tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54953332024-03-12T18:00:07.303-07:00Cleave's BlantWhat's going on in Cleave's mindUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-71715331956045451362011-09-13T22:34:00.000-07:002011-09-13T22:34:09.532-07:00Moved My BlogIn my usual state of absent-mindedness, I forgot to create the obligatory post saying that I moved this blog to WordPress (sorry Blogger). You can find a bunch of new posts and all of your old favorite posts at http://cleavesblant.wordpress.com/.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-46546059144163009802010-09-29T01:40:00.000-07:002010-10-17T20:56:29.562-07:00What a season (and it's still not over)This past weekend I competed in my last criteriums for the year, The (CBR) Razor's Edge State Criterium Championships. Almost needless to say, I didn't win either race that I entered, but at the same time I didn't ride as complete pack fodder.
So far I've paid an entry fee and had a number pinned on my back 67 times (road races, criteriums, and road and track time trials). I will be racing in a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-62513605931297356562010-08-13T21:44:00.000-07:002010-08-18T18:41:00.234-07:00SoCal SharrowsAbout a year ago, Long Beach christened their first sharrows in Belmont Shore on 2nd Street. Now there are sharrows popping up throughout the LA Basin. Dan Gutierrez has photographed many of these installations and shows why all sharrows are not created equal.http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56977&id=1574017310Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-7279192978291800422010-01-25T18:03:00.000-08:002010-08-02T21:33:45.971-07:00The Promise of a Cycling Lifestyle(For various reasons I have had several unfinished posts sitting in my queue on Blogger. This is the third of three old posts that I am finally finishing.)I have been trying to get more involved with bicycle advocacy to promote cycling as a lifestyle; as a way to reduce our use of automobiles as primary transportation. To that end I have been supporting events related to the Long Beach Bicycle Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-86662710971493020072010-01-09T23:27:00.000-08:002010-08-02T21:27:50.186-07:00Will cycling be safer?About 1-1/2 years after Dr. Christopher T. Thompson caused two cyclist to smash into the rear of his luxury sedan by slamming on his brakes after passing them on a residential road, Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington sentenced Thompson to 5 years in prison. There have been a lot of discussions on the internet about the incident, Thompson's trial, his conviction, and his sentencing during Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-17983511739925707302009-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:002010-08-02T21:21:03.132-07:00Sharrows in Long Beach(For various reasons I have had several unfinished posts sitting in my queue on Blogger. This is the second of three old posts that I am finally finishing.)Saturday was the official opening of the "sharrows" in Long Beach. Sharrows are green-painted lanes in the right-hand lane of traffic. These lanes denote where cyclists are legally allowed to ride (whether painted or not) per the California Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-6610909953203621422009-05-31T17:04:00.000-07:002009-09-18T20:39:39.002-07:00A Crazy Team Time TrialAfter failing once again to break the 25 MPH barrier in the Southern California/Nevada District Individual Time Trial Championships, I found myself on the starting line a week later with three teammates (Todd Barker, Greg Page, and Jeff Scanlon) for the Team Time Trial Championships -- 4-men 180+ (cumulative age of riders at least 180 years). It was a very strange race.The team that started 1 Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-39567393285338994062009-05-07T23:25:00.000-07:002010-07-08T07:32:16.700-07:00Extreme Riding on Mt. Lemmon(For various reasons I have had several unfinished posts sitting in my queue on Blogger. This is the first of three old posts that I am finally finishing.)Epic is becoming one of the great overused words of our time. With so many extreme approaches to sports, people frequently talk or write about their 'epic' adventures. While I am not impervious to hyperbole, I feel that I had a truly epic Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-39768559210347334002009-05-06T20:27:00.000-07:002010-07-08T02:29:39.767-07:00My Road Bicycle HistoryI frequent the web site bikeforums.net. Yesterday, one of the denizens of the forum asked people to post their history of road bike ownership. After spending a fair amount of time remembering and looking at some old bicycle brochures, here's my list beginning at the start of my racing "career." (Note that I bought the bike during the model year listed unless otherwise noted.)1974 Lambert Pro: OneUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-67381889519299637682009-04-06T23:01:00.001-07:002009-05-06T20:26:02.137-07:00My Season To-DateI guess I don't have to knock on wood any longer. For the past two winters, I've been able to train pretty effectively because I've been able to avoid the dreaded influenza virus. (Note that I get a free flu shot at work every year.) My "lucky" streak finally ended (even though I had flu-like symptoms last summer), when I came down with a strain of the flu while on a business trip in St. Louis inUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-44905958718345645302009-02-04T13:54:00.000-08:002009-05-06T20:25:16.542-07:00Systems Thinking and the RecessionThis morning I heard an interview with Robert Reich (former US Secretary of Labor) on one of our local Public Radio stations on the program, Marketplace Morning Report. Mr. Reich notes:"But what's intelligent for an individual does not necessarily translate into what's good for the economy as a whole. The only way to create or preserve jobs is through additional spending. And unlike tax cuts usedUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-36488864609442921922009-02-04T13:53:00.001-08:002009-05-06T20:24:49.045-07:00It is Easy Being GreenMy wife and I are fans of the television show, Living with Ed. Ed Begley, Jr. is kind of a nut on the show, but if you think about all of the things that he does to minimize his family's impact on the environment, you'll find that you can do many of them with relative ease. Some are easy, but require an investment. Others you can do inexpensively and with a relatively quick payback.Here