A Few Words About Joggers

WARNING: There may be some strong language used in this article.

I used to like to run (ok, jog), but my knees and hip joints don't like it anymore, so I bicycle.  I usually make two or three rides per week, depending on circumstances, weather, etc.  One of my favorite rides is the Cape Henry Trail.  A roughly six-mile trek which consists of a mile of asphalt pathway going through a nice neighborhood, followed by a mile of asphalt through woods near a campground, followed by dirt through heavy tree cover.  I usually get on the trail at Great Neck Rd and arrive at the end by 64th Street and Atlantic Ave a short time later (i haul ass usually in top gear the whole way).

Today however was different.  The trail was loaded with joggers.  Groups.  Singles.  Pairs.  Whatever.  As I approach them from behind, I always call out "passing left!" and say "thank you!" when they move over as I pass.  Some behavioral patterns I noticed today:

• Women share the path and are usually very courteous
• Older men are usually courteous and share the path also
• Younger guys jogging alone move over (no courtesy)
• Younger guys in groups are dickheads and don't move, so I help them move over (I'm six feet tall and 200 lbs.  Most joggers are barely 140 lbs and 5ft 7in or so.  Do the math, and do it fast cuz I'm approach very fast)

Here's a few observations with comments as well:

• Most joggers are white.  Almost all of them.
• Most of them spend a significant amount of money on special jogger clothing, and jogger shoes.
• Most of them look other joggers up and down to assess their jogger clothing and shoes.
• Most of them jog to be seen, not to really boost their health.
• Most of them spend too much time worrying about their diet

I hate to bust your bubble but…

• Not too many white folks win the Boston marathon, the NYC marathon, the SF marathon, the Chicago marathon, the, well, ANY marathon
• It's usually some guys from Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, or Morocco
• Those guys don't spend shit on jogger clothing
• Those guys don't spend shit on jogger shoes.  In fact, some of them run ALL DAY EVERY FUCKING DAY BAREFOOT
• They don't pause to look other joggers up and down to judge their clothing.  They only look to see if you're in their way, which you are only possibly in their way at the very start of the race.  After that you're a distant memory.
• Most of them only care about one dietary aspect: IS THERE ANY FOOD.

The jogger clothing doesn't do shit.  The jogger shoes don't do shit.  The energy bar and vitamin pills don't do shit.  The special drinks don't do shit.  It's YOU that has to take the blame for doing shit.

Virginia Beach Bicycling Routes

There are many other paths, but these are a few that I've completed many times and know very well. They are aimed at mixing street and dirt trail riding, not just paved surfaces.  My bike looks like a full-blown mountain bike from a distance, but it’s really a cheap grade knock-off.  But that doesn’t matter.  It’s been a great bike and I’ve put a few hundred miles on it since I bought it in 2006. 

1. Birdneck Loop - Start at Pacific and Norfolk Ave. Take Norfolk Ave West to Birdneck Rd. South on Birdneck down to General Booth. North on General Booth over Rudee Inlet to Pacific and back to starting point: 5.8 miles
2. Cape Henry Trail to Rudee Inlet - Cape Henry Trail from Great Neck, go East through First Landing Park, come out at 64th and Atlantic. Proceed South on Atlantic to 40th and cross over to boardwalk, down to Rudee Inlet. Turn around and go back to starting point: 19.8 miles (go back across Great Neck to the end at Jade St.: Another 1.8 miles
3. Great Neck Road - Great Neck from Shore Drive, go South to Virginia Beach Blvd, and return to starting point: 11 miles
4. Holland, Dam Neck, Laskin - Holland & Plaza, take Holland South to Dam Neck. Take Dam Neck East to General Booth Blvd. North on General Booth over Rudee Inlet to Pacific Ave. North to Laskin Rd. West on Laskin, merge onto Virginia Beach Blvd. West to North Plaza Trail (turn left / South). Follow through South Plaza Trail back to starting point: 23 miles
5. Great Neck North Loop - Cape Henry Trail from Great Neck. East through First Landing Park to 64th St. entrance at Atlantic. South on Atlantic to Laskin. West on Laskin, merge onto Virginia Beach Blvd. Turn onto N. Great Neck Rd. and follow Great Neck back to starting point: 16.8 miles
6. Eastern Loop - Great Neck at Shore Drive. Go South on Great Neck, cross over Virginia Beach Blvd and continue onto London Bridge Blvd. Go East on Dam Neck to General Booth Blvd. North on General Booth over Rudee Inlet to Pacific, up Pacific to Atlantic. Turn into First Landing Park at 64 th St entrance, follow Cape Henry Trail back to starting point: 26.3 miles

Routes 1, 2, 3, and 6: park behind the shopping center where Hot Tuna Grill resides and jump on the trail right there.

