SB Nation User Blog: johnw

Me and CVV after the 2009 Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge

johnw — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:22:15 -0000

Me and CVV after the 2009 Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge

Podium Cafe Virtual Swap Meet

johnw — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:32:56 -0000

After having a short email discussion with Drew regarding his shifter dilemma it occurred to me that there might be a need for a virtual swap meet here at the Cafe.

With that in mind, I would like to humbly suggest that we use this FanPost for that purpose. If you need something, or if you have something to trade or sell, why not post it here?

If you like this idea, please "Rec" this FanPost to keep it pinned up top.

Podium Cafe on Kindle

johnw — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:54:05 -0000

I recently came into possession of a Kindle. Browsing around the menus I see that I can get Podium Cafe formatted for the Kindle.

This appears to be different than simply accessing the mobile version. This appears to be the full PdC formatted to use all the Kindle browsing features. There is a nominal fee. I think it's 0.99/month or something like that.

Has anyone tried this? Any reveiws? For some reason I am very excited by this. :)

This is SoCal Racing?

johnw — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:09:33 -0000

Sunday was the 8th Annual Boulevard Road Race. This race is held about 60 miles east of San Diego, and is known for rough conditions, but this year was epic.

Check out the article in Velonews, and the accompanying photos. (New Window)

Here are some words to meet the required 75 word minimum. Cold. Snowy. Wet. Gavia. Ok, that last one was a bit of an exaggeration, but that's what it felt like to folks used to San Diego weather.

Tim Duggan, Danny Pate, and some loser

johnw — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:37:45 -0000

Tim Duggan, Danny Pate, and some loser

Photos from ride down California Coast

johnw — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:36:00 -0000

I don't want to steal Dan's thunder, but his recent fanpost reminded me of my gallery from last years MDC ride.

This was supposed to be a 7 day, 600 mile ride from San Francisco to San Diego. Each rider had to raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation to participate. The CAF is an organization dedicated to provide opportunities for "challenged" athletes to participate in sports.

Unfortunately, halfway down the coast we had to stop due to the raging SoCal wildfires. A number of riders, including me, had families in evacuation zones, and we all wanted to get home to take care of our families. On the positive side, no riders suffered any losses due to the fires.

Eventually we did complete the ride. We flew up to Santa Barbara and rode the rest of the way down.

I posted a number of photos to a Picasa gallery. Seeing Dan's photos reminded me of my gallery, and I don't recall if I ever posted it here.

So, without further delay, my photo gallery.

Image FanShot

johnw — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:44:51 -0000

Competitor Radio Podcast

johnw — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:01:50 -0000

I was at spin class last Friday talking with Bob Babbit, who publishes Competitor and hosts the competitor radio show.

I got hooked up with Bob because he is also one of the founders of the Challenged Athlete Foundation. Anyway, Bob told me that his radio show is published as a free podcast on iTunes. Perhaps you already knew this, but I didn't. So, I downloaded all his shows this weekend, and I've been listening to them at work for the past two days.

Anyway, just a suggestion that you do the same. It's a great show, with some great interviews. Not all cycling, but some interesting stuff.

Go check it out.

Big boys at local crit

johnw — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:41:14 -0000

My club has put on a crit series for the past three years.

Last night some pros decided to show up.

Rock Racing:
Rahsaan Bahati
Justin Willians

Toyota United:
Hilton Clarke

Jelly Belly:
Caleb Manion
Matthew Rice

Team Type 1
Matt Wilson

In additon, one of our local juniors, who races with Rock, Iggy Silva, decided to jump in the Pro1-2.

Man, these guys took off from the start, and drilled it for 75 minutes. I don't think I've seen a faster race. One of my teammates called it a 75 minute TTT.

The Pro 1-2 race had 60+ entrants. Almost immediately the field was split in two. Five pros, plus Iggy, took off and grabbed a half lap lead. The main peloton was stretched out trying to reel in the break, but that was not to be. With about 3 laps to go the break started attacking each other. By the final lap the break was down to four, with Hilton Clarke taking it at the line. Matt Wilson and Caleb Manion took second and third. National Junior Crit Champ Iggy Silva took fourth.

A small consolation, Swami's Cyling, my club, cracked the top ten, with Skyler Bishop nabbing the final spot.

Oh yeah, this was under the lights! We went off at 7:25. Very cool.

New Pedals?

johnw — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:43:11 -0000

Right before I blew out my ACL I was contemplating switching from my Speedplay Zeros to either Dura-Ace or Keos.

Now that I've had my ACL reconstructed using the patella tendon I wonder if I shouldn't stay on Speedplay. My rationale for switching from Speedplays to Shimanos or Looks was that I felt that I wasn't getting good power transfer on the Zeros. My concern now is float. Does anyone have experience riding on Shimanos or Looks with "bad" knees?

Less than three weeks after surgery I am on my trainer. I did 30 minutes this morning. I could stand for a few revolutions, but not much more. Still a fair bit of pain putting that much pressure on my knee.