pairs of their SE115’s (the newer version of the ones to which I have grown accustomed.  Makes this guy very very happy with Shure.  Now I have backups!

Excellent news for Crown Plaza hotel fans and for travelers who aren’t so weary. Food is free in Denmark with a small ‘donation’ of your time.

http://gizmodo.com/5518215/hotel-guests-pedal-bikes-for-their-supper

I am most amazed they committed to the promotion for a full year.  I am sure there are stipulations (one person can’t earn more than one dinner etc) but it really isn’t too tough to generate 10wh of energy.  An average guy who rides several times a week can crank that out about 220wh over the course of an hour and can peak closer to 500-600 for extremely short durations.  Amateur cyclists in the racing circuit can hit a 800 peak rate for short durations on bad days.

A little research shows the $36 voucher to be worth substantially more than the power provided.  Serious marketing ploy and hedging that guests are lazy.  I wonder if they are going to lose out on gym utilization fees as well…the spokesperson quoted seems to be betting on lazy.

Think this would fly in the US?

Today I went looking for hills.  While we have hills in Austin we don’t have 6% climbs for miles on end.  I had Mele drop me off in Honolulu at the base of a big one and started going up.  After climbing 1500 feet up Tantalus Drive I earned the photos looking over Honolulu and Diamond Head Crater.  Quite neat – Thanks go to the family from San Diego for shots featuring me off the bike and Mele for the ones of me on the bike after she caught me on the second climb.  I caught the Pali Highway for the trip home to Kailua, during the descent there I enjoyed quite a downpour.  Brakes don’t work as well in heavy rain.  Especially crappy ones.  I miss my bike.

Route activity – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29498798

Route player – http://connect.garmin.com/player/29498798

Apple says the iPad is magical, revolutionary and some other things their marketing department (or likely an outside firm) made up to sell the product to the masses. Yippee for them, in fact after three days with the device I am inclined to agree with every account. Next time through I am happy to help them with some terms explaining whatever their new product is…it will require some serious play time with the new toy however because I am still drooling on this rather than actually using it. I haven’t looked through this many photos in years.
On to the point of the post. One of the things they neglected from their marketing blitz is the magical ability of the device to propel the user to fitness. You see the high gloss “real-er than real life” screen provides the user with an amazing view of their neck in high light situations. This reminds me that though I have lost over 20lbs I still have some work to do on that double chin. Awesome.

This desert the other night at dinner probably didn’t help…

I woke up this morning ready for a cranking ride up a massive hill.  Instead I will map it out for Friday.  You see living on an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean comes with relative levels of exciting weather and other costs.  Apparently mountains off the ocean means rain – at least today it means chances of flash floods coming out of the mountains…specifically the mountain I wanted to climb.  Other costs here include too many people slammed into small towns, amazingly inflated food prices and curvy roads around mountains that make me carsick.  Weak showing I know.

Well here is the ride plan for Friday (the next time flash flood warnings subside)

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/hi/honolulu/285127067390266351
In other news I picked up an iPad on Monday at the store in Honolulu.  Wow.  I am still enthralled.

Yesterday I took off on another ride after avoiding the rain for two days. In the downtime I kept busy helping with our host’s first birthday party. Lots of grilling and outdoor preparation (kiddie pools, sprinklers etc). Pretty good party as far as one year olds go. The off time helped my legs get ready for a bit of a climb so I hit the road looking for pain. Found it at a 1.2 mile 500ft climb 10 miles off the house. Big props to the German woman who took pics of me…

I ended up meeting Mele and our hosts on the beach – hence the sand…
Activity data – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29112110
Route player – http://connect.garmin.com/player/29112110

Next up is a 1500ft climb across 3.5 miles on Weds…biggest on the island the guy at the bike shop told me…that will hurt.

Today I set off on the preplanned ride trusting my directional abilities and my Garmin to keep me on the right island.  Quite a tall order given the encountered winds and my rented mostly trusted steed (pic below).  As far as bikes go the top tube is about 2cm short for my geometry (not their fault) and it has two wheels.  It fits the bill for a week.  The “mostly” is the iffy brakes, unbelievably crappy shifting (Sora not cool) and tires I don’t trust like my gp4000’s.  35mph on a bike you don’t know is pretty freaking scary. Add some crazy wind and you have a bit of a roller coaster.
Garmin updated their website with even better analysis route reporting software.  I imagine they are going to get into mapping shortly.   Right now I use them and mapmyride.com.  If mapmyride can come out with some coherent site workflow and a better vid I am dropping Garmin.  In the meantime I am doubling up.

Activity Data – http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28754971
Map – http://connect.garmin.com/player/28754971

Oh and after 3 hours of on the road analysis – should you come visit Hawaii don’t rent a convertable Mustang.  It has been done and is cliche.