It is illegal in Virginia Beach to ride on sidewalks throughout Town Center or anywhere along the oceanfront from Rudee to 40th Street during tourist season.  But they rarely bother bicyclists unless (a) the cop is a dick or (b) the biker is acting stupid.

What Was “New” for Me This Past Week

• Paint.NET 3.5 was finally released (download) – I really love it!
• Testing SkyDriveExplorer.  Some (very) minor quirks, but nice (http://www.skydriveexplorer.com/)
• Updated my AppleTV to 3.0.  Finally!
• Updated my Blackberry 8830 to firmware 4.5.  Finally!
• Adjusted my Twitter-Admin setup (control my home computers via Twitter from the Blackberry, and monitor events as well)
• Posted updates to ASP and VBScript syntax definitions for TextPad (download)
• Installed Tigo-Tago to manage IDv3 tags on my AVI library (download)
• Got the family (only) van repaired.  Power steering pump and hoses, and water pump both failed.  Runs great now.
• Caught up on podcasts: Adam Carolla Show, No Agenda, CarCast, and Tech5
• Rode the bike for only 5 miles though.  Sucky.

Bike Riding to the Beach Again

It’s been a month since my last trek to the beach from my house, so I was due for it.  I took the same path down S. Plaza Trail to Virginia Beach Blvd, and followed that to Laskin and hit the oceanfront at 31st street.  The crowd was really thick.  A lot of tourists in town for the Labor Day weekend and all the festivities going on.  I rode up and down the full length of the boardwalk from Rudee to 40th and back a few times. 

The stage at 5th street was buzzing with crowds and the noise of techs warming up the equipment and adjusting the sound.  The drummer sucked.  The sax guy was pretty good.  Too bad I couldn’t stay longer.  My plans changed when my back tire blew out at 12th street on the bike path.  I had to walk a while to meet up with my wife in her van, who evac’d me out like the falling of Saigon.  It was brutal but I somehow survived.

Photos are posted here.  The last nine (9) photos in the gallery were taken today on my ride.  Not very interesting, but eh, who cares.

Bicycling Around Virginia Beach

I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  The highest populated city in the state with approximately 430,000 residents, at last count.  It’s a city that has long prided itself on being “outdoorsy” and has a lot of parks, creeks, shores, and recreation centers compared to most other metropolitan areas around the state; not to mention along the East coast.  It is a nice place to live in many respects.  You can find a large number of joggers, walkers, bicyclers, boaters, swimmers, and so on.  Being on the coastline with plenty of beach areas you will also likely find surfers, kayakers and fishermen, but you will find kayakers just as often inland on one of the many creeks and lakes around the area.

I used to do a fair amount of running until last year when my knees finally gave out and I had to find another hobby.  I’ve always enjoyed bicycling, so now I’ve become more “into” it as a way to stay in shape and avoid boredom.  There are a lot of trails and pathways that the city touts as making it “bike friendly”, but they really should add an asterisk with a footnote.  There are quite a few decent trails for biking around the city, but biking *across* the city is another challenge entirely.  I do this fairly often, so I’m pretty familiar with the good and bad and where the chokepoints are for bicycling.

From my house near Mount Trashmore Park, which is located in the northern central area of the city, I can bike to the ocean front (to the East), to the bay shore (to the North), to a few places South and West as well.  Not as many interesting places to ride South and West however.  Most of the interesting places are North and East of where I live.  The beach is about 8 miles as the crow flies.  The North shore near Chick’s beach is about 6 miles and Princess Anne Park is about 4 miles South/West of here.  Of these three paths, the simplest and safest is by far going to Princess Anne Park (where the Sportsplex is located) which is also the MOST BORING of all places to ride.  Other than moving my legs it’s about as exciting as sitting on the bike on my driveway and making “vroomm!!!” sounds like a kid with a toy motorcycle.