is a listUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-2324549729961079382009-01-20T09:32:00.000-08:002009-01-20T10:10:46.696-08:00Embracing ChangeHope, inspiration, freedom, and change are some themes from today's inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama. I watched a Presidential Inauguration live on TV for the first time in my life. It was inspirational and it did give me hope.I voted for Barack Obama but what is most heartening for me is to hear positive comments from people I know who did not vote for him. I think we Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-83763158188018199692009-01-01T19:47:00.000-08:002009-05-06T20:25:40.752-07:00Good Start to the 2009 Cycling SeasonIt didn't look like I was going to get in a good ride today as I woke up on New Year's Day to a very foggy morning. I don't like to ride in the fog because:It's more dangerous with people driving not being able to see youI can't see because the fog collects on my prescription glassesMy bike gets dirtyHowever, it was New Year's Day and I didn't want to start the year sitting on my butt. So in my Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-24065946733972146862008-12-24T13:59:00.000-08:002009-01-01T17:02:06.267-08:00Tom Lehrer: Ahead of His TimeWhen I was in college one of my roomates introduced me to the music and satire of Tom Lehrer. Thanks to YouTube, I have rediscovered Tom and his music. Here is one of Tom's songs that ties to one of my current passions: Pollution.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-91737417030470080752008-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:002009-01-01T17:01:05.683-08:00I Don't Think This Will Help Lance's Hill Climbing AbilityThrough my favorite cycling internet forum, I found a link to a very good sports photographer, Elizabeth Kreutz. Apparently, Ms. Kreutz has access to Lance Armstrong and she has chronicled his return to professional cycling with a series of photographs. Go to her web site and check out photos 21 to 25 under Index => Lance's Comeback.I don't think that all of that upper body strength is going to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-62651524815485852942008-12-02T21:16:00.000-08:002008-12-05T09:28:14.071-08:00A Small, Hidden TragedyThe global news has been anything but good this past month. With the true human tragedy in Mumbai, India, the financial woes of the Big Three US automakers seems strangely juxtaposed on the list of recent tragedies. Yes, the decline of these companies affects millions of people, but somehow the tragedy of business failures pales against the loss of lives and the For several years I've been Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-29862861304976043062008-11-16T09:21:00.000-08:002009-01-01T17:01:41.825-08:00Not Their Fault!!!???I have no idea how people can either lie or be so deluded that they can't see the obvious. Among the sources reporting the UAW's view on the crisis in the US auto industry, USA Today has this alarming quote from United Auto Workers president, Ron Gettelfinger:"We're here not because of what the auto industry has done," he said. "We're here because of what has happened to the economy."I'm not Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-82685756483699889712008-11-15T19:47:00.000-08:002008-11-15T19:55:32.469-08:00Speaking of Global WarmingI wonder how the current Southern California firestorm affects global warming?I wonder if the weather conditions that led to the current Southern California firestorm are a product of global warming?By noon today is was 90ºF with less than 10% humidity with wind gusts over 25 MPH -- prime brush fire weather. Of course you need an ignition source to start the fire. I heard that a smaller fire Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-48852939672074903042008-11-15T19:38:00.000-08:002008-11-15T19:40:03.863-08:00Why Commute by Bike?There are a lot of ways that all of us can help save the planet. Here is one.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-19000538331706621982008-10-24T18:38:00.000-07:002008-10-24T19:15:41.878-07:00They're Fixin' the RoadA couple of days ago I was driving to work (late -- long story) and I got stuck in traffic on PCH because of some road work. It looked like they were re-striping the road so the only thing that I really thought about was that it took me 30 minutes to drive 1 mile.A day later I was riding on the same stretch of road when I noticed that part of the shoulder on the northbound lane was "chewed up" inUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-83731817533478041102008-09-14T16:46:00.000-07:002008-10-24T10:09:15.951-07:00PanningI'm not talking about panning for gold either.Often I see people on photography forums ask about how to shoot fast moving cars or bicycles. Their initial notion is to use a very fast shutter speed to capture the action. Unfortunately, there are few times when this is the best way to capture a racing car or bicycle. A fast shutter speed freezes everything in the photo and it looks like the subjectUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-81583814659785128162008-09-13T13:09:00.000-07:002008-09-14T16:20:49.853-07:009/11 RevisitedJust thought that I'd link back to my post from the days after 9/11. Note that there is also a link in that post to an article that I posted to our web site.Peace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-56565920313404708992008-09-03T22:23:00.000-07:002008-09-04T07:35:08.678-07:00Racing in 2008So as of the next to last weekend in August I'm pretty much done with mass start races for the year. Not much left on the calendar for me except for some time trials. Here are some of the pertinent stats for the year-to-date:45 road races / criteriums / circuit races2 of 45 were road races20 of 45 were Tuesday evening series races (circuit)Total of 952 miles4 DNFs (3 too slow, 1 mechanical)0 Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495333.post-56723560347089340092008-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:002008-11-19T02:16:58.323-08:00Toyota Continues to Improve...and my guess is that they will do so -- continually.So the latest business news is that Toyota will probably be the #1 auto manufacturer in the world -- displacing GM -- at the end of this year. Now Toyota publicly states that they do not place much stock in being #1 (and I believe those statements), but there are a couple of important points related to this news. First, Toyota got the lead Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0