been a long lonely time

so apparently business students need to be told that creativity is important in developing new products/services in businesses.

My professor emphasized this for about 15 minutes of a little over an hour lecture. I kind of thought this would b self-explanatory but might be explained by his other comments on creativity.

He told the class that creative people don't always fit into company culture and may for example say things that are inappropriate in business settings or may dress differently. This is ok because they are creative.

This is why I am not getting a degree through the business school.

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haven't checked in with riding mileage for a couple weeks, but I have been too busy to get much riding in. If I was commuting so much it would be fairly pathetic actually (the wind last weekend didn't help much either).

I am almost halfway to my goal for the year however, so that's not too shabby.

W/E 7/6 - 51
W/E 7/13 - 57
Season to Date - 706
Miles to Goal - 794

stimulating the economy - june edition

I went music shopping at the fetus this weekend and picked up a couple of new CDs and one old one.

First up is The Alchemist Manifesto by Ocote Soul Sounds and Adrian Quesada. For those that don't know this is an offshoot of Antibalas co-directed by Adrian Quesada from Grupo Fantasma. I didn't notice until I got the record home that it was released on ESL, but despite that I was expecting more of a mix between the latin sounds of Grupo Fantasma and the afrobeat sounds of Antibalas or a kind of Harlem River Drive feel. That is not what you get from this album. For anyone familiar with the ESL sound you will not be surprised or disappointed. Loungish, latin-influenced mellow grooves that are perfect for summer and will probably be added to soundtrack of coffee shops and wine bars all over.

Next up is the Nigeria 70 Lagos Jump comp. Where the first Nigeria 70 comp focused almost exclusively on Afrobeat and Afro-Funk, this new comp includes more Highlife in the mix making it more of a kindred spirit to the Lagos Chop Up comp on Honest Jon's. I am a big fan of all the sounds represented on this comp and from this era in general, but I am not knowledgeable enough to give much more info that could be easily found with a simple web search. Suffice to say that if you enjoy Afrobeat and Highlife from the 70s you both know what you are getting with this collection and you know you need it. Awesome summer sounds.

The in my triumvirate of CD purchases is Hootenanny by the Replacements. Since all their Twin Tone records have been re-released I found my self a used copy of the remaster from just a few years ago. I will be honest that it is not my favorite Replacements album (that is a tie between Let It be and Pleased to Meet Me) but how can you go wrong with any album that includes Color Me Impressed and Within Your Reach?

last week on the bike

Given a week of actual good weather I was able to hit the roads either commuting or on the road bike everyday but Thu (and that was by choice), so it all added up to my biggest week yet this year.

I'm a third of the way to my season goal and am over 200 miles for the month with a week still to go.

week total - 83
season to date - 521
miles to goal - 979

Busted en route to work

I decided to try out a new route to work that didn’t have me dodging the traffic on Central during morning rush hour. It was pretty slick not faster but not slower either.

The only slowdown was crossing a stoplight when crossing University. I stopped and waited for the traffic to clear which took a couple minutes and then…..nothing. There were 2 cars on the other side of the light but despite the serious lack of traffic the light was not changing. It must have been timed for a busier rush hour than today, so I gave up and went through the intersection.

That is when I was busted. The passenger in the first waiting car yelled out at me about going through the red light.

I have to say my first reaction was anger – “I hope you never speed, roll through stop signs, or turn right at a no turn on red”

I quickly felt embarrassed though because I was in the wrong and despite the fact that no one was cut off or slowed down or anything, this person now had an additional reason to get angry about bikes on the road.

Just plain stupid.

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Much later I got to thinking about being yelled at.

Why is it that it is “acceptable” to yell at bikers from your car? Would these same people honk their horns if they saw someone breaking some law in their cars (except driving the wrong way on a one way)?

I kind of doubt it, so is it some sort power trip that the cars bring out or is it something else?

back to reality

living in a world where the twin cities is filled with top level racers had to end some time and Sunday was it (heck the nature valley team had their travel bike boxes out 15 min after the race).

I did get to ride in the women's peloton in Mankato in comm 2 w/ Jenn x. That was pretty wicked and her incites and understanding of the peloton was incredible. It was also fun to see her turn on the announcer voice for her phone ins.

Sunday, Liane and I helped out in the morning at Stillwater and then watched the last half of the women's race and the men's race from chilkoot hill. I picked the other side of the hill from last year and definitely did not get as good of pictures so I now know the best place to stand next year.

I will be uploading pics and vids as I get time and may link to them here.
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After the race Liane and I ran errands (groceries and free mulch) before biking over to Chipotle for a free burrito.

and speaking of biking, I actually got more miles in than anticipated despite not being able to ride to St. Paul on Wed and being to lazy to ride there to the TT on Fri.

If I have any hope of making my goal, I better get a move on though.

weekly miles - 33
season total - 439
miles to goal - 1061