Riding to the beach is the most daunting but not terribly difficult.  The main routes are either along Virginia Beach Blvd, or along Dam Neck Road.  Getting to Virginia Beach Blvd from my house is only feasible by one route: Plaza Trail.  Trying to take Rosemont Road or Independence Blvd under the I-264 interchanges is suicidal.  It’s possible, but the city needs to do something as I constantly see bikers and walkers almost killed by cars flying on or off the on/off ramps without looking for anything but other cars.  It’s deadly.  Taking Dam Neck Road is a much longer path as it adds another 4 miles of riding to get to the beach itself by way of General Booth Blvd.  The stretch along General Booth is actually a nice ride, especially passing the Virginia Acquarium and the woods along the bike path.  Riding up Rudee Inlet bridge at the end is a special treat designed to stress test your quads after pumping for almost 12 miles already. 

The Dam Neck route is about 13 miles in all.  The Virginia Beach Blvd route is about 8 miles in all.  Both distances are one-way, so a round-trip is 26 or 16 respectively.  I most often do the latter route since it’s a little more interesting.  Another option is taking Virginia Beach Blvd to Laskin and following that to 30th street, which is at the North end of the boardwalk.  Regardless of the route to the beach, I usually ride the length of the boardwalk from Rudee Inlet to 40th street a few times and then head back home.  If the weather is nice I usually bring my camera to catch the freaks in public and cars and bikes, etc.

As for riding to the North shore, along the bay, there are really only two paths.  One is Independence to Pleasure House Road.  And the other is Virginia Beach Blvd to N. Great Neck Road.  The Independence route ends in the Chick’s Beach area, which is where the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel connects to the mainland in Virginia Beach.  That route is just a hair under 8 miles.  The Great Neck Road path is longer at about 10 miles.  That ends in a rather boring area of small houses on Shore Drive, so I usually continue West to the Chick’s Beach area again, which is another 2 miles West.  The biggest challenge is the Lesner Bridge, crossing over the Lynnhaven Inlet.  Not a bike friendly bridge, as there is almost nothing between the traffic, you, and the concrete railing.  One texting, distracted or drunk driver and you’re gone.

Caution Areas

Tough Crossings include Independence at I-264.  Rosemont at I-264. Virginia Beach Blvd at Great Neck Rd.  London Bridge to Great Neck (across Virginia Beach Blvd).  Laskin at the I-264 split.  Indpendence at Pleasure House.  General Booth at Rudee Inlet (if you forget to cross early on).

Other notable paths to ride your bike along:

Cape Henry Trail, near First Landing State Park.  This is located in the North-East corner of the city and connects from the Northern end of N. Great Neck Road over to the 64th Street park entrance off of Atlantic Avenue.  One quarter of the trail is asphalt and goes through a quiet neighborhood.  The rest is hard packed dirt under tree cover and fairly straight with minor hills and bumps.  Very easy.  Total distance is about 6 miles one way.

Ferrell Parkway, which connects from Princess Anne Road over to Indian River Road in the middle West end of the city.  Only 2.5 miles by itself, it makes a good connector for adding a longer path along Indian River Road and Princess Anne Road.

Dam Neck Road, runs along the middle of the city going East to West.  It ends at General Booth Blvd (sort of, but it crosses over into a neighborhood and dead-ends in the back), and goes West beyond Salem Road becoming Elbow Road in the process.  Total distance (sort of) is about 8 miles one-way.

London Bridge Road, runs from Virginia Beach Blvd at the intersection with Great Neck Road (it becomes Great Neck as it crosses) and continues down to Dam Neck Road.  Total boring ride distance is about 4 miles.

I’m still exploring other trails and routes around the city, but suffice it to say it can be a bit hair-raising crossing some interesections along the way.

More Beautiful Weather

Yesterday hit the mid 60's (F, not C) with a slight breeze.  Today is in the mid 70's and sunny, but the breeze has picked up to the point where it might be a bit uncomfortable to kayak on open water or ride a bike into the headwind (as I just did).  But, otherwise, it's a spectacular day today.  I just got back from a short bike ride.  Downing one of my favorite Tropical Smoothie drinks and chilling out to some podcasts in the shade.  Cheers!

Sunday Morning Bike Ride, more Scattered Thoughts

It drizzled all night, but is now clearing up. The sky is still cloudy and light gray, breezy and around 58 F outside. Temps are supposed to drop throughout the day. I got up late, which for me now is 7:00 am, stretched, and went on a quick (15 minute) 3 mile bike ride to stretch out a bit. It was like riding through a dream. iPod blasting Paramore. It felt good. I miss working from home. I used to do this every day, either biking or walking/jogging. Summer of 2006 I was averaging two rides per week at 22 miles each trek. I used to ride my bike to work back then also. Last Summer I barely got out. Oh well, it was nice to get out again, even for such a brief moment.

