I'm moving over to Vox for now

I even bought the URL redirect: www.MrAnchorman.com. I'm so 1999!

Say it with generators!

Says-it is absofreakinlutely brilliant time-wasting fun!

Create your own albumn covers, tickets for concerts you never attented, and church signs. Was this created by the Daily Show or something? The Seal generator is cool too. I've always wanted to start my own society and the first step is a good crest.

More Floyd, Bennett not Landis

Tuesday was, excluding July 4, my 9th Floyd Bennett race in a row. The consistency is finally getting me to a decent level of fitness. The heart rate monitor numbers were scary, in fact, higher than during the Tewksbery TT, the hardest TT I've ever done (used full range of gears from 53x12 to 39x27).

I saw 5+ beats over my threshold a bunch of times. However, I finally had enough energy to read the race and be part of it. I chased the winning break in a twosome which grew to 5. We didnt catch, but I hung on for a proud and pennyless 8th place. The Merrill Lynch team was put in a tough spot by geezer sprinter and series leader James Joseph. ML made repeated attempts to put together a breakaway without him. He was there every time. It made for good racing and the two factions cancelled each other out, leaving the win for another team.

You can see the rest of the photos on the NYVelocity site, and read Dan Schmalz's account here.

Getting my pic in the Blogger profile...

Here's me sporting a suit in 90 degree weather on the way to a baptism.

I'm all Nanotech and sh**

I just had Andrew Crooks, the talented owner of the NYC Velo bike shop in the East Village install a new fork on my aging 'ICE' racing bike. I had a feeling 5 years was way to long to beat the hell out of a carbon fiber product, and I was right. I propped the old Profile BRC on the floor and pushed against the blade a little (which had a small hairline crack). With little force, it started to come apart. Two weeks earlier I was bombing down hills on training rides at 45 mph. Scary huh? These are the perils of trying to save money on bike equipment. The lesson is: CHECK YOUR STUFF. Things like bars, stems, forks and even seatposts don't last forever.

The new fork, an Easton EC90 aero, is by far the fanciest fork I've ever ridden. It's the aero version of the Floyd Landis/Phonak fork. Easton claims the nanotubes make it twice as strong as any lightweight fork on the market. I hope so Easton, because although I'm neither obese, a sloppy rider, or a pro who races a hundred times a year, I do beat the crap out of my bikes. Riding and racing in New York city takes its toll on bike parts. I'm only 165 pounds and I've broken a Super Record seatpost, a Mavic bottom bracket, a Team Fuji, and now a Profile fork. Granted, all had many miles on them.

Tomorrow I'll show you how I created bottle openers from the Profile fork tips! DIY ahoy!

Tags: nanotechnology, nanotech, floyd landis, bike racing

USQ Wines, you won me back...through technology

I'm a novice onephile. I have no interest in becoming and expert either. I do however appreciate wine with food and can take a decent stab at a pairing.

PBS interviewed me a few weeks ago for man-on-the-street commentary for their upcoming "Wine Makers" reality show. I hope they use my comments. I made the point that jargon is deliberately used to make people feel inadequate about wine. When people feel inadequate, they drop more money in attempt to bump their status as consumers.

Anyway, I started poking around other stores when USQ Wines moved a few blocks further from my office. I'm impressed by Bottle Rocket and was prepared to throw my bucks their way. However, USQ has the rad new Enomaticc wine serving system straight out of Tuscany. Give a name and email and they're create a free frequent sipper card for you on the spot. You start with 1,000 points and earn another 5 per buck spent.

A bit of wine from the two Enomatics ranges from 9 to 30 points. You get a real sense of the wines by putting them side by side, and it's a social atmosphere. I watched a bit of the World Cup while sipping a Malbec. Shopping behavior guru Paco Underhill is right. Create an experience and keep customers in the store longer and they'll spend more money.

One final thought: if you're in to documentaries, I strongly recommend Mondovino. There's a wealth of information in it about the economics and heritage of wine, and a reinforcement of the lesson that good branding often doesn't mean best product.

Tags: wine, union square

Floyd Floyd Floyd...

I raced Floyd Bennett field again last night. It's always a good time if you're willing to stick your nose in the wind. Marco Quezada from the Gotham team and I took off in pursuit of the winning break. He latched on, I got dropped just as we made contact. How lame of me. I'm racing mostly on smarts and guts so I'm not too upset. Hopefully I'll have the juice for the upcoming summer series in beautiful Newark. Ah Newark, it's just like racing in Paris along the Seine.

Music blogs

Meeting Aaron from Coolfer has me poking around the blogs for new music. The Nano and iTunes has me interested in news music again. Putting MP3s on my Sony Clie sucked. I reached a point a few years ago where I stopped going to shows, and stopped swapping discs. Its great to do it again, and listen up RIAA: I'm buying more stuff as a result of the free samples! The verdict is out on Kraig Hill's taste. I found his blog randomly.