Ah, we're here. Spring. Sweetness. I celebrated the transition by adding motivation to my cockpit: Fresh white bar tape. Yum. It makes you feel faster....even when you are as pathetically behind the 8 Ball as I am these days.

I wonder what the equivalent of fresh white bar tape is for the working world. I need to spend some time thinking on that....

In at midnight last night again and awoke with a start literally thinking the hotel's alarm did not wake me up and I was late for a meeting. And there I was, in my own bed with the sweet sound of my children downstairs playing and the rustling of the newspaper in my wife's hands and the pitter patter of the puppies feet on the wood floor. That was a remedy in itself. I will be changing things soon so I can shut up about that side of my 3 part teeter totter which has been anchored on the ground...imbalancing everything.

With kids off to school, I suited up and grooved with the new white tape, thoughts about what to do and grooving amongst the trees spurting buds that are doing their damnedest to turn into full fledged flowers. So close. It's so close. What a time if I can execute on this escape. Spring is here.

On the road again. I just can't wait to... (insert sound of baseball bat smashing the radio wailing Willy Nelson's tribute to truck drivers). Yes race fans, I am yet again on the road, tired and under-exercised but daddy gots to gets paid and this is his jobby job.

This week is 'trade show' week. I am traveling up the CA coast from San Diego for DAMA to San Jose to EclipseCon. My job at these software industry trade shows mission is to meet with industry analysts and customers while our company has marketing booths there to show our wares.

The EclipseCon conference was interesting. The 1 sentence intro for you my bike brethren and sisteren is that the conference is a celebration of a fairly new technology, Eclipse, and its power to help software developers build new applications faster. We leverage the Eclipse technology in the development of our own software we sell to customers and while exploring the community, my co-worker who knows I am a bike geek pointed this award winning product out to me. It's called MyTourBook and I will download and look at this thing in the coming weeks.

For those of you that use CycingPeaks or the software that may come with your PowerTap, this is like that but on steroids in terms of the types of features I am seeing advertised *AND* is multi-user. Sick. I haven't dived in yet to look at TSS or other calibrations of training/racing efforts, but is still a very unique and what seems like understandable application. When you look at the application's look and feel...e.g. the gray shell and stuff you can't see, the platform behind the scenes he built this on top of...is what Eclipse 'gave' him for free to get the app standing up and looking pretty. All the the graphing, grids and general content is what the guy coded inside of all that all of the rich Eclipse functionality. Extremely impressive both from a cyclist's perspective...and a technologists.

Anyways, have a look at the guy's demo of his product. You will LOVE this guys German accent and it is intoxicating as he drives you through the interface and general feature set.

I got in a run today to pretend I am athletic. 5:30 AM in the dark railing the path on the harbor in San Diego. I thought I'd find Landis on a park bench with a beard and a shopping cart. No joy. Oh, and I am riding Typhoons next year. 34's. I made up my mind. Already thinking 'cross. Who isn't?

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Update since writing this post: The author of this amazing open source/free product, Wolfgang Schramm, unbelievably did so while recovering from a a near fatal bike accident....which without his helmet, would have been the end of him. Read a small excerpt here.

Race fans: What do you get when you add...

The total sum is extraordinary. I am talking about a sum that will leave you in shock to the extent that you'll want....no NEED...to have one. And if one is scored, likely you'll want to rub and get all freaky with yourself. You will be....

ROLLING SEX.

The sum, you see is the 2008 Limited Edition, full up Bling Daddy kits. No, these are not the 'official' racing kits we'll be rocking normally, you see. Just a special kit for the not-afraid set for just the right occasions....like a velvet smoking jacket or your speedos. Will we have skinsuits: Likely, beeatches, likely. This shit's gonna get me into Cross Vegas, you see just because of how sexy I'll be. I'll be irresistibly brown and gold. Likely with a matching Louis Vuitton saddle if I can beg my boy Corey...oh and if I can score it, some gold bar tape. Mmmm.

Behold:
Start your jealously now.