I saw Marley & Me again last night. Great movie, but sad ending. Sorry for the spoiler. I got home and had to bond with my baby dog "Lucky" for a few hours. I think the movie was produced by a secret group of dogs.

Twitter

Twitter has become a minor obsession for me. I'm finding that short quips are ideal for Twitter rather than blogging. I'm probably going to be using Twitter much more than Blogger from now on. I'll use the blog for times when I have something elaborate or significant to say. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/skatterbrainz if you care.

I will be posting more stupid scripting stuff here over the next week or two. So, if that's your cup of tea, hopefully it's something you find helpful. Let me know if there's something you'd like to see? You can also check out Don Hite's scripting blog. He has tons of goodies of all sorts.

Windows 7

Windows 7 is pretty nice. Not as drastic of a change as going from Win2k to XP or NT4 to WS03, but it's a very noticable improvement over Vista. It's always easier to point at things we don't like than what we do like, it seems. I don't like the Win7 task bar, but only because of the way it combines quick-launch shortcuts with running (minimized) shortcuts. You can't tell which are actually running without moving the cursor over them to see if they produce a preview popup. Very confusing. I also don't care for the odd mix of icon motifs. Some are 3D-ish, while others are 2D and boxy, like the new Explorer icon. The WMP shortcut is flat-out ugly. I'm really surprised Microsoft couldn't concoct some prettier icons.

On the plus side, there are many. Faster performance for installation, configuration, and startup/shutdown operations. Some UI changes are nice, like the new desktop properties popup, control panel and network and sharing center. The new Action Center is a nice touch as well. The new tree-panel behavior for folder selection is better but it takes a little getting used to. It no longer automatically expands folder trees when you select a folder (you have to explicitly click on the "[+]" icon). There's a lot more, but I'll leave that to others who get paid to review things.

Blogs of Note

I have amassed a crapload (that's a technical term) of blog feed links over the past two years. I follow most of them very closely. I really don't know why. I suppose it gives me something to do that distracts me from the drudgery life can deliver. Adam Schefter's NFL.com blog is really good and he posts like a madman. Matt Raible has a great slice-of-life blog. John C. Dvorak has a fun blog. Some others I follow: Rod Trent, Mini-Microsoft, The GPO Guy, Andy Wibbels, and about four dozen more.

Anyhow, it's Winter now, which in southeastern Virginia means cold, clouds, and rain. We're not allowed to have snow unless we've been bad, which is rare. And nobody here can drive in snow. Even flurries send drivers here immediately into the nearest guardrail or utility pole. I can't understand it. I'm hunkering down for Spring, which can't get here soon enough. I like warm weather. If it's going to get cold, it should snow. Nothing in between. Virginia is in between. Maybe when the housing market turns around I will think about moving somewhere else. This got me thinking about what I would do if I won a HUGE lottery payout. I'd probably build a house in each place I'd like to spend time. That would probably be somewhere in Colorado (where my parents were from), somewhere in southwest Michigan (where my wife's family is), somewhere near a beach (Florida or California), and maybe a private jet to get around. That would be cool.

Smoke on The Water, Fire in the Sky

I just finished my 5 mile, as-fast-as-I-can-go-in-as-high-of-a-gear-as-possible-for-me bike ride at 4:25 PM local time. The winds are blowing hard near my house and the nearby park trail. Blowing 92 degree wind with a crappy dose of burning wood smoke from the still-burning fires in NC. just south of us. Not as thick as it has been, but enough to make it difficult to ignore it when you're gasping for air.

The upside of this is that smoke in the atmosphere can make for a nice sunset. Cheap excuse I agree, but it's probably the ONLY positive outcome of something like that.

I spent most of the morning sipping coffee and YouTubing, as my son calls it. Once in a while, I will plop down on the sofa and fire up the AppleTV to go surfing YouTube and Podcasts for something new. Something different. Today was mostly about chasing obscure musicians that I have always liked. Many of whom spent time at the University of FZ (if you know what that implies you're in). People like Ruth Underwood, Adrien Belew, Vinnie Colaiuta, Terry Bozzio, Eric Marienthal and John Pattitucci to name a few. But I also spent a lot of time watching classic George Carlin clips. This one here is one of my favorites and I agree with him 110 